Behind the Mix: Haruki Hakoyama Talks the Dialtune Kit Experience

A few weeks ago, we held the launch party in Seattle for our new full-kit drum system. After years of focusing on snares, seeing the full four-piece kit in action was a milestone for us at Dialtune. Our goal all along: give drummers a kit that sounds real, tunes fast, and plays like it’s built for you.

One standout from the weekend: engineer, producer, and musician Haruki Hakoyama (@harukihakoyama, @plymouth_rock_recording_co) was the first person to both record and mix the Dialtune kit live. He wasn’t hired by us for this—he came in as a participant. We asked him to walk us through his experience, and his answers were honest, practical, and rooted in real studio workflow.

“I kind of got thrown into it last minute... but it was just proof that the technology works. We recorded 20 drummers, back-to-back, all with different styles—and it all held up.”

Why This Matters for Drummers & Engineers

Recording drums is one of the more complex studio tasks, and Haruki lays it out clearly:

“There are so many pieces that you're juggling … if you get into the nitty-gritty … there’s phase and relationships between all the microphones.”

But with the new Dialtune kit, tuned fully open—no moon gels, no snare weights, no external dampening—he noticed something different:

“That’s what I was most impressed by … it’s almost unheard of to be able to do zero dampening whatsoever on a kit.”
“To be able to just hit it and turn this knob until … the tone you want … that’s just insane.”

In short: the kit gave the engineer fast, intuitive control at the source. That means less time fiddling in post, more time playing and capturing the moment.

The Recording Setup

Here’s how the weekend went down in real terms:

• Recording Sessions: Haruki and our team recorded 30-minute slots for each artist, tuned the kit, played, then did a short interview. Different styles—jazz, gospel, rock, metal. All live.
• Gear: Everything ran through a Behringer X32 into a MacBook Pro. Gains were set safely to handle any playing style.
• Microphones: Lauten Audio mics (LA220s on overheads, toms, snare, and a prototype kick mic). Haruki’s feedback: “Very detailed but smooth on cymbal bleed … made it really nice to work with.”
• Post-Process: Haruki kept it minimal—“no gating, no triggers, no reverb (on the close mics). What you’re hearing is what was in the room.”

What This Means for You

If you’re a drummer, engineer, or studio owner, here are the take-aways:

• Tuning doesn’t have to eat up your session time. When the kit lets you dial the top and bottom heads independently in real time, you spend fewer hours lost chasing tone.
• The sound you capture is closer to what you hear live—not an over-produced version.

For engineers in studios, Haruki says:

“Just do it … the full kit is a total game changer.”

He already uses multiple Dialtune snares at @plymouth_rock_recording_co, the Michigan studio where he engineers.

🎥 Watch the Full Interview

The full conversation with Haruki is now live:

If you’re in the studio world and want to both make your drum workflow more efficient AND track with acoustic drums... This one’s worth your time.