Dream Theater Drummer Mike Portnoy's Breakdown of Pull Me Under

[Kocak]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKo-4rpWGSw

Well, folks, first post-reunion DT-related content from MP is here. He breaks Pull Me Under down for us. I'm enjoying the mix for this one.

[gborland]

Very cool. This felt so right.

[hefdaddy42]

Has this been taken down?

[bosk1]

It works for me.  And Drumeo is a well established channel that does this sort of content all the time, so I'm not sure why it would be.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Very cool stuff. Love the explanation of parts and of course the song.

[emtee]

Yep, everything seems right. The man's memory astounds me. Very cool!

[hefdaddy42]

It works for me.  And Drumeo is a well established channel that does this sort of content all the time, so I'm not sure why it would be.

Maybe it's something to do with being at work.  When I hit that link, I get a message saying the video is not available.  When I just go to youtube and search, I can go to drumeo's page, but I can't find that video.

[DTA]

Very fun video, and some insight into the song I never knew before. I'm really hoping there's more stuff filmed as their videos are usually an hour or so long.

[HOF]

Mike had a berry sduffy dose while filming this.

[MirrorMask]

That was nice and interesting! I like how Mike kept it interesting also for non musicians.

I loved Mangini as a guy and a drummer, and if he hadn't gone, I would have been perfectly fine with it, but I guess if he tried to do a similar video, he'd be much more a.... "professor"? "music ultra geek"? about it, for lack of better words, but Portnoy kept it interesting for everyone. I'm not so sure I actually understood it to the point I can explain it myself, musically speaking   , but I liked the explanation of the pre-verse and how they all organized that part before the lyrics starts. Cool stuff!

[Stadler]

The right video at the right time.  Really stoked to see that and hear that. 

[devieira73]

I love those fills that MP adds at the end of the intro (like in his most common PMU live versions), always really tasty!

[SwedishGoose]

Lovely video..... it will be great to hear his take on the song on the next tour.

[gzarruk]

Lovely video..... it will be great to hear his take on the song on the next tour.

Agree on the video, but please no PMU live again anytime soon. They have such a big catalog, no need to play this one over and over again.

[DTwwbwMP]

Lovely video..... it will be great to hear his take on the song on the next tour.

Agree on the video, but please no PMU live again anytime soon. They have such a big catalog, no need to play this one over and over again.

 

[Shooters1221]

Love that Mike did this which is gonna churn the social media barrel that is coming... but yes... we will see PMU at future shows... he just loves that song and I'm sure he will fuck with tempos and stuff as he used to... can't wait!

[King Postwhore]

So natural and so lose and swinging. He talked about muscle memory and he was so dead on.

Man, that feel in his playing.

[DoctorAction]

I thoroughly enjoyed that. I'm so chuffed he's back.

[lightningbolt]

That was great.  Glad we have something new to talk about

[Indiscipline]

"The tempo is what I say it is!"

Gotta love the guy.

[MoraWintersoul]

I wasn't prepared to open the video and hear "hey, this is Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater". I'm still getting used to it!

[hefdaddy42]

"The tempo is what I say it is!"

As it should be.

[Zydar]

"The tempo is what I say it is!"

As it should be.

Sweet, no more click tracks then.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

"The tempo is what I say it is!"

As it should be.

Sweet, no more click tracks then.

Meaning when you're at the show you can tell when the band speeds up or slows down unintentionally and enjoy that aspect of the show?

[Zydar]

Indeed.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Indeed.

Got it. That's an interesting way of seeing it.

There are times when pushing the beat or really laying back can be musically desirable. But in my experience usually when people introduce a click track it has nothing to do with the aforementioned (which I typically think of as 'feel'). When I've jammed with drummers who want a click track it has always been because they're trying to keep everyone honest on the time. You're playing with 2-5 people who all have different strengths with respect to time and because people aren't metronomes they inevitably start deviating from the beat at different parts of the song. With top notch musicians like DT it is a really really subtle deviation but if you slowed the live tracks down I am sure we would see they're playing 'off' by a tiny margin at different times. In a live setting unless someone is really having a bad day it would be noticeable primarily to the musicians or to us listening really really carefully to recordings after the fact.

I definitely think DT sounds more 'locked-in' with Mangini but I think that has more to do with him and his training and less to do with one guy slowing down or speeding up or the band speeding up unintentionally. If they played with MM without a click track I doubt anyone in the audience would be able to tell. And similarly if they played to a click with MP I highly doubt 99.9% of the audience would know the difference.

Long way of saying I think people are waaaaay overestimating the impact of the click track on the live experience. It's mostly for the guys in DT and unless you're really scrutinizing the performance (strange to imagine someone in the venue analyzing it to the degree necessary to hear people speeding) I bet come showtime no one knows if they have one or not.

[porcacultor]

Indeed.

Got it. That's an interesting way of seeing it.

There are times when pushing the beat or really laying back can be musically desirable. But in my experience usually when people introduce a click track it has nothing to do with the aforementioned (which I typically think of as 'feel'). When I've jammed with drummers who want a click track it has always been because they're trying to keep everyone honest on the time. You're playing with 2-5 people who all have different strengths with respect to time and because people aren't metronomes they inevitably start deviating from the beat at different parts of the song. With top notch musicians like DT it is a really really subtle deviation but if you slowed the live tracks down I am sure we would see they're playing 'off' by a tiny margin at different times. In a live setting unless someone is really having a bad day it would be noticeable primarily to the musicians or to us listening really really carefully to recordings after the fact.

I definitely think DT sounds more 'locked-in' with Mangini but I think that has more to do with him and his training and less to do with one guy slowing down or speeding up or the band speeding up unintentionally. If they played with MM without a click track I doubt anyone in the audience would be able to tell. And similarly if they played to a click with MP I highly doubt 99.9% of the audience would know the difference.

Long way of saying I think people are waaaaay overestimating the impact of the click track on the live experience. It's mostly for the guys in DT and unless you're really scrutinizing the performance (strange to imagine someone in the venue analyzing it to the degree necessary to hear people speeding) I bet come showtime no one knows if they have one or not.

I was going to reply about how it can be intentional, but not only did you allow that in your new post, but it's something that a click track indeed can accommodate.

I think the main thing with not having a click track is that these microdecisions (or not so micro, as in MP's case of doing super turbo or super slow versions of parts of Pull Me Under, admittedly in a more playful context with a well-established track) can vary from night to night. With a click track, even if you do make room for parts where the tempo ramps up or slows down, it's a commit for the whole tour. So it's arguable whether one can tell the difference in the venue (depending on how glaring the change is), but I do feel doing away with the click track allows not just for spontaneity but requires everyone to keep listening to each other. It is harder, but like you said -- the guys in DT can do both ways.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

That's fair. I think there can definitely be a psychological impact. Maybe guys are listening to the click and focusing way too much on it. I know that has happened to me and it makes me nervous that I am going to start deviating from the true beat. Then again, I am no professional musician. I am not sure how the guys think about it but in the end I do think the band with MM is going to sound like DT w/ MM regardless of the click or not. If people are thinking that DT is just sounded too 'locked in' when they hit the stage I am skeptical eliminating the click would have changed that.

Obviously many more factors are going to come into play now including a new person, lack of a click, different amounts of time spent on rehearsing songs because there are probably going to be setlist changes etc.

[HOF]

Heh, now we're gonna argue about set lists and click tracks in this thread too?

[Stadler]

Heh, now we're gonna argue about set lists and click tracks in this thread too?

The gift that keeps on giving...

Just wait until Mike posts a video breaking down the individual songs that make up "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence". 

[nobloodyname]

Here we go again, eh? There are those who see a band as an organic entity and those who don't. I am among the former. And I can't wait to go back to the future.

[Indiscipline]

I don't want to argue the merits or demerits of the click per se. But I'll say this:

With a click, everybody - both on stage and in attendance - know nothing (at least tempo-wise) will stray from the predicted. Without it - even in the case the unpredictable never actually occurs - there's an element of latent chaos bringing back the "alive" factor in the live performance.

Just my feeling. I'm not keen on religion wars.

[hefdaddy42]

Mangini neither needed nor asked for a click track. It was used more to line up the music with backing vocal tracks and visual effects than any musical needs of the five musicians.

[TAC]

Heh, now we're gonna argue about set lists and click tracks in this thread too?

The gift that keeps on giving...

 

[PixelDream]

I loved seeing that. I always like seeing him play and his side projects are decent enough, but to see him play DT again and nailing it like he’s always done is something else! His beats are so badass and there’s a rock ‘n roll vibe to the way he plays and how his drums sound.