The Drummer's Dominion

Drum-Related Blathering and Minutiae

And the new Dream Theater drummer is…

by Leave a Comment

There’s been a lot of joking about Dream Theater’s secrecy and Mangini being a foregone conclusion, but there were some serious auditions to fill Mike Portnoy’s slot in Dream Theater. Not only is it incredible to see these absolute drumming monsters auditioning like no-name newbs (and making mistakes), but the production of this three-part documentary by Roadrunner Records is truly entertaining and informative to watch. I do not envy the band having to make a decision. The grand reveal in Episode 3 is a little over-the-top, and they treat it like Portnoy died in some tragic accident, but the series is very much worth watching straight through.

The Seven

  • Mike Mangini
  • Derek Roddy
  • Thomas Lang
  • Virgil Donati
  • Marco Minneman
  • Aquiles Priester
  • Peter Wildoer

Roadrunner has disabled embedding, so here are the direct links:

Episode 1 – http://youtu.be/L609JsPFmmI

Episode 2 – http://youtu.be/-vaDfcKzLbY

Episode 3 – http://youtu.be/2QHMQjH17aw

Portnoy + Dimmu Borgir = WTF?

by 3 Comments

I just read this and audibly guffawed: “Mike Portnoy Bashes For Dimmu Borgir”.

Something tells me Mike’s born-again, 12-step preaching will not go over too well with the boys in Dimmu…

Mike Portnoy Dimmu Borgir

I wish I could be more excited by this, but I have reservations. I suppose it’s no more bizarre than Marco Minnemann playing with Necrophagist (2), but it seems like a cosmic dissonance to me. I have no doubt in Mike’s ability to do this gig, though I hope he’s prepared for the YouTube baboons to begin the cackling battle cries. Oh, I can foresee it so clearly: “dude portnoy sux he can on;y ply blast beet @ 210bpm”. Et cetera…

New Drum Channel DVDs

by Leave a Comment

Drum Channel DVDs

Press Release – 7th February 2011

Drum Channel Release Drumming DVDs Featuring Mike Portnoy, Terry Bozzio and Stephen Perkins

Drum Channel’s reputation for working with the Best Drummers in the World continues to grow and they can now announce the launch of three new DVD’s featuring interviews and performances of some of the most incredible drummers of our times.

For the first time Drum Channel has released to DVD the special event where Terry Bozzio meets and talks to Mike Portnoy on his show ‘The Art of Drumming’. This DVD titled  Mike Portnoy on the “Art of Drumming” Show with Terry Bozzio, brings you the man responsible for the ingeniously intricate Dream Theater beats in candid conversation with incredibly musical and entertaining drum jams. (RRP $24.95).

Next up is the re-mastered magical Terry Bozzio: Melodic Drumming and The Ostinato, Vols. 1, 2, and 3. This 3 DVD set shows features over four hours of Terry Bozzio at his very best in stunning 5.1 surround sound quality. It strips down groundbreaking ideas, demonstrates revolutionary approaches to drums, contains hundreds of ‘how to’, examples and exercises. Each radical technique is clearly explained by Terry himself. (RRP $39.95).
The third is Stephen Perkins: Hands*Feet*Mind*Soul. Stephen takes you through eleven classic Jane’s Addiction tracks, breaking down the drum parts, analyzing the beats, and explaining why he chose each one and how it sets the foundation for each song. Also included with this double DVD is a downloadable workbook and play along tracks featuring bassist Tony Franklin. With over fours hours of footage, this DVD represents incredible value for money and retails for $24.95!

Drum Channel DVDs are available online at DrumChannel.com and Amazon.com. Alfred Publishing is the exclusive worldwide distributor for retail music stores.