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 "I
think my playing is split between 'progressive rock' drumming and 'heavy
metal' drumming," says Mike Portnoy of the band Dream Theater. "I
fall somewhere between Neil Peart of Rush and Lars Ulrich of Metallica," the
New York drummer continues. "In Dream Theater, we take progressive
rock influences and bring them into the metal environment."
The band remains prolific, even after a solid decade of recording and touring, and has produced such popular albums as Images and Words and Falling into Infinity, plus a recent album and home video documenting their live show.
Portnoy and LP go way back. "I think I discovered Latin Percussion when I first discovered that tambourines and shakers existed," he smiles. "My high school marching band and concert band stocked all Latin Percussion gear. My first LP instrument was probably a tambourine or a cowbell."
Mike emphasizes: "I'm a drummer, not a percussionist. My interest
in percussion is more of an embellishment to drumset playing. I never
listened to much Latin music, except Santana, but I've seen drummers
who also play percussion that blow me away. I'm a novice at hand percussion
and I'm in complete awe of the things these people do." Mike has
a few tricks himself, revealed on instructional videos
from Hudson Music.
Portnoy subjects LP instruments, including mounted bells, blocks, tambourines, and a percussion table, to considerable trauma: "My application of the products is a lot more demanding than many of the Latin artists, because I'm using them in rock, playing 200 hundred shows a year, and they're getting bashed and sweated on. After this last tour, everything was fine; I didn't need to replace anything."
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