first off, I can tell you're not a drummer, bc you aren't speaking like one.
You're right that I'm not a drummer. I'm a
musician and I think like one of "those" types.... you know.... like a musician would think? And, not just like a drummer would think?
....further let me know you don't know much about drumming. Here's why.
I don't need to be an expert on playing drums to discuss the things that I mentioned. In fact, I can turn your own argument around on you and say: "You don't know know a lot about being a MUSICIAN because....", but I wouldn't do that because it's condescending.
Small things like "a metal feel, a rock feel" are irrelevant, because with how complex DT's music is, there is no certain type of feel, there is only navigating the very complex passages with adding their own flair.
Wow. That's a really, really, really strange way to look at music. The feel that a drummer gives a song is a "small thing" and "irrelevant"? Oh. Okay. And, apparently to you, ALL of DT's music is, "very complex passages" that a, "drummer must navigate." You are aware that DT doesn't only play ridiculously complicated music, right?
Guys like Mangini and Minnemann are so used to playing odd time signatures that they can do that in their sleep. So the part about getting being able to do it properly is thrown out of the window, because they can. But being able to do it without sounding like Portnoy (because they are probably listening to DT recordings nonstop) will be how they are defined.
What are you talking about here? Who was discussing whether either of the drummers you mentioned, "can properly play odd time signatures"? I didn't mention anything having to do with technique/ time signatures and you're replying to my post as if I had.
Again, dynamic are important, but not as much as you will think. The music that Petrucci, Rudess, Labrie and Myung write will dictate the dynamics. All decent drummers operate under one rule, and that's to make the music they are playing to sound as good a possible, so dynamics is determined, in the most part, by what the other members are playing.
No, you misunderstood me. What I was getting at is this - will the new drummer be ABLE to play dynamically. That is, if they're playing something really atmospheric, will the new drummer be able to dynmically compliment what the other guys are doing? That's one thing I always liked about MP - the fact that he basically always knew when to play heavy or play softly or use a lot of cymbals, etc.