Members of Tool, Megadeth, Korn Host Online Bass and Drum Webinar

Band members from Tool, Megadeth, and Korn teamed up with the Berklee College of Music to deliver an online seminar on the relationship of bass and drums, later today, April 16.

Presented by the bass department from the premier music school, the webinar is held via Zoom. It includes bassists Justin Chancellor from Tool, Dave Ellefson from Megadeth, and Bill Sheehan, who has worked with Steve Vai and David Lee Roth.

For the percussive side of the webinar, drummers Danny Carey of Tool, Dirk Verbeuren of Megadeth, and Ray Luzier of Korn provided their insights.

According to the Zoom description of the webinar available on the online registration page, the bass mentors Chancellor, Ellefson, and Sheehan "have helped define what modern Rock Bass is, and how it is played." The event description invites interested students to "explore the evolution of their musical journeys," and with the help of the guest drum mentors, "better understand this "Heavy" drum/bass relationship where groove, precision, and intensity are key."

The Berklee College of Music - Bass Department event is scheduled to begin later today, Thursday, April 16, 1 PM ET. The webinar is free and open to the public, even encouraging questions for the bassists and drummers present. The ad for the event also shared that "Education, Conversation, Career Advice, Gig Stories, and even some Bass Playing, will all be part of this Interactive Webinar."

Rock Royalties

Tool is a metal band from Los Angeles formed around 1990 and includes Carey on drums, Chancellor on bass, with Maynard James Keenan on vocals and Adam Jones on guitar. The band started as a heavy metal act and later earned popularity in the alternative metal scene with their second studio album "Ænima" released in 1996. The continuously changing band later earned international renown because of their efforts for experimentation and unification of music and visual art.

Megadeth, on the other hand, was formed in 1983 after Dave Mustaine was dismissed from another heavy metal band, Metallica. Mustain and Ellefson are the founders of the band, which would later stand at the top together with Anthrax, Slayer, and Metallica to be collectively known as the "big four" of the American thrash metal scene.

Nu metal is usually characterized by heavy metal sounds combined with elements from other genres such as hip-hop and funk, and Korn is widely regarded as pioneering the genre and introducing it into mainstream audiences. It was formed in 1993 by former members of the American funk act L.A.P.D. Luzier replaced David Silveria as the drummer in 2007, joining Jonathan Davis, James Shaffer, Brian Welch, and Reginald Arvizu.

Billy Sheehan is best known for his five-decade career playing for various acts such as Talas, Mr. Big, Niacin, and Winery Dogs, in addition to Van Halen's David Lee Roth and Steve Vai. As a bassist, Sheehan has won the "Best Rock Bass Player" award five times from the readers' poll of the Guitar Player magazine, earning him praise and renown because of his "lead bass" techniques.