Mike Portnoy

If I might be able to interject a different point of view, one from the other half of a rhythm section.

There seems to be a lot of different points of view regarding his technique, technical prowess, and comparison to other drummers. I find this all to be fairly moot. Mike has never laid claim to being the best drummer, the fastest, the cleanest or the most complex. Those monikers were bestowed upon him by fans and fellow musicians. However everyone is a critic, everyone has opinions, and thats why people are here bagging on Mike on a forum as opposed to say.... touring Europe, Japan, putting on clinics, recording instructional DVD's, making tribute albums, collecting endorsement checks from Tama, Promark, Remo, and Sabian.

I'm not going to sit here and pretend I know the first thing about drumming technique but from a bassists perspective, he is the perfect compliment to a great progressive metal band. His playing is tasteful, it's diverse, fits the music to a T, and most of all TIGHT. His comprehension of time signatures is mind boggling. If you don't believe me, go listen to Take The Time off of Images & Words. There are over 22 time signature changes during the song, but you never feel it. Many bands who try to write like that fail miserably, the song sounds chunky and in shambles.

I love Dream Theater, but I'll be the first to say that Mike is no Neil Peart, Vinnie Colaiuta, or Stuart Copeland.

To close, I want to say I find it amusing that people bring up the "ripoff" topic in a thread devoted to a dummer. I will say that one of my largest issues with the band is they let their influences show too much when they write an album. Tool's 46&2 on Home, one that people may not catch is Solsbery Hill by Peter Gabrial on Solitary Shell off of Five Degree of Inner Turbulance.
 
I think Mike is a fantastic drummer and deserves all the respect in the world for helping make drumming more popular...I know alot of people get on his case for using the 2/2, 2/4, 2/6, etc hand foot combos alot, but thats just his style...He makes it work for him and fits the music great, so why see it as a negative? thats just my opinion...

As far a chops go--I don't see Mike as a real "choppy" drummer...If you look at his parts, he never really plays anything more than singles, and the occasional double...Sure he is always "busy", but his rudiments never get too complicated...It's how he phrases, orchestrates, and works with odd time that sets him appart and makes him unique...I see a little of Neil in him, but every drummer has a little of someonelse in their playing...I think thats a good thing...

Long live Mike!!!!!!

That shrink and grow section of "Fatal Tragedy" makes my head hurt...
 
Bassman's post nails it. Mike is awesome. I cherish a lot of his work, my favorite is probably Train of Thought and LTE.

I am sick of the petty whining about "ripoff" Where is the line between "ripoff" and "inspiration?" Spastic Ink's 2000 cd sounds almost like Dream Theater. Who cares? It's a cool recording. Dream Theater unabashedly plays RUSH tunes during shows. A nod to one of the preceeding giants, not a ripoff.

Prog rock has a lot of common sounding paradigms and styles. But like other genre's, each drummer to his own.

Mike does some amazing things. I hope one day to master them all. If I could be 1/4 as successful as Mike, I'd be on cloud 9. He is a huge inspiration. I hope to be able to completly rip off his style one day.

And he has one of the greatest kits out there.

Check out my latest must have: Mike Portnoy's "DRUMAVARIUM" DVD

There is a clip of Mike on his mighty TAMA amber vistalite kit from Hammer of the Gods.

http://www.mikeportnoy.com/ProductCart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=7&idproduct=21
 
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People keep bringing up Mike's kit and I have to say something about it. Now, I love Mike but his kit, (The Siamese Monster) is a bit excessive. The only reason he has a kit that large is because he has the means acquire one.

Mike's best work (IMHO) is the work he did on Transatlantic. For the Transatlantic kit, he used a smaller (well, smaller for him) 8 piece kit and half the symbols of his current kit. I always find it fascinating to listen to amazing drummers who are used to large drum kits, get behind say a 4 piece or a 3 piece kit. I feel it really hones great creative thinking and improv and you learn to approach your playing from a whole different perspective.

This also correlates over to bass playing. I play a custom 6 string, but at the same time I have an old Sears Steinberger rip off that I only have 2 strings on (tuned E & G). You'd be amazed at how well you can play when you have less.

So for those of you with large drum kits, try taking a couple pieces off and playing. If you have a 5, take it to 3. Leave the snare, one rack tom, and bass drum. Sit down and play for an hour or two, you might scare yourself and actually like it.
 
I pretty much agree with thinshells, imo Portnoy is an exellent drummer, and it was first when I bought the Liquid Drum Teather that I really got into drums, now I have a 7 pc Ayotte Custom kit, and I love playing the 2s/4s and 6 patterns :)

his kit: I was really disapointed when he started using the siamese monster, it was just to big, but I loved the Purple Monster, 9 pc kits are beautiful :D
 
Being a guitar player for nearly 20 years, I used to not appreciate MP. The drum tracks for DT didn't allow me to listen to the music with out it sounding off time and lacking normal structure. It sounded very mechanical. I didn't realize just how much talent it took until recently.

During my guitar days, I would listen to (and still do) to many of the shreading, technical guitarists of the 80's. Namely Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore, Steve Vai, Jason Becker, Marty Friedman and many others.

People who were not musicians, specifically guitarists, could not truly understand the natural gifts that these people had to be able to play like that. I practiced for 20 years and still cannot even come close to those guys.

I took up drumming about 2 years ago after working with drum machines. Due to my understanding gained for the instrument while programming, it made sense to give it a try.

I do not play the guitar (except to goof around) any longer and now appreciate playing the drums. Therefore, I now am amazed by Portnoy. I have one of his instructional dvds and can watch it over and over. He is now my Yngwie and Paul Gilbert.

My friends who are not musicians do not care for DT at all. They just cannot get into it although they love heavy metal and hard rock. But my musician friends and brother, who has been studying Petrucci for 3 years, love them for what they are able to do. I now listen to them almost every day, and enjoy them thoroughly.

I know that I don't have the natural talent to be a great musician. It just isn't in my genes. I do enjoy learning what I can from the masters and trying to incorporate just a bit into my playing.
 
I really get a kick out of people who denounce MP and DT anytime they are given the chance, the only reason having to be sheer ignorance. I was the "obsessed MP fan" at one time, I really respect and admire the man, he is an inventive and intelligent player. I bought transcription books and all the actual studio videos and learned many many songs note for note and they are some of my favorite songs to play for fun, namely anything off of Awake or A Change Of Seasons. Lately I am not so much the die hard fan I once was, the latest album really let me down. I do think the kits can be a bit excessive, but I also know that playing on a larger kit is a lot of fun and opens up variety wise what you can express. The Siamese Monster is two kits, one smaller kit attached to the side of his more standard set up, he likes to use a smaller kit on some songs and the other kit on other songs, if I had the means to just have two kits on stage and go back and forth I would too. One reason I like being a drummer so much is that "most" other drummers are really nice and respectful of one another. There is tons of music out there that I wouldn't buy or listen to but I can at least respect what they achieved. If you compare the forums of drummers to guitarists you can see a drastic ego change, many guitarists are really harsh to one another like it is some kind of stupid race. Mike Portnoy may not be the technique titan that Thomas Lang is or the varied monster that Sean Reinert is or as fast as that crazy mofo from Theory In Practice and it is worhtless to compare any of them, but you know what, he is a damn good drummer and a hell of a nice guy, not to mention his instructional videos are right up there with Steve Smith's in being well done and being able to really get something out of it, I would certainly buy the man a beer.
 
kepplehall said:
I really get a kick out of people who denounce MP and DT anytime they are given the chance, the only reason having to be sheer ignorance.
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Oh, come off it. There's plenty of reasons to dislike either beyond ignorance - Portnoy's technique is pretty bizarre, his drum kit is excessive, and as for DT... well... yes. Men in leather pants making "one foot on the monitor" poses while shredding or singing lyrics like "As a child, I thought I could live without pain" about a quarter tone away from the right pitch. Enough said.

Portnoy is a very capable drummer and most of DT can play (LaBrie aside. Ugh) but they are way, way, way overrated by many young musicians. There are plenty of people playing harder, more original, more involved pieces of music out there with much better technique. They just don't get the same degree of worship that DT do.
 
finnhiggins said:
Oh, come off it. There's plenty of reasons to dislike either beyond ignorance - Portnoy's technique is pretty bizarre, his drum kit is excessive, and as for DT... well... yes. Men in leather pants making "one foot on the monitor" poses while shredding or singing lyrics like "As a child, I thought I could live without pain" about a quarter tone away from the right pitch. Enough said.

Portnoy is a very capable drummer and most of DT can play (LaBrie aside. Ugh) but they are way, way, way overrated by many young musicians. There are plenty of people playing harder, more original, more involved pieces of music out there with much better technique. They just don't get the same degree of worship that DT do.
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Not to mention, despite Mike's array of abilities, he has yet to put togeather a decent solo. I like Mike a lot, but his solos disappointment given what he is capable of. He defianately should not be stratified in all areas.
 
Hey I never said I worshipped him or that hes the best out there, come on, do not make an arguement out of nothing, I merely said he was a cool guy and a great drummer. I personally do not like DT for a lot of reasons, one major one being the singer, another being the really overused common themes from album to album (sick of hearing the words "glass prison") and another being the simplistic guitar riffs. And I agree that his solos are pretty lame, he has said himself that he does not even like doing them and often times he will include getting audience members on stage to interact during most his "solo" time. It is true there is a lot of people out there that do not get noticed that should who possess more striking abilities, but that is life, I know of a lot of obscure prog/death metal drummers that can do a wider variety of skills. Portnoy is great for drumming in general though, he has inspired a lot of people and I think that is great, I have run across many drummers that started playing because of or partly because of his influence. There are guys out there currently that I enjoy listening to more, for example Martin Lopez from Opeth, I have followed them since they began and have seen Martin's evolution since he joined on their 3rd album, their latest album Ghost Reveries has some brilliant drumming on it, but I will always respect Portnoy.
 
If u dont like LaBrie i suggest u listen 2 Liquid Tension Experiment no lyrics just music its pretty cool.


liquidtension_s-t.jpg
 
kepplehall said:
Hey I never said I worshipped him or that hes the best out there, come on, do not make an arguement out of nothing, I merely said he was a cool guy and a great drummer. I personally do not like DT for a lot of reasons, one major one being the singer, another being the really overused common themes from album to album (sick of hearing the words "glass prison") and another being the simplistic guitar riffs. And I agree that his solos are pretty lame, he has said himself that he does not even like doing them and often times he will include getting audience members on stage to interact during most his "solo" time. It is true there is a lot of people out there that do not get noticed that should who possess more striking abilities, but that is life, I know of a lot of obscure prog/death metal drummers that can do a wider variety of skills. Portnoy is great for drumming in general though, he has inspired a lot of people and I think that is great, I have run across many drummers that started playing because of or partly because of his influence. There are guys out there currently that I enjoy listening to more, for example Martin Lopez from Opeth, I have followed them since they began and have seen Martin's evolution since he joined on their 3rd album, their latest album Ghost Reveries has some brilliant drumming on it, but I will always respect Portnoy.
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Very true...but he had a kit that is made fun of so much on the forums....he has turned into a joke.
 
giantantreal said:
Very true...but he had a kit that is made fun of so much on the forums....he has turned into a joke.
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I find it amazing self centered, and envious of people who decide they are going to slam his kit, or any large kit for that matter. There are some folks that are serious kit-nazi's walking around. ARRRGHH!!!!! if it's bigger than two peice it's too big!!!! Arrggh!!! it's over 4-piece! It's totally useless!!! Arrrghh!!! That kit doesn't look like its set up exactly the way I want it to be!!!! Grrr....

I am glad Mike has that huge, almost surreal kit. It's like he is in his office...

portnoyprimecuts.jpg
 
Mike Portnoy Anyone?

Has anyone seen the the Dreamtheater- Live In Budakon DVD? The drum solo on it is amazing. Any ways, does neone know what kind of heads he's using on his toms? They sound awsome. Help?
 
Re: Mike Portnoy Anyone?

I'm pretty sure he's a clear pinstripe guy, at least during that time he was.
 
Re: Mike Portnoy Anyone?

Clear pinstripes. That is an *AWESOME* DVD. BTW: there is already a Portnoy thread. Don't be surprised if this one is e-magically teleported into that thread.
 
Re: Mike Portnoy Anyone?

Personally, i dont go crazy over his solos, i dont find it to be very musical,no more than a showoff.
but thats just me :)
 
I agree y0avz...

But I consider Mike's a great drummer cause no one can make a composition like him.... Thats the reason he's one of the top drummers....
Too many drummers can have his technique and skills, but nobody can make music like mike, one of my instructors told me once: "You must focus on your music, you can be the best musician, but that isnt enought to make good music".
 
Personally, Mike Portnoy to me is one of the most involved drummers in the drumming commmunity. He has actually sent me a signed photograph when I ordered his instructional DVD from his website because they shipped it too late for Christmas time. Super nice guy!

As for his kit, why does it matter what the size of ones kit is? He uses all of it on his kit (except the Crotales on his Purple Monster, which I agree shouldn't be there). The truth is, he wants multiple sounds, lots of variety. You can only go so far with a conventionally sized kit. Personally, if I had someone to move and set my kit up for every show, I would do the exact same thing. Why would someone judge whether a drummer is a good/bad drummer by the size of his kit? That's just as bad as someone saying, "Oh, he has long hair, he must be a stoner/idiot/homosexual!" So what if his solos aren't the best, his song compositions are what I truly enjoy. I mean some drummers like T.B. from a certain punk band that really isn't that great, gets a lot of praise. I personally believe Mr. Portnoy to be a better player and song writer then this T.B. character who will remain unidentified by me....
EDIT (NOT Terry Bozzio)

There new album was disappointing.
 
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