The Band's Instrument Topic

All about Steve Jay, Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, Rubén Valtierra, and Jim West.

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TMBJon
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Post by TMBJon »

Jon's been playing on the same Impact kit since 1985
Wait... literally the same drums for 18 years? Or just the same model? Man it's late
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Post by scottidog »

It's a good question. I wonder if Bermuda would mind clearing it up for us?



Bermuda Schwartz please pick up the white courtesy phone.
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Post by TMBJon »

I am positive that at least the big drum in the middle (man, im not usually this bad when its late but i better get some rest if i cant remember the name of the big drum) has changed over the years because ive seen different skins on the front.
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Post by scottidog »

But do different skins necessarily mean a new drum? And the big one is a bass drum, isn't it?



Speaking of different ones, I really like this one.



Looking at Jon's page, I see what looks like different drum sets, but what do I know?
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Post by Orthography Enthusiast »

I am positive that at least the big drum in the middle (man, im not usually this bad when its late but i better get some rest if i cant remember the name of the big drum) has changed over the years because ive seen different skins on the front.


I always thought that the skins were the drumheads, the part you actually hit. And those certainly wouldn't last 18 years. But then, what do I know? I had a very deficient musical education (plastic Tonette, mostly).
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Post by TMBJon »

OK, first of all, I was really tired last night, so excuse me for forgetting the word for bass drum.

Anyway, as I proved last night, I'm not extremely familiar with drum terms, but I meant the side of the drum that faces the crowd. On the BHT, it actually said The Beatles. Last tour I believe there was a picture of a palm tree and a beachscape. I suppose he could be just replacing that part but he ain't playing in a local garage band or something. He certainly could afford a new kit every now and then.

-jon
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Post by Orthography Enthusiast »

I suppose he could be just replacing that part but he ain't playing in a local garage band or something. He certainly could afford a new kit every now and then.
-jon


Yup, and Jascha Heifetz could have afforded a new violin every now and then. Cheapskate, all he did was change the strings. :biggrin:



D'uh. For some reason I had a mental picture of one of the smaller drums that has the drumhead/skin facing up, not the big one that has the drumhead vertical. Obviously we're talking about the same part of the drum!



I'm pretty sure Bermuda does have more than one kit, but the one he uses onstage is versatile enough to sound like lots of different bands, which is clearly a good thing for a Weird Al concert. Also IIRC he has a formal sponsorship agreement with Impact drums, which means that if something bad happens on the road, the local Impact representative will be busting his butt to get the problem fixed quickly. Also a good thing for a busy touring drummer.



And it just occurred to me: how do we know that Bermuda isn't playing in a local garage band? When he's not working with Al, he seems to be pretty generous about sitting in with the un-famous. Do you think maybe he just likes making music?
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Post by TMBJon »

Other than the banjo, I know Jim has got a couple different guitars up there to sound like different bands. He's got a deal with Andersen guitars iirc. I'd assume that in the studio, each member in the band would get the brand of guitar needed to most accurately recreate the music of the original band.

Maybe we could get a moderator to split some of these posts off into a discussion about the brands of instruments each band member plays.
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Post by scottidog »

I was just thinking the same thing...



So to recap for those of you just tuning in... this used to be in the Magazine Alerts topic, but a very interesting discussion was shaping up regarding the various instruments employed by The Best In The Business.



You will find the post that started the conversation here.



Oh, and I moved it over to the Music topic.
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Post by TMBJon »

What brand of bass does Steve play?



Jon- Impact drums

Jim- Andersen guitars

Ruben- Roland keyboards
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