Dream Theater's new drummer is MIKE MANGINI

[my101snaredrums]

Having watch mike portnoy's drum videos and even listening to his drumming style, he is a very 16th note-orientated and "square" drummer and this is the drumming style that Dream Theatre has built their music on. All the drummers invited to the audition are at a much higher caliber level than Mike Portnoy will ever achieve, musically speaking. I was surprised to see that just about all the band members had already learned the odd timing piece that the keyboard player wrote and that was presented to every drummer auditioning. First off, all of these drummers are very skilled musicians and most of them had trouble making sense of the rythmic anomalies presented in the sight-reading piece. Even Portnoy would have trouble playing this junk. It is true that some musicians have better sight-reading abilities than others and it would have been better to introduce a piece that none of the band members had seen before hand to truly see how well even jives together.

Portnoy never even learned how to play the montruous kits that TAMA supplied him with outside the common tempos all related to 16th note patterns. It doesn't make sense to me that the band would be looking for higher skilled drummers than Portnoy when the guitar player stated that they would still like to play the songs with the original drumming composition parts.

Good thing that none of the drummers chosen to participate in the auditions other than Mike Mangini actually made the band because all of the band members would have to skill up to be able to hang with drummers like Donati, Minneman, Lang, and the others.

[richkenyon]

First up, I'll just say that Mike Portnoy was never a favourite drummer of mine, but I am not going to criticise him here because he has created a legacy of his own. His work with Dream Theater is a massive achievement, no question about it.

I really enjoyed the drum auditions videos - never seen anything quite like it! Marco impressed me a lot & I think he is like a hard-rock Peter Erskine in the sense he just projects joy at the instrument.

Virgil was interesting to me as well. He's an awesome player & I'm a big fan of him, especially after seeing him live with Steve Vai. His drum solo that night was one of the most incredible solos I have ever seen. I suspect he would take a little work to be able to play along with because his ideas are radical at the drums. Maybe that was a factor in him not getting the gig. BTW - got a kick out of seeing him have a Zildjian China up there!

Thomas Lang didn't quite impress as much as I expected, but that's quite possibly because of the clips that were selected. A bit mean-spirited to show the section where he struggled to pick up the charted track. He's a top top player, & I hope he finds the musical vehicle he's looking for.

I saw Mike Mangini live with Vai on the tour before Virgil I think, & his whole symmetrical drum set idea was pretty mind-blowing. He nailed it clearly, so congratulations to him!

[Absentia-Planet]

So here is his official DT touring kit

[Thesleepingwell]

Well that's one epic drum setup for touring. Mike is great at his craft though and he'll utilise every part of that kit. Awesome.

[mattsmith]

Someone call Terry Bozzio and tell him Mike just found his dinner music kit.

Originally Posted by Absentia-Planet

So here is his official DT touring kit

[Naigewron]

Mike posted these pics on his Facebook page.



If hotlinking doesn't work, here are direct links:
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._6513380_n.jpg
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._6231998_n.jpg
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._5661274_n.jpg

Not personally a fan of the double-tier rack setups, but I look forward to seeing and hearing him play it. Mike has played his share of complex and technical stuff in many other bands, but as far as I know he's never needed such a huge kit. He's not one to add pieces to his kit just for show, so I'm guessing this could be interesting.

[cp84]

i don't like it. it doesn't look very ergonomical. too many straight lines.

terrys is massive but its all curves :)

[Pollyanna]

Geez, you'd want to be accurate with the octoban-type drums positioned the way they are.

[DrumEatDrum]

I think it's kind of weird everything is very low, or very high.

Nothing is really a medium height,

It should make seeing a concert interesting.

[DrumEatDrum]

Originally Posted by mattsmith

Someone call Terry Bozzio and tell him Mike just found his dinner music kit.

Terry has been doing some small bar gigs lately. He posted some pictures of his "scaled down" kit. And yes, it's actually scaled way down (relatively).

[wordword]

Dream Theater should be coming to Charlotte for their new vocalist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoXOpYeWhtg

This guy is better than their lead singer, one of my bro's friends (Mikey Marerro) (don't know how to spell his name)

[DrumEatDrum]

Hahahahaha.....

Dream theater just announced the title of their new album:

"A Dramatic Turn of Events "

date TBA.

I can't stop laughing at the title after all this.....

[rjvsmb]

I think DT might have been a little hasty in their decision. They missed someone in the auditions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hx_Y...eature=related

-r

[aaajn]

I have been reading about Mike Mangini and watching him on youtube, the guy is really amazing. Unfortunately, I know very little about DT. I am heading out to the music store, if you could make a Dream Theater Starter kit suggestion, What CD would you recommend?


Thanks in advance.

J

[DrumEatDrum]

Originally Posted by aaajn

I have been reading about Mike Mangini and watching him on youtube, the guy is really amazing. Unfortunately, I know very little about DT. I am heading out to the music store, if you could make a Dream Theater Starter kit suggestion, What CD would you recommend?


Thanks in advance.

J

They do have a greatest hit album:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greates..._Cool_Songs%29

Which is a good way to get an overview of their entire career.

Otherwise, I would start with the album they're most known for, "Images and Words"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Images_and_Words

With "Awake" and "Train of Thought" being the next ones to buy.

[Tim Waterson]

Originally Posted by wordword

Dream Theater should be coming to Charlotte for their new vocalist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoXOpYeWhtg

This guy is better than their lead singer, one of my bro's friends (Mikey Marerro) (don't know how to spell his name)

The kid is good for a young singer but has no power.
No where near the level of James Labrie
This should also not be posted in response to Mike Manginni being the NEW drummer
Tim

[aaajn]

Originally Posted by DrumEatDrum

They do have a greatest hit album:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greates..._Cool_Songs%29

Which is a good way to get an overview of their entire career.

Otherwise, I would start with the album they're most known for, "Images and Words"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Images_and_Words

With "Awake" and "Train of Thought" being the next ones to buy.

Picked up the greatest hits today. I have not listened to DT before but based on comments from many on DW, they are a very important band. First couple of tracks are very metal but with an odd twist that I can figure out. It's like Sevendust teamed up with Miles Davis. Very cool music. And I guess it is Mike Portnoy on the greastest hits but his double bass and chops are awesome. Thanks for the suggestions.

This is a very important band, I get that now.

[Algorithm]

Ugh, the title of the album is atrocious. Sounds so cliche and contrived.

Interesting that he's not using very many toms.

[scothut]

Great drummer and great band but a pretty funky drum set up if you ask me. To much stuff up to high and out of reach for my taste.

[Spreggy]

The set-up suits the drummer, imho. What little I know of Mike, he is a showman and on this tour I expect he will be jumping up to play the upper stuff half the time and generally looking like a wild man beating the tar out of that kit. Should be a great show.

[Typo]

What I don't understand is why he has Pinstripes on those Reference Pure shells.