Yep, we're on the same page Shawn.
"mix trim," "mix pan," and "rec trim." Do I want to pan the left full left, and right full right? I don't think I want to but will leave that up for advise. Mix level, what is that? 1/2 arrived at 75, 3/4 at 0. Thats all I'm using for now so whats the deal? Rec trim I put everything to 0.
To start simply, you only need concern yourself with 'rec trim'. Forget about mix level and mix pan, they don't effect the indvidual recorded channels, only the optional internal mixdown to the stereo channel (or to the headphone and mixed outputs).
As for panning on the deck. I don't gang channels so I then record in mono. I then do any panning in post.
Ganging channels has no relation to choosing to write mono, stereo, or multichannel interleaved files when recording, or on choosing to do an internal mixdown to the stereo channel. It only effects how you adjust the controls. You can gang just some or all of the channels, maybe make three seperate stereo groups: 1+2, 3+4, 5+6 or whatever to adjust gain simultaneously across each group while recording, even if you are writing individual mono files. Ganging also applies to the mix pan and mix level controls the same way, the number of tracks per file doesn't matter.
[snip]..as you get deeper into multitrack recording you'll find there are times you want to run things out of phase to make it sound better. IE: mic'ing top and bottom of a snare drum or doing the top and bottom of a Leslie cabinet. But we are getting a little off topic now
FWIW, the thing about flipping polarity (phase) on one mic of a pair placed on opposite sides of a drum makes sense when you think about the movement of the drum head when hit- it moves inwards on one side while moving outwards from the other side, so if you don't invert polarity on one mic you get tracks that are naturally out of polarity with each other.
It's usually pretty easy to hear which polarity choice is 'better' by listening to the low end. If it sounds thin and washy, try flipping polarity on one source and see if it sounds fatter. If one channel of a stero pair is out of polarity with the other, in addition to loss of bass the stereo image will probably sound indistict without a solid center. The correct choice is usually the one with more bass, but as Kirk knows there are some good exceptions to almost everything.