The Mike Mangini Thread (Thanks & Farewell)

[Dedalus]

The JLB/Portnoy situation reminds me of the Styx situation.  JLB is 58 now and probably thinks there is no need to spend his last few working years as a musician working with something with whom he does not get along (Portnoy), similar to how Tommy Shaw and James Young feel about Dennis DeYoung in Styx.  It's easy to say, "time heals all wounds," but, no, it doesn't always, and why should two guys who seem to clearly not like each other anymore spend their later years working together?  There is little benefit to doing so.

This. You're right.

[bosk1]

I think James just wants to be a blue collar man.

[TAC]

Bosk, you're my lady.

[KevShmev]

This thread feels like the best of times.

[geeeemo]

I think y'all have too much time on your hands...

[hefdaddy42]

I love this kind of thing!  Don't let it end!

[Stadler]

Domo arigato.  This is gold. 

[TheCountOfNYC]

As far as Portnoy going back to being the controlling leader, the jig is up...

[hunnus2000]

WOW - two Styx references in a row. Nice! 

[hefdaddy42]

All the heroes and legends I knew as a child have fallen to idols of clay
And I feel this empty place inside so afraid that I've lost my faith

But then I come to this thread.

[gzarruk]

Mike was at Drum Center of Portsmouth yesterday doing some fun stuff, and apparently, they filmed the whole thing



https://www.facebook.com/drumcenternh/posts/10158525440472917

[evilasiojr]

Mike was at Drum Center of Portsmouth yesterday doing some fun stuff, and apparently, they filmed the whole thing



https://www.facebook.com/drumcenternh/posts/10158525440472917

Interesting!! The cymbals are positioned like before d/t and he's using the effect drum pads again. Reeeeally interesting...

[Stadler]

I think I saw that drum kit in Fast And Furious 9.  Not sure. 

[gzarruk]

Mike was at Drum Center of Portsmouth yesterday doing some fun stuff, and apparently, they filmed the whole thing



https://www.facebook.com/drumcenternh/posts/10158525440472917

Interesting!! The cymbals are positioned like before d/t and he's using the effect drum pads again. Reeeeally interesting...

I think it was just for this kit/event as his home kit has them up like D/T. Still, really excited to see the videos
And, depending on when they upload them, we might or might not get playtrhoughs of DT15 tracks? Not counting on it, but fingers crossed.

[Setlist Scotty]

Interesting to see 4 bass drums again. I could easily see him going back to having 2 again, but wouldn't expect to ever see him behind a kit with 4.

[evilasiojr]

Interesting to see 4 bass drums again. I could easily see him going back to having 2 again, but wouldn't expect to ever see him behind a kit with 4.

Yeah, that's another setting he used in his first tour kits, like ADToE tour. That's why I think it's interesting he chose to set his drums like this, cause even this kit, with these DT12 cover on the bass drums, he used on the 30th Anniversary European Tour, which was kinda simple too, two bass drums, no pads and stuff. it could mean nothing, but it could also mean something  we'll see.

[Trav86]

More than likely Portsmouth set up this kit for him at their shop

[Setlist Scotty]

More than likely Portsmouth set up this kit for him at their shop

But he probably gave them the diagram to use for setting it up - can't imagine they'd just pick out whatever set up they wanted to do without getting his input. Even if they did, it would probably have been far easier to go with the d/t kit than this one - if nothing else because of 3 less bass drums. So unless proven otherwise, I'm under the assumption that this is what he specifically wanted.

[gzarruk]

That kit is one of the two he got for his first DT tour in 2011 (the other being the one that we see on LALP and was setup in his home studio for a while), so that's why it has 4 bass drums. After those early shows in 2011, and part of it being used for DT12 (you can see on The Grid DVD) that kit hasn't been used much, besides appearing live on a few shows of their 30th anniversary tour, the video for TGOM, and some dates of the IWAB tour (https://youtu.be/CDZL1Vvl4eg).

As for this event, Mike posted a few updates on Facebook about it a couple weeks ago. He basically said that he took that kit out of his storage, searched for a bunch of hardware parts and drove it to Portsmouth to setup for a "yet to be announced Pearl event" (Pearl is celebrating their 75th anniversary this year). Don't know what kind of stuff did he play, but he definitely wanted to go for the BIG setup and not his current DT or even home studio setup.

[Sebastián Pratesi]

Ten years ago today in Rome, Mike played his first show with the band.

Anyone here attended the show?

[Ben_Jamin]

I just realized that the "A Dramatic Tour of Events" setlist has a song from every album. And I find that cool how we got to hear Mangini play a song from each album as our first taste of Mangini live. 

[Mladen]

I was not at the show (I did catch the band one month later in Hungary, though), but I remember watching the clips the very next day. It was great to see Manginin rocking the hell out of Dream Theater classics, and there is even a video of him getting a tremendous applause once James introduces him. The feeling that both the fans and the band are moving on was wonderful, I have such good memories from that period.

[DreamerTV]

Ten years ago today in Rome, Mike played his first show with the band.

Anyone here attended the show?

Friends of mine.
I was at the second one in the Castello Scaligero (near Verona).

[Kotowboy]

Mike has downscaled his live DT kit for each album more or less. I hope one day he has his clinic kit on stage as it looks better IMO and has everything he needs to play all DT songs

He just needs to put the rocket toms in front of the toms and he's good.




I never liked massive drum kits anyway and always thought this one in particular was just silly and excessive for the sake of it.

[Kocak]

Mike has downscaled his live DT kit for each album more or less. I hope one day he has his clinic kit on stage as it looks better IMO and has everything he needs to play all DT songs

He just needs to put the rocket toms in front of the toms and he's good.




I never liked massive drum kits anyway and always thought this one in particular was just silly and excessive for the sake of it.

Ditto. His last few YouTube videos feature a smaller kit. I'm hoping for a smaller one for the tour as well.

[Kotowboy]

It's funny and ironic how he "needs all that stuff to play DTs catalogue" when MP played all of DTs catalogue and his kit was nowhere near that big.

 




*** - At least not his "Left" kit which he played most of the set on.

[Ben_Jamin]

Mangini, like any drummer, has their dream drum kit, the same as a guitarist has their dream guitar setup. This is that kit. And he never had a chance to use it, as he was never a full-time member to be able to use this kit. That is, until Dream Theater, welcomed him to the family.

Sure he could use a smaller kit, but that's not his dream kit, he designed himself and wants to utilize in composing songs with a band.

I am not sure, but I think the Drum Clinics drums are provided by the host of the Drum Clinic, and the drummer just tells them what cymbals and drums, they need in order to teach in the Drum Clinic.

[Kotowboy]

But his ADTOE kit is different to his DT12 kit which is different to his Astonishing kit etc etc.

I remember his saying " I absolutely NEED 4 bass drums to play live "

Now he has 1.

Also - he has said several times he loves winding people up with massive kits - and cymbals way up high so there is that too.

I know he CAN play that massive kit - but surely he should be designing and playing a kit - at his age - that is as easy and efficient to play as is possible.


And before anyone says " maybe it is *for him* "... He has 100% said things in interviews - which i've read - where he said he had to get used to

that massive kit and how he does ache after a show and has to twist around un-naturally to reach everything. But hey. You do you I guess

[Ben_Jamin]

But his ADTOE kit is different to his DT12 kit which is different to his Astonishing kit etc etc.

I remember his saying " I absolutely NEED 4 bass drums to play live "

Now he has 1.

Also - he has said several times he loves winding people up with massive kits - and cymbals way up high so there is that too.

I know he CAN play that massive kit - but surely he should be designing and playing a kit - at his age - that is as easy and efficient to play as is possible.


And before anyone says " maybe it is *for him* "... He has 100% said things in interviews - which i've read - where he said he had to get used to

that massive kit and how he does ache after a show and has to twist around un-naturally to reach everything. But hey. You do you I guess

He did say he needed 4 bass drums, but later found out he does not need 4 bass drums. Maybe because it was harder to mix and haul those 4 bass drums on the tour.

What if, it's just who Mike Mangini is and he likes to play the drum kit he designed and wants to play. Why should play that smaller kit because you feel it'd be better for him...

[Dream Team]

I think for a metal band, I like to see the symmetry of 2 bass drums up there.

[Setlist Scotty]

Well, at least it's not as big as Terry Bozzio's massive kit! 

[Kotowboy]

I think for a metal band, I like to see the symmetry of 2 bass drums up there.

It does look good. I think my fave "metal" set up was Lars' S&M/Cunning Stunts set up. It's about right I think. It has enough stuff but isn't excessive for the sake of it.

Compared to someone like Aquiles Priester who has ELEVEN TOMS. I just find it hilarious. Even tuned diatonically that's way more than you need.

Also a lot of metal drummers have 2 kicks for show and they're actually using a double pedal on the one - cause it's easier to mic and sound consistent.

probably triggered as well on top of that.

[Ben_Jamin]

I think for a metal band, I like to see the symmetry of 2 bass drums up there.

It does look good. I think my fave "metal" set up was Lars' S&M/Cunning Stunts set up. It's about right I think. It has enough stuff but isn't excessive for the sake of it.

Compared to someone like Aquiles Priester who has ELEVEN TOMS. I just find it hilarious. Even tuned diatonically that's way more than you need.

Also a lot of metal drummers have 2 kicks for show and they're actually using a double pedal on the one - cause it's easier to mic and sound consistent.

probably triggered as well on top of that.

I see you don't really understand the mindset of a drummer. 

A drummer will find anything to hit, all they're doing is picking up sticks. They'll hit the floor, anything that dings, whatever makes a noise with their sticks. The more stuff you have to hit the more fun it is.

I know because my uncle was a drummer, my cousin is, and even my ex-band drummer, all said the same thing. They're just picking up sticks and hitting stuff. And if they have durn sticks, will begin to hit whatever and play.

If you can perceive the mindset of a drummer, why they have a tendency to be excessive with drums will be more clear.

Gavin Harrison has many excessive cymbals but I don't mind it at all. It's how he is as a drummer and how he wants HIS dream kit to be.

Mangini and Terry Bozio are guys that just love drums. It's like a hobby of building model cars or collecting collectables.

But, you obviously know what a drummer needs to be a good drummer. 

[TheCountOfNYC]

One of the things people look for when judging a singer’s skills is their vocal range. The trend with guitars right now is more strings. All of this serves to expand on the number of different sounds your instrument can make. The way to do that with drums is to have more of them. It makes perfect sense, especially in a genre like metal which tends to be very over the top.

[Kotowboy]

But, you obviously know what a drummer needs to be a good drummer. 

Taking a KB quote out of context ? On DTF ? 

If a guitarist played a 48 string guitar and the fretboard was the width of a plank of wood - am I not allowed to think it looks stupid ?

Mangini can play how/whatever he wants. Doesn't mean I have to like how it LOOKS.



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