In the modern studio there is no more complex job for the engineer than micing the drum set. Musically, the drum set and bass form the rhythmic underpinning of any jazz, pop or rock musical performance. In the final mix, it can be in the background, foreground or well out front, depending on the needs of the music. The job for the engineer at the tracking stage of album production is to store the necessary sonic elements, both stereo and mono, that will allow the mix engineer to put together a coherent rhythmic sound structure for all possible options that the artist and producer may want to experiment with as the album project approaches completion.