Matt Halpern

Breadmonkey

Pioneer Member
Matt Halpern - Drummer for Periphery

Former drummer for Animals as leaders with Tosin Abasi, now plays for Periphery. For me he epitomises the modern metal drummer: independence, feel, chops, feel, speed, feel, power, dynamics and FEEL!

He grooves insanely hard, has a very relaxed and loose playing style which is very entertaining to watch and hear. His playing on their recently released eponymous album has to be heard to be believed (Totla mad and Zyglrox being two stand out examples).

He is a Meinl and Pearl endorsee I believe and seems like a genuinely nice guy. I'm surprised he hasn't a thread of his own here yet but hey, not everyone's as much of a Periphery fanboy as me I guess.

http://www.myspace.com/periphery
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3hBVSsI1_Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUIg8rSHPqc
 
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Love Matt and Periphery. He's got a great sense of groove, and his playing is powerful! Not your typical metal drummer by any means, and that's what I like about him. I've talked to him about taking some online lessons from him in the near future, which should be a great experience!
 
What I personally love about Halpern is his unique live performance. He brings that "jazz spontaneity" to a genre of music that is typically populated with drummers that might as well be drum-machines! Some people want to go to a show and hear they drummer play EXACTLY what's on the recording, but I love seeing live videos of Matt because every performance is just a little different... but the essence of the recorded pattern is still there.
check out this drum-cam video of Insomnia, keeping in mind what you have already heard from the album... it's very cool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLEDi3rTkOc
Pay special attention to 3:20 and on...
When Matt first joined periphery, I was part of the "Orbo Club" that really missed his robotic performance, but I began to appreciate Matt's style when I started seeing live videos of him on that 3 piece kit. He's like Ken Schalk and Chris Pennie... with a sprinkle of Tomas Haake for good measure.
 
Ya, he's a great player. Unfortunately, he didn't necessarily 'play' on Periphery's recent and first full length album. Apparently he "played a roland td-20 which was hooked up to superior (drummer) 2.0". Direct quote from Periphery's youtube account.
 
Yeah I knew something about the drums sounded familiar :D

Still awesome drummer, and I'd be surprised if they had quantized much on that album.
 
This guy is insane, I love how much fun he looks like hes having just wailing out on his kit.
The facial expressions are also quite priceless.
Beast ass drummer
 
I only started listening to Periphery recently but I am really into his drumming, I love what he does with such a limited kit size (and that shows in that Improvised Grooves video you linked :) )
 
I love Matt H. I've learned so many cool feels from him, Tomas Haake and Morgan Agren. Those 3 guys define djent drumming for me.
 
He's got serious skills. I'm constantly amazed at how he's managed to create an album full of consistently hard grooves and tough transitions.
What a cool and humble guy too. When I saw them live he was perfect and was clearly enjoying tearing through the drums.
Love his ghosts he has probably the best linear grooves and x-over technique I have ever seen. He can't afford to have a bad night with parts like that, he never gets a breather!

Astounding.

Anyone know if he's ever on these forums? I'd love to pick his polymetric brains!
 
I've been getting into Periphery lately and, obviously, the drumming of Matt Halpern. He's got some amazing skills and looks so fluid when he's playing. However, I really can't find much bio on the guy. I know he played for Animals As Leaders for a brief period, another band I really like, but that's pretty much it.
 
I took a masterclass with Matt a few months ago. Really educational and enjoyable. Rather than feeling awed and a little overwhelmed, I left with practical advice and exercises on how to improve my playing.

Matt often does clinics and masterclasses in the afternoons before his shows while on tour. I highly recommend catching one. You can probably find his list of upcoming clinics at bandhappy.com .
 
I took a masterclass with Matt a few months ago. Really educational and enjoyable. Rather than feeling awed and a little overwhelmed, I left with practical advice and exercises on how to improve my playing.

Matt often does clinics and masterclasses in the afternoons before his shows while on tour. I highly recommend catching one. You can probably find his list of upcoming clinics at bandhappy.com .

I went to one of these too.

I got a some new perspective and and I was really inspired seeing him up close and personal, I was literally sitting next to him. I feel like I picked up some of his technique by osmosis too. He is a great player but he was pretty relaxed and not a perfectionist and I really liked that for a change, he wasn't trying as hard to prove himself or elevate himself above the audience, he seemed more interested in teaching, and he's a real people person.
 
Oh wow, didn't even know he had a topic here! And so little posts as well!
Although Periphery isn't my cup of tea (vocals for the most part), i do love vids of Matt grooving around. Really cool style and found his setup with just 2 floor toms and no rack tom really a refreshing setup.
 
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