Gene Krupa in Calumet City, Illinois. In the 1930s, Krupa became the first endorser of Slingerland drums. At Krupa's urging, Slingerland developed tom-toms with tuneable top and bottom heads, which immediately became important elements of virtually every drummer's setup. Krupa developed and popularized many of the cymbal techniques that became standards. His collaboration with Avedis Zildjian developed the modern hi-hat cymbals and standardized the names and uses of the ride cymbal, crash cymbal, splash cymbal. He is also credited with helping to formulate the modern drum set, being one of the first jazz drummers (for that recording studio) to use a bass
Gene Deer Gene Deer Gene Deer is an American blues, rock, and country musician/singer/songwriter based out of Indianapolis, Indiana. Regularly playing shows at the historic Slippery Noodle Inn in Indianapolis, he has recorded and released two LPs for the Slippery Noodle Sound label. He was voted the "Best Local Blues Band" for nine consecutive years (1995–2003) by the readers of Nuvo Newsweekly. In 2002, Gene was hired by Indy car driver Kenny Brack as band leader and musical director for Kenny Brack and the Subwoofers, which toured with the Indy Racing League in 2003. Kenny Brack and the Subwoofers released a CD