# The Path of Totality Drum Setup: Ray Luzier's 2011 Korn Gear Breakdown

> Complete breakdown of Ray Luzier's drum setup on Korn's genre-blending The Path of Totality (2011). DW Collector's Series kit, Paiste 2002 cymbals, DW 9002 pedals — how Luzier's live drumming coexisted with Skrillex's dubstep production.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Ray Luzier](/llms/drummers/ray-luzier.md)
**Band / Album:** Korn — *The Path of Totality* (2011)
**Genre:** Nu-Metal / Dubstep
**Producers:** Skrillex, Excision, Feed Me, Noisia, Downlink, Kill the Noise, 12th Planet
**Label:** Prospect Park

## Overview

Released on December 6, 2011, *The Path of Totality* is one of the most divisive and genre-defying albums in Korn's catalog. The band partnered with seven electronic and dubstep producers — most prominently Skrillex — and built a hybrid album where Korn's live band performances coexisted with electronic production frameworks. The result polarized Korn's traditional fanbase while earning critical attention for its audacious genre experiment.

For Ray Luzier, *The Path of Totality* presented a unique challenge: recording live drums in a context built by producers who think in quantized grids, sub-bass wobbles, and synthesized transients rather than live band dynamics. This was precisely the challenge that Luzier's extensive pre-Korn session career had prepared him for. His years recording with David Lee Roth and in various Los Angeles session contexts had built him into a drummer who could lock to a click track with mechanical precision while retaining the human feel that distinguishes live drumming from programmed performance.

"Get Up!" (produced by Skrillex) became one of Korn's biggest streaming-era tracks — a wubstep-drenched anthem that demonstrated the hybrid approach at its most commercially effective. Luzier's drumming throughout the album is more restrained than the full-kit aggression of *Korn III* — but that restraint itself demonstrates session-player versatility: knowing when to leave space is as technically demanding as filling it.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** DW Collector's Series (22\" bass drum, 10\"/12\"/14\" rack toms, 16\" floor tom) — continued from Korn III era
- **Snare:** DW Collector's Series 14\" × 5.5\"
- **Cymbals:** Paiste 2002 (14\" Sound Edge Hi-Hats, 18\" and 20\" Crashes, 22\" Ride) + Meinl Byzance 18\" China
- **Hardware / Pedals:** DW 9002 Double Bass Pedal; DW 9000 Series hardware
- **Heads:** Evans EC2 Coated (toms), Evans EMAD2 (bass drum batter) for tight attack control
- **Snare tuning:** Medium-high tension for clean crack within dense electronic production

### DW Collector's Series: Adapting Live Drums to Electronic Context

Luzier maintained his DW Collector's Series setup from the *Korn III* era for *The Path of Totality* sessions. The kit's maple-forward construction — bright attack, focused midrange — remained appropriate for the new challenge: recording live drums that would sit alongside Skrillex's bass-heavy dubstep production without clashing with the electronic elements.

The critical challenge was frequency management. Dubstep production operates heavily in sub-bass (80–120Hz electronic kicks, bass wobble) and high treble (harsh synth transients). Luzier's 22\" DW bass drum needed tuning that placed it above the electronic sub-bass to avoid frequency masking — present enough to feel live, restrained enough to avoid competing with the produced low-end that defined the album's character.

The Evans EMAD2 head on the bass drum provided tight, controlled attack with suppressed overtones — essential for generating a bass drum transient that sat cleanly alongside Skrillex's produced kick sounds rather than fighting them for frequency ownership.

### Live Cymbals in the Electronic Landscape

The Paiste 2002 Sound Edge Hi-Hats were the most critical cymbal piece for the hybrid sessions. In a production dominated by electronic elements, the hi-hat provides the clearest identification of live performance — its organic opening and closing motion and natural dynamic variation marking the track as performed. The 2002's bright, cutting character kept the hi-hat audible even in Skrillex's dense mixes.

The Meinl Byzance 18\" China's dark, complex wash provided acoustic texture that offered an organic version of the atmosphere that electronic producers create with reverb and effects — accents with natural character rather than digital processing.

### DW 9002: Click-Track Precision

Working with electronic producers demands absolute click track consistency. The DW 9002's quality construction and consistent chain-drive action enabled Luzier to deliver the same bass drum attack transient on every stroke, across sessions with seven different producers — precisely what hybrid live/electronic recording requires.

## Key Facts

- Produced by seven electronic producers: Skrillex (2 tracks), Excision, Feed Me, Noisia, Downlink, Kill the Noise, 12th Planet
- "Get Up!" (Skrillex) — Korn's biggest streaming-era track from the album
- Luzier's second studio album with Korn — the Luzier era fully established
- DW Collector's Series kit continued from Korn III (2010) — consistent rig across both Luzier-era albums
- Hybrid live/electronic recording — Luzier's session versatility enabled the format
- DW 9002 double pedal for click-track-precise bass drum consistency
- Part of the Luzier album arc: Korn III (2010) → Path of Totality (2011)
- Released December 6, 2011

**Source:** https://metalforge.io/articles/path-of-totality-drum-setup

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*Last updated: 2026-06-28 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*