# Ben Koller's Drum Setup on Converge's Jane Doe (2001)

> Inside Ben Koller's drum setup for Converge's Jane Doe (2001) — the mathcore masterpiece tracked at Kurt Ballou's GodCity Studio. Tama drums, Sabian HHX/AAX cymbals, Iron Cobra pedals, Vater sticks, and the blast-and-breakdown vocabulary that redefined heavy music.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Ben Koller](/llms/drummers/ben-koller.md)
**Band / Album:** Converge — *Jane Doe* (2001)
**Genre:** Mathcore / Metalcore

## Overview

Released on September 4, 2001 on Equal Vision Records, Converge's Jane Doe is widely considered one of the greatest heavy records of all time — a mathcore landmark that fused hardcore punk, metal, and noise into a singular, devastating statement. At the center of that storm sits Ben Koller, whose drum setup for the Jane Doe sessions delivered the controlled chaos that turned a four-piece hardcore band into a genre-defining force.

Tracked by guitarist Kurt Ballou at his GodCity Studio in Salem, Massachusetts, Jane Doe captures a band at the peak of its creative violence. Koller was only 23 when the album was recorded, but his playing on tracks like "Concubine," "Fault and Fracture," "The Broken Vow," and the closing title track established a blast-and-breakdown vocabulary that drummers in mathcore, metalcore, and extreme metal still study today.

Ben Koller's Jane Doe drum setup centered on a Tama kit with a single bass drum, Sabian HHX and AAX cymbals, Tama Iron Cobra pedals, and Vater sticks — a pragmatic, hard-touring configuration built for the brutal demands of Converge's music. Koller has been a single-kick monster throughout his career, and Jane Doe is the record where that approach reached its definitive form.

This article breaks down the gear Ben Koller used to record Jane Doe and examines how each piece serves Converge's most influential album.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** Tama Starclassic Bubinga (Piano Black finish) — single 22" x 18" bass drum, 10" and 12" rack toms, 14" and 16" floor toms
- **Snare:** Tama brass-shell snare, 14" x 6.5"
- **Cymbals:** Sabian HHX / AAX — 14" HHX Groove Hats, 18" and 19" AAX Stage Crashes, 21" HHX Raw Bell Dry Ride, 18" AAX Chinese
- **Hardware / Pedals:** Tama Iron Cobra Power Glide (single pedal), Tama Iron Cobra Lever Glide hi-hat stand, Tama 1st Chair Round Rider throne, Vater Ben Koller signature sticks
- **Heads:** Evans G2 Coated tom batters; Evans G1 Coated snare batter; Evans EMAD bass batter
- **Snare tuning:** Medium-high tension for cut through dense guitar mix

### Koller's Jane Doe Kit: The Tama Setup

Ben Koller has been a Tama artist throughout his Converge tenure, and the Jane Doe sessions used an era-appropriate Tama Starclassic kit with bubinga shells. Bubinga's dense grain produces a focused, punchy attack with a deeper fundamental than maple or birch — the kind of voice that can register through Kurt Ballou's wall of detuned guitars without disappearing into the mids.

Koller is a single-kick monster. Where many drummers in metalcore and mathcore lean on double pedals to handle their fastest patterns, Koller has consistently used a single 22" bass drum throughout his career, executing his blast beats and gallops with one foot. The Jane Doe rig followed that approach: a single 22" x 18" kick handled every kick figure on the record, from blast beats to the open, pummeling grooves of "Bitter and Then Some."

The tom configuration was deliberately compact — 10" and 12" rack toms over 14" and 16" floor toms. This four-tom layout gives Koller melodic range for his chaotic fills while keeping the kit physically small enough to throw around live, where Converge are infamously violent.

### The Crack at the Center of Jane Doe

The snare drum is the most identifiable voice on Jane Doe, and Ben Koller's choice was a 14" x 6.5" brass-shell Tama snare. Brass produces a brighter, more cutting attack than steel or wood, with a fast decay and a strong fundamental — exactly what Converge's dense, distorted mix demanded.

The 6.5" depth (deeper than a standard 5" or 5.5") provides extra body and projection on rimshots, which are the primary backbeat stroke in Koller's playing. On Jane Doe's hardest-hitting sections — the breakdown in "Fault and Fracture," the half-time crush of "The Broken Vow" — the snare lands as a single, decisive crack.

Kurt Ballou recorded Jane Doe almost entirely in his GodCity Studio with a small mic locker and an aggressive close-mic philosophy. The snare was captured with a Shure SM57 on top and a condenser underneath, blended for attack and snare-wire response. The result is dry, immediate, and right in your face.

### The Sabian Arsenal

Ben Koller has been a Sabian endorser throughout his career, and his Jane Doe cymbal setup pulled from the HHX and AAX series. The HHX series leans dark and complex; the AAX series leans bright and fast. Pairing them gives Koller a setup that can speak across Converge's full dynamic range, from chaotic noise passages to explosive, full-band crashes.

The 14" HHX Groove hats are the rhythmic anchor. Their darker, drier voice keeps rapid hi-hat patterns articulate without the bright wash that brighter hats would smear into the guitars.

The AAX crashes (18" and 19") are bright, fast, and cutting. For mathcore, crashes need to speak immediately and disappear quickly to make room for the next attack.

The 21" HHX Raw Bell Dry Ride is the most distinctive cymbal in the setup — usable as both a ride and a textural crash for Converge's more atmospheric moments. The 18" AAX Chinese is Koller's exclamation point, used to punctuate Jane Doe's most violent breakdowns.

## Key Facts

- Released September 4, 2001 on Equal Vision Records
- Produced by Kurt Ballou at GodCity Studio, Salem, Massachusetts
- Considered Converge's masterpiece and a mathcore landmark
- Koller was 23 years old at the time of recording
- Single 22" bass drum — no double pedal
- Bubinga shells provide focused attack and deep fundamental
- Brass-shell snare tuned medium-high for cut
- Sabian HHX/AAX cymbal pairing for full dynamic range
- Tama Iron Cobra Power Glide single pedal
- Vater Ben Koller signature sticks
- Estimated kit value: $2,500-3,500 (2001)

**Source:** https://metalforge.io/articles/jane-doe-drum-setup

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*Last updated: 2026-06-26 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*