Gain Staging Addictive Drums 2

[T on Y]

I've just discovered gain staging and seeing waveforms so low is freaking me out... on to my questions

Firstly 'Chris Selim @  Mixdown Online' recommends to gain stage at -12dbfs Peak rather than -18dbfs RMS when gain staging drums. Is this a good way to gain stage

Secondly, I've set the outputs to each drum and bus in AD2 to record on separate audio channels and used 'FreeG' and  the above method to record the output to around -12dbfs but the waveforms look way too small.  I don't know if I've done something wrong and feel uncomfortable when looking at the results. Is this the right way to gain stage AD2 

Edited July 11, 2020 by T on Y

[Nigel Mackay]

Percussion has such a spiky waveform that -12dB peaks does look like a small waveform.