L'Arc~en~Ciel: True
One would think that recording "True" would up the ante from "heavenly" even more. L'Arc was producing a big album so one would imagine a lot of time was spent getting the right sounds. Thankfully, at least with Sakura's drums, this is not the case. Rather, he decided he wanted to take a simple approach to recording this time. In interviews he claims this album was recorded with just 1 snare, basically 1 set of cymbals, the usual toms, and primarily a 22" bass drum. This is good to know since I have no photos and detailed descriptions like I do for "heavenly!" That said, I will describe the "basic set-up" for recording this album, and then point out little facts about each song that might deviate from that set-up.
DRUMS:Snare drums: 14"x6.5" Pearl Custom Classic
Toms: Pearl MR 10"x8", 12"x8", 13"x8", 16"x16", 18"x16"
Bass drum: Pearl MR 22" (unknown depth)
Sakura doesn't own a 22" bass drum so he probably rented one from Pearl. I would bet it is 16" depth but don't know for sure. As for the toms, this album features Sakura rolling around toms much less than the previous ones, and the whole album could basically be played on the 13" and 16". He said in an interview he didn't mess with the toms much so he probably just used his standard set-up from lives. Also, he put die-cast hoops on all the toms for this album. Finally, he said he recorded the whole album with 1 snare drum except for "kaze ni kienaide" since that was recorded much earlier. Not sure what the snare was for that song but it hardly matters since it sounds like crap anyway.
HEADS:Snare: Remo Coated Ambassador (top), Remo Ambassador Snare Side (bottom)
Toms: Remo Coated Ambassador (top), Remo Clear Ambassador (bottom)
Bass drum: Remo Smooth White or Controlled Sound (batter), Pearl stock reso head (resonant)
Sakura continues to use his tried and true snare and tom heads. Apparently the bass drum batter heads he used live, which appear to be a Coated Ambassador with a black dot on the underside, he made himself. I am not sure if he also used this for recording his 26". It seems unlikely that he used such a head on the 22" I suppose, and probably just used a Smooth White as usual.
CYMBALS:15" Paiste 2002 Sound Edge Hi-Hats
22" Paiste Signature Dry Ride
20", 18", 17", 16" Paiste Signature Full Crashes
12", 10" Paiste Signature Splashes
18" Sabian AAX Chinese
A few changes and cymbals of note here. First of all, Sakura starts playing a set of what are obviously Sound Edge hi-hats from this album onwards. I am assuming he's using the same old ride but it could be different. With the crashes, it's also an educated guess, and I've listed them all for completeness, but there's a decent chance he has pared down to just the 18" and 17" (as he did with his live set-up). He probably only used 1 splash and it's probably the 10" but it could be a 12" too. Finally, I'm pretty certain about the chinese cymbal at least.
Here are some variations for each song:
Fare Well: Sakura said he used a simple 26"-13"-16" set for this song. No muffling on the bass drum.
Caress of Venus: The bass drum sound is a sample from a Roland PR808, but otherwise this apparently uses real drums.
Round and Round: Probably uses a 24" bass drum.
flower: Uses a 26" bass drum during the "like a flower!" part only.
"good-morning Hide": The maracas and bass drum were sampled.
the Fourth Avenue Cafe: Uses a 24" bass drum.
Lies and Truth: Uses an electronic bass drum.
kaze ni kienaide: The toms are single headed on this song. The single mix uses a 22" bass drum with a big hole cut in the front head. For the album, it was overdubbed with an electronic bass drum.
I Wish: No differences that I can tell.
Dearest Love: Uses a 26" bass drum.
I'm so happy: Probably has his drumset setup like Bonham: 26" bass, big toms, and probably a Supra for the snare.
sayounara: No changes from default set.
sai wa nagerareta: No changes from default set.
Unfortunately, there are no images to share from the recording of this album.