b. ) Secondly how he talks more about time signatures and subdivisions more than how a song FEELS. I just wish he'd occasionally close his eyes and just drum to the music. That's the one thing
I miss form Portnoy - is a bit of SOUL in the playing. And a little less MIND.
Like if Petrucci writes a riff - Mangini will play the riff on his kit and say something like " well it's 7 16th notes in a low register so I play 7 16th notes on my high toms " yadda yadda.
YES BUT HOW DOES THE RIFF *FEEL* ?
To be fair, I think that's how he *feels* the music, it's just his way of interpreting things. Remember, this is a guy who used to work programming codes for missile launch programs
Also, I seem to remember he said in an interview that he improvised his playing on most of TA.
He's obviously a Math Nerd too. He's wearing a √7 Jersey. His first Dream Theater composition is about a guy who was obsessed with the number 137. Mangini basically breathes numbers, and math. It's how he thinks and views things apparently, based on his approach with rhythms. It makes sense he is a drummer though.
I was listening to Chaos In Motion, and while MP does "Drive" the song and brings the energy. It was odd hearing how he sped up parts, sometimes a little too much, and the band without a click, played some parts a bit too slow. An example is in Blind Fatih, Myung starts a bit slower than album speed, then when MP comes in with his drums, the tempo does sudden quick shift, and everything gets faster. There are sections where I feel for JP, because he has to play some difficult ass guitar parts, while MP decides to go Super Sayan speed, like Gigantour The Glass Prison. That alone could be a good reason for why the band enjoys playing with a click, it helps keep the song at a constant tempo, and I believe that is set by Mangini, and he can speed it up if he wants with his gadgets on the side.
I watched Pale Blue Dot and liked how It looks, and sounds. Manginis Tom's and Cymbals sound excellent. It's looking to be this era's Budakon in terms of video and sound quality.