Portnoy's vs. Mangini's drum set

[JayOctavarium]

I haven't watched the video but I know in an explanation of his drum set up MM mentioned the fact that he has six (or was it eight) pedals he uses. I think 2 of them were for electronic sample triggers. I assume they were triggered.

[FlyingBIZKIT]

As a drummer, I don't really like symmetry on a drum set. That's just me, personally. I always loved Portnoy's, "Albino Monster"

[goo-goo]

I would of loved for Mangini to use his Vai kit. The current one seems excessive to me, even if he uses everything.

As far as the original question, I love the Purple Monster. That and Gavin Harrison's kit have been my favorite kits for years. Not a fan of MP's Albino, or Siamese Monsters either.

[Setlist Scotty]

Gotta go with MM's kit. I get why MP had 2 kits side by side, and it was nice for when he had guests join him on drums, but I like MM's better, if nothing else because he can play everything. With MP's kit, he was limited to whatever kit he was on. And I like that MM's has a smaller footprint overall.

[chaotic_ripper]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4nhzy1g0-s&feature=youtu.be

First time I've seen the live performance of this song.

Wow, that was incredible!  The drum solo was fantastic, and I love that it was embedded within an instrumental song this time instead of its own thing.  Really enjoyable!

Errrr... I just have to ask this question: When he is doing the above hits for the main melody of the song (with the bell-like sound), there's like two of them that happen without him hitting anything. Does that mean all those bell sounds were actually backing track?

Those are done with his feet.

[Lotion]

I haven't read the whole thread so I don't know if it has been discussed,  but there's one reason why I enjoy MP's kit more. That's how It looks on camera.  I was bummed about how MM was filmed at the last release. It's impossible to get a good angle of Mike's drumming with that kit.

[Kotowboy]

MM plays all of his kit.

MP only played one of his two kits at at time.

Apart from very occasionally swapping kits mid song. But you could argue that there was nothing he could play on the small kit that he couldn't play just as easily on

the big kit.

[robwebster]

I think Mangini's is a niftier contraption, but in terms of aesthetics it's Portnoy for me. Mangini's drum kit looks a little cluttered - all those drums suspended off huge bars. Mangini's is technical, function-over-form, all supports and railings. I bet it's a blast to play, but you can see too much of the engineering, and it makes Mangini look a little more tucked away. Portnoy always managed to dominate the stage from his behemoth - it was daunting, showy. A little bit cooler.

[Kotowboy]

The moment I read " cluttered " - I immediately thought of this very pic :






That pic basically sums up the word " cluttered ". When I think of Mangini's kit - i think of "organised".

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

The difference in angles makes it kind of hard to compare.

[robwebster]

Agreed! It's a dream when you're sat down in it, and I'm sure it plays like one, but it's all this business -



The huge bars over the top, all that scaffolding. I like Mangini's kit more as a technical instrument, and Portnoy's more as a terrifying hub of drums and destruction.

[jonnybaxy]

But you could argue that there was nothing he could play on the small kit that he couldn't play just as easily on the big kit.

That is irrelevant really, each kit had it's own sound its like saying there's nothing he plays on the octobans that he couldn't play on his floor tom.

[Kotowboy]

But he had bass, snare toms and octobans on both "sides".


That's my point. The big kit had everything the small kit had and more.

[jonnybaxy]

Yes but different sizes and tightness of skins for different sounds, IIRC the smaller kit is for ballads and alike things, where the big kit is for prog stuff.

[jakepriest]

IIRC the smaller kit is for ballads and alike things, where the big kit is for prog stuff.

So that's why Ytse Jam, As I am and Stream of Consciousness were played on the small kit at Budokan... interesting.

[jonnybaxy]

IIRC the smaller kit is for ballads and alike things, where the big kit is for prog stuff.

So that's why Ytse Jam, As I am and Stream of Consciousness were played on the small kit at Budokan... interesting.

YTSE JAM was recorded when MP's kit wasn't AS big, SoC is more challenging time sigs than round the kit complex.


But I may also be wrong because i also believe that the toms are bigger therefore more suited to standard rock, I need some confirmation or something here...

[jakepriest]

All DT songs could be played on the smaller kit, you'd have just have less cymbals and toms to work with. I don't think there is a reason besides Portnoy wanting a John Bonham kit to play on.

[Kotowboy]

Proggy Excess of course. And to look cool .

The same reason some bands change guitar after every song.

Despite being in the same tuning.

Unless you're a total tone whore like The Edge who actually thinks a white 1960 Gibson Les Paul will sound different to a black 1960 Gibson Les Paul.

[Grizz]

The second Siamese head has a 20" bass drum, small steel snare, reversed rack toms, a gong drum as a floor tom, lower pitch octobans, 13" hats, and more unusual crashes.

The second Albino head is obviously big and loud for the purposes of playing the Octavarium songs that used the large, acrylic/steel drums of the Bonham kit.

The second Mirage and Black & Silver head uses a small steel snare, relatively large, single-headed rack tom, two floor toms, a gong drum, a bright ride, small hats, something called a "propeller," which I think is actually called a chopper, and more cowbell.

So basically kit one is metal and kit two is progressive.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Proggy Excess of course. And to look cool .

The same reason some bands change guitar after every song.

Despite being in the same tuning.

Unless you're a total tone whore like The Edge who actually thinks a white 1960 Gibson Les Paul will sound different to a black 1960 Gibson Les Paul.

racism?

[BlobVanDam]

The moment I read " cluttered " - I immediately thought of this very pic :

*snip*

That pic basically sums up the word " cluttered ". When I think of Mangini's kit - i think of "organised". MM's kit looks just as cluttered and random from the front, but both kits are organized for the respective drummer to play it.

*snip*

I'm sorry, but they both look equally cluttered or organized to me. They're both a shit-ton of drums, and as Shadow Ninja pointed out, the difference in camera angles makes it look way different to compare.

[Sycsa]

The fundamental difference is that MM's kit is almost perfectly symmetrical.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I will admit, purely based on aesthetics, the symmetry of MM's kit is very appealing to me.

[BlobVanDam]

While the symmetry makes it easier for MM to play, and does look nice, it also makes it seem more excessive and redundant in that regard.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Yeah, I'm not sure what it means in terms of functionality, but is visually appealing.

[BlobVanDam]

Yeah, I'm not sure what it means in terms of functionality, but is visually appealing.

I think it means he doesn't need to cross his arms or something. Considering how fast the guy can play, it must be making a difference for him!

[mikemangioy]

nope, he's playing them with his feet.

[rumborak]

Proggy Excess of course. And to look cool .
The same reason some bands change guitar after every song.
Despite being in the same tuning.

Yeah, this really. A while ago there was an MM interview where he essentially said "I'm in DT now. Excess is fine, almost demanded." (heavily paraphrased)

I think as being the drummer of DT he probably gets a shit-ton of endorsements, so he can afford to rack up an enormous kit.

[BMcP_2112]

I'm a personal fan of Mike Portnoy's "Black and Silver Monster."

[Kotowboy]

As a drummer who's played big kits and 4 piece kits - from my personal experience - smaller kits force you to be more creative because you're so limited.

Gavin Harrison said a similar thing... He said basically being limited is better as you have to think more.

I hate playing on massive kits. I've not found them to be more fun than small kits.

My ideal kit would probably be one bass with a dbl pedal. Snare. 8" and 10" rack tom and 16" floor.

Maybe a 14" floor in there too. Hi hats. Ride. Left crash, Right crash, China and one or two splashes.

That would be perfect for me

[rumborak]

As a drummer who's played big kits and 4 piece kits - from my personal experience - smaller kits force you to be more creative because you're so limited.

Gavin Harrison said a similar thing... He said basically being limited is better as you have to think more.

I have made that point many times before, and have received a lot of flak for it. The usual counter-argument is "you can play on a big kit whatever you can play on a small kit", but it simply doesn't happen in 99% of the cases. When drummers sit behind a big kit, they invariably make use of all of it, which more often than not results in plain runs over the toms etc. A small kit forces you to shift your focus on the rhythm you're playing.

[Kotowboy]

This exactly.

At the jam night I used to go to weekly - the house kit was Bass with double pedal. Snare. 4 rack toms and two floor toms.

And all the "metal" drummers always played every single tom on every single fill.

I only ever went crazy on that kit if we were playing Freebird and we were all going insane at the end...

But apart from that - I used it like a 4 piece.

[jakepriest]

As a drummer who's played big kits and 4 piece kits - from my personal experience - smaller kits force you to be more creative because you're so limited.

Gavin Harrison said a similar thing... He said basically being limited is better as you have to think more.

I hate playing on massive kits. I've not found them to be more fun than small kits.

My ideal kit would probably be one bass with a dbl pedal. Snare. 8" and 10" rack tom and 16" floor.

Maybe a 14" floor in there too. Hi hats. Ride. Left crash, Right crash, China and one or two splashes.

That would be perfect for me

While I am not a fan of double bass drums, I just find it weird to play, I really dislike having only a few toms. It really limits the sound option and long single stroke fills just sound meh when you have three tones to work with.

[Kotowboy]

So incorporate some bass, snare and cymbals...

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I don't really care how big or small a kit is if someone can make good music with it.