# Chris Turner's Drum Setup on Oceans Ate Alaska's 'Hikari' (2017)

> The drum setup Chris Turner used to record Oceans Ate Alaska's 2017 breakthrough 'Hikari' — Tama Starclassic Maple/Birch, Meinl Byzance Extra Dry cymbals, and the Speed Cobra 910 pedal behind the album that made his playthrough videos go viral.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Chris Turner](/llms/drummers/chris-turner.md)
**Band / Album:** Oceans Ate Alaska — *Hikari* (2017)
**Genre:** Progressive Metalcore

## Overview

Released July 28, 2017 on Fearless Records, "Hikari" is Oceans Ate Alaska's second full-length album and the record that turned Chris Turner from a well-regarded UK metalcore drummer into one of the most widely circulated technical drummers on the internet. Produced by Nick Sampson and recorded across 2016 and 2017, the album takes its title from the Japanese word for "light" — a deliberate reference to the record's fusion of progressive metalcore aggression with melodic, occasionally Japanese-influenced instrumental passages, most audible on the title track and the atmospheric interlude "Veridical."

Where Oceans Ate Alaska's 2015 debut "Lost Isles" established the band within Fearless Records' metalcore roster, "Hikari" is the record where Turner's drumming vocabulary crystallized into something distinct from his peers. "Hansha" and "Escapist" — tracks four and eleven on the album — became the two performances most responsible for his viral reach: official Fearless Records music videos for both tracks accumulated millions of views, and the drum-camera footage embedded in those videos gave viewers an unobstructed look at technique most drummers only attempt in isolated practice.

"Hansha" in particular introduced Turner's polyrhythmic kick superimposition to a global audience — three-against-four and five-against-four kick subdivisions layered beneath a stable metalcore backbeat, executed at roughly 165 BPM without ever losing the song's forward drive. "Escapist," running closer to 170 BPM, showcased the velocity-even double bass technique that would become his other calling card: both feet producing identical note weight regardless of which one leads, a level of independence training that is immediately audible on the recording.

This article is a dedicated breakdown of the specific rig Turner used to record "Hikari" — distinct from the general MetalForge gear overview — with a track-by-track look at how the Starclassic Maple/Birch kit, Byzance Extra Dry cymbals, and Speed Cobra 910 pedal served the album that built his audience.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** Tama Tama Starclassic Maple/Birch (Custom finish, 2016–2017 recording configuration finish)
- **Snare:** Tama Tama S.L.P. G-Maple, 14" x 5.5"
- **Cymbals:** Meinl — Meinl Byzance Series
- **Hardware / Pedals:** Tama Speed Cobra 910 Double Pedal; Vic Firth American Classic 5A; Tama 1st Chair Throne
- **Heads:** Evans (batter and snare side)
- **Snare tuning:** Medium tension, tuned for both ghost note sensitivity and rimshot cut

### Tama Starclassic Maple/Birch: The Hikari Sessions Configuration

For the "Hikari" sessions, Turner recorded on the Tama Starclassic Maple/Birch that would go on to define his sound through the rest of the 2010s. The hybrid shell pairing was chosen specifically to serve an album that moves between two extremes within individual songs: the blast-driven aggression of tracks like "Covert" and "Entrapment," and the melodic, almost ambient instrumental writing on "Veridical" and the title track. A pure-birch kit would have nailed the aggressive material but sounded thin and clinical on the record's quieter passages; a pure-maple kit would have gone the other way, losing definition once the guitars distorted and the tempo climbed.

The streamlined three-tom spread — 10", 12", and a single 16" floor tom — kept Turner's melodic fill sequences (a hallmark of "Hansha" in particular) pitched clearly rather than muddying into an oversized kit's low-end clutter. Nick Sampson's production leaned into this clarity, mic'ing the toms tight and dry so that Turner's compositional fills — which frequently trace specific pitch intervals against the guitar melody rather than simply filling space — read as distinct musical statements in the mix.

A single 22" bass drum, rather than a double-kick configuration, carried the entire album's foot work via the Speed Cobra 910 double pedal — the same single-kick philosophy Turner has maintained throughout his career, prioritizing tonal consistency between both feet over the raw low-end of dual bass drums.

### G-Maple Attack for a Record That Swings Between Extremes

The Tama S.L.P. 14" x 5.5" G-Maple carried the snare duties across "Hikari," and its shallow 5.5" depth was the right call for a record built on rapid pattern changes. On "Hansha," the snare has to articulate cross-stick accents and rimshots within the same phrase as Turner's polyrhythmic kick work; a deeper, longer-sustaining shell would smear those closely spaced hits together under Nick Sampson's dense mix. The G-Maple's glued-laminate construction gives it a faster attack than a standard single-ply maple shell, so ghost notes register even at the lower velocities Turner uses in "Veridical"'s quieter passages, while the rimshot still cracks with authority for "Covert"'s heavier sections.

Evans heads (batter and snare side) rounded out the setup, tuned to a medium tension that Sampson's production could push bright without the drum turning harsh — a balance that let the snare sit clearly against the album's layered, downtuned guitar arrangements without dominating the mix.

### Meinl Byzance Extra Dry: Precision Accents for a Dynamically Extreme Record

"Hikari" is the album that established the Extra Dry-heavy cymbal philosophy Turner has kept ever since. The Extra Dry finish on both crashes and the china strips away the long, washy sustain of standard Byzance cymbals, replacing it with an immediate, focused attack that decays in a fraction of the time. That decay speed matters enormously on a track like "Hansha," where crash accents land in close proximity to Turner's polyrhythmic kick figures — a longer-sustaining cymbal would bleed into the next kick grouping and blur the polyrhythm's audibility, undercutting the exact effect the pattern is built to create.

The 15" Dual Hi-Hats and 22" Dual Ride, by contrast, keep their natural Byzance complexity rather than the Extra Dry treatment, because those two cymbals carry "Hikari"'s groove-based verses and need tonal depth rather than fast decay. This split — Extra Dry for accent cymbals, standard Byzance complexity for timekeeping cymbals — is the specific cymbal-selection logic that Nick Sampson's mix rewards throughout the record, and it's the template Turner carried forward into "Disparity" five years later.

## Key Facts

- Released July 28, 2017 on Fearless Records; produced by Nick Sampson
- Title means "light" in Japanese, reflecting the album's melodic/Japanese-influenced instrumental passages
- "Hansha" and "Escapist" became Turner's two most-viewed viral drum performances
- Tama Starclassic Maple/Birch kit with Tama S.L.P. 14"x5.5" G-Maple snare
- Meinl Byzance Extra Dry crashes and china for fast-decay accent placement
- Tama Speed Cobra 910 double pedal drove the velocity-even double bass on "Escapist"
- Recorded on the Tama Starclassic Maple/Birch — the kit that defined Turner's sound from Hikari onward
- Single 22" bass drum with Speed Cobra 910 double pedal, not a dual-kick setup
- Tight, dry tom mic'ing by producer Nick Sampson to preserve melodic fill clarity
- Streamlined three-tom spread built for pitch-specific fills rather than volume
- Estimated kit value: $2,500–4,500 (Starclassic Maple/Birch, 2017 configuration)
- Estimated snare value: $300–500 (Tama S.L.P. G-Maple)

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: What drum kit did Chris Turner use on Oceans Ate Alaska's 'Hikari'?**

A: Chris Turner recorded 'Hikari' (2017) on a Tama Starclassic Maple/Birch kit configured with a 22" bass drum, 10" and 12" rack toms, and a single 16" floor tom. The hybrid maple/birch shell construction was chosen to serve an album that swings between aggressive, blast-driven tracks like 'Covert' and melodic, near-ambient passages like 'Veridical' — the same kit and configuration Turner has used ever since. For his current touring setup, see the [Chris Turner drummer profile](/drummer/chris-turner).

**Q: Why did 'Hikari' make Chris Turner's drumming go viral?**

A: Fearless Records' official music videos for 'Hansha' and 'Escapist' — tracks four and eleven on 'Hikari' — gave viewers an unobstructed drum-camera view of Turner's polyrhythmic kick superimposition and velocity-even double bass technique, respectively. Both videos accumulated millions of views and are widely credited with building Turner's international audience beyond Oceans Ate Alaska's existing metalcore fanbase. Full technique breakdowns: [Hansha](/drummers/chris-turner/licks/chris-turner-hansha-polyrhythm) and [Escapist](/drummers/chris-turner/licks/chris-turner-escapist-double-bass) at MetalForge.

**Q: Who produced Oceans Ate Alaska's 'Hikari'?**

A: 'Hikari' was produced by Nick Sampson and released July 28, 2017 on Fearless Records, recorded during 2016 and 2017. The album's title is the Japanese word for 'light,' reflecting its fusion of aggressive progressive metalcore with melodic, occasionally Japanese-influenced instrumental writing, most audible on the title track and the interlude 'Veridical.'

**Q: What pedal did Chris Turner use for 'Escapist'?**

A: Chris Turner used the Tama Speed Cobra 910 double pedal on 'Escapist,' the closing track from 'Hikari.' Its Duo-Glide dual-chain drive and Spring-Loaded Cam Plate eliminate the mechanical flex and slack that would otherwise undermine the velocity-even double bass technique the track requires — both feet striking with identical force and timing at roughly 170 BPM. For more on his gear: [Chris Turner drum setup at MetalForge](/articles/chris-turner-drum-setup).

**Q: How does 'Hikari' compare to Oceans Ate Alaska's 'Disparity'?**

A: 'Hikari' (2017) established the core techniques — polyrhythmic kick superimposition and velocity-even double bass — that Turner would push further on 'Disparity' (2022), particularly on the track 'Metamorph,' which layers blast beats into shifting 7/8, 5/4, and 4/4 passages. The gear stayed essentially consistent between the two records: the same Tama Starclassic Maple/Birch kit and Meinl Byzance Extra Dry cymbal philosophy carried through both albums. See the [Chris Turner drum setup overview](/articles/chris-turner-drum-setup) for the full gear arc.

**Source:** https://metalforge.io/articles/chris-turner-hikari-2017

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*Last updated: 2026-07-05 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*