Stylistic Differences: Portnoy v. Mangini (and others: JR, DS, JLB, CD etc)

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Dear All,

I figure it makes sense to have a dedicated place where - for those interested - we can compare and contrast the different styles from band members past and present. It can be Mike and Mike, James and Charlie, Derek, Kevin and Jordan - it does not matter. I do not wish to clutter the other thread and I feel like as we get more shows and more song variety we may choose to come back to this topic.

Please offer your musical opinions keeping in mind that everyone is moved by different things.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

I agreed with nearly every point of this gentleman's (OP for video) comparison of BSW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXnC8DSu26k

"Here's my take:
- Mangini's ride bell accents (0:22) adds to the groove more. Portnoy's 16th note spam between ride & hi-hat doesn't give the guitar breathing room.
- I prefer Portnoy's drum sound. I've seen them both live several times and Portnoy's drums always sounded crispier particularly in the toms.
- Mangini plays an extra 12-tuplets (1:01) whereas Portnoy pauses. I definitely prefer Mangini's more complicated approach in the context of a drum solo.
- Portnoy's rhythm at 1:08 was uninteresting and disjointed from John Myung's playing. Mangini syncing his kicks to the bass (1:19) was a more musical choice.
- Mangini embeds triplets within triplets (1:53) then transitions into piano solo with 5 triplet hit. It has an intense winding down feel that's much more cohesive than Portnoy's fast sex-tuplets on the floor toms.
- Portoy plays a herta triplet fill (2:05) that in my opinion sounds slightly out of place. I prefer Mangini's simpler herta into 8th notes fill.
- Portnoy plays a solid RLKK RLRLRLKK fill (2:20) to sync with Petrucci. I prefer that over Mangini's deliberately simple crash fill.

Overall I think Mangini's playing is more creative and fitting to the song. Unfortunately, it's hard for non-drummers to hear it because his drum sound doesn't punch through the mix like Portnoy's does. Mangini will probably sound much better if he played on Portnoy's kit and had Portnoy's sound tech."

[devieira73]

Thanks for sharing the anaysis above. Really cool to listen and understand the diferentces. I'm also a Mangini fan and I love his very thoughtfull and detailed approach on drums, but I liked a lot what Portnoy played here.

[TAC]

I agreed with nearly every point of this gentleman's (OP for video) comparison of BSW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXnC8DSu26k

I saw that video yesterday. My issues with it were that he used an ass recording for the Mangini clip, and I wouldn't judge MP on the first night only. Let's see how he settles into it as the tour progresses.

[devieira73]

I guess he used 2 bad quality video just for a more fair comparision.

[Setlist Scotty]

I guess he used 2 bad quality video just for a more fair comparision.

But crappy phone video alters the drum beats!!! That's not how he really sounded!