TOP 10 DRUMMERS

That's true. If this were a top 10 keyboardist list he would definitely be on it. I do really like the Bal-Sagoth drum arrangements, I know it's nothing too technical but it sounds good to me... not too much else I can say that about.

I like their drums on older albums, it's not always so fast. Mackintosh did a great job though.
 
Mackintosh is a great drummer, no doubt. But if I'm not mistaken Jonny wrote and performed the drums in studio, and Mackintosh played them live before he went to Dragonforce, right ?
 
I'm not a drummer so I probably don't know what I am talking about, but I think Neil Peart and Jason Rullo are both better than Portnoy.


Rullo is most certainly NOT better than Portnoy. If you, personally, enjoy his playing more than Portnoy's then ok. But to say he's better is just flat out wrong.


And, I will add to the list:

1. Mike Mangini
2. Rod Morgenstein
 
I don't remember-while watching or listening to Portnoy- saying "wow, how did he do that!", or "oh, how original and unique of him to write such a drum part to that song". Again most of the time, i don't react to the physical side of Rullo as "wow, he did the unbelievable" etc. However, Rullo has great creative moments i suppose. And his parts always give the feeling that they are greatly worked on, just to be perfectly fit to the "masterfully composed"" music of Symphony X...

Portnoy is really a very good drummer. I take pleasure in watching or listening him. He seems to be phsically more flexible, suiting to the more jazzy aspect of D.T.

But, i believe Rullo is a more special drummer...
 
Jason Rullo is specialer :lol:

It's funny how everything ends up Dream Theater v Symphony X... Usually it's John Petrucci v Michael Romeo (and we all know who wins that one jp... :D ) but now it's Mike Portnoy v Jason Rullo... good stuff!!!

For mine I prefer Mike Portnoy, not just for Dream Theater, but in Liquid Tension Experiment as well, his drumming is a lot more spectacular and technical than Rullo, and I know that's not everything, but for me it just pushes him above...
 
Good point Time-Machinist, a very good point! +rep I dunno, sometimes I just enjoy a pure release of skill in a demonstration of pure creative talent and ability... :D That's just me I guess... Having said all that, it doesn't mean I don't like Rullo, I love his work, I just like Portnoy better.

EDIT: Whoops, says I've given out too much in the past 24 hours... Standby, I'll give you some as soon as I am able... :)
 
I don't think it's fair to compare Rullo and Portnoy.

Portnoy is in a situation where the music he plays REALLY allows him to showcase his abilities and not make it look completely out of place.

Rullo is in a situation where he plays to suit a completely different style of music (ie. less wank-shred. Not that I don't like DT!)

But you also need to understand that a lot of what Portnoy does are just simple concepts. For example, the 2/4/6 on the hands + 2 on the feet. Any drummer with more than a year of experience can put those sorts of fills together. I can play just about ANY Dream Theater song because there is not much other than single stroke concepts in there.

On the other side of the spectrum, Rullo shows a much better technical understanding on the drums which I would say is most certainly due to his training with Sonny Igoe. The bassdrum patterns and odd-time parts of The Eyes of Medusa show a high level of disciplined practise and technical prowess. Anyone who has worked on mixing 16th note triplets or 32nd notes with 16th notes in single burst (ie.RLR L R L R L R L R LRL R L...) knows that they take a LOT of committed practise to get to a level where you are remotely comfortable with them.

I would be very interested to see Jason Rullo show off. I think that he would surprise us all.
 
^ I read that Jason Rullo trained at the drummer's institute thingo where people like Steve Smith, Dave Weckl etc. etc. were... That would have to give him a pretty good technical advantage I guess. Maybe Symphony X should become more 'wank-shred' to accomodate him better... :lol:

Cheers for the info David, it's always helpful to actually here an experienced drummer's perspective on this sort of thing...
 
Yep, Vital Information are brilliant! Frank Gambale is also awesome on the guitar in that... Also great is 'The Vital Tech Tones' which has Steve Smith on drums, Victor Wooten on bass and Scott Henderson on guitar... :worship:
 
I don't think it's fair to compare Rullo and Portnoy.

Portnoy is in a situation where the music he plays REALLY allows him to showcase his abilities and not make it look completely out of place.

Rullo is in a situation where he plays to suit a completely different style of music (ie. less wank-shred. Not that I don't like DT!)

But you also need to understand that a lot of what Portnoy does are just simple concepts. For example, the 2/4/6 on the hands + 2 on the feet. Any drummer with more than a year of experience can put those sorts of fills together. I can play just about ANY Dream Theater song because there is not much other than single stroke concepts in there.

On the other side of the spectrum, Rullo shows a much better technical understanding on the drums which I would say is most certainly due to his training with Sonny Igoe. The bassdrum patterns and odd-time parts of The Eyes of Medusa show a high level of disciplined practise and technical prowess. Anyone who has worked on mixing 16th note triplets or 32nd notes with 16th notes in single burst (ie.RLR L R L R L R L R LRL R L...) knows that they take a LOT of committed practise to get to a level where you are remotely comfortable with them.

I would be very interested to see Jason Rullo show off. I think that he would surprise us all.

i agree 100% with this statement. playing DT's stuff on drums isn't as hard as some may think...it's not exactly the easiest to play, but it can be done. rullo just has this special feel. he plays his kit so musically, and he doesn't need a mammoth one at that.

they're both great, i just love rullo's technique a lot more. he's much harder to emulate, too :p
 
I don't think it's fair to compare Rullo and Portnoy.

Portnoy is in a situation where the music he plays REALLY allows him to showcase his abilities and not make it look completely out of place.

Rullo is in a situation where he plays to suit a completely different style of music (ie. less wank-shred. Not that I don't like DT!)

But you also need to understand that a lot of what Portnoy does are just simple concepts. For example, the 2/4/6 on the hands + 2 on the feet. Any drummer with more than a year of experience can put those sorts of fills together. I can play just about ANY Dream Theater song because there is not much other than single stroke concepts in there.

On the other side of the spectrum, Rullo shows a much better technical understanding on the drums which I would say is most certainly due to his training with Sonny Igoe. The bassdrum patterns and odd-time parts of The Eyes of Medusa show a high level of disciplined practise and technical prowess. Anyone who has worked on mixing 16th note triplets or 32nd notes with 16th notes in single burst (ie.RLR L R L R L R L R LRL R L...) knows that they take a LOT of committed practise to get to a level where you are remotely comfortable with them.

I would be very interested to see Jason Rullo show off. I think that he would surprise us all.

I couldn't have said it better myself! Very well put, my friend!

Speaking as a drummer, I find Rullo to be better than Portnoy. Some of the stuff Rullo plays is unbelieveably difficult, and he seems to use a lot of different techniques in there. Portnoy does use the same tricks over and over again, and although I do love the guy, he really does stick to single-stroke techniques and nothing TOO difficult. I think if Rullo was given a solo spot on their upcoming DVD, he'd amaze a lot of people. His technique/posture also looks more disciplined. Another thing: I think Rullo would be the better of the two at jazz styles. Portnoy has admitted to not being able to play jazz. I get a more jazzy vibe from Rullo... plus he does listen to fusion.
As for that Eyes of Medusa pattern you listed there... I am proud to say that I can play that part pefectly with a bass drum technique I learned over the years :)... I don't play it like you've written, and I don't think Rullo would either... although, I could be wrong. I play it like this:
RRL R L R L R L RRL R L R L R L
Just throw in some double-strokes ;)
 
I couldn't have said it better myself! Very well put, my friend!

Speaking as a drummer, I find Rullo to be better than Portnoy. Some of the stuff Rullo plays is unbelieveably difficult, and he seems to use a lot of different techniques in there. Portnoy does use the same tricks over and over again, and although I do love the guy, he really does stick to single-stroke techniques and nothing TOO difficult. I think if Rullo was given a solo spot on their upcoming DVD, he'd amaze a lot of people. His technique/posture also looks more disciplined. Another thing: I think Rullo would be the better of the two at jazz styles. Portnoy has admitted to not being able to play jazz. I get a more jazzy vibe from Rullo... plus he does listen to fusion.
As for that Eyes of Medusa pattern you listed there... I am proud to say that I can play that part pefectly with a bass drum technique I learned over the years :)... I don't play it like you've written, and I don't think Rullo would either... although, I could be wrong. I play it like this:
RRL R L R L R L RRL R L R L R L
Just throw in some double-strokes ;)

The part of that which caught my attention: "I think if Rullo was given a solo spot on their upcoming DVD, he'd amaze a lot of people.

:worship: :worship: :worship: I hope you're right my friend!