# Train of Thought Drum Setup — Mike Portnoy's Heaviest Dream Theater Kit (2003)

> Complete breakdown of Mike Portnoy's drum gear on Dream Theater's Train of Thought (2003). Discover the expanded Tama Starclassic Maple kit, Sabian AAX cymbals, Pearl Eliminator pedals, and the Metallica/Pantera-influenced technique behind DT's heaviest album.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Mike Portnoy](/llms/drummers/mike-portnoy.md)
**Band / Album:** Dream Theater — *Train of Thought* (2003)
**Genre:** Progressive Metal

## Overview

Released on November 3, 2003, *Train of Thought* is Dream Theater's most deliberately heavy record — a full-throttle plunge into Metallica and Pantera territory that shocked fans accustomed to the melodic complexity of *Metropolis Pt. 2* and *Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence*. The album marked the band's first release on Roadrunner Records, a label synonymous with extreme metal, and the gear and playing style Mike Portnoy brought to the sessions reflected that new context completely.

The sessions took place at Avatar Studios (formerly The Power Station) in New York City — a world-class facility that had hosted recordings by Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, and dozens of heavy acts. Dream Theater self-produced the album alongside John Petrucci, stripping away the orchestral layers and prog complexity of the previous two records in favor of raw, crushing heaviness. The decision was deliberate: before recording began, the band immersed themselves in Metallica and Pantera records, absorbing the directness and aggression that had defined heavy metal's mainstream peak in the 1990s.

For Mike Portnoy, *Train of Thought* represented the largest, heaviest, and most powerful kit configuration of his Dream Theater career to that point. The expanded Tama Starclassic Maple setup — stretched to approximately 13 drums — gave him a broader sonic palette for the album's relentless double-bass patterns and tom-driven riffs. The switch from his previous cymbal configuration to Sabian AAX — a brighter, more aggressive series than the Artisan cymbals of the *Scenes from a Memory* era — matched the album's harder edge. And the adoption of Pearl Eliminator double pedals brought a new mechanical authority to his already formidable two-foot vocabulary.

*Train of Thought* is the hinge between Dream Theater's reflective prog period and the more aggressive work that followed. This article breaks down every piece of equipment Mike Portnoy used to record the heaviest album of his Dream Theater tenure.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** Tama Tama Starclassic Maple (Black Sparkle finish)
- **Snare:** Tama Tama Starclassic Maple Snare, 14" x 6.5"
- **Cymbals:** Sabian — Sabian AAX / AA Series
- **Hardware / Pedals:** Pearl Eliminator Double Pedal; Tama Iron Cobra Hi-Hat Stand; Tama Power Tower Rack; Tama 1st Chair; Vic Firth Mike Portnoy Signature
- **Heads:** Remo Ambassador Coated (batter), Remo Ambassador Snare Side (resonant)
- **Snare tuning:** Medium-high tension for aggressive crack with retained sensitivity

### Mike's 2003 Studio Kit: The Expanded Tama Starclassic Maple

By 2003, Mike Portnoy had been playing Tama Starclassic Maple kits for several years, but the *Train of Thought* cycle saw him push the configuration to its largest and heaviest expression. The setup expanded to approximately 13 drums — more rack toms, an added 18" floor tom, and the same double 22"x18" bass drum foundation that had powered *Scenes from a Memory*. This was the most complete expression of Portnoy's "maximal" kit philosophy.

The Starclassic Maple shell construction, with its warm, resonant tone, might seem counterintuitive for an album aimed at Metallica-level heaviness. But Portnoy understood that maple's fullness and sustain creates a different kind of heavy than birch's punchy attack — it's heavy the way a freight train is heavy, with mass and momentum rather than snap. The result is a drum sound on *Train of Thought* that feels physically dense, as though the toms are physically displacing air.

The expanded tom array gave Portnoy the ability to execute the sweeping, multi-drum cascades that characterize the album's most aggressive passages. "In the Name of God," the album's 24-minute closer, uses the full kit range across its extended instrumental sequences — the additional drums weren't decoration, they were architectural.

The Star-Cast mounting system ensured that each drum in the expanded configuration could breathe freely, with no shell contact dampening the maple's natural resonance. Even with 13 drums mounted, each piece retained its individual voice.

### Snare for the Heaviest DT Album

For the *Train of Thought* sessions, Mike Portnoy continued with a maple snare from the Starclassic series — matching the tonal profile of the expanded kit while tuned for more aggressive attack than the concept-album sensitivity of *Scenes from a Memory*.

The 6.5" depth provided the body and crack needed to cut through Dream Theater's heaviest guitar tones. Where the SFaM era prioritized ghost-note sensitivity and dynamic nuance, *Train of Thought* demanded a snare that could deliver authoritative, Bonham-level backbeats — the kind that anchor "As I Am" and "This Dying Soul" to their Metallica-influenced grooves.

Engineer Doug Oberkircher captured the snare with a close-mic batter-head approach that emphasized attack, consistent with the album's overall production aesthetic of directness over ambience. The snare sits high in the mix on *Train of Thought* — a deliberate departure from the more blended, atmospheric drum sound of the previous record.

Tuned higher and tighter than the SFaM configuration, the snare on *Train of Thought* cuts with more authority, matching the album's heavier playing context without losing the stick sensitivity Portnoy needed for his intricate cross-stick and ghost-note passages within the progressive sections.

### The Sabian AAX Setup: Brighter, More Aggressive

The shift from Sabian Artisan to Sabian AAX for the *Train of Thought* sessions was one of the most consequential gear changes Portnoy made in this period. The Artisan series — with its dark, complex, hand-hammered voice — had served the meditative emotional depth of *Metropolis Pt. 2* perfectly. But *Train of Thought* needed something fundamentally different: brightness, projection, and aggressive response.

The AAX series delivered exactly that. Machine-hammered with a brilliant finish, AAX cymbals produce a bright, cutting sound with fast response and high-volume capability. Where the Artisan cymbals whispered and swelled, the AAX stage crashes explode on contact. For an album where the entire goal was maximizing heaviness, this was the right tool.

The AAX Stage Crash series — deployed at 17", 18", and 19" across the kit — provided the aggressive accent capability that tracks like "As I Am" and "Honor Thy Father" demanded. Each crash responds instantly and decays quickly enough not to blur the dense riffing underneath. The Sabian AA 16" crash (from the non-AAX but closely related AA line) added a slightly warmer small crash option for transitional passages.

The AAX Raw Bell Ride's defined bell cut through the album's dense low-midrange density, providing clear rhythmic delineation during the extended instrumental passages of "In the Name of God" and "Endless Sacrifice."

The AAX Chinese cymbal — noticeably more aggressive than the HH Chinese of the SFaM era — matched the Pantera-influenced heaviness of the album's most brutal passages. Its trashy, cutting decay was well-suited to the downtuned, syncopated riffing that Dream Theater deployed across the record.

## Key Facts

- Dream Theater's first Roadrunner Records album — heaviest of the Portnoy era
- Recorded at Avatar Studios (The Power Station), New York City
- Expanded Tama Starclassic Maple to ~13 drums — largest kit of his DT career to this point
- Sabian AAX cymbals: brighter, more aggressive than the Artisan series of Scenes from a Memory
- Pearl Eliminator double pedals — primary endorsement this era
- Deliberate Metallica/Pantera influence: heaviest technique of any Dream Theater album
- First DT album since Portnoy's heavier playing style fully emerged
- Largest kit configuration of the Portnoy Dream Theater era to this point (~13 drums)
- Double 22"x18" bass drums maintained from the Scenes from a Memory era
- Added 18" floor tom for additional low-end range
- Fifth rack tom expanded the cascade fill vocabulary
- Starclassic Maple provided mass and weight suited to the heaviest DT album
- Estimated kit value: $5,500-8,000 (2003) / $6,000-11,000 (vintage today)
- Estimated snare value: $400-600 (2003) / $500-800 (vintage today)

**Source:** https://metalforge.io/articles/train-of-thought-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: 2026-06-25 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*