Mike Portnoy

In my opinion, Mike is actually overrated. Dont get me wrong he is obviously a really good drummer but i just prefer guys like Buddy, Carter, Gadd, Neil, Mitchell, Royster, Palmer, etc.
 
I got to shake Mike's hand at one of the shows he played with HAIL! earlier this year. It was a very small club show, only like 75 people were there, despite Mike being there.

The show was great, they covered a bunch of songs by classic metal bands (Maiden, Sabbath, Metallica). People kept shouting for Dream Theater, but MP just laughed and shook his head
 
The only guy that could possible be a fit for fillin in The Revs shoes. Nobody else, not evven me =P

I love Mike Portnoys stuff. Or else Id neveerrrrr care to listen to Dream Theatre lol.
 
Yeah, because on the list of drummers, it's people like Bonham, Moon, Peart, Portnoy and then The Rev. He's definitely up there...
 
Re: Mike Pourtnoy

Personally I think he's a basher playing complex music. His actual physical technique is pretty shocking, and to my ears he uses that whole 2xhands/2xfeet/4xhands/2xfeet stuff far too often. I also think the size of his kit is ludicrous for the musical results he gets, he could play the same kind of stuff on a kit a third of the size and still have plenty of room to move.

For that kind of stuff I'd vastly prefer to listen to Thomas Haake with Meshuggah (start with "Destroy Erase Improve") or something like Fredrik Thordendal's "Sol Niger Within" featuring Morgen Agren on drums.

But that's just me. I just reckon Portnoy kind of fits the profile his history would suggest - somebody who went to Berklee but never went to class.

EDIT: Ouch, that was a bit harsh. I'll be nicer. I do think Portnoy gets some impressive results, and his control over time is very good. He's quite a natural when it comes to playing stuff in odd groupings. His tone is also surprisingly good considering the fact that his hand technique looks like Dave Grohl's. But then, there's plenty of drummers who look hideous when they play but sound great - like Gary Husband. So yeah. I don't like his technique, the music isn't to my taste and I don't think he's quite as good as all the hype would suggest. But he's certainly a very solid player with some flashy chops.

I agree. Portnoy is one damn good drummer, He deffinatly has chops and knows how to use them, He understands music, the only problem for me is he does stick around the same stuff every song.
 
Ok first of all, I apologize if this is the wrong place to post this, but I'm not really sure where I should go.

A few years ago I won a contest for a Mike Portnoy replica drumset. Its the Tama Starclassic black ice mirage acrylic set. Came with about 13 new sabian cymbals, mike's drum heads (played) and a set of new ones. 2 custom snare drums, bass drum, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18" toms, all hardware, iron cobra double bass pedal, throne etc.

This set really is incredible, but I just dont have the time or the space to play this set anymore so I was thinking about selling. Does anyone know where I might go about trying to sell this?
 
Ok first of all, I apologize if this is the wrong place to post this, but I'm not really sure where I should go.

A few years ago I won a contest for a Mike Portnoy replica drumset. Its the Tama Starclassic black ice mirage acrylic set. Came with about 13 new sabian cymbals, mike's drum heads (played) and a set of new ones. 2 custom snare drums, bass drum, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18" toms, all hardware, iron cobra double bass pedal, throne etc.

This set really is incredible, but I just dont have the time or the space to play this set anymore so I was thinking about selling. Does anyone know where I might go about trying to sell this?

I think it'd be better if you had more details on cymbal specs and such too, and probably pictures in order to get more people interested.... include the tom depths and everything too, etc.

Are you selling ALL of it, just the kit, willing to sell things separately, etc. All of those things are questions I'd ask a seller before even considering buying something.
 
Thanks Chaos! I was actually able to find the original ad for the contest that lists the kits specs so here goes:

The Grand Prize is a complete replica of the drumset used by Mike on disc 2 of the Hudson Music “In Constant Motion DVD, including: Tama “Mirage Black Ice” 20 ̋x22 ̋ bass drum, 7 ̋x8 ̋, 8 ̋x10 ̋ and 9 ̋x12 ̋ rack toms, 12 ̋x14 ̋ and 14 ̋x16 ̋ floor toms, 5 ̋x12 ̋ Steel and 5.5 ̋x14 ̋ Maple “Melody Master” Limited Edition MP Signature snare drums, Iron Cobra double bass drum pedal and hi-hat, RoadPro snare and cymbal and tom stands; Sabian 7 ̋ Radia cup chime, 7 ̋, 9 ̋ and 11 ̋ MP Signature Max Spashes, Low and Mid MP Signature Max Stax, 14 ̋ HHX Groove hi-hats, 16 ̋ HHX Extreme crash, 18 ̋ HHX chinese, 17 ̋ AA medium crash, 19 ̋ HH thin crash, 20 ̋ HH chinese and 22 ̋ HH Rock ride; Remo Pinstripe batter and Ambassador clear resonant heads on toms and bass drum, Coated CS and Ambassador snare heads on snare drums; Pro-Mark #TX420N MP Autograph drumsticks. The total retail value of this kit is over $15,000.


I plan on setting the entire kit up on a white background and taking some professional photos (since I'm a photographer)

The only thing that will decrease value though is that UPS dropped the bass drum and the acrylic is split on the bottom all the way to the wood ring that holds the head on it. I called Tama and they sent me a brand new kick drum (hardware and all) which is awesome but still not part of the original set. The set does come with it though.
 
I'm a bit of a MP obsessive tbh... He is my most influential drummer, I don't even play prog but i just love his playing. His ability (and DT's altogether) to make some of their ridiculous time sigs flow together and sound smooth is what amazes me. Dance of Eternity is a favourite, even if it is a bit of a show-off song.
 
I'm a bit of a MP obsessive tbh... He is my most influential drummer, I don't even play prog but i just love his playing. His ability (and DT's altogether) to make some of their ridiculous time sigs flow together and sound smooth is what amazes me. Dance of Eternity is a favourite, even if it is a bit of a show-off song.

I really couldn't have said it any better myself. Portnoy is my most influential drummer as well. He's such a great player, and like you said, so is everyone from Dream Theater. I love progressive music. I listen to all sorts of bands like Porcupine Tree, The Flower Kings, Spock's Beard, Yes, Rush, and of course other Portnoy projects like Transatlantic and OSI. But at the end of the day (like Mike used to say), Dream Theater is my baby. Number one.

Anyway, I thought you might be excited to hear that I got a chance to see him and Yellow Matter Custard over this past weekend. We drove for ten hours to get there and waited outside for hours, but it was worth it. I was lucky enough to get front row, and at the end of the show he gave me one of the drumsticks he had used. I couldn't believe it!! I still can't believe it. He's Mike Portnoy! And definately one of the greatest musicians around today.
 
So what is everyone's favourite DT album and why?

Well, that's a loaded question.

The top 4 to me are:
Images and Words - Because it was the 1st album I heard
Awake - because it was darker and heavier, and the live tour was awesome.
Train of Thought - because it was getting back to the Awake vibe of dark and heavy
Octavarium - because it was getting back to the I&W through Change of Seasons era in terms of mixing up short melodic songs with longer pieces.

Change of Seasons is in there, too, but it's not really an album.

After that:

Falling into Infinity: I know this album tends to get panned by fans for being too "commercial" but I loved it. Great song writing. Trail of Tears is one my favorite DT songs. I thought Derek brought a lot of soul to the DT sound.

Six Degrees: has some great songs and ideas, but gets too bogged down with experimentation to be really good.

From there:
Scenes from a Memory: I know most fans consider this their master piece, but I found it to be their low point. Seriously, a concept album about a guy who thinks he was a girl who got killed in a past life? What the hell was that about? DT always had great lyrics up until that album.

Systematic Chaos and Back Clouds I find to be totally un-listenable. Just a bunch of recycled riffs from past albums, horrible lyrical ideas. Mostly it sounds like they started a song, ran out of ideas on how to finish said song, so they just filled in a bunch of chops to extend it, while Labrie sounds like he told to just make up the vocal melody as he went as long, and the 1st take was the keeper, good or bad. I recently picked up Labrie's latest solo album, and he sounds 100x times better with material that was actually thought out.
 
What do you think about his decision leaving DT to help A7X?
 
Well, that's a loaded question.

The top 4 to me are:
Images and Words - Because it was the 1st album I heard
Awake - because it was darker and heavier, and the live tour was awesome.
Train of Thought - because it was getting back to the Awake vibe of dark and heavy
Octavarium - because it was getting back to the I&W through Change of Seasons era in terms of mixing up short melodic songs with longer pieces.

Thanks mate, that's just what I was after - as I'm not familiar with DT I wanted a starting point to hear what the "more modern" prog is like (post 70's prog that is) and as a guide to Mr Portnoy also (rather than randomly buying an album of theirs).
 
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