Gregg Keplinger

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Gregg Keplinger is an American drummer, drum maker, and drum tech from Seattle, Washington.

Contents

As a drummer

Keplinger began playing the drums at the age of 14, and has played in a large variety of bands ranging across many different styles, from Jazz to New Wave to R&B. [1]

Drum making

Keplinger began making drums in the late 80's during a break in his own musical activity. During the 90's he teamed with Ayotte Drums to produce his snares, though he now produces them by himself again. Gregg handcrafts snare drums, cymbals, and percussion out of a variety of metals, mainly stainless steel. [2] His drums have been used by the likes of Elvin Jones, Matt Cameron, Dave Grohl, Jeremy Taggart, and Zach Hill. [3] Keplinger is best known for his stainless steel drums, which are often noted for their explosive sound as well as heavy weight and shell thickness (3mm). [4]

Drum teching

Gregg has toured the world as a drum tech for Matt Cameron with Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, Our Lady Peace, and Sunny Day Real Estate among others. [5] He also served as a drum tech in the recording studio on Soundgarden's breakthrough album Superunknown. Matt Cameron stated in the June 1994 issue of Modern Drummer magazine that "Gregg (Keplinger) was in the studio this time to help me out with things, changing heads and putting up cymbals. But one of the biggest things to me was that he would play the drums while I went into the control room and helped dial in the sounds. That saved a lot of time and kept me fresh when it was time to do a take." [6]

Related Research Articles

Drum Type of musical instrument of the percussion family

The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a percussion mallet, to produce sound. There is usually a resonance head on the underside of the drum, typically tuned to a slightly lower pitch than the top drumhead. Other techniques have been used to cause drums to make sound, such as the thumb roll. Drums are the world's oldest and most ubiquitous musical instruments, and the basic design has remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years.

Drum kit Musical instrument

A drum set – also called a drum kit, trap set or simply drums – is a collection of drums, cymbals and other percussion instruments, which are set up on stands to be played by a single player, with drumsticks held in both hands and the feet operating pedals that control the hi-hat cymbal and the beater for the bass drum. A drum kit consists of a mix of drums and idiophones ⁠– ⁠most significantly cymbals, but can also include the woodblock and cowbell. In the 2020s, some kits also include electronic instruments. Also, both hybrid and entirely electronic kits are used.

Hi-hat Percussion instrument

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References

  1. "Gregg Keplinger: Drum Fight at the GK Corral article @ All About Jazz".
  2. "KEPLINGER DRUMS".
  3. "Gregg Keplinger: Drum Fight at the GK Corral article @ All About Jazz".
  4. Watson, Rich (1998). "Ayotte Keplinger Stainless Steel Drums". Modern Drummer Magazine (February 1998): 32–34.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-07-12. Retrieved 2010-07-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Peiken, Matt (1994). "SOUNDGARDEN'S MATT CAMERON: BREAKING NEW GROUND". Modern Drummer Magazine (June 1994).