As a member of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Temple of the Dog, drummer Matt Cameron is grunge royalty.
One of his most famous performances came on Soundgarden’s iconic hit “Black Hole Sun.” In a new clip for Drumeo, Cameron pulled back the curtains to offer a measured walkthrough of his playing and kit-work on the song — and he even brought the seven-inch Keplinger snare drum used on Superunknown, a vital part his drum sound on the recordings.
In the video’s introduction, Cameron discussed the impromptu nature in which “Black Hole Sun” came about. Arriving late in the album sessions, the band didn’t have a chance to rehearse the song before tracking it in the studio. Nevertheless, the band knocked it out like clockwork.
“It took like one afternoon; we didn’t really sweat the details on that one because the arrangement was so good,” Cameron recalled. “It’s a super fun track to play [on drums] because there’s a lot of space. You can lay into the cymbals; a lot of fun tom-work.”
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Cameron then proceeds to guide the viewer through each section of the song, from verse to chorus to bridge. One point of interest is when he stops to highlight the aforementioned snare drum that cuts through the mix on the original recording. The snare was commissioned for Cameron and constructed by Gregg Keplinger in the early 1990s.
“It’s stainless steel, and there’s a big ol’ weld in the middle of it, which I’ve always liked,” Cameron said. “This is pretty much a Frankenstein kind of snare drum.”
Cameron said he wanted to achieve a tonal blend between the snare, toms, and cymbals, which the Keplinger helped meld together for the Superunknown sessions. Going one step further, Drumeo went as far as to recreate Cameron’s kit used in Pearl Jam, albeit with the addition of the “Black Hole Sun” Keplinger snare. That can be seen in a separate video.
Fans can catch Cameron with Pearl Jam on the band’s spring tour that kicks off this Thursday (April 24th) in Hollywood, Florida. Tickets are available here.
Below you can watch Matt Cameron’s drum walkthrough for “Black Hole Sun,” plus Drumeo’s recreation of Cameron’s Pearl Jam kit.
Content shared from consequence.net.