TERRYBOZZIO.COM FAQ's....................

A-14:Dear Federico
I'll be 49 on Dec. 27,1999!!-I guess drumming keeps me young!!!

A-15:Dear Scott
Please see the setup pagefor all the pedal info. They are all individual pedals, but set up next to each other and at the same heighth so I can place my foot between any 2 adjoining pedals and get 2 sounds at the same time.
As I always say, I try to use not only rhythm, but melody, harmony, dynamics and orchestration to make a complete musical statement on the drumset, whether I play solo, or with other musicians in an ensemble situation

A-16a:Dear Jay
No news about those CDs- but we have released "Late Nights-Early Days", a live album with the previousley unreleased studio single of "Action-Reaction". And coming soon is a "Remix Album" of many of our best tunes re-mixed by some of the worlds best re-mix artists from Cypress Hill, KMFDM, Bauhaus-Love &Rockets and members of Duran, etc.

A-16b:
Carol Bozzio(my sister and great singer/songwriter), Eric Jorgenson (my brother-in-law, web master, and great guitarist/producer/songwriter) wrote and played/sung on & produced this tune for a movie of the same name. I just played the drums on it!

A-17:
I think that playing with a beat box/rhythm machine is great for this type of work-also as you practice over time you will become more confident about your sense of time. Of course a clear and thorough understanding of pulse, subdivision and basic rhythmic figures is indispensable to good time keeping as well!

A-18:
Yes reading music is very important to understanding rhythm and music! You don't have to be the best sight reader, but if you don't read, you will have no format for understanding how to count, subdivide, and create variations with rhythm. Very few great drummers don't know how to read-they may be gifted natural musicians who have highly developed ears, but believe me, they are rare!
I can sight read most drum music-but if it's very difficult and I can't sight read it, I can understand it, analyze it and work it out so I can play it. Sight reading is crucial to being a legitimate studio drummer, and can be an asset in auditioning for or learning music for a lot of high profile bands.
I think that Ted Reed's "Syncopation" book is an excellent and simple method for learning how to read rhythms. Also a beginning snaredrum book is necessary for learning how to read rolls, flams, drags and other rudiments-there are too many to mention, so check with your local drum shop. Finally Louis Bellison's "Odd Time Reading Text" will pretty much give you all you need for reading and understanding odd time signatures, like 3-5-7&9.
Please get with the best local teacher you can find, to help you to learn these things- a small effort now could make a big difference in your success later!!!

A Primer in Polyrhythms:
To understand polyrhythms you have to have a basic understanding of fractions & ratios. For a simple example I'll use 2 against 3 (which I think most people know the sound of, and is easy to play. This formula will give you the ability to work out any basic polyrhythm. You can use it with any two numbers - like 4 vs. 5, or 7 vs. 3.
First you multiply the two numbers to get the smallest amount of beats that each can divide into: in this case 2x3=6. I'll represent this as 6 "o's" - that you can think of as 1/8th notes. o o o o o o
Then you divide the 6 into two groups of three: ( o o o )( o o o ) - and three groups of two: ( o o )( o o )(o o )
If you play this, one will sound 1-2-3 1-2-3 ,and the other 1-2 1-2 1-2.
(o o o)(o o o) (o o o)(o o o)
RH 1 & or 1 2
LH 1 2 3 1 a &
(oo)(oo)(oo) (oo) (oo) (oo)

So, this makes a little melorhythm which you can hear and remember.
Each polyrhythm has it's own little melorhythm like this which you familiarize yourself with & play from each perspective (2 over 3 & 3 over 2).
Once you are able to hear and play these you realize that polyrhythms are not so much the ability to hear two separate rhythms, but the interaction of the two, thought of as one melorhythm (which describes the inter-relationship between melody and rhythm) broken up between limbs (in this case RH &LH) like this: ( together--L-R-L- ).
I recommend Gary Chaffee's "Patterns" book "Rhythm & Meter" as the best, most simple and straight forward way to learn these concepts. It will get you to a very advanced level (I wish I had that book before I got with Zappa - it would have prepared me very well!!!)
For coordination studies I recommend my 4 videos "Solo Drums" &"Melodic Drumming and the Ostinato", as well as the book "4-Way Coordination" by Dahlgren & Fine