MIKE MANGINI TALKS ABOUT UPCOMING ALBUM

[jayvee3]

I like what I like - and like this one

Who is this guy? Is he someone whose opinion I should care about?

  Well played Sir, brilliant!

While the music theory is over my head, geez MM comes across as a legend 

[Ben_Jamin]

Haha....probably the fill he's taking about.

[devieira73]

FROM HIS FB ACCOUNT:

The Album begins with a drum fill...

I like that, A LOT
Finally Mangini doing that in a DT album!

Enigma Machine would like a word

You’re actually wrong twice. EM is not an album opener, and it doesn’t begin with drums.

I know, somehow I thought devieira was implying there haven't been any good fills on a Mangini album.

No, no, no, that's not what I meant at all!
I love Mangini drum fills, he has an amazing musical vocabulary. So I think it is about time to open an album only with that. Enigma Machine is incredible, but it begins with the keyboard and the drum fills are made together with the band. The Enemy Insinde also has a great drum work in the beggining, but also has the full band and both songs don't open their albums. I'm hoping for something more in the vein of 6:00, Where Eagles Dare, Creatures of the Night etc.

[wolfking]

I like what I like - and like this one

Who is this guy? Is he someone whose opinion I should care about?

Since he didn't use the word 'badass', then probably yes.

[Cool Chris]

FROM HIS FB ACCOUNT:

The Album begins with a drum fill that sounds like something obvious but is not. It's too fast to pick up the slight anomaly of being 3:2 of 7 that fits over 4 of the main 7 notes....

That's where I stopped reading.   

 

I love Mike, love his work, I love his place in DT... But I basically never read anything he writes. It's like what Jim Cornette said about the Ultimate Warrior "I knew he was speaking English because the words coming out of his mouth, but I'd never heard them put together in that order before."

I am in no way comparing Mike to Warrior. Just that most of what he says is beyond my comprehension level when it comes to music.

[WilliamMunny]

FROM HIS FB ACCOUNT:


Since this IS Dream Theater, I think fans are entertained by this kind of thing, but also need the simple groove playing and melodies to be able to take a mental break here and there. Not only did JP & JR smoke those melodies while JM and I held the Fort down, but LaBrie utterly slaughtered and nailed them throughout the album that I'm sitting back almost giggling in a lawn chair with a drink waiting for the album as a whole to be heard and evaluated. I'm interested to see how it is received. I like what I like - and like this one. Who knows what the lot will think of it.
Either way, being able to play these parts on all the instruments, or sing them accurately in time, is another story and a whole big bag of fun and defines the priori of the job of being in DT. I'm glad DT fans can enjoy and be entertained by both song content and the act of musicianship. I read a great quote yesterday that to strive for excellence is where to find joy.  (Someone posted it. It is by Author Pearl Buck.) I think this is why critics that are angry are, by definition, void of joy and try to make others void of joy. But it doesn't work on those that choose joy in their spirit and strive for excellence as the quote says. Pretty cool! I never saw it that way. Most DT fans strive for excellence like us, by forging forward finding true joy in digging in, and learning the new material.  So, I'm hoping and waiting to see if this album can create more joy than not!!

You know what I love about this? I love the way he passes the praise around equally...very much a team player and it shows.

I LOVE MP and the album's he made with the band, but I don't recall him ever singling everyone out like that. Obviously, I might be wrong, but as a long-time fan, that was always my impression.

Reading through the 6-Degrees section of 'Lifting Shadows' reminds me of a lot of what we just saw in the Anthrax documentary...the visionary of the band falling out of love with the current sound and wanting to make a change for something deemed a bit more 'fashionable.'

Now, I'm not here to pass judgement on MP or the way he and the band conduct their business...they made the moves they made and had their reasons (and Lord knows open hostility has bred some pretty amazing music over the years), but when I read this FB post from Mangini, it brings a smile to my face to feel his genuine love and appreciation for the band he's in.

I guess I'm just a kid that wants the parents to get along:)

[Stadler]

Not argument, just observation, but I grew up with the Stones, and Kiss and Maiden and Aerosmith and Jane's Addiction and Van Halen and Oasis... and it's always been a sort of axiom that you didn't have to love your bandmate, you just had to want to make great music with (or without) them.   And sometimes that animosity actually HELPED the music.    The Beatles made Abbey Road and The White Album while fighting.  Even U2; their "best" album?  Achtung Baby, and they almost broke up while making it.   

The band/artist that made me rethink that?   Neal Morse, and largely because of his relationship with Mike Portnoy.  How times change, and proof that we can and do grow and evolve.

[ReaPsTA]

I like what I like - and like this one

Who is this guy? Is he someone whose opinion I should care about?

He doesn't seem that important. I'm sure there's tons of folks who don't even care about who he is and/or what he does!

-Marc.

I missed these posts the first time and regret doing so. They give me life

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Always great to see the band excited by their work. I can't wait to hear what they've come up with.

[Kotowboy]

https://metalwani.com/2019/02/dream-theaters-mike-mangini-explains-his-drum-sound-throws-light-on-claims-of-terrible-drum-sound-on-distance-over-time.html

Distance Over Time had a terrible drum sound ?!

[RMGadelha]

https://metalwani.com/2019/02/dream-theaters-mike-mangini-explains-his-drum-sound-throws-light-on-claims-of-terrible-drum-sound-on-distance-over-time.html

Distance Over Time had a terrible drum sound ?!

It didn't. It all sounds great to me, although I am not a drummer. I guess at this point for some people "terrible dream sound" means "anything that doesn't sound like MP", but yeah, I'm not a drummer.

[BeatriceNB]

https://metalwani.com/2019/02/dream-theaters-mike-mangini-explains-his-drum-sound-throws-light-on-claims-of-terrible-drum-sound-on-distance-over-time.html

Distance Over Time had a terrible drum sound ?!

In my opinion, it's the worst MM-era album in that regard. No dynamics, everything sounds super compressed, and the cymbals and snare clip which is pretty bad.

[erwinrafael]

The drumming in just one song, S2n, has a lot of dynamics, so I don't know where this no dynamics thing is coming from.

[BeatriceNB]

The drumming in just one song, S2n, has a lot of dynamics, so I don't know where this no dynamics thing is coming from.

Musically, yeah; sonically, not at all.

[Kotowboy]

Well that's how most metal albums sound these days unfortunately.

Distance Over Time is no Death Magnetic. I think that was the non plus ultra of clipped albums. I think Mangini is expecting a drum sound like on Awake or Falling Into infinity -

which is NEVER going to happen.

[RMGadelha]

At least I think we'll get an improvement with Andy Sneap.

[ReaPsTA]

https://metalwani.com/2019/02/dream-theaters-mike-mangini-explains-his-drum-sound-throws-light-on-claims-of-terrible-drum-sound-on-distance-over-time.html

Distance Over Time had a terrible drum sound ?!

I'm actually not sure what MM's trying to say there. When I heard the drums, to make it sounded like a very direct attempt to address what he was looking for. You can tell the ambient mics are an important part of the mix, the overtones weren't mixed out, and the overall thing had a really boomy quality.

[Stadler]

https://metalwani.com/2019/02/dream-theaters-mike-mangini-explains-his-drum-sound-throws-light-on-claims-of-terrible-drum-sound-on-distance-over-time.html

Distance Over Time had a terrible drum sound ?!

I'm actually not sure what MM's trying to say there. When I heard the drums, to make it sounded like a very direct attempt to address what he was looking for. You can tell the ambient mics are an important part of the mix, the overtones weren't mixed out, and the overall thing had a really boomy quality.

Seemed like it might have been his nice way of throwing someone else under the bus in so many words?  Haha.   

Isn't all sound subject to interpretation in that way?  "Yanny" and "Laurel"? 

[The Letter M]

Saturday's Alien Classes were an absolute blast.  But did I sweat playing that thing at full speed. I'll share the opening fill that the class got inside of with me. We could spend 4 classes on this, but I also demonstrated how to play it without knowing or caring much about what it actually is. The math came LATER, not first. A feeling came first, then I thought a little bit about it after having the sense that I'd like the last 3 notes of the bar to sound more frantic than the first 4. That meant putting 7 instead of 8 in the space of those 4. 7 is slower, so it makes the 3 notes at the end seem more frantic. Yes, I use poly and odd rhythms to replicate a feeling, not a math equation. I'm communicating to listeners, especially fans that love to learn, with this fill. I'm saying, "This is what you're getting on this album." ie. the use of a lot of earned skills as the only way to perfectly replicate the emotion and music each night and each time I play it. And.. that you can too with the right direction and take on how to just "play" this at 220 BPM without being a math or music notation major.

If you really want to know more: Some private slots are left for Wednesday mostly. Vimeo contains the C&C Limb and Not Quite Doubled whopper courses with "practice with Mike" additions.

-Marc.

[Kotowboy]

  it's a 1 second fill. Oh Mike.

[Ben_Jamin]

it's a 1 second fill. Oh Mike.

Yup and an interesting one at that. And it's only just the intro he decided to share with us on Facebook.

[Kotowboy]

 

[erwinrafael]

it's a 1 second fill. Oh Mike.

You should experience teaching. 

[Kotowboy]

I've seen one of Mangini's 'courses' as "making the last possible hit of a fill before the chorus the loudest drum hit of the fill"

AN ENTIRE COURSE ON THAT. 

[emtee]

I wonder what Buddy Rich would have said about that notation.

btw, Mangini is amazing on The Alien.

[Kotowboy]

Pah ! Buddy Rich ! Terrible posture and ego.

[Trav86]

Pah ! Buddy Rich ! Terrible posture and ego.

Well, I can’t speak for your posture.  But…

[Kotowboy]

At least my ego is non existent ☺️

[BeatriceNB]

I wonder what Buddy Rich would have said about that notation.

btw, Mangini is amazing on The Alien.

Buddy Rich, aka the most overrated Jazz drummer ever. "Oh yeah, I can spam the snare* omg I'm the best drummer ever"

*while being extremely sloppy and doing it by pure inertia

[BeatriceNB]

I've seen one of Mangini's 'courses' as "making the last possible hit of a fill before the chorus the loudest drum hit of the fill"

AN ENTIRE COURSE ON THAT. 

I don't see any problem with this, having in mind how AWFUL some drummers are when it comes to dynamics, fills and what not. Especially when to many amateur musicians (not just drummers), energy only equals speed. And once you get the dynamics down (muscles and mind wise), you can apply that "energy hit" to any hit of a fill, or any section in a song.

This kind of simple but meant-to-be extrapolated information is everywhere in anything pedagogical, not just music.

[Kotowboy]

I wonder what Buddy Rich would have said about that notation.

btw, Mangini is amazing on The Alien.

Buddy Rich, aka the most overrated Jazz drummer ever. "Oh yeah, I can spam the snare* omg I'm the best drummer ever"

*while being extremely sloppy and doing it by pure inertia

THANK YOU. All Buddy Rich videos i've seen of him are literally just shredding and nothing remarkable at all.

[The Letter M]

I wonder what Buddy Rich would have said about that notation.

btw, Mangini is amazing on The Alien.

Buddy Rich, aka the most overrated Jazz drummer ever. "Oh yeah, I can spam the snare* omg I'm the best drummer ever"

*while being extremely sloppy and doing it by pure inertia

THANK YOU. All Buddy Rich videos i've seen of him are literally just shredding and nothing remarkable at all.

When I was younger, in high school, and learning how to play drumset (mostly self-taught, though I picked up on a lot of things from my fellow drummers/percussionists during my time in marching band), Buddy was one of those drummers I was always in awe of. But... as I grew older and discovered more drummers and different styles of playing, Buddy just ended up being "that one really fast and accurate jazz drummer" that every drummer loves for a short time.

Yeah, he's incredibly fast, has great traditional grip skills, is insanely accurate at the high speeds he plays at, and often has a lot of great dynamics in his solos, as well as having a really fast right foot on the bass drum, he didn't amount to much more than speed and showmanship. Even drummers who grew up loving him, like Neil Peart, became better drummers than Buddy (IMO), especially when it came to challenging himself and learning limb interdependence and polyrhythms.

After some time, I came to think of Buddy as the original Travis Barker, who I always saw as early-drummers' favorite drummer because of his speed, and not much else. Fast drumming and showmanship only get you so far.

-Marc.

[Kotowboy]

Plus nobody ever thinks of modern musicians as being better than 'classic' musicians.

Like you're not allowed to say someone like Thomas Lang is better than Buddy Rich because everyone would gasp and clutch their pearls.

When technically - TL runs circles around Buddy Rich.

Buddy wouldn't have been able to manage a fraction of what Thomas is capable of.


Like when people say Cliff Burton was the best bass player in the history of music when he was in fact quite sloppy and they covered him in distortion

and lowered him in the mix to make up for it. People like Flea, Rob Trujillo, Les Claypool, Victor Wooten are far superior - but of course yo can't say that

because they're 'new'.

[The Letter M]

Plus nobody ever thinks of modern musicians as being better than 'classic' musicians.

Like you're not allowed to say someone like Thomas Lang is better than Buddy Rich because everyone would gasp and clutch their pearls.

When technically - TL runs circles around Buddy Rich.

Buddy wouldn't have been able to manage a fraction of what Thomas is capable of.

Back during my late teen years, I got the Sonor Giant Step Twin-Effect pedal for my drum set (my dad owned a music store, so it was an easy gift), and it came with an instructional video with Thomas Lang, and that was the first time I'd ever heard of or seen him, and he showed off just what he was capable of, and this was way back at the turn of the century! I'm sure he's improved in the last two decades, but even back then, I was enthralled by what he could do. Honestly, if Mangini didn't get the drumming position in DT, I would've preferred Thomas Lang (even over Minnemann, whose drumming I also love, but if he had joined DT, he never would've been able to play with Steven Wilson, or form The Aristocrats).

Like when people say Cliff Burton was the best bass player in the history of music when he was in fact quite sloppy and they covered him in distortion

and lowered him in the mix to make up for it. People like Flea, Rob Trujillo, Les Claypool, Victor Wooten are far superior - but of course yo can't say that

because they're 'new'.

Maybe it's because I'm not a bassist, but I don't even know who Cliff Burton is, but I sure has heck know Victor Wooten (love the Flecktones), and I"m familiar with Flea and Claypool. Musicians have to get over the fact that newer players, especially living ones, are always improving the craft, both for themselves and for every player out there. We can all recognize what made the pioneers of certain instruments as great as they were, but we also have to know that they aren't the pinnacle today.

-Marc.

[Sebastián Pratesi]

After some time, I came to think of Buddy as the original Travis Barker, who I always saw as early-drummers' favorite drummer because of his speed, and not much else. Fast drumming and showmanship only get you so far.

-Marc.

Wait a minute. Have you ever listened to the pre-choruses in this beauty? https://youtu.be/CvtJVku_mJw

"Not Now", from the same album, has another great drum track by Travis. And, he has also explored other styles in the Transplants, his 2011 solo album, etc.