# Ben Koller's Drum Setup on Converge's All We Love We Leave Behind (2012)

> Inside Ben Koller's drum setup for Converge's All We Love We Leave Behind (2012) — AP Magazine's Album of the Year. Tama Starclassic drums, Zildjian K Custom and A Custom cymbals, Tama Iron Cobra pedal, and Koller's mid-period Zildjian transition era.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Ben Koller](/llms/drummers/ben-koller.md)
**Band / Album:** Converge — *All We Love We Leave Behind* (2012)
**Genre:** Mathcore / Hardcore

## Overview

Released on October 9, 2012 on Epitaph Records, Converge's All We Love We Leave Behind arrived as their most melodically accessible album to date. After the sprawling, guest-heavy ambition of Axe to Fall (2009), Converge stripped back and focused. AP Magazine named it Album of the Year. It reached audiences who had never engaged with hardcore before, while retaining the intensity that defined every prior Converge record.

Ben Koller's drum setup on All We Love We Leave Behind represents his mid-period Zildjian transition — leaving behind the Sabian HHX/AAX setup of the Jane Doe and Axe to Fall eras and settling into the Zildjian K Custom/A Custom configuration that defines his playing today. The kit is still anchored in Tama Starclassic bubinga-shell DNA, beginning the shift toward the Performer B/B birch/bubinga hybrid he would fully adopt by 2017.

The album is produced by Kurt Ballou at GodCity Studio in Salem, Massachusetts — the same studio and producer behind every Converge album since Jane Doe, now a significantly more refined recording environment. The drum sound has more body and dynamic range than the raw immediacy of Jane Doe, while retaining GodCity's close-miked, no-nonsense character.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** Tama Starclassic (Bubinga / early Performer transition), Piano Black finish — single 22" bass drum, 10" and 12" rack toms, 14" and 16" floor toms
- **Snare:** Tama S.L.P. (Studio Legendary Percussion), 14" x 6.5"
- **Cymbals:** Zildjian K Custom / A Custom — 14" K Custom Dark Hi-Hats, 18" A Custom Crash, 19" A Custom Crash, 21" K Custom Ride, 18" A Custom China, 10" K Splash
- **Hardware / Pedals:** Tama Iron Cobra (single), Vater Ben Koller signature sticks
- **Heads:** Evans G2 Coated tom batters; Evans G1 Coated snare batter; Evans EMAD bass batter
- **Snare tuning:** Medium to medium-high tension — balancing cut and warmth for the album's wider dynamic range

### The Drum Kit

Ben Koller remained a committed single-kick player on All We Love We Leave Behind. The 22" bass drum drove every blast beat and rhythmic figure without a double pedal. The four-tom layout — 10" and 12" racks over 14" and 16" floors — is Koller's career-long preference: compact enough for physically demanding live shows, wide enough for the melodic fill vocabulary the album's songwriting requires.

The bubinga shell construction delivers focused, punchy attack with deep fundamental — the right voice for a drummer whose kit has to register through Kurt Ballou's distortion-heavy guitar arrangements.

### The Snare

The Tama S.L.P. 14" x 6.5" provides the depth and projection for rimshot authority in GodCity's close-mic environment. Tuned at medium to medium-high tension, it sits between the pure cut demanded on Jane Doe and the warmth that All We Love We Leave Behind's more melodic passages require.

### Zildjian K Custom and A Custom — Mid-Period Transition

By 2012, Koller had transitioned from Sabian to Zildjian. His K Custom Dark 14" Hi-Hats anchor rapid hi-hat patterns with a controlled, dark chick — less wash than bright hats, more articulation through the guitar frequencies. The A Custom Crashes (18" and 19") provide the explosive brightness that Converge's section-ending hits require. The K Custom Ride 21" sees more use on this album than earlier records, supporting the more atmospheric passages. The A Custom China 18" marks the most violent transitions; the K Splash 10" punctuates syncopated figures.

### GodCity Production

All We Love We Leave Behind was produced by Kurt Ballou at GodCity Studio in 2012 — a more developed room than the Jane Doe era. The drum sound is warmer and more controlled than the raw brutality of earlier records, with close-miked immediacy retained. Koller tracked in live takes with the full band.

## Key Facts

- Released October 9, 2012 on Epitaph Records
- Produced by Kurt Ballou at GodCity Studio, Salem, Massachusetts
- AP Magazine Album of the Year 2012
- Most melodically accessible Converge album — broad crossover appeal
- Single 22" bass drum — no double pedal throughout
- Koller's Zildjian transition era (from Sabian HHX/AAX on earlier records)
- Tama S.L.P. snare 14" x 6.5" — mid-period settled choice
- Zildjian K Custom Dark Hi-Hats, A Custom Crashes, K Custom Ride
- Evans G2 Coated tom batters, EMAD bass drum batter
- Estimated kit value: $2,500–3,500 (2012)

## Internal Links

- [Ben Koller — Full Drummer Profile](/drummer/ben-koller)
- [Jane Doe Drum Setup (2001)](/articles/jane-doe-drum-setup)
- [Axe to Fall Drum Setup (2009)](/articles/axe-to-fall-drum-setup)
- [The Dusk in Us Drum Setup (2017)](/articles/the-dusk-in-us-drum-setup)

**Source:** https://metalforge.io/articles/all-we-love-we-leave-behind-drum-setup

**More LLM resources:** [Site index](/llms.txt) · [Full database](/llms-full.txt) · [Master FAQ](/llms/faq.md) · [Drummer index](/llms/index.md)

*Last updated: 2026-06-27 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*