The Mixer; facefixer

After recording the drums for our debut album with five microphones syphoned straight into our PA system (the sounds then merely flung at the computer in whatever mixed state we could achieved 'on-the-fly'), it was decided that this time around we'd employ a proper multi-track recorder to do the job, whereby we could then tamper with the results to our heart's content; deepening the kick, lifting the hi-hat, dampening the snare, without each manipulation automatically being applied to every other component of the kit as well.

And so, with this specific task in mind, the purchase of a Korg D888 was commissioned.

The sheerest modicum of knowledge is possessed by the sum of us three with regards recording in this manner however, so there'll be the inevitable difficulties, although my delight of moulding mistakes into justifiable musical expressions is wallowing in frolic at the prospect!

Prior to the departure of our bassist, who possessed a wealth of recording knowledge encompassing the better part of two decades, we (in the collective sense, that is) did actually manage to capture several live recordings of various songs, and I've since managed to extract these from the D888. This was easily achieved and no more drastic than transferring data from one external device to another.

Below is a screenshot of the result (it essentially dumps eight streams of equal length into sequential tracks):

'Twas a positive beginning.

From memory, five tracks were derived from precariously-placed drum mics (kick, hi-hat, snare and rotos, toms, and cymbals), one was the vocal mic going directly in, one caught the bass amp, and the last microphone performed duty in front of the guitar amp. Bleed was present, although it was relatively minor (or at least workably so), and makeshift baffles - actually old office dividers - were used in front of both amplifiers to aid in this prevention.

Also, as a delightful surprise, also found on the mixer were some older, full-band practice runs of two (at the time) brand new songs, 'Under The Table' which has since been smoothed out and played live, and an energetic version of 'Face Down'. This last song, although slated for inclusion on the new album, is not currently being performed due to its ungainly bass-driven structure being irrepressibly hollow at present, so we're certainly glad to have this early rendition for future reference; both from a technical point of view, and one merely divined by interest.