Art Tripp

It was in New York that Tripp was introduced to Frank Zappa’s recording engineer, Richard Kunc. Kunc told Zappa about Tripp, who, he said, had the type of background and experience he thought Zappa was looking for. Tripp met Zappa and played for him at Apostolic Recording Studio in New York's Greenwich Village. Tripp was soon hired to play with The Mothers of Invention and went on to record seven albums and perform numerous tours throughout the US and Europe. In early 1968, the band left New York after an 18-month stay and relocated to Hollywood. A year later, Zappa disbanded the Mothers to pursue a solo career. Tripp appears on two albums compiled from recordings made before the dissolution of the Mothers of Invention: Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh, both released in 1970.

Tripp graduated in 1966 with a Bachelor of Music degree and in 1967, accepted a scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music in New York, primarily in order to finish a Master of Music degree, but also to expose himself further to contemporary music. His teacher was a former timpanist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Fred Hinger. Hinger was at that time performing with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as well as teaching there.

In 1962, Tripp enrolled at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music to study percussion. His private teacher at the conservatory, Ed Weubold, was a percussionist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO). Tripp became a regular member of the CSO, performing with artists such as Igor Stravinsky, Isaac Stern, Leonard Rose, Jose Iturbi, Loren Hollender and Arthur Fiedler. In 1966, the US State Department sent the orchestra on a 10-week world tour, which provided additional experience for the young musician. During this time, Tripp also played two seasons as timpanist with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as a season with both the Cincinnati Summer Opera and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. He was selected by avant garde composer John Cage to work with him in performances and workshops when Cage became composer-in-residence at the Conservatory of Music.

Arthur Dyer Tripp III (born September 10, 1944) is an American retired musician who is best known for his work as a percussionist with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band during the 1960s and 1970s. Tripp retired from music in the 1980s and works as a chiropractor in Mississippi.

Arthur Dyer Tripp III was born September 10, 1944, in Athens, Ohio. He grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He started playing drums in fourth grade with school bands, then later while at high school at weddings, fraternity parties and dances. In the mid-1950s he studied drums with noted Pittsburgh jazz and big band drummer, Al Hammond. In 1959 he became a student of Stanley Leonard, a timpanist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, with whom he learned to play other percussion instruments, including the xylophone, tympani, marimba, and dozens of others.