Jun Regalado Drum Lessons 2010

Legendary Filipino session drummer Jun Regalado will be accepting drum students starting this Saturday, May 15, 2010. Drummers of all levels - from beginners to professionals - are welcome. Plus, drum students will be able to choose which drumming style/s they want to learn.

This is a great opportunity for aspiring young drummers, as well as for advanced players who are still eager to learn more and improve their craft. Jun Regalado is one of the finest and most recorded drummers in the Philippines. He is also a very effective drum teacher. He has mentored a good number of professional drummers who are currently active in the Pinoy music scene.

For inquiries and schedule availability, please contact Mrs. Monina Regalado at (02)8231981 or 09156819826. Or you can send Sir Jun a message through Facebook.

New Era Drum Tracks

I want to look back at my recording sessions, and share some of my thoughts about my drum tracks in our New Era album.

I played drums on four tracks in our album - Sweetest Thing, Don't Ever Let Go, Your Smile, and Pangako.

Sweetest Thing

"My bandmates and I were in the studio, working on "Sweetest Thing", which is the last song we finished for our upcoming album. This is an original song written for us by our dear friend Mike Luis of Freestyle. Mike is a genius when it comes to songwriting, and the song is sooo good that it gave my bandmate Paolo quite a headache while he was working on it in his computer haha, figuring out some of the notes Mike used (because Mighty Mike wasn't able to chart the notes, I think). It's a groovy, bouncy, and catchy tune. Anyway, the vocal parts were recorded on Wednesday night. Earlier that day, we had a last-minute decision to have my drum parts recorded live. At first, we thought of programming the drum parts. But I thought that I should play the drum parts live. I like the song, I like Paolo's drum ideas for it, and I was determined to put my mark in that song. And so, we booked a recording date at Blue Door Studio in Quezon City (the same studio where I recorded my drum parts for 'Pangako'). I was scheduled the next evening."

"In the studio, I set up a small kit which I felt would fit the song just right. My drumming inspiration for this song is Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, drummer and producer of Philadelphia-based hip-hop band The Roots. I went for the less-is-more approach. For this track, I want my drums to sound crisp and tight, almost like a toy, but still "realistic" enough for listeners to say, 'Hey, those are live drums!' I used three drums - an 18"x 20" kick and a 14" tom, which are both from my Tama Superstar kit, and my 5.5"x10" Black Panther Premium Maple, my choice snare drum for this track. I set up a few Zildjian cymbals - a pair of 12" A Special Recording Hi-Hats and a 16" K Dark Thin Crash (the said cymbals belong to my drummer friend Marco Katigbak), and my 20" K Custom Medium Ride. I thought of using my 8" A Custom Splash, but I find it too bright-sounding for the song, so I decided to remove it on my studio set-up. Paolo thought of using flammed cross-sticks for the backbeats on some of the verses, which is why I had my 13" Tama Artwood Maple snare drum on standby for that purpose (since I won't be able to play cross-sticks on a 10" snare). But later on during the session, we decided not to play cross-sticks anymore. And so, it was the 10" Black Panther all the way."

--- excerpts from my October 29, 2008 blog


I am pretty much happy with the outcome of this track, as I was somehow able to estimate the sound and feel I envisioned for the song. We got the tight, snappy, toy-like sound out of the drums, plus the bouncy & playful feel. The 10" Black Panther snare was the star of the drum set-up I used in that track. I remember feeling quite loose during this session, so it enabled me to become more playful behind the kit. Yet, I was having that "?uestlove-ish", less-is-more vibe, and I was making sure that my parts would still serve the music right. The tricky part in this track is the bridge part, where the groove shifts to a tight 16th note feel, against the shuffle grooves played through the verses and choruses.

This is one fun song to play, and drummers who'll play to this song can go loose. I look forward to playing this tune live.

Don't Ever Let Go

"I just recorded some of my drum tracks this week at SoundsRite Recording Studio in Makati, which is operated by drummer Boyet Aquino (who is best-known for his work with Francis M's band Hardware Syndrome). The studio has a good reputation for its high-end equipment and facility & quality recording results, and its clients include a good number of big names in the music biz. Though Boyet has an impressive collection of high-end drums, I still chose to use my Tama Superstar kit."

"On the Monday night session, I recorded Don't Ever Let Go, which was written by Paolo. This is quite a difficult track for me because of the crafty drum parts Paolo envisioned for the song. This was the old song which we recorded at Blue Door Studio a couple of years ago, but had some bad luck. I'm already through with that unfortunate experience, and I'm glad that I'm able to perform better in the studio this time, without any technical problems."

"I can't remember what I ate that time, or if the stars were aligned during those nights. But for some reason, I feel good with recording my drum tracks at SoundsRite."

"In the studio, I brought with me my Tama Superstar kit, which has birch shells (birch drums are tried and tested in recording/studio situations). My toms are fitted with clear Evans G2 batters. My 18"x20" kick drum is fitted with an Evans EMAD batter and an Evans EQ3 Resonant black front head (with 5" offset hole). Though my drums are pretty much set up for live situations, I was eager to hear how it performs in the recording studio. At first, the drums sounded big and boomy. After some tweaking, we were able to get decent tom sounds which responded well in the mix and complimented the songs. I should try coated batter heads next time for the toms, for a warmer sound. The kick drum's heads needed to be loosened and Boyet placed some cloth inside in order to kill some of the overtones (because of the EMAD head, I don't have any muffling inside my kick drum). We were able to get a decent, thuddy, low-end sound from the kick."

"Opting to play simpler drum parts in the recording compared to what I would normally play on a gig, I only used the 10" and 14" toms, though I had the 12" tom set aside, in case it's needed. I was also able to use my 5"x13" Tama Artwood Maple and 5.5"x10" Black Panther Maple snare drums. I tried my Old Faithful 5.5"x14" Tama Starclassic Maple, but the Magic Drum and the Cat sounded more fitting for the songs. I was also able to use my two broken Zildjian K Custom Dark crash cymbals. Even if they had those cracks and were de-modified, they still retain that K Custom magic in their sound. It still has that complex, trashy & sophisticated character, while the damages dried up its decay. I kept these old cymbals because I felt that they'll work well in the studio. And gladly, they did."

--- excerpts from my April 26, 2008 blog


Don't Ever Let Go has become a favorite among most of our loyal friends and following. The story behind the making of this song is interesting. First of all, Paolo wrote this love song based on one bandmate's past relationship experience (guess who). Second, during the first couple of drum recording sessions for this song back in '07, the computer at Blue Door Studio crashed - twice! And during that time, never did that incident happened in that studio, which pretty much has a decent track record. And it's so funny and coincidental that the two gear crashes happened during the sessions for this one song. There's really something about this song.

Finally, we were able to record the drum parts at SoundsRite studio in the summer of '08. I think the delays on the drum recordings in '07 were destined to happen. Because during the SoundsRite sessions, I was more confident, I was more prepared, and I had my then-brand new Tama Superstar kit prepared for recording.

I think I finished the recording in a couple of hours, which surprised me because I never thought I'll finish that soon, considering the sensitivity of the song and some of the more specific drum parts Paolo wanted. Those drum fills during the bridge and the last chorus? I can't remember the number of times I did retakes! I would have played the drum parts differently in this track. But this was Paolo's composition, so with him being the composer and producer, I have to respect that.

I said this to most of our friends, and I'll say it again... Don't Ever Let Go is the most challenging song that I've recorded in our album. And it's even more challenging to play it live. Believe me, it's not as easy as it sounds.

In this song, my main snare drum is my workhorse "Magic Drum" 5"x13" Tama Artwood Maple. Plus, I have once again proven my theory on broken K Customs in this recording session. Despite the defects, they sounded lovely in the studio.

Your Smile

"I recorded Your Smile, which was a bit easier for me because of its groovier, more straight-ahead nature; yet we need to make sure that my parts feel and sound right for the songs."

--- excerpt from my April 26, 2008 blog

Many listeners would think that the drum parts in Your Smile are programmed. But no, the whole thing is 100% live recording. It might not sound obvious during the first half of the song, which is mostly straight-ahead cross-stick grooves. But once the snare drum comes in at the last chorus after the bridge, that would hint the use of real drums played by a real drummer. Listen to the dynamics of the snare drum backbeat. I was in my "drum machine" mode during this song's recording session, yet I still want it to feel like it's human. And I have to say, this is one of my favorite tracks in our album.

Two snare drums were set up for this track. The main snare is my "Old Faithful" 14" Tama Starclassic Maple. It has the die-cast hoops, so I played the cross-sticks on that drum. On the left side of the kit is the 10" Black Panther Maple, where I played the backbeats of the last chorus. In case you're wondering about the splash cymbal model I used for this track, it's a 12" Zildjian Extra Thin Splash, which my good friend Rommell Garcia lent to me.

Pangako

"Recording began at around 12am. I did a couple of practice takes then made adjustments such as fine tuning the drums, making sure that the drum sounds will fit nicely with the song. (Studio Assistant) Ian double-checked the microphone set-up and prepared a click track for me. Then we went on with the actual recording. I'm not aiming to finish quickly or become a one-take wonder. The most important thing for me is to serve the music by playing drum tracks which will compliment the song. But still, we need to be efficient and productive with our studio time."

"On my first take, I wasn't quite warmed up yet, and I was still absorbing the feel of the song, the drumkit, and the studio room. But I felt confident that I'll be able to do better takes as we progress. I think it was on my third or fourth take when I finally got in the zone. I was fully warmed up and my focus was on a high level at that point. I thought I made a couple of good takes. But we know the drum parts can still get better."
"Recording resumed at around 3am. I lost a bit of momentum, and my hands got cold because of the strong air conditioning. But good thing I regained focus, and I was able to do my best takes of the night. In order for me not to repeat the whole take, we just went back to the parts which needed refinement, such as cymbal crescendos and embellishments, some fill-ins, and some hits which will lock in with the bass guitar parts."

"My drumkit for this session is a Premier Artist Birch kit, which belongs to my good friend Ernest Ramos. I used two toms - an 8"x10" rack tom and a 14"x14" floor tom. Both toms are fitted with Evans G1 Coated batter heads. The kick is a 16"x18". Don't let its small size fool you. It's the biggest-sounding 18" bass drum that I've ever heard. It has a solid low-end thump, which often surprises those who hear it. The kick is fitted with an Aquarian Super Kick I Clear batter head, which contributes to that huge sound. The front head doesn't have a hole for the mic. I don't want to make a hole because the kit isn't mine and I don't want to ruin the nice white Aquarian coated front head. So we removed the front head and put a pillow in it (Ernest didn't put any muffling on his kick). The snare drum I used is my Old Faithful 5.5"x14" Tama Starclassic Maple, which is fitted with an Evans G1 Coated batter head and an Evans Snare Side 300 resonant head."

"I used my Zildjian cymbals. My hi-hats are a pair of 14" K Custom Dark Hats and my ride is a 20" K Custom Medium Ride. The two crash cymbals used are my semi-retired damaged cymbals, which I both acquired from my friend Bennii Obana sometime last year. On my left side was my freshly-cracked 17" K Custom Dark Crash, which I recently retired from gigging. On my right side was my de-modified 18" K Custom Dark Crash which had so many hairline cracks when I acquired it, I had it cut after I wounded my finger. Even if these crashes are damaged, they still have that spirit in their sound. I thought that I'd just save these cymbals for studio work, where I think they'll sound well. And they did sound exceptional in the studio."

--- excerpts from my November 16, 2007 blog


My drumming inspiration on Pangako is Jeff Porcaro. This is a love song with a pop arrangement and mass appeal, and I can't think of any other musical inspiration better than Jeff Porcaro, who was not only a groovy pop rock drummer with a solid foundation. He was a master of great feel and sensitivity. He had the knack for playing drum parts which fits best for the music, in relation to its theme and emotions. What mattered to Jeff the most is how the listeners feel the music. I recorded my drum parts for Pangako with Jeff Porcaro in mind. In fact, I think some of the drum fills I used reflected his huge influence on me. May this be my humble tribute to one of my favorite drummers. May God bless Jeff Porcaro's soul.

To fellow drummers who are curious about the accent cymbal I used during the bridge/guitar solo part, that was the broken 18" Zildjian K Custom Dark Crash on the right side of the set-up, which was trimmed down because of multiple hairline cracks. It sounded like a trashy china/crash hybrid, and it sounded great on recording. So, before disposing those broken cast cymbals, think about it first. You'll never know how they'll sound like in the studio. You'll never know if it's magic.

***


Final thoughts...

The music on Dry Your Eyes and Pangarap Ko'y Ikaw were arranged, programmed, and recorded by Jay Durias of South Border. So, if the songs are coming from a musical master, I wouldn't dare touch it! But if Jay would ask me to record the drum parts, I would have done it.

That Side Of Me and Prelude To Ecstasy might have been more slamming if we were able to record live drums for it. But it's alright, because it turned out just fine. Playing it live during our gigs would be a different story...

Come Back... It's the most perfect drum recording... Because there are no drums on it! ;)

I'm planning to play more live drums on our next album, and I would love to do something more refreshing and out of the box. I'm looking forward to that.

Dio's Pops Stories #2: My Audition

Note: Pops Stories are a series of blogs, depicting my life and times with the DLSU Pops Orchestra.

In this blog entry, I remember my audition with the DLSU Concert Band, which will be renamed the DLSU Pops Orchestra the following year. I wrote this blog on Saturday April 18.

*****

18 April

Dio's Pops Stories #2: My Audition

1996... Entering college was an exciting time for me. Frankly, it’s not because I was finally in college and it will mean a lot to my future. For me, college was a time to expose myself, enjoy life to the fullest, and have the chance to grab greater opportunities – musical opportunities, particularly. Since I began playing drums during my first year in high school, I had the dream of becoming a professional musician. Well, it was more of a fantasy. Before, I thought I would be another normal guy who will eventually have a decent job, while music can be something I can do on the side. Anyway, by the time I entered college in 1996, I was a rock drummer who aspired to become a better musician (up to this day, I still want to get better), and I was hoping to find opportunities to play more drums. I wanted to make a mark and establish myself as a musician.

I remember how excited I was during my freshman orientation. Back in the day, the frosh orientation is a one-day affair, with its standard operating procedure of meeting our blockmates, touring the campus, and learning about all things La Salle, like the alma mater song, cheers, and some history and culture (though these weren’t so new to me, since I’m a La Salle Greenhills alumnus). The highlight of that afternoon was the presentation of the performing arts groups, under the DLSU Cultural Arts Office. The show was held at the William Shaw Little Theater (we didn’t have the Yuchengco Theater and the Sports Complex yet). I remember the performance of the DLSU Concert Band (yes, this was ’96, it wasn’t called Pops yet; naabutan ko yon!). The first piece the Band played was David Foster’s instrumental classic, “Winter Games”. I remember seeing Sir Eli for the first time. The drummer was a girl (Ella Monserrate, the first-ever female Band/Pops drummer), the bass player (Dohndi Santos) was wearing a Dream Theater shirt, and the keyboardist (Junjun Del Rosario) was really really good. And coming from an exclusive all-boys' school, for me it was intriguing to see a big band with a good number of female members! Next song, if I remember it right, was Swing Out Sister’s “Am I The Same Girl”, which was sung by former CAO Coordinator Ms. Mary Lyn Driz (I remember back when the old members jokingly teased Sir Eli a lot, linking him to Ms. Lyn hehe!). That was also the first time I saw and heard that great drummer named Junjun Regalado. The Band sounded so beautiful. And that moment, I thought of joining. It may sound corny or cliché, but it felt like destiny. And so, the second week of school was audition week. I searched for the Concert Band’s audition booth, and I quickly signed up.

My ECE blockmate, guitarist Mark Casquero was also interested in joining the Band. That midweek, one afternoon after classes (around 5pm, if I remember it right), we decided to visit the Band Room to inquire further about what to prepare for and expect at the audition. Sir Eli was the only person present inside the Band Room that time. That was the first time I entered the Band Room and talked to Sir Eli. For me, visiting the Bandroom was a chance for me to check out the place and the gear. I saw a nice red Premier XPK drumkit with Zildjian cymbals, set up on one corner of the rehearsal area. The kit looked new that time, and I thought "Ah, nice kit! I'll be alright at the audition."

Audition day was Saturday at the Band Room, which was hidden somewhere at one corner of the Taft campus, beside the school’s ROTC office, near the then-new STRC Building. Back then, there weren’t any preliminary and final auditions and all those special screening and steps. All auditions and interviews were held at the audition day itself (except for non-performing applicants for the PR Committee and the Production Staff). I arrived at the Band Room sometime around 2pm. I went alone, having no companions or upperclassmen contacts and referrals. I didn't know where my blockmate Mark was. I know sophomore sax player Vic Nepomuceno from LSGH Band, but I didn’t know he was a Band member until later. And I knew LSGH batchmate & sax player Oliver Santillan was auditioning too, but we had different schedules (sorry Oliver, I just revealed your real ID number haha!). It was just me, my sticks, and for some reason, I brought along with me my mountable LP Cyclops Tambourine (what was I thinking back then haha!). I remember waiting for my turn at the Band Room’s office area. Also waiting were the La Salle Zobel boys - I recall seeing Patrick Mateo, Ryan Herrera, and Mikmik Sy Qui; and aspiring vocalist, sophomore Jolon Pabiton, who was wearing fatigues fresh from his ROTC session. I even remember what I was wearing that day – a red tie-dyed Batman shirt, jeans, and black Palladium sneakers. And I was attempting to grow my hair long.

The rehearsal room’s glass windows were covered, so that we won’t be able to see what’s happening inside the audition area. Whenever the door opened, we tried to peek in, but there was a huge rolling blackboard which served as a divider. Though I was feeling confident that time, I knew it will be tough the moment they call my name and I begin playing. I was also aware that I wasn’t the only drummer trying out, and I knew this one guy who auditioned, and I heard he’s quite a good drummer. And I also heard that they only needed one new drummer that year. While waiting, we can hear people from the audition area, screaming, applauding, laughing, and reacting to whatever the aspiring applicant played or answered during the interview. Though it was a sign for me that the audition wasn’t so uptight, it still felt scary.

Finally, it was my turn. It was sometime around 3pm. I entered the rehearsal room/audition area. There were plenty of people! The rhythm section area was the stage. In front was a long table, and I assumed that the persons seated there with papers, pens, and lists were the officers. On one side near the window, Sir Eli was seated on his high chair. The rest of the members were scattered around the room. And some rhythm section players were on standby, waiting to play along with Band hopefuls. I remember, it was alumnus Neil Mison on bass and Junjun Del Rosario on keyboard. I smiled the whole time, hoping that it would bring a nice first impression haha! I took a moment to make adjustments on the Band's Premier drumkit. The kit was pretty much new back then. The chrome hardware and the Zildjian A Series cymbals were shiny. When I was all set, Sir Eli told me to play a solo…

I played Temple Of The Dog’s “Pushing Forward Back”. I chose that song because its time signature is in 7, and I thought that it can show them that I can play odd meters. Plus, I think the song is groovy even if it’s in 7. Most of them weren’t aware of what song I was playing along to in my head, but they knew I was playing in 7. They made me stop halfway through, and then Sir Eli told me to jam with the rhythm section. I can’t remember what we played, but we jammed for awhile, and it was fun. Until Sir Eli told us to stop, then he handed me this sheet of music, which I thought will seal my fate in this audition haha! It was “Santorini”, by Greek new age musician Yanni, which was in 7. I never heard of Yanni that time, so deep inside I was like, "Oh no..." haha! They must have thought of giving me that piece because I played an odd-time song earlier. I was used to reading transcriptions from Modern Drummer magazine and the ones I got used to at the LSGH Band, so I had a bit of difficulty reading Sir Eli’s piece, and I was a slow sight reader (even up to this day). At first, I didn’t quite get it. But when Junjun began playing the opening keyboard parts, things became clearer for me. I learned later on that Sir Eli’s drum notations are like patterns/guides, and only the hi-hats were supposed to be played during the opening part of Santorini. Though I was able to nail the accents, I played the song with kick and snare, forming a groove. Some of the guys thought I can’t read haha!

After playing a few bars, they interviewed me and bombarded me with several questions, from standard audition questions like “What’s your reason for joining the Band?”, “Do your parents know that you’re auditioning?”, and various commitment-related questions, to funny inquiries like "Umiinom ka ba?", and “May girlfriend ka na ba?” I think I was sweating more during the interview than on my performance! Those 10 minutes of audition felt longer. After all that, they told me to wait for the results, which will be posted at the Band Room on Monday, 5pm.

Monday afternoon, after my class, I went to the Band Room, together with my blockmate Mark. We ran up the stairs going to the Band Room door, where the final results were posted. Mark made it.

And yes, I made it too.

"Pangako" Drum Recording Session

Seven a.m... Ah finally, there's sunshine! Most of you out there are just starting your day, while I just ended mine. I just finished recording my drum tracks for our single "Pangako". I said yesterday on my previous blog that I'll share my thoughts about the recording session. And here it is...

We were supposed to start our recording session at 8pm last night. But we moved it from 8 to 11 pm, because our keyboardist Teddy forgot to inform management about a prior commitment that he needs to attend to early last night. Teddy has the Pangako play-along track that we'll be using, and we can't start without him. It's all fine with me, because a few extra hours of rest and relaxation before the studio work were welcome.

I made it at Blue Door Studio at around 1030pm. Teddy and I both arrived at the same time. Ian, our recording engineer for the night, welcomed us. Minutes later, our manager Alona David and our road manager Jason Reyes arrived. They brought food, so we ate first while waiting for Paolo to arrive. Ted and Pao have to be present because their inputs for the song are essential. Teddy prepared the demos and my drum play-along track, and he'll be doing most of the important work in his studio. Paolo always has great musical ideas, and I value his inputs and suggestions. Oh yeah, I drank two cups of coffee and a few glasses of Coke to get me going. Caffeine and sugar help me during times like this hehe!

Recording began at around 12am. I did a couple of practice takes then made adjustments such as fine tuning the drums, making sure that the drum sounds will fit nicely with the song. Ian double-checked the microphone set-up and prepared a click track for me. Then we went on with the actual recording. I'm not aiming to finish quickly or become a one-take wonder. The most important thing for me is to serve the music by playing drum tracks which will compliment the song. But still, we need to be efficient and productive with our studio time.

On my first take, I wasn't quite warmed up yet, and I was still absorbing the feel of the song, the drumkit, and the studio room. But I felt confident that I'll be able to do better takes as we progress. I think it was on my third or fourth take when I finally got in the zone. I was fully warmed up and my focus was on a high level at that point. I thought I made a couple of good takes. But we know the drum parts can still get better.

It was already around 2am, and studio owner Eric Villadelgado, Ate Alona's drummer husband Joel "Jumi" David, and Angel's manager Jojo Pascasio were already present in the studio. After doing those two good takes, the computer suddenly needed to restart. I think it was a process overload or something. I was reminded of the computer crash on our studio session last year, so I hope it's not a repeat of that unlucky incident. Good thing Ian got it all figured out. It's just a simple restart, and we just need to delete some stuff we no longer need in order to lighten the load. While Ian was refreshing the board and the computer, I took a break. It's just wrong timing for me because I already built momentum at that point. But it's okay because I know it will come back.

Recording resumed at around 3am. I lost a bit of momentum, and my hands got cold because of the strong air conditioning. But good thing I regained focus, and I was able to do my best takes of the night. In order for me not to repeat the whole take, we just went back to the parts which needed refinement, such as cymbal crescendos and embellishments, some fill-ins, and some hits which will lock in with the bass guitar parts. Paolo had some great ideas for the drum parts, so we worked on those.

We finished the drum track recording at 4am. While we were listening to the drum parts, we felt good for doing a wonderful job. I feel a sense of accomplishment, and I'm looking forward to finishing the whole song. There's still plenty of work to do. We still need to record E's guitar parts, refine some of the keyboard sounds, and do its final mix. I hope that my drum parts have given justice to the song. And once it's on air, I wish listeners would appreciate what we've made.

We are delighted with the drum and cymbal sounds. My drumkit for this session is a Premier Artist Birch kit, which belongs to my good friend Ernest Ramos. I used two toms - an 8"x10" rack tom and a 14"x14" floor tom. Both toms are fitted with Evans G1 Coated batter heads. The kick is a 16"x18". Don't let its small size fool you. It's the biggest-sounding 18" bass drum that I've ever heard. It has a solid low-end thump, which often surprises those who hear it. The kick is fitted with an Aquarian Super Kick I Clear batter head, which contributes to that huge sound. The front head doesn't have a hole for the mic. I don't want to make a hole because the kit isn't mine and I don't want to ruin the nice white Aquarian coated front head. So we removed the front head and put a pillow in it (Ernest didn't put any muffling on his kick). The snare drum I used is my Old Faithful 5.5"x14" Tama Starclassic Maple, which is fitted with an Evans G1 Coated batter head and an Evans Snare Side 300 resonant head.

I used my Zildjian cymbals. My hi-hats are a pair of 14" K Custom Dark Hats and my ride is a 20" K Custom Medium Ride. The two crash cymbals used are my semi-retired damaged cymbals, which I both acquired from my friend Bennii Obana sometime last year. On my left side was my freshly-cracked 17" K Custom Dark Crash, which I recently retired from gigging. On my right side was my de-modified 18" K Custom Dark Crash which had so many hairline cracks when I acquired it, I had it cut after I wounded my finger. Even if these crashes are damaged, they still have that spirit in their sound. I thought that I'd just save these cymbals for studio work, where I think they'll sound well. And they did sound exceptional in the studio.
And last but not the least, we didn't have a drummer's throne. So yes, I was sitting on a state-of-the-art, high-performance monoblock plastic stool hahaha!

Overall, I'm happy with my drum recording, and I'm glad that things turned out well this time in the studio. I was sharper and more well-prepared for the studio work this time, and my focus and patience have become effective for me. I'm now eager to finish our song. I'll just post updates here in my blog.

We have a gig tonight, I should rest right now.