Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz here!

Yep, all me on the records since 1980, and thanks!

The sounds are at least 90% me, and the rest is up to the engineer if necessary. I'm basically on my own in terms of sounds, whether it's acoustic drums & cymbals, or samples (I also do all of the drum programming/sound-design as required.)

We get plenty of respect, particularly from fellow recording artists. They know full well how difficult it can be recreating parts and sounds to the extent that we do. I was very flattered when one of my heroes said he couldn't do what I do, and another major drumming star said that I'm "a great drummer" :)

Bermuda

I've been listening to all your records since I was a kid

huge amounts of respect for you and what you do

honored to be able to speak to you on this forum

do you have a favorite record or song you guys have recreated that you are particularly proud of?
 
Was listening to Genius in France tonight - to me it sounds Zappaesque. Was this an influence in this song, or rather something that exists soley in my head?
 
Very definitely an homage/pastiche/style-parody of Zappa's early '70s period. We anticipated a lot of time needed for that and set aside an entire day. But we knocked it out in 3 hours, and 17 or 18 separate sections! there are some transitions that sound like edits, and they are, but some that are edits and don't sound like it, and some that sound like it but aren't! Unfortunately, our instrumentation doesn't allow us to play it live. :(

Bermuda
 
A shame that you can't play it live. The band sounds particularly amazing on that one and its amazing you folks cut that one so quickly - some very tricky stuff going on there. More inspiration for me to practice!!!
 
Sticks N Skins author Jules Follett has created an industry seminar called The Sessions, featuring guest speakers including Dom Famularo, Liberty De Vitto, our own Paul Quin, Mapex's Joe Hibbs, and others.

Evidently, they thought I'd make a good subject for one of the slides!

sessions.jpg


That's Dom & Liberty fielding questions, not sure who's on the right (it's not Paul or Joe...)

Thanks to Patrick Cottle (Boneyard Drums) who attended the seminar in Seattle and took the photo!

Bermuda
 
Way to go, Jon!

Are we gonna have to start paying to stay here now????
 
great stuff Jon

they picked the right guy

you are pretty much the poster child for the world of successful working drummers
 
Thanks, the pic is actually from the Sticks & Skins book, so they're welcome to do what they want with them. I'm sure there were plenty of more famous drummers' pics used elsewhere in the seminar.

FYI, here's the orig shot -

sessionsorig.jpg
 
Congrats Jon - that's a lot of charting albums!

Thanks, and that's only about half of them! They're spread around throughout the house, but that's the one wall that has the most, so I use it for photos. :)

Bermuda
 
How's the "Vote for Weird Al" going with regards to getting you guys to play the Super Bowl half time show? Maybe a reailty some day. No wardrobe malfunctions there - well, maybe, but I know Al would make it a funny thing....
 
I think that died a deserved death. As much as Al fits the bill on paper, the audience for that just wouldn't appreciate Al.
 
Sticks N Skins author Jules Follett has created an industry seminar called The Sessions, featuring guest speakers including Dom Famularo, Liberty De Vitto, our own Paul Quin, Mapex's Joe Hibbs, and others.

Evidently, they thought I'd make a good subject for one of the slides!

sessions.jpg


That's Dom & Liberty fielding questions, not sure who's on the right (it's not Paul or Joe...)

Thanks to Patrick Cottle (Boneyard Drums) who attended the seminar in Seattle and took the photo!

Bermuda

Hey Bermuda:

How could we not include a picture of you? That is the great Bruce Kulick, from Grand Funk Railroad and Kiss in the picture. The event in Seattle was great and we will be at NAMM in January and at MI the following week. Hope to see you there!

Paul
 
Hey Bermuda:

How could we not include a picture of you? That is the great Bruce Kulick, from Grand Funk Railroad and Kiss in the picture. The event in Seattle was great and we will be at NAMM in January and at MI the following week. Hope to see you there!

Paul

For anyone who has not been to The Session .. seriously, get yourself to one ASAP. If you have any desire to make a living making music, you need to attend one.

Here is some more info: http://www.theblackpage.net/articles/the-sessions
http://www.thesessions.org/

Just as an aside ... Paul Quin's part in The Sessions is of HUGE importance .. make sure you listen!

The whole event is free and you get to jam afterward. I played Superstition with Bruce Kulick .. and saw Bermuda's ten foot tall photo all in one day!! ;)
 
Jon, I don't know why you would let some young, thin, thick-haired impostor fill in for your percussion gig with Al, but you're not fooling anybody with a stand-in like that. The least you could do is make sure your subs can play a proper beat on an accordion case for crying out loud.

And the video evidence:
http://youtu.be/tZkouut-9RQ?t=1m4s
 
Bermuda,

Can you give me the specs of the accordion case you used to track "Another One Rides The Bus"? Was it leather? Did it have anything inside it? Did you use any moongel or gaffer tape?

It's definitely the best accordion case I've heard to date!!!
 
There are a few stories about that, and subsequent accordion cases.

Someday...
 
Bermuda,

Thank you for taking the time to talk to me and give me a guided tour of the Ludwig display. I had never been to a Namm show before and I was like a kid in a candy store. Meeting you in person was the icing on the cake. I would have loved to have been there Saturday, but I had a gig that night. Thanks again for taking the time to chat.

Jim
 
My pleasure, I like talking about drums almost as much as playing them!

Nice to meet you as well, it's always nice to put a name with a face with a username!

Bermuda
 
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