Periphery drummer Matt Halpern leaves Mapex for Yamaha

JClutchD

Senior Member
It was just announced on Facebook that Matt Halpern from Periphery will be joining the Yamaha family.

http://www.facebook.com/OfficialYamahaDrums?fref=ts

Seeing as how I'm a Yamaha guy, I think this is a good thing. He was doing A LOT of advertising for Mapex and I'm hoping he does the same with Yamaha. I think this will help get their name out there a little bit more.

Thoughts?
 
Yamaha still has some major players on it's roster like Steve Gadd and Dave Weckl.They also had Vinnie at one time,big mistake letting him go.You don't get any bigger than those three guys.

Steve B
 
uh oh!

I can just imagine the scene up in the Mapexcave, somewhere in Canada....

"to the Sticksmobile" we have a lost sole to save......
 
Yamaha's been making drums, since 1967. I think plenty drummers know them, already.​

They've been around for a long time, but still aren't as well known as other companies. Halpern just seems to be all the rage right now and I think he'll appeal to a different demographic of drummers.

Yamaha still has some major players on it's roster like Steve Gadd and Dave Weckl.They also had Vinnie at one time,big mistake letting him go.You don't get any bigger than those three guys.

Steve B

Definitely! Yamaha has an incredible roster. Nice to see a fresh face join their team.

And at least Vinnie left to go to another great company like Gretsch. Didn't he leave them for Ludwig not too long ago?

uh oh!

I can just imagine the scene up in the Mapexcave, somewhere in Canada....

"to the Sticksmobile" we have a lost sole to save......

Hahah...no comment.
 
That is a huge loss for Mapex. They were really using him a lot for promotion, at the moment.
 
He has now been with three company's in three years, so something is up.
 
Well, I'm a huge Yamaha fanboy and I say so what, who cares. Matt joins, Peter Erskine leaves, Keith Carlock leaves, someone else joins and on and on and on.

Is the drum buying public out there , in this day and age, still so naive as to base purchase decisions on endorsements? Really? That's so 1984.
On the other hand, nothing wrong with having a high brand visibility and I suppose this is how you do it. Just kinda sick of the "______ plays______" merry go round.

Who's Vinnie gonna switch to in three years? Hey, this could be turned into some kind of sports betting thing. I got $50 on DW.

Neal
 
Well, I'm a huge Yamaha fanboy and I say so what, who cares. Matt joins, Peter Erskine leaves, Keith Carlock leaves, someone else joins and on and on and on.

Is the drum buying public out there , in this day and age, still so naive as to base purchase decisions on endorsements? Really? That's so 1984.
On the other hand, nothing wrong with having a high brand visibility and I suppose this is how you do it. Just kinda sick of the "______ plays______" merry go round.

Who's Vinnie gonna switch to in three years? Hey, this could turned into some kind of sports betting thing. I got $50 on DW.

Neal

I guess it is like our sports teams now. I have a hard time getting attached now, because the players don't stay like they used to. If you look at how many of the older guys on this site, play Ludwig, and love those oyster finishes because of Ringo, or Bonham setups, because of John, you can see how important these big names are to a brand. It sticks with people for many, many years.
 
They've been around for a long time, but still aren't as well known as other companies.
Well, I don't know what circle of drummers you hang with, but I don't think I've ever met a drummer who didn't know about Yamaha. At least, not after 1978, when the 9000 series hit. And when Cozy Powell went from Ludwig to Yamaha (during his Rainbow stint), a lot of people took notice. Every Guitar Center I've ever been in, has Yamaha kits. And they're in the GC catalog, as well as in Musicians Friend and Casio catalogs.​
 
They've been around for a long time, but still aren't as well known as other companies. ].

Uh...no.

In terms of overall drum sales, they are easily in the top 5-6 on a consistent basis, and have been for some 20 years.

In terms of high end drums, one of the top 3 selling drum brands easily.
 
Yamaha just isn't as trendy as Mapex or DW, and they don't need to be. Yamaha, Tama, Gretsch, Ludwig, Pearl, and I'm sure a few other all have a heritage, Mapex (at least after their restructure, and DW are pretty new to the drum scene. It seems like one of the main marketing strategies for those two companies, is saying "Look who plays our drums! Your favorite drummer you say? Well you should get some too then!" Not that there is anything wrong with that, from what I understand the majority of the 80s was "Buy Tama!" "Buy Yamaha!" I think it's just the scene today, the average kid in guitar center probably couldn't tell you anything about Brady, or C&C, but they'll know every size of Saturn Chris Adler plays. Why pay $3000+ for an MCA or a Starclassic Elite, when you can get a Saturn or a Performance Series for half that?

Pardon my ramble, I'm semi intoxicated. :D
 
Yamaha doesn't seem like the kind of company that drummers go with for heavier styles of music. They are definitely one of the top drum companies, but most drummers who choose them play lighter styles of music. Matt is a very musical drummer, and I think he will enjoy the Yamaha drum sound. Personally I don't really like the Mapex sound at all. They just don't sound like musical drums to me.
 
Flip it round.

Never heard of Matt Halpern, had to look him up.......Yamaha, I most definitely didn't need to Google.
Agreed. Some artists don't necessarily switch for the instrument, many switch for profile enhancement reasons. let's not forget, it's a two way street.

Personally, I don't take one tiny bit of notice of who is playing what, but I know I'm in the minority on that. Certainly, a player who annually flips from one brand to another is telling me nothing about the drums, & mostly much about themselves, that's for sure.

Players often change brands for reasons outside of the instrument itself too. I've already mentioned exposure, but depth of international support logistics, clinic earning potential, etc, all are part of the deal under consideration.
 
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