Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz here!

jazzsnob said:
The new songs sound awesome Bermuda. Excited to get the record.

Thanks! The album's out next Tuesday and we think it will do well.

The video for "White & Nerdy" premieres on aol.com tonight at 9pm Pacific time (go to http://music.aol.com/videos/newthisweek)

Bermuda
 
Jon is awesome..he knows I'm picky about my drummers so he is in good company...we look forward to the opportunity to see him play live again.

Take care my friend,

Susan
 
Thanks!



:)
 
Bermuda,
We all need professional help... (snicker,giggle)
There is a debate over the use of drum muffling in a recording studio. If you find time, could you please weigh in on this issue?

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?p=222869#post222869

As I stated in the post, I find it hard to believe that 99% of recordings are done without drum muffling. If I am wrong, I am wrong--but I wanted the voice of experiance, not speculation.

Thanks!!
 
Talk about someone who you can hear play literally tons of different musical styles with great success! You're a great a drummer, and I think having your pool of knowledge to learn from around the forum is great luck for just about every other member! :)
 
Thanks! I've been chatting online since 1993, so it's always been normal for me to join forums and tap into the knowledge that's out there, and also contribute where I can. As the saying goes, 'nobody knows more than everybody', and I've learned a lot from the tens of thousands of other drummers out there who listen to bands and drummers I don't know, who've found some cool products I haven't seen, and who can answer questions that I have.

It's great being an up & coming player these days, because of the info and answers available at the click of a mouse. When I had questions and could have used some guidance early in my career in the 70s & 80s, I had very limited access to people who could help.

Bermuda
 
Synthetik said:
We can now refer to Bermuda as a "Top ten recording artist"

'Weird Al' Yankovic finally hits the top 10
http://us.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/10/23/music.yankovic.reut/index.html


CONGRATS!!!!

Thanks. actually "Top-10 charting, two time Grammy award-winning drummer" will suffice! :)

It's funny to see any hoopla about the chart positions at this point since it's kind of old news - well, 2 weeks old on the net is ancient by most standards - but of course we're still jazzed about it.

Bermuda
 
I am amazed. With the reaseach I have been doing for my website for synthetic drums, the name and picture of Bermuda's came up a LOT.

I have material from both Tempus and Impact on my site, both have lots of pics of you.
(with stack of Tempus snares, Impact drums, and so on)

I am also working on getting sounds from various synthetic drums put up as well.

...Perhaps some Weird Al clips... :-O

Impact page: http://www.synthetictubs.com/impact.htm

Tempus page: http://www.synthetictubs.com/tempus%20milestone.htm
 
Thanks for the mention there! The line: ..."Weird al" Yankovich's band has been playing Impact for over 15 years." should read: "..."Weird Al" Yankovic's band has been playing Impact for over 20 years." (note spelling corrections.) I began endorsing the drums in August, 1985.

You may also want to note that Impact was the first company to put sound holes in their tom and snare shells (not to be confused with Ludwig's split-shell snare c1980) and also the first to put a large vent on the kick - at my suggestion - back in 1985. Other companies have only recently discovered how cool that is.

Bermuda
 
bermuda said:
Thanks for the mention there! The line: ..."Weird al" Yankovich's band has been playing Impact for over 15 years." should read: "..."Weird Al" Yankovic's band has been playing Impact for over 20 years." (note spelling corrections.) I began endorsing the drums in August, 1985.

Bermuda

FIXED! Really, the whole site is a rough draft. Some web designers wait until everything is included and perfect before they publish, and still stuff needs fixing. I decided that I would post it as a "works in progress." I will be constantly adding submissions and tweaking.*
In the meantime, I am in the mass-production phase, attempting to get as much material togeather before it gets honed.

The next thing in works are Dunnett Titanium drums.

Thanks for checking it out and the feedback!

(* That's another way of saying that I am building it on the fly and have not totally rationalized the final concept...)
 
Last edited:
Hi Bermuda, longtime fan. I was curious on the recording process of "Albuquerque" (sorry if i misspelled it) anyways, its a fast paced song and it lasts 22 minutes. i was just wondering if you recorded it all at once, or parts at a time, and how many times you had to play it to get it right. thanks a lot!
 
The song was actually 11 minutes, but at that tempo (190 I think?) it may as well have been 11 hours! It's a workout, one reason why we never normally performed it live.

I think most of it was one take, it's pretty straight ahead part but incessant. I think the ending was re-recorded a week later, but the rest of the song was probably one take.

Bermuda
 
We'll be touring the states over the summer. Dates will posted at weirdal.com when they're confirmed.
 
hi bermuda

i'm asking all the pros this question. i think the answers could be very instructive to many of us.
let's say there was a totally new drum rudiment that was suddenly discovered and was so totally applicable that any drummer worth their salt would quickly try to learn it, master it and use it in recordings and gigs. this hypothetical new rudiment is quite hard to play and totally unrelated to any other rudiment. it is so good that you know that the next time you sit in on a session the writer is probably going to ask you to use it somewhere in their song.
my question is: starting from scratch what would be your way of learning it?

thanks
j
 
my question is: starting from scratch what would be your way of learning it?

If available, I'd have the written notation and sticking, and simply practice it starting slowly and gradually speed-up until it sounded natural.

With only an audio sample and no notation, my approach would be somewhat the same. I'd dissect the sound and play it in the manner I felt replicated it. However, the sticking would likely - though unintentionally - be different.

For some, that raises the question of whether it's more important to play the part, or to make the sound. In other words, if doing an open roll, is it more important to do the technically 'correct' doubles, or singles, if they both end up sounding the same anyway?

For me, it's often a 'means to an end' proposition, the primary goal being to make the sound. That doesn't mean there are necessarily shortcuts or easy fixes, sometimes there aren't. But it does mean that some parts that sound difficult, are actually quite easy to work out if I don't agonize over sticking, or feel daunted because of who's playing it.

As for physically being able to play something beyond one's current technical expertise, that's just a matter of practice. It may require a little work... or a lot. For example, the idea that someone like Terry Bozzio is playing stuff that's impossible to attain, can be daunting and maybe discouraging. The fact is, Terry lives and breathes drums, and practices his butt off - I'm sure would tell you that he's still learning and growing - and that's why he's at the top of the heap in terms of ability.

So, could any of us play like Terry? Or Vinnie? Or Danny Carey? Or (insert name here)?

Well, in theory, yes! Why not? In its most basic conceptual form, drumming is simply hitting things with sticks, and stepping on pedals. That's really all they're doing. Obviously, there's a level of dedication & drive & creativity that propels those players to the top, and most drummers - me included - just don't work that hard at it. But remember, they're just humans with 4 limbs, using the same sticks, heads, drums, cymbals and pedals that we have access to... so it's not impossible. (Whether the world needs a bunch of Vinnie's or Terry's is quite another question!)

So, in terms of doing something new to me that's ostensibly difficult, I figure that if another drummer can play it... so can I. Well, eventually,

BTW, my favorite rudiment is the single stroke. Not a single stroke roll... just a single stroke. I use it all the time on the 2 & 4 of each measure, and get paid handsomely for doing so!

Bermuda
 
Last edited:
lol great answer thanks. particularly the fourth last paragraph.

So, in terms of doing something new to me that's ostensibly difficult, I figure that if another drummer can play it... so can I. Well, eventually,

sounds like the mantra in the movie 'the edge' with anthony hopkins killing a bear. what one man can do another can do. if a masai teenager can kill a lion so can i. if bozzio can play a corscrew of a time signature so perhaps can i.

but as you say...first i'm going to be really good at the bread and butter of drumming. i know i sometimes over reach myself before i've really nailed down what matters.

and simply practice it starting slowly and gradually speed-up until it sounded natural

how would you do this? how do you keep track of your progress and what kind of schedules do you use?

j
 
Back
Top