An Exclusive Look into The Band’s Search for a New Drummer

[Nick]

Can't wait to see the final part of this, not only is the drummer finally going to be revealed, but I've been a lot more excited to see Priester and Peter than Lang, Donati, and Roddy. Class will be going by at a snail's pace for sure.

[reneranucci]

Just 10 hours to episode three! Can't wait!!!

I've been very busy and with the speed this thread is moving it's hard to keep track. Anyway I simply loved episode two. To watch these amazing drummers is soo inspiring. Virgil sounded amazing on the jam test, he really nailed those odd meters and made them sound flawless. Then again JR just said "you eat this for lunch"   So very true!!!

Be back soon.

Cheers
Peter

Thank you Peter, and welcome back! Everybody here is looking forward to your audition  Hope we'll see you around here tomorrow.

[reneranucci]

What's everybody's favorite bit of the videos so far? Mine is definitely Lang's jam test. He's amazing.

[theanalogkid7]

What's everybody's favorite bit of the videos so far? Mine is definitely Lang's jam test. He's amazing.

Mine's when JR hits the "Does this hurt you?" sample and JP says, "What's that?"

[atmyne]

What's everybody's favorite bit of the videos so far? Mine is definitely Lang's jam test. He's amazing.

Marco Playing the spirit carries on. Although I would have loved to see him play tDOE. He seemed to have had an elaborate understanding of the piece, as seen in episode 1 where he goes through his written transcript of the drum parts.

[Aramatheis]

I'm definitely looking forward to Peter's audition! Once again, thank you very much for posting and answering all our questions, Peter. Your patience has been quite appreciated  

What's everybody's favorite bit of the videos so far? Mine is definitely Lang's jam test. He's amazing.

So far I love what little's been shown of Mangini playing TDoE.  

[Jirpo]

What's everybody's favorite bit of the videos so far? Mine is definitely Lang's jam test. He's amazing.

Langs and Donati's playing of the riffs!

[j]

What's everybody's favorite bit of the videos so far? Mine is definitely Lang's jam test. He's amazing.

I probably agree, although I've been blown away by all these guys.

https://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74093&page=1

Derek Roddy posted a bit in this thread. More positive comments, but they were before his clip was released.

Interesting stuff.  Roddy seems like a cool dude.  Some of his comments make me really curious to see any additional footage that may be released in the future.

-J

[blackngold29]

Just watched both parts again, I'm thinking it would be cool if some of the guys were able to form friendships enough to do jams outside of DT with some of these drummers. You could pick any three guys, put them in a room for a few hours and whatever noises they made I would buy.

[tri.ad]

What's everybody's favorite bit of the videos so far? Mine is definitely Lang's jam test. He's amazing.

I especially like - like many others - the riff at 8:33. I wonder who came up with that. Also, I really love MiMa's "three, four, FIIIVE! WAAAAH!" during TDOE.

Edit: This has probably been said before, but I'd like to point out something in the interview with the director of the documentary:

Fans have been waiting for a while now to find out who Dream Theater’s new drummer. Were you afraid of there being any backlash from fans upset with how the trailer and episodes extend the suspense?

Yes, this has been a huge issue that the label and the band wrestled with.  The band really wanted to let people know right away, but soon after the filming was complete there was a lot of interest by television networks to air this documentary.  So due to a potential broadcast deal it was delayed and so was the announcement.  Regardless of that, after seeing the first few cuts of the movie, I think the band realized that this would be the best way to announce everything to the fans.  They were so genuine about how much they wanted to introduce their fans to the new drummer and I know they felt terrible that they kept it from them for so long.

I think there we have at least part of the reason why it all took so long.

[psychdoc]

Thanks for the welcome, everyone.

[Aramatheis]

Thanks for the welcome, everyone.

[Blazinarps]

Peter,  could you tell us a little bit about the way you prepared for the audition? Did you know exactly what the auditions were going to be like? You obviously knew what songs were going to play, how did you go about learning them? We see that Marco made time signature charts, did you do any of that? What was the hardest section to learn? Did you discuss the drum parts with the other drummers that were auditioning? Too many questions I'm sure, but I would love to know these things!

[Zydar]

What's everybody's favorite bit of the videos so far? Mine is definitely Lang's jam test. He's amazing.

Mangini's one-handed snare intro to TDOE while twirling a stick with the other hand

[Progmetty]

What's everybody's favorite bit of the videos so far? Mine is definitely Lang's jam test. He's amazing.

Mangini's one-handed snare intro to TDOE while twirling a stick with the other hand

Same here 
That mofo is crazy, I like his vibe a lot.

[dongringo]

What's everybody's favorite bit of the videos so far? Mine is definitely Lang's jam test. He's amazing.

Mangini's one-handed snare intro to TDOE while twirling a stick with the other hand

Same here 
That mofo is crazy, I like his vibe a lot.

Me three. Mangini's the man.  And for those who have said that Mangini seems too gay or weird, you must have an ancient sense of masculinity. Nothing wrong with expressing one's feelings, especially when it comes out like that.

[Jirpo]

What's everybody's favorite bit of the videos so far? Mine is definitely Lang's jam test. He's amazing.

Mangini's one-handed snare intro to TDOE while twirling a stick with the other hand

Actually I change mine to this!

[Ħ]

What's everybody's favorite bit of the videos so far? Mine is definitely Lang's jam test. He's amazing.

Mangini's one-handed snare intro to TDOE while twirling a stick with the other hand

Same here 
That mofo is crazy, I like his vibe a lot.

Me three. Mangini's the man.  And for those who have said that Mangini seems too gay or weird, you must have an ancient sense of masculinity. Nothing wrong with expressing one's feelings, especially when it comes out like that.

Wait, who said that?

[tedy]

Can´t wait for the final part,
Peter and Aquiles will be good I´m sure 

[Vlasto]

What's everybody's favorite bit of the videos so far? Mine is definitely Lang's jam test. He's amazing.

Langs and Donati's playing of the riffs!

+ Thomas playing TDoE and Marco's jaming started with laughter ...
... Marco playing the riff is also great.

[Jirpo]

7 hours!

[Vlasto]

7 hours!

and I can't concentrate at work...

[Wildoer]

Peter,  could you tell us a little bit about the way you prepared for the audition? Did you know exactly what the auditions were going to be like? You obviously knew what songs were going to play, how did you go about learning them? We see that Marco made time signature charts, did you do any of that? What was the hardest section to learn? Did you discuss the drum parts with the other drummers that were auditioning? Too many questions I'm sure, but I would love to know these things!

I only got the three songs that we had to learn, besides all the technical info like flight times, audition time, drum gear available etc. I totally realized that we had to do some kind of test where the guys would throw ideas at us and then see what we did since that's the way they work composing in the studio together.

Thinking back at it now I guess I felt kind of left in the dark. My main preparation was to know the songs in and out so even if I would be nervous at the actual audition my muscle memory would play it for me. Also I practiced every day ta make sure I was in top shape of course. All this is quite precisely documented in the "diary" I've written that I will post asap. Still working on that translation from swedish to english.

The whole learning process of the songs felt a bit overwhelming in the beginning but you just have to learn bit by bit and then listen A LOT to the songs to get to know them. I also imported the songs into Cubase (music program for computer) where I could loop the different riff and practice one part over and over. For The Dance of Eternity that was lots of work programming all the different meters but the hardest part was that the tempo is changing a lot as I think most DT material is not recorded to a click track. Here's two screen shots from the Cubase session with meters on top (all the black lines with numbers) and the timeline (tempo changes up and down) underneath.






Like I previously posted I borrowed som DT guitar score/tab book from a friend and there I had all the music written out. This was crucial help for me as I like to read music.

I can't say what part was the hardest but for me the actual drum parts was not overly hard to play but to memorize, THAT was the hard part. There are not to many difficult coordination stuff or overly difficult stickings involved but just a lot to learn.

I did not discuss any drum parts with other drummers.

Need to go!

SEVEN HOURS!!!

[ariich]

Thanks again for yet more insight Peter, and I completely agree with you about how exciting it is!

Have to say, I'm baffled as to why anyone (including Roddy) would think that any of the drummers have come off badly here. From all of the "weaker" candidates they've still rocked, there's just been one or two elements that make it clear they'd be a less good fit for DT. But then maybe I'm just not cynical enough to think that means they look bad!

[EdenHazard]

(SORRY! How do I insert an image?!?! I pressed the "insert image" button but...? I have them on my hard drive (Mac). Any help appreciated!)

Just upload the images at imageshack.us or a different hosting site and instert the link into the box.

[RaiseTheKnife]

per Mike Leonard, plans are to release the audition DVD with the album this summer . . .

 . . . .um, new album this summer?  sweet balls of joy, that's  much sooner than antipated.

[Silent Man]

Hi, I'm Poul, living in Denmark. I've been a DT fan since I&W came out (I'm 60). MP's exit was a shock to me - he was somehow the center of DT. When I play their songs in my head (I'm sure you know what I mean), his drum parts are always dominant.

...anyway, I registered to offer my valuable opnion   about the documentary so far.

Marco: he topped it. His artistery (sp?) is made for DT. On a hasty audition, he revealed incredible new tricks and a BIG promise about what he could do with them in the future. I really, really hope they picked him. The guy stands out, he's INCREDIBLE.

Lang: my next man. Some of what I saw showed a very fluent stylish drumming, he impressed me and I guess he'll grow a lot if gets the job. He didn't use a lot of effort to play his parts - which for me is a sign of a true drummer (like MP, he always looks relaxed).

Mangini: he 'nailed' it - but looked too tense. I understand he burns for the job, but he'll have to relax a little if he wants to really follow the groove.

Roddy: he won't get it. He showed amazing speed, nothing else. BUT: it didn't help that they recorded him terribly - compared to the others. You could barely hear the rest of the band, and that made his playing sound harsh and noisy.

I know, they all had a minimum of chance to do their best on an audition like that. Things could change for each of them if they got a chance to play with the band for a longer time. But as it was like this, we can only compare for now.

Looking forward for the third part!

Poul

[RaiseTheKnife]

Welcome Poul, thanks for your insightful analysis and opinion.

My impression is that Marco is a unique player with much gusto, but his playing simply looked too goofy.  Am I the only one who cracked up at his body motions?  Not that it is a bad thing, he has a pure fun energy.

[Silent Man]

Welcome Poul, thanks for your insightful analysis and opinion.

My impression is that Marco is a unique player with much gusto, but his playing simply looked too goofy.  Am I the only one who cracked up at his body motions?  Not that it is a bad thing, he has a pure fun energy.

Thanks RTK  - I know what you mean about his movements - he seems to have an awkward style, not too relaxed - notice his shoulders, they are pulled up and maybe they'll give him cramps when he gets older). But what comes out of it is nothing but amazing!

[Mladen]

Just watched part two again. Virgil was incredible during the riff test, there was some cool vibe going on. However, I'm not too sure about his interpretation of the three songs, even though we've only heard like 30 seconds overall. That drum fill at the beginning of A Nightmare to remember was cool, but definitely not Dream Theater.

And the man's voice is amazing. 

[ariich]

Yeah Donati has been my favourite at the riff test so far, really just an awesome groove he had going on there. But he wasn't very strong at the existing songs, unfortunately.

[Silent Man]

Oh yes - forgot to mention Donati. He's a cool guy with a lot of skills - and like he stated after the audition, he was calm and relaxed throughout. He's a session drummer and even skilled as he is, will do the DT stuff like any other session. I really don't think he'll try to adapt too much to the *DT sound* - just play like he used to. And the grip on the left stick doesn't help. AFAIK, this grip was originally adopted from walking march drummers (the drum hangs tilted in a strap) and is not really effective when sitting at a drumkit. I repeat, he IS skilled - just not a style that fits to DT. IMO of course 

[Tick]

Basically, it's going to be epic.

too bad not everybody listens to Neal Morse 

I do!

[AcidLameLTE]

I assume they're going to announce the drummer in the last part today. I'm working all day today so one of you better text me with who it is!

[tri.ad]

I assume they're going to announce the drummer in the last part today. I'm working all day today so one of you better text me with who it is!

I'll do it, if it's fine with you.