What kind of techniques and equipment does Mike use when recording an album? Does Mike do overdubbing in the studio?
MP: I do a lot of drum overdubbing. It’s a cool opportunity that a lot of drummers don’t take advantage of in the studio. I sometimes have different drum parts going at the same time, sometimes even played on two different kits. That’s something I started on Falling into Infinity in 1997, and I’ve carried that over to every album since. If it was an over-the-top progressive epic, I used my big kit; but if it was more simplistic or laid-back, I used the smaller kit. Sometimes, I’ll experiment with using the small kit for the verses and the big kit for the chorus. On a simpler song, I don’t want to be taking a Neil Peart approach when the arrangement calls more for a Ringo or Nick Mason or John Bonham approach. I do percussion overdubs on every song on all of our albums – shaker and tambourine and stuff like that. Live, our singer does that stuff to compensate for it.
