# Koi No Yokan Drum Setup: Abe Cunningham's Dream-State Masterwork > Discover the exact drums, cymbals, and gear Abe Cunningham used to record Deftones' Koi No Yokan album. Complete setup breakdown with recording techniques and track analysis from the 2012 dream-state record. **Type:** Album Drum Setup **Drummer(s):** [Abe Cunningham](/llms/drummers/abe-cunningham.md) **Band / Album:** Deftones — *Koi No Yokan* (2012) **Genre:** Alternative Metal ## Overview Released on November 13, 2012, "Koi No Yokan" is the sound of a band fully in command of its own language. The Japanese phrase translates roughly as "the premonition of love" — the feeling, on meeting someone, that you will eventually fall for them. It's the perfect title for a record built on dreamlike anticipation, swelling dynamics, and the kind of patient buildups that became Deftones' signature in their post-2010 era. Koi No Yokan is also a transitional record in the band's history. It debuted at #11 on the Billboard 200 and remains one of their most critically acclaimed efforts. It's the last Deftones album to credit Chi Cheng as a bassist — Cheng would tragically pass in April 2013 without regaining full consciousness — while Sergio Vega, now fully integrated as the band's live and studio bassist, settles into the role that would define the next decade of the band. Producer Nick Raskulinecz returned after the success of Diamond Eyes, and the chemistry between him and the band is even tighter the second time around. Where Diamond Eyes was concise and direct, Koi No Yokan is patient and exploratory — tracks like "Tempest," "Entombed," and "Rosemary" unfold over six, seven, or eight minutes without ever losing focus. The dynamic range is enormous, and Abe Cunningham's drumming is the engine that makes it all work. What's striking about Abe's playing here is how settled it is. The pocket he found on Diamond Eyes deepens. The dynamic vocabulary expands. The willingness to play almost nothing, then explode, becomes a defining structural device. On "Entombed," Abe spends the better part of three minutes playing almost ambient textures before the song's emotional payoff — and when it comes, the contrast is devastating. This article explores the gear Abe used during the Koi No Yokan sessions, the techniques that defined its sound, and what made this album the moment Deftones became the band they are today. ## Gear Breakdown - **Drums:** Tama Tama Starclassic Bubinga / Birch hybrid (Custom dark finish) - **Snare:** Tama Tama Bell Brass 14"x6.5" / Tama Starphonic Brass, 14" x 6.5" - **Cymbals:** Sabian — Sabian HHX Series - **Hardware / Pedals:** Tama Speed Cobra Single Pedal; Tama Iron Cobra Hi-Hat Stand; Tama 1st Chair; Vic Firth Signature / 5B-equivalent - **Heads:** Remo Ambassador Coated (batter), Remo Ambassador Snare Side (resonant) - **Snare tuning:** Medium-high tuning with controlled overtones ### Abe's Koi No Yokan Era Kit: Tama Starclassic For the Koi No Yokan sessions, Abe Cunningham stuck with the Tama Starclassic setup that had served him so well on Diamond Eyes — a deliberate choice that speaks to how settled the band's sound had become. With Nick Raskulinecz returning as producer and Sergio Vega fully integrated on bass, there was no reason to reinvent the wheel. The Starclassic bubinga/birch hybrid shells continue to deliver the perfect balance for what Abe needs: bubinga's deep, focused low-end punch with birch's clean attack on top. On a track like "Swerve City," the toms can cut through Stephen Carpenter's eight-string riffs without losing weight, and on quieter sections of "Entombed" and "Rosemary," the same drums sit beautifully in atmospheric textures. The 22" x 18" single bass drum remains central. Abe is, and has always been, a single-kick player, and Koi No Yokan continues to prove that taste beats speed every time. The album's heaviest moments — the verses of "Poltergeist," the climax of "Tempest" — derive their weight from pocket and dynamics, not from sustained double-bass rolls. The 10/12 rack tom and 14/16 floor tom configuration provides a wide melodic span. Koi No Yokan uses tom melodies more prominently than Diamond Eyes — listen to "Romantic Dreams" and "Goon Squad" — and the careful tuning across the kit gives Abe a genuine pitched-instrument palette to work with. If Diamond Eyes proved the modern Deftones template worked, Koi No Yokan is the album where Abe and the band stopped having anything to prove. The kit is dialed in, the tones are right, and every choice is made in service of the song. ### The Backbone: Bell Brass Refined The bell brass snare sound Abe established on Diamond Eyes returns on Koi No Yokan, and if anything it's even better captured. The Tama Bell Brass 14"x6.5" (with the Starphonic Brass as a frequent alternate) delivers a bright, brassy crack with significant body — the kind of snare that survives the most aggressive guitar walls without needing aggressive top-end EQ. On "Leathers," the snare is the song's exclamation point. Tuned medium-high, with controlled overtones, it punches through every chorus with the kind of authority that makes a song feel inevitable. Raskulinecz's mix gives it just enough room sound to feel three-dimensional without losing focus. For more dynamic tracks like "Entombed" and "Rosemary," the same drum reveals different facets. Abe's ghost notes — which are absolutely essential to those songs' verse grooves — translate clearly to the recording, and the shell's natural decay lets atmospheric sections breathe. "Tempest" is the album's centerpiece, and the snare work there is some of Abe's most expressive on record. The verse plays with rim clicks and ghost notes; the chorus opens up with a full backbeat; the bridge drops to near silence before the song's enormous climax. Through all of it, the bell brass shell delivers exactly what's needed, exactly when it's needed. ### Sabian HHX: A Deepening Palette Abe's Sabian HHX setup carries forward from Diamond Eyes essentially unchanged, but Koi No Yokan finds him using the cymbals with even more nuance. The dream-state textures of "Entombed" and "Rosemary" rely heavily on ride bell work, china accents, and partially-open hi-hat patterns that the HHX line is perfectly suited for. The 14" HHX Groove Hi-Hats remain the workhorse. Their dry chick and clear stick definition cut through the album's wall-of-guitars arrangements, and Abe's foot work on the hat — particularly his use of subtle splash openings — is some of the most musical of his career on this record. The HHX Evolution Ride is once again the secret weapon. On "Tempest," the extended ride patterns that drive the song's middle section are unmistakably Sabian — complex wash, clear stick definition, and a bell that punches without screaming. There's a reason Abe has stayed with this cymbal for over a decade. The 17" and 19" HHX Evolution crashes punctuate Koi No Yokan's many dynamic peaks without ever overwhelming the mix. Raskulinecz captures their full frequency range — fast attack, dark sustain, no harshness — and they sit beautifully in the stereo field. The 18" HHX Chinese gets a few standout moments, particularly on "Poltergeist" and "Swerve City." Like everything else in Abe's kit, the china is used with discipline: rare enough that when it appears, it means something. ## Key Facts - Recorded 2011-2012 with producer Nick Raskulinecz (second consecutive Deftones album) - Debuted at #11 on Billboard 200; widely considered one of the band's best - Final Deftones album to credit Chi Cheng (Cheng passed in April 2013) - Sergio Vega fully settled in as the band's bassist - Singles "Leathers," "Tempest," and "Romantic Dreams" defined the album's palette - Patient, dynamic drumming that deepened the Diamond Eyes template - Tama Starclassic Bubinga/Birch — same kit as Diamond Eyes, even more dialed in - Single 22" bass drum — Abe remains a single-kick player - 10/12 rack toms and 14/16 floor toms with prominent melodic use - Tuning refined further for dynamic range - Producer Raskulinecz returns and captures it beautifully - Estimated kit value: $3,500-5,500 (Starclassic Bubinga/Birch shell pack, 2012 era) - Estimated snare value: $500-900 (Tama Bell Brass / Starphonic Brass, 2012 era) **Source:** https://metalforge.io/articles/koi-no-yokan-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: 2026-06-26 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*