Author Topic: New Mike Mangini Interview  (Read 61985 times)

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Online devieira73

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #105 on: December 06, 2016, 09:09:54 AM »
FWIW, I talked with Mike and spent some time with him last night at the last show of the tour, and while I didn't bring this up specifically (I thought it might be rude) , he was very enthusiastic and energetic and outgoing and gracious.
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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #106 on: December 06, 2016, 09:10:46 AM »
Did you talk about his solo album? Thanks!
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Offline erwinrafael

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #107 on: December 06, 2016, 09:25:02 AM »
The production clouds only the ghost notes in the hi-hat and rides (although these are quite noticeable in Surrender to Reason, The Looking Glass and A Life Left Behind). The other Mangini-isms are not muddied by the production. The most noticeable is his crisp bass drum playing, where he is very playful, compared to the snare where he plays simple downbeats. Outside DT, good examples of his bass drum style is in Venice Burning with Mulmuzzler, the whole Elements of Persuasion album of JLB, and Thanks for Nothing with Tribe of Judah. In the DT songs, best examples are in Bridges in the Sky and The Path that Divides, especially the "rap" part. Another very noticeable Mangini style is going up and down the scale in unison with the other instruments.

A lot of Mangini-isms, though, are subtle. It's his style to blend in the music. For example, hearing him play two different patterns at once takes some being used to. One of my favorites is at the start of OTBOA, where his bass and snare is doing the rhythm and bass guitar pattern, while the cymbals is doing the keyboard pattern. You won't notice it until you listen to the patterns separately. Then there's The Walking Shadow, where the crash is doing an extended meter in sync with the guitar while the snare is following Labrie's lines that is on a decreasing time signature. The one handed drum rolls only become apparent when you realize that you are still hearing a constant cymbal hit on the downbeat while there is a drum roll :lol . Then there are the crazy things like doing two snare rolls at the same time to mimic a marching band in Astonishing.

So Mangini-isms are all over once you learn to hear them. For me, a good sampler would be OTBOA, LNF, BITS, STR, IT, A Life Left Behind, The Path that Divides and The Walking Shadow. You would get the Mangini style with these songs.

Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #108 on: December 06, 2016, 09:30:34 AM »
What else did you find out about DT land?

-US Tour with Images?
Yes, but probably not until Fall 2017 (September/October, something like that).  Per James, it won't be as extensive as the two combined legs of The Astonishing, but more like a typical North American tour - major markets, some Canadian stops, etc.

-Recording of new album?
Again per James, sometime in 2018.  2017 will be I&W touring and some down time.
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Offline goo-goo

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #109 on: December 06, 2016, 10:02:31 AM »
What else did you find out about DT land?

-US Tour with Images?
Yes, but probably not until Fall 2017 (September/October, something like that).  Per James, it won't be as extensive as the two combined legs of The Astonishing, but more like a typical North American tour - major markets, some Canadian stops, etc.

-Recording of new album?
Again per James, sometime in 2018.  2017 will be I&W touring and some down time.

Thanks Hef for the insights!

Hopefully we get a James solo album in the meantime

Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #110 on: December 06, 2016, 10:12:56 AM »
That would be sweet. I didn't ask about that.

When you meet the guys like that, you immediately forget half the shit you would want to ask them, partly over the excitement of actually getting to talk to them, and partly over the rush of the show you just saw.
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Offline bosk1

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #111 on: December 06, 2016, 10:14:19 AM »
When you meet the guys like that, you immediately forget half the shit you would want to ask them, partly over the excitement of actually getting to talk to them, and partly over the rush of the show you just saw.

:lol  Yup.  Still happens to me.  And the other part is just that you naturally get talking about something, and the conversation just goes where it goes, and you inevitably don't get to everything.
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Offline goo-goo

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #112 on: December 06, 2016, 10:51:36 AM »
When you meet the guys like that, you immediately forget half the shit you would want to ask them, partly over the excitement of actually getting to talk to them, and partly over the rush of the show you just saw.

:lol  Yup.  Still happens to me.  And the other part is just that you naturally get talking about something, and the conversation just goes where it goes, and you inevitably don't get to everything.

Yep. My worse moment with DT was "Hi I'm goo-goo from the Forum" back in 2002...WTF!!! I deserve to be slapped! Of all the things I could have said and talked...I went with THAT

Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #113 on: December 06, 2016, 11:24:28 AM »
 :lol
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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #114 on: December 06, 2016, 11:28:28 AM »
Yep. My worse moment with DT was "Hi I'm goo-goo from the Forum" back in 2002...WTF!!! I deserve to be slapped! Of all the things I could have said and talked...I went with THAT

Good thing you didn't tell Lady GaGa that you were from her forum.























That would make you Goo Goo from Ga Ga...

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would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
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Offline Kotowboy

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #115 on: December 06, 2016, 11:29:19 AM »
All they heard was


Goo Goo from Forum.


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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #116 on: December 06, 2016, 11:30:02 AM »
When you meet the guys like that, you immediately forget half the shit you would want to ask them, partly over the excitement of actually getting to talk to them, and partly over the rush of the show you just saw.

:lol  Yup.  Still happens to me.  And the other part is just that you naturally get talking about something, and the conversation just goes where it goes, and you inevitably don't get to everything.

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Offline noxon

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #117 on: December 06, 2016, 11:31:57 AM »
Me opening the Romavarium booklet to MP and pointing to my name in the booklet - "that's me".

Upon which he proceeded to point to his picture and say "and that's me".

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #118 on: December 06, 2016, 11:49:24 AM »
Me opening the Romavarium booklet to MP and pointing to my name in the booklet - "that's me".

Upon which he proceeded to point to his picture and say "and that's me".

That was priceless!!!  :lol
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Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #119 on: December 06, 2016, 11:51:22 AM »
Me opening the Romavarium booklet to MP and pointing to my name in the booklet - "that's me".

Upon which he proceeded to point to his picture and say "and that's me".
:clap:
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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #120 on: December 06, 2016, 11:57:23 AM »
Me opening the Romavarium booklet to MP and pointing to my name in the booklet - "that's me".

Upon which he proceeded to point to his picture and say "and that's me".

 :lol

I remember my friends and I circling Geddy Lee on the Power Windows tour and he was staring at us looking like, "Is somebody going to talk"? :lol

I swear we were all pulling a Chris Farley.
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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #121 on: December 06, 2016, 01:01:00 PM »
All they heard was


Goo Goo from Forum.

 :rollin

Me opening the Romavarium booklet to MP and pointing to my name in the booklet - "that's me".

Upon which he proceeded to point to his picture and say "and that's me".

 :rollin

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #122 on: December 06, 2016, 01:27:04 PM »
I don't know. Maybe it's a level where you need to be a drummer to hear it. With MP, Marco, Gavin etc., I can hear their very distinct style, right out of the gate. MM, I must say no. Frankly, I would mostly tell by the snare sound at this point.
Yeah, here I am. And something I noticed, which I might have mentioned in the concert thread, was that MM was far more entertaining to watch when he was playing MP's songs. Perhaps it's more accessible. Perhaps the drumwork is just more exciting. Don't know, but it was quite noticeable.

This raises an interesting point, though. Anybody can watch MP play and be entertained. He's fun to watch and his style just seems to click. Seems that MM is really more interesting to people with a very sharp understanding of drumming. I suppose that makes him a drummer's drummer. Yet while MM is certainly a more technically proficient drummer, I'm not aware of MP ever being considered lacking in proficiency. Are the people who can pick out all of these subtle things that Mangini does similarly intrigued by Portnoy's playing? I always considered him a great compromise of skill and accessibility. 
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Offline Skeever

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #123 on: December 06, 2016, 01:30:34 PM »
I've seen MP picked apart a lot by drummers, probably since he's received so much praise despite being more of an intuitive drummer that technically doesn't really hold a candle to guys like Minneman, Harrison, Mangini, etc.

That said, I like him better... as a non-drummer.

Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #124 on: December 06, 2016, 01:34:25 PM »
I am an OK drummer at best. I can tell you I like watching both, but for largely different reasons.

MP is just fun and energetic to watch, and while he certainly is a much better drummer than I will ever be, I still get what he does.  I understand what he does.  He does what I do, but more and better. 

I watch MM like I would watch any other craftsman.  He drums, but what he does bears no resemblance to what I do.  I can't have four limbs rocking four different patterns at four different tempos and four different time signatures.  I am fascinated by him.  It's amazing.  But I could never, ever do it.
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Offline rumborak

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #125 on: December 06, 2016, 01:35:45 PM »
These days my favorite drummer is Harrison, but there's no question that MP was top of my list for probably 15 years. I can't think of another drummer (other than Peart maybe) whose fans are making a point out of being able to air drum the parts.
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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #126 on: December 06, 2016, 01:40:30 PM »
I miss playing drums.

For a while it felt like I was meant to be in a band.

Nope.


Offline gzarruk

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #127 on: December 06, 2016, 01:43:24 PM »
The production clouds only the ghost notes in the hi-hat and rides (although these are quite noticeable in Surrender to Reason, The Looking Glass and A Life Left Behind). The other Mangini-isms are not muddied by the production. The most noticeable is his crisp bass drum playing, where he is very playful, compared to the snare where he plays simple downbeats. Outside DT, good examples of his bass drum style is in Venice Burning with Mulmuzzler, the whole Elements of Persuasion album of JLB, and Thanks for Nothing with Tribe of Judah. In the DT songs, best examples are in Bridges in the Sky and The Path that Divides, especially the "rap" part. Another very noticeable Mangini style is going up and down the scale in unison with the other instruments.

A lot of Mangini-isms, though, are subtle. It's his style to blend in the music. For example, hearing him play two different patterns at once takes some being used to. One of my favorites is at the start of OTBOA, where his bass and snare is doing the rhythm and bass guitar pattern, while the cymbals is doing the keyboard pattern. You won't notice it until you listen to the patterns separately. Then there's The Walking Shadow, where the crash is doing an extended meter in sync with the guitar while the snare is following Labrie's lines that is on a decreasing time signature. The one handed drum rolls only become apparent when you realize that you are still hearing a constant cymbal hit on the downbeat while there is a drum roll :lol . Then there are the crazy things like doing two snare rolls at the same time to mimic a marching band in Astonishing.

So Mangini-isms are all over once you learn to hear them. For me, a good sampler would be OTBOA, LNF, BITS, STR, IT, A Life Left Behind, The Path that Divides and The Walking Shadow. You would get the Mangini style with these songs.

All this was spot on! Since Mangini joined, I've been analysing his playing, patterns, the way he arranges things, the way his kit is shaped, his open handed technique, his playing is unique and different from any other drummer you could find out there. Can't get how people say he doesn't have a unique style, you just need to hear more carefully. He's definitely a master of drumming.


I don't know. Maybe it's a level where you need to be a drummer to hear it. With MP, Marco, Gavin etc., I can hear their very distinct style, right out of the gate. MM, I must say no. Frankly, I would mostly tell by the snare sound at this point.
Yeah, here I am. And something I noticed, which I might have mentioned in the concert thread, was that MM was far more entertaining to watch when he was playing MP's songs. Perhaps it's more accessible. Perhaps the drumwork is just more exciting. Don't know, but it was quite noticeable.

This raises an interesting point, though. Anybody can watch MP play and be entertained. He's fun to watch and his style just seems to click. Seems that MM is really more interesting to people with a very sharp understanding of drumming. I suppose that makes him a drummer's drummer. Yet while MM is certainly a more technically proficient drummer, I'm not aware of MP ever being considered lacking in proficiency. Are the people who can pick out all of these subtle things that Mangini does similarly intrigued by Portnoy's playing? I always considered him a great compromise of skill and accessibility. 

Portnoy is great and also has a very distinctive style, but, tbh, he's not the great drummer he used to be. He's stuck playing the same old fills and tricks. You can hear it on all the DT albums past FII, he's just doing the same stuff over and over.
I have a friend who used to be a big DT fan, but now that MP left, he doesn't like the band as much as before. He's a big Portnoy fan and a drummer. Having said that, after he listened to NMB TSOAD (which i think is good, but not their best work at all), he said to me that MP just didn't do anything else besides "standard MP". He's become a good drummer version of Lars, where he just stopped caring about becoming a better drummer and is just concerned on putting out record after record with as many bands as he can.
Live, he always speeds the crap out of the songs and moves around making weird faces and spitting all over the place. That's MP's showmanship.
It sounds like, "ruk, ruk, ruk, ruk, ruk." Instead of the more pleasing kick drum sound of, "gzarruk, gzarruk, gzarruk, gzarruk."

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #128 on: December 06, 2016, 01:46:31 PM »
I have always said that MP inspires me to pick up my drumsticks and MM inspires me to put them back down.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline gzarruk

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #129 on: December 06, 2016, 01:52:28 PM »
I have always said that MP inspires me to pick up my drumsticks and MM inspires me to put them back down.

Just like the analogy of Slash vs John Petrucci  :lol :biggrin:
It sounds like, "ruk, ruk, ruk, ruk, ruk." Instead of the more pleasing kick drum sound of, "gzarruk, gzarruk, gzarruk, gzarruk."

Offline bosk1

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #130 on: December 06, 2016, 01:54:09 PM »
Portnoy is great and also has a very distinctive style, but, tbh, he's not the great drummer he used to be. He's stuck playing the same old fills and tricks. You can hear it on all the DT albums past FII, he's just doing the same stuff over and over.

Well, if he's able to do all the same stuff over and over, doesn't that actually mean that he is precisely the great drummer he used to be? 
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Offline emtee

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #131 on: December 06, 2016, 01:55:26 PM »
^^ :D

Bottom line is they are both talented beyond regular mortals. Don't underestimate what MP can do when he wants to. He can play
everything from crazy high bpm thrash to very complicated syncopated rhythms. So can MM. I don't think MP would ever or has ever
argued that MM isn't more technically proficient but my question is...at what point does it become uninteresting musically, or
so far over everyone's head that it's meaningful only to the guy playing it?

They are both genius level players born with a special gift.

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #132 on: December 06, 2016, 01:55:53 PM »
Damn, Bosk! Nice.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline gzarruk

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #133 on: December 06, 2016, 02:01:58 PM »
Portnoy is great and also has a very distinctive style, but, tbh, he's not the great drummer he used to be. He's stuck playing the same old fills and tricks. You can hear it on all the DT albums past FII, he's just doing the same stuff over and over.

Well, if he's able to do all the same stuff over and over, doesn't that actually mean that he is precisely the great drummer he used to be?

 :lol I was trying to say that, at that time, he was doing great original stuff that was new, now he just feels like a "one trick pony". His ability is still there, he's just not doing anything fresh anymore (drum wise, not talking about his new bands with different styles). Sorry if my previous post sounded contradictory :biggrin:

Back in the day, MP was THE standard for prog drumming, but now there's lots of people out there, Minnemann or Garstka, for example, that can make MP sound like when he's playing that hello kitty drum set
It sounds like, "ruk, ruk, ruk, ruk, ruk." Instead of the more pleasing kick drum sound of, "gzarruk, gzarruk, gzarruk, gzarruk."

Offline bosk1

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #134 on: December 06, 2016, 02:07:20 PM »
Okay, but the fact that others have come along that can take what he does to another level great.  That means we have a lot more talented drummers out there now.  That is not a negative reflection on him
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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #135 on: December 06, 2016, 02:22:16 PM »
^^ :D

Bottom line is they are both talented beyond regular mortals. Don't underestimate what MP can do when he wants to. He can play
everything from crazy high bpm thrash to very complicated syncopated rhythms. So can MM. I don't think MP would ever or has ever
argued that MM isn't more technically proficient but my question is...at what point does it become uninteresting musically, or
so far over everyone's head that it's meaningful only to the guy playing it?


They are both genius level players born with a special gift.
DING DING DING. Winner. I think it's clearly not over the heads of other people, since people here seem to get it, but it's certainly over my head and to me quite uninteresting. I don't want to have to take a graphing calculator to a damn rock concert to appreciate the musicianship. I certainly don't want Charlie Watt playing drums for DT, I appreciate much of the complexity, but I don't want HAL-9000 drumming, either. There's clearly a happy medium in there somewhere. 
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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #136 on: December 06, 2016, 02:36:38 PM »
  I appreciate much of the complexity, but I don't want HAL-9000 drumming, either. 
:lol
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline rumborak

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #137 on: December 06, 2016, 02:53:33 PM »
If I had to analyze what I like(d) about DT's drumming, it's not really the complexity per se. It's much rather how the beat interacts with the music. For example, one of the things I really loved about MP's drumming is that he would occasionally invert the beat, i.e. change where the 1 is in the beat. It totally recasts what's going on musically and makes it interesting. That, to my ears, has yet to happen once in MM-era DT.
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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #138 on: December 06, 2016, 02:56:26 PM »
I really hate talking about the guys in the band (ex-guys too) because it almost either comes off as fanboy or angry cross-armed "fan".  I'm sure Sherinian didn't like all the Moore and Rudess comparisons when he was in a similar position (trying to fill the shoes of what is essentially a core part of a band's sound).  It probably isn't what any one fan says, but the constant talk by what may feel like "the entire fanbase".

But in many ways, the MP to MM comparisons might be unfair to MM.  It is much easier to write memorable parts when you are there at conception and responsible for starting the jam on the next section of the song as opposed to having to play over something that is a programmed road trip.  It is probably why DT S/T is some of MM's more memorable drum parts.

At this point, I almost wish DT would make a possible "throwaway" album.  The old pro (Petrucci) needs to put on the producer hat and decide that DT might explore new territory he never thought about if the rookies/benchwarmers are given the chance to strikeout.

Has anybody asked Mangini what type of writer he thinks he is?  For instance, Petrucci is the complete writer (although I think his magic is in collaboration).  Moore is a complete writer (again, best when collaborating).  Rudess is a complete writer (but I think he is best as the co-pilot, as opposed to the Petrucci/Moore pilot).  Sherinian feeds off collaboration (even his solo albums have tons of guest writers and players).  Myung is the bits and pieces guy, but they are some great bits and pieces.  Portnoy is the sounding board and big picture tour guide.  LaBrie ... not positive.  He strikes me as somewhat Portnoyesque also, but on a different level.  He can have very good instincts, but never seems to be the spark or even bits and pieces guy (and rarely lyricist).

But I really don't even know what Mangini is in terms of the writer description.  People don't have to be a complete writer to be essential.
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Offline Skeever

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Re: New Mike Mangini Interview
« Reply #139 on: December 06, 2016, 03:03:47 PM »
I am an OK drummer at best. I can tell you I like watching both, but for largely different reasons.

MP is just fun and energetic to watch, and while he certainly is a much better drummer than I will ever be, I still get what he does.  I understand what he does.  He does what I do, but more and better. 

I watch MM like I would watch any other craftsman.  He drums, but what he does bears no resemblance to what I do.  I can't have four limbs rocking four different patterns at four different tempos and four different time signatures.  I am fascinated by him.  It's amazing.  But I could never, ever do it.

Yeah, this nails it.

As a guitar player, I would compare it to someone like Jimmy Page vs someone like John Petrucci, Steve Morse, or Guthrie Govan.

With Page, he's way better than me, but with a little practice I could see myself pulling it off. The other guys? Not so much.