Summer 2010

Hello to all you Rush fans, Freewill fans, drummers and drumming enthusiasts.

Welcome to my Cyber-page … of sorts.

Music is my passion. And drumming is my way of being, “in the music”. I thoroughly enjoy playing in this Rush Tribute band. It’s always quite the rush (pun?) to perform this music. Weather it’s during a practice session or in a “LIVE” concert setting, I find that learning and performing these songs to be quite challenging. That being said, I usually find it quite enjoyable too! Often I’ll discover a better technique or a new approach to my drumming when I work on a Rush song.
Neil Peart is quite the drummer! So, I figure he’s a pretty good example to be learning from.

For all those who like to be ‘critics’ … I don’t claim to be as good of a drummer as Neil Peart,
or do I claim to play all his drum parts perfectly, note for note. In fact, let me be the first to say that
I don’t. I do try. But really … the world already has a Neil Peart.

I am Bert Pert.
A Rush fan … a drummer … and quite often a little bit of both in one!

And of course, I always do my best to replicate Neil Peart’s drum parts exactly and correctly.

I always enjoy talking with Rush fans and fellow drummers. If you like, please leave a message here on our CONTACT page, or if you attend a Freewill show, introduce yourself and let’s chat.

For more strange and odd information about me and/or my world of drumming please visit me at …
www.myspace.com/bertpert

Now let’s talk DRUMS!

I haven’t tried to make an exact replica of Neil’s drums. My drum set is really a “tribute” to all of
NeilPeart’s awesome drum sets of the past; in particular his early, larger double bass drum kits of the 70’s and 80’s. I especially liked his white Ludwig kit used for the Hold Your Fire and A Show of Hands’ albums and tours.

Visually similar to his white 1986 Ludwig kit, my drum set is a white, 13 piece, double kick,
1990 Tama Rockstar Deluxe. I custom ordered this kit with several professional upgrades from Tama for use in an “original” music project.  This was just before Freewill came into being.
 
Over the years I’ve managed to surround myself with an army of cymbals and an array of acoustic and electronic percussion. Occasionally mounted on it’s own custom drum riser,
this entire kit measuring 8’ wide x 8’ deep x 8’ tall … is one seriously HUGE drum set!

It takes one person (most often me) about 2.5 to 3 hours to set-up this kit for each performance.
To add-on and sound check all the microphones, add-on another hour.
If I’m lucky, I’ll get to spend a little time before the show to polish up the kit.
Then after I’ve played said drums for 3 hours or more, I get to tear them all down and pack it all up!
After each gig, it takes another 3 to 4 hours of manual labor.
Unload the truck, set it all back up, and get ready to do it again! 

At the time when I custom ordered this drum set NEW from Tama, along with the hardware upgrades and finish options, I was also offered a choice of woods. These drums were custom made in an Artic White finish, with six-ply maple (instead of birch) shells with an inner 7th ply of Tartan also known as Philippine Mahogany.  (A hardwood used to project volume)


Drum sizes are as follows...

Big changes in the Snare drum department!

In the fall of 2009 I became the proud owner of a NEW Drum Workshop EDGE Snare Drum. It is the Neil Peart “30th Anniversary” Signature Series model. I had ordered this drum brand new from the DW factory and waited 12 weeks as it was built from scratch and delivered to me.
This 24kt. Gold plated, Brass over Maple over Brass shell sounds awesome! And it’s very LOUD!  

It inevitability has replaced my trusty old #1 Ludwig, vintage mahogany 3-ply snare drum.
That old Ludwig has been my main Snare drum for over 25 years. So it’s not far away!

In the digital world of Electronic Percussion and triggering … I am currently using;

• an Alesis Dm5 drum module
• a Korg X-3R keyboard module
• Two Pintech triggers … mounted on Timbale/Snare drum and Roland Hi-Hat pedal
• Two 8” Dauz electronic drum pads … left side of kit
• Two 8” Dauz electronic drum pads … right side of kit
• One 6” Dauz drum pad … left of center Snare drum
• One modified Roland T-D6 electronic hi-hat pedal... on floor, left of Hi-hat stand
• Four custom* Shadow piezo pickups... on Chinese Temple Blocks

The Alesis Dm5 is my main tone generator for sound effects and additional percussion.
The Korg X-3R is used mostly for "big brass" horns and occasionally mallet and bells sounds.

There are 11 'triggers' on this kit from which to trigger sounds from these modules...

5 Dauz padz and 2 Pintech triggers... one trigger is attached to the timbale/snare drum, the other is mounted to the Roland
TD-6 pedal giving me a modified trigger to use with my left foot.

There are also 4 Shadow peizo pickups customized * by Rob Super at GuitarElectronics.com. They're mounted on the Chinese Temple Blocks eliminating the need for using microphones.

In the ways of more traditional, accoustic percussion ...

I am using various Bar Chimes, Wind Chimes, a Bell Tree, an 8” Paiste Bell, four assorted Cowbells, a Glockenspiel, a DST Tambourine, a 14” Timbale, Vintage Chinese Temple Blocks,
a 22” Wind Gong and of course … a Triangle.

Recently, I decided to paint select pieces of my acoustic percussion a nice shade of red. A bit of a ‘tribute’ to the days back when Neil Peart painted his Temple Blocks for the Grace Under Pressure tour. The Temple Blocks, Wind Chimes, Bar Chimes, Bell Tree and Cowbells all received the RED treatment.

More recently, I refinished the two small Tama Imperialstar concert toms in the same shade of red. Reminiscent of Neil Peart’s old cherry red Tama kit, these concert toms now actually look a little bit more like they could be off his more recent Snakes & Arrows’ kit.

A few changes in the world of cymbals!

but most are still Advedis-Zildjian cymbals, but a couple of NEW Sabian’s**have entered the mix…

• The 17” A Zildjian Crash has been replaced with a
  Neil Peart Signature Series, 20” Paragon Diamondback China.
  
  
• Also the 16” A Zildjian Crash has been replaced with a
  Neil Peart Signature Series, 18” Paragon Crash.

Cymbal sizes and types are as follows ...

The hardware is mostly Tama Titan

A few Latin Percussion multi-clamps, a few Cosmic Percussion mini-boom arms
and a polished up 6' steel pipe from the local hardware store.

My hi-hat stand and kick drum pedals are DW-5000’s by Drum Workshop.
The kick drum pedals are equipped with Tama Iron Cobra beater shafts with wood ‘tips’.
The auxiliary trigger pedal and spare kick drum pedals are also DW 5000’s.

On either side of me are Zildjian stick bags…
My drumsticks are Vic Firth 7A with nylon tips.
My mallets of various sizes are also by Vic Firth.

As for the drumheads, I use Remo...

The batter (back) bass drumheads are equipped with...
Remo's Muff'l (foam) ring and a Falam (Mylar) patch

The resonant (front) bass drumheads each feature...
One of a kind custom paintings of Rush's 2112 star/man image

Both of these drumheads were hand-painted myself, using alkyd paints and fine Chinese brushes.

For many, many more photos and information on the painting of these and other drumheads,
the making of the Freewill and other backdrops, building of the custom drum riser … even more specifically detailed info about my drum equipment, types and manufactures, on performing drum solos, other drummer influences, and maybe even a few ramblings about music and life, etc. …

Please visit, www.myspace.com/bertpert

Also online at, www.facebook.com

Playing in this Rush Tribute band is such an rewarding experience!
It is always a thrill to perform for all of you.

THANK YOU's to EVERYONE ... especially our Fans, Friends and Families.
Many thanks to our sponsers, promoters, venues and the media.

Hope to see you at the next show!