So here’s the start of it all. After a month and a half of rehearsals and practices, we’ve moved into the recording studio and will call it our second home for a while.

For this first recording session Manshaan was scheduled to record the drum tracks for Scratch but we ended up doing more than one track. This is because after setting up the drum set, we thought it would be a good idea to record as many tracks as possible with that drum setting.

Alda wasn’t present for this session as he has to set up his bass before we record his parts.

Here’s the breakdown.

4pm to 6pm: Set up, tune and mic up drum set.

We used a Yamaha drum set with Paiste hi-hats and Solar cymbals. Manshaan brought in his personal snare and Iron Cobra double pedals. He went with the snare, single tom, floor tom, kick drum set up. He had two crashes, a ride and a pair of hi-hats. This was really a Kodak moment. Here was a sweet looking drum set, surrounded by mic stands, mics and cables that made the entire miking and set up for the drum set look like a massive construction. It’s like Manshaan sitting inside his fortress.

6pm to 7pm: Recorded drums for Scratch

7pm to 745pm: Break. This is where Manshaan needed a smoke, so we drove out to the Seven Eleven, bought some water as well and just hung out before we headed back to the studio.

745pm to 845pm: Recorded drums for The Bleeding Confession

845pm to 930pm: Recorded drums for Silence

930pm to 10pm: Recorded guide vocal and rhythm guitar tracks for The Bleeding Confession and Scratch.

Consistency and accuracy are Manshaan’s key points. It was truly a memorable experience recording the tracks with him.

Not forgetting Kim, a very talented recording/mixing engineer with an excellent ear for sound and precision in timing/tempo.

As for me, I was armed with my dad’s trusty Norman B20 acoustic guitar to record the guitar guide tracks. It sounded really good especially after it was set up. It was just a line out of the guitar into the mixer without any miking because we were only recording guide tracks.

The songs sound different now as they are arranged in a full band setting and no longer just acoustic and vocals.

All in all, this first recording session was very productive. Most importantly, the studio was where I wanted to be and it makes me the happiest doing what I love to do. We were all exhausted by the end of the session, but it was all worth it.

P/S: There was a huge, beautiful rainbow in the sky while we were out at the Seven Eleven. This was a good sign.