Given his smiling face and demeanor, you would never know that this man is one of the most badass drummers on the planet: The percussion warlord, commanding chaos with each strike, awakening the fury of ancient storms that echo in the very fabric of space and time.
I saw him in the G3 videos and I never saw his prowess. I also saw a video where he broke the world record for single strokes in a minute. I didn't realize who he is and how great he is until the auditions. I knew of him but he didn't stand out as the G3 sessions were "drummer in the background". I know there was nothing lacking in any G3 session I have heard, as far as anything musical.
Thank you for this reminder Mike, when we win the battle vs our minds while focusing on the same subject for weeks, processes I used to think take years happen in weeks. this is GOLD.
As always, thank you Mike. You are a true inspiration to both me (your age... 1961 birthdate) and my grandson whom I just started teaching to play ( much younger than us. 2002 birthdate ). That in itself speaks for the longevity of your playing. I mean, 40 years between us, and we both list you in out top 5 playing influences! So again, THANK YOU!
I remember reading an article on John Myung and John Petrucci and their practice madness. They would each practice 6 hours a day and then call each other to make sure that the other had put in the time! But, as with Mike and I’m sure, Jordan, that kind of time has paid dividends a thousandfold! Thank you for your on going dedication to your craft, Mike!
Drummers like Mile and Thomas Lang will put hours and hours to get things perfect. They will take a crazy exercise and spend a week perfecting it. Then when you see them they make it look fluid and effortless.
You mentioned that all that time practicing paid dividends a thousand fold ,my Adult mind asks how it affected the TRUE bottom line; Dividends in YOUR BANK ACCOUNT?
Your great dedication to your craft and the sacrifices you've made to become the amazing musician that you are, benefit us the fans of the great Dream Theater. You do the hard part, the work. We do the easy part, we listen and are amazed. Thank you!
Dear Mike…. You probably won’t read this ;) But Mike I’m not a great natural memory guy on drums. I can’t remember (when there’s a lot of changes) past the first three or four bars so I MUST practice! You are so right! The only way I can get through a somewhat complex tune is to do it over and over and over and over until it just flows. 100% great advice Sir. The trick is to keep the feel and character flowing after having laboured over a piece for a long time. ;)
after 30+ years of playing the drums i realize that the most amount of time i 've put into music is all about repetition. You can learn the swing pattern in ten minutes but it takes a few years and a million reps to actually "swing" .
Wanted to learn how to play King Crimson's Disciplin ;-) But this was even more: Learned a lot, and yes, its a technique you can use in other regions of life. So its truely a philosophical question - how to find and manage new ways! Its not your Enemy, its your starring partner you dance with!
Breaking out of autopilot and focusing your attention on a singular thing or activity is consistent with mindfulness meditation. Only instead of focusing on your breath as most mindfulness practitioners advocate, you're focusing on movements. The discipline to prevent your thoughts (and in this case, count and cadence) from wandering is intense. Pretty soon you start looking forward to doing something that once frustrated you.
Honestly Mike I've never caught one of your Video's on UA-cam. New sub for sure. I Love your energy and passion. Edit: And, as a bonus, now I know what's wrong with my playing lol. Time and practice.
nose porque , pero i love u Mike , i wish one day to C U & signature my Old drumstick , u r my inspiration to make Old Scool Death Metal music , xx bro & God bless u
Reminds me of Stick Control, where you're instructed to repeat each exercise 20 times without stopping. Maybe there's a reason why mr Stone omitted that you should also do that 20-rep at least 20 times 😅 Thanks for the tip 😊
Thanks mike as the hours approach 40,000 hrs and we have OUR minds drift....TALENT IS OVERRATED book is great..deliberate practice...and it was great watching ya sweat to death at hi point in st.louis when A/C was out...thanks for the yrs Michael 💥💯 that was about 12yrs ago haha I'm sure you remember that small place for drum headquarters
I was in a car accident and now my left arm is in alot of pain lefty drummer too and now i cant drum due to inflamation. Theres no words for not being able to play 😢😢😢
Pretty much teh same principle that applies to martial arts ... stop thinking and simply focus and try to bead your mind not to think when you practice ... simply focus on what you are doing and it's perfection, distanciate from yourself and try to see the bigger image and focus on small little details etc etc .... nice topic drum brother ... :)
@@isaiahneilguitaristofficia549 - A fair point. If I were to perpetuate this line of thought, I'd argue that 'The Art of War's copyright is public domain by now. ;)
You gott'a put the time in. You can't improve just because you want to improve. You have to practice and learn. It's hard work. You have to want it, a lot.
What I would like to know is, say that your practice space only consists of you, your drumsticks and your snare practice pad set-up, how are you able to transfer the idea of 'I'm about to get to the end of this 100th careful repetition of a rudiment and now something else' when your options are that...limited?
I tried taking drum lessons again after 37 years and it was just rudiments again your right there is nothing worse than having to think playing from the subconscious part of the brain is the best way to play however if I was to take lessons on Indian tabla drums I would take the approach that I'm an absolute novice and follow my teacher's instructions to the best of my abilities and hopefully not let my teacher or myself down
Or, you could count the number of times you can play the exercise in a minute, and then compute how many minutes you need to play it to reach your goal. Then, just play it for that number of minutes.
Yeah, I practiced without counting for years. One of my mentors encouraged me to count for a while....ALSO to slow down the metronome. He gave me some crazy exercises to learn. My coordination and independence is insane now. I can hear poly-rhythms like mad now. I'm also just a nut for drums and nearly every type of music--especially Jazz, Hip-Hop, and Metal. However, learning the pocket stuff is more important in the beginning. Depends on the learner's interest and where they are in the moment of the journey. Drumming discipline calls for relaxation of the mind. Great point on that Mike Mangini. Took me 20 years to get down on speaking my voice through the drums. :)
Thanks for sharing Mike. I am and old guy already. Want to share my drum feelings so to speak. I always plays a lot at home and I like different styles of music. Rock..Blues and so on. Wenn a new cd came out I didn't listen to it first but played with it right along. That's the perfect way to improvise. Of course it is not perfect but wo cares there is no audience 😊 you need basics that's clear. On other tip don't copy what other drummers play. Think I am one of a kind and want to sound different. Nice day all !!
I see! You’re using the cymbals to put into practice the age old concept of reaching little goals to get to the ultimate goal. Don’t focus on the end of the war. Focus on winning the smaller battles one at a time to ultimately win the war. I know that may be oversimplifying the point, but it makes the,concept click. Which reminds me of a dad joke. “I have problems with Roman numerals until I reach 159. Then it CLIX” (clicks). Get it?! 😂
Truth W Mike and lang is there extreme practicing kinda wipes out their personality when they play imo. Players like cris kontos machinehead Jimmy chamberlin brain primus manu katche all have plenty character when they play. I personally feel manginj and Thomas lang lack character imo
Yup. "a daunting task", i've found it to be mostly environment based. Almost never do i practice rudiments at home where i have a kit. Now the downsides are that i don't want to play it after 10pm, i mean there isn't any rules but deing dickish to neighbors is never a good look. But when im on a dance "tour", i lug around a practice pad and every day do rudiments. Then dancing is a way to practice "rudiments" with the feet, but if i'm at home i got my kit where i i can use the 15 mins available to learn on the actual kit. But good point about the muscle memory, like it's been academically studied, that one has the concentration for 15 minutes of something, then they need sleep. But like, the discipline is to just do rudiments if nothing else comes to mind. But the adhd takes always over, it's never just rudiments. But no way i'd go for 1000 reps, how i do it is i listen to music. In all cases, there is music playing. And that "yea just do paradiddle using this song as a clicktrack" usually doesn't last long, because the drums are an awesome way to have fun. So like "i dont do rudiments, heres what i got against them"; Using the discipline part you mentioned to do something that pisses you off, might not help in the longetivity of said discipline. Sure results matter, and give motivation a lot. But if every time one goes to "perform their passion", and said action is a burden... No wonder people see it wonderous if someone practices daily. "how do you have the motivation?", by having fun. Secondly, if lets say someone has effectively 15 minutes a day to practice drums, which would yield better applicable results/skills if gone the distance over time; a practice pad, or the whole kit, that is rudiments vs playing actual music? The answer to this depends is one in a marching band, or is a backline for a rock group. Having that said, not saying rudiments are useless and dumb, they're a great way to improve speed fast, So thanks for the tip, i'm gonna drill some holes to this cab im using as a computer desk to mount an edrum pad, because i got more than 15 minutes a day and atm i shouldn't play that loud af kit.
Hey Mike. What's the best hairpiece glue? No soul in your playing. That's the most important thing. Sterility in feel is the kiss of death. That's your main projection sterility.
Given his smiling face and demeanor, you would never know that this man is one of the most badass drummers on the planet: The percussion warlord, commanding chaos with each strike, awakening the fury of ancient storms that echo in the very fabric of space and time.
Not at the top level actually at all. Now what?
@@drummersinger5324 Are _you_ at the top level? I didn't think so. You are pretty good, though. I just saw your video.
I saw him in the G3 videos and I never saw his prowess. I also saw a video where he broke the world record for single strokes in a minute. I didn't realize who he is and how great he is until the auditions. I knew of him but he didn't stand out as the G3 sessions were "drummer in the background". I know there was nothing lacking in any G3 session I have heard, as far as anything musical.
@@jlucasound I play pocket way better and multiple styles of soul and blues way better than this dude. I''m also 72 years old
This is literally like listening to advanced chemistry to me. Then again I'm not a drummer! Somehow still enjoy watching this.
Thank you for this reminder Mike, when we win the battle vs our minds while focusing on the same subject for weeks, processes I used to think take years happen in weeks. this is GOLD.
My god, that's an advice :o Thanks
As always, thank you Mike. You are a true inspiration to both me (your age... 1961 birthdate) and my grandson whom I just started teaching to play ( much younger than us. 2002 birthdate ). That in itself speaks for the longevity of your playing. I mean, 40 years between us, and we both list you in out top 5 playing influences! So again, THANK YOU!
Hey Mike been watching you I'm new on the instrument
I remember reading an article on John Myung and John Petrucci and their practice madness. They would each practice 6 hours a day and then call each other to make sure that the other had put in the time! But, as with Mike and I’m sure, Jordan, that kind of time has paid dividends a thousandfold! Thank you for your on going dedication to your craft, Mike!
Drummers like Mile and Thomas Lang will put hours and hours to get things perfect. They will take a crazy exercise and spend a week perfecting it. Then when you see them they make it look fluid and effortless.
@@rycher2007 Gavin Harrison. Man video of his doing Anesthetize live at a clinic is sublime..... ua-cam.com/video/6suv3mraIhw/v-deo.html
You mentioned that all that time practicing paid dividends a thousand fold ,my Adult mind asks how it affected the TRUE bottom line; Dividends in YOUR BANK ACCOUNT?
@@rycher2007 That's their job and they love it! And so do we! ❤
Very Big MAN !!! A Big Hug my Friend
Mike , really great to see where you are at in life . I can see it in these few minutes you've shared. Your shinning. 😊
I opened the video to learn about how to face life! I'm happy to say, this is a one of the top motivation and advices I've ever got!
Thanks for this 🙏
True words of advice regarding who are enemy is. I really liked the assigning of cymbals and toms for where you are in the count.
Your great dedication to your craft and the sacrifices you've made to become the amazing musician that you are, benefit us the fans of the great Dream Theater.
You do the hard part, the work.
We do the easy part, we listen and are amazed.
Thank you!
It’s amazing that we get this information for free
Thanks Mike!
Awesome Mike, please come to Colombia.
Always a treat watching his videos
Love this❤
This is a fantastic tip .Thankyou Mike
Dear Mike…. You probably won’t read this ;)
But Mike I’m not a great natural memory guy on drums. I can’t remember (when there’s a lot of changes) past the first three or four bars so I MUST practice!
You are so right! The only way I can get through a somewhat complex tune is to do it over and over and over and over until it just flows.
100% great advice Sir.
The trick is to keep the feel and character flowing after having laboured over a piece for a long time.
;)
Love it Mike! Great advice!! 👍
I always think of my future self, he will be happy I practiced.
Universal blessing ☄️❤️
after 30+ years of playing the drums i realize that the most amount of time i 've put into music is all about repetition. You can learn the swing pattern in ten minutes but it takes a few years and a million reps to actually "swing" .
Wanted to learn how to play King Crimson's Disciplin ;-) But this was even more: Learned a lot, and yes, its a technique you can use in other regions of life. So its truely a philosophical question - how to find and manage new ways! Its not your Enemy, its your starring partner you dance with!
Breaking out of autopilot and focusing your attention on a singular thing or activity is consistent with mindfulness meditation. Only instead of focusing on your breath as most mindfulness practitioners advocate, you're focusing on movements. The discipline to prevent your thoughts (and in this case, count and cadence) from wandering is intense. Pretty soon you start looking forward to doing something that once frustrated you.
Honestly Mike I've never caught one of your Video's on UA-cam. New sub for sure. I Love your energy and passion.
Edit: And, as a bonus, now I know what's wrong with my playing lol. Time and practice.
You´re a big influence Mike, best regards! 🥁
You're brilliant Mike! Thanks, as always, for your knowledge and inspiration.
Meh Lang destroys him
@@dcmastermindfirst9418 didn't realise it was a competition?
@@IHateZerkerz It's not. Just saying.
When they asked ole Keith Moon the loon if he was counting time?
He replied: "Now what fun would that be?" 🤘😎
You are my hero
Vinnie Colaiuta once said, "thought is the enemy of flow."
Mike is great
Lang is better
as principal skinner says, all you have to do is make a game out of it!
The scientist of drumming things dude!!!! Love your teaching style
Lol Thomas lang destroys this guy just with his feet
@@dcmastermindfirst9418 Who??
Counting to 100 was challenging, especially # 77. 😮 I actually remember my lesson talking about this. Miss you, Mike! Tour onward! 😊
Me cae bien este man...gracias MiKe
este man se le ve la Humildad , esperemos no cambie
Miss u to Hip Today..
Mike the Master Mangini 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Lang is better
nose porque , pero i love u Mike , i wish one day to C U & signature my Old drumstick , u r my inspiration to make Old Scool Death Metal music , xx bro & God bless u
Thanks for the free exercise. Just doing 10 strokes on the snare and switch hitting is tough enough.
One of the rarest musician in the Heavy Metal scene that can open your mind about what you are doing. He is "the Professor"
Reminds me of Stick Control, where you're instructed to repeat each exercise 20 times without stopping.
Maybe there's a reason why mr Stone omitted that you should also do that 20-rep at least 20 times 😅
Thanks for the tip 😊
💪💪
Absolutelly, this is the video I needed right now
It's a Bad Larry Zildjian!!!
Love ya, Mike!!!
This system it's amazing.. I try it for one year. RK2 two numbers twice exercise.. In this case it's 7NQD
Thanks mike as the hours approach 40,000 hrs and we have OUR minds drift....TALENT IS OVERRATED book is great..deliberate practice...and it was great watching ya sweat to death at hi point in st.louis when A/C was out...thanks for the yrs Michael 💥💯 that was about 12yrs ago haha I'm sure you remember that small place for drum headquarters
Notice that this came out after Mangini changed to playing a Dream Theater four Piece.
I was in a car accident and now my left arm is in alot of pain lefty drummer too and now i cant drum due to inflamation. Theres no words for not being able to play 😢😢😢
courage bro courage , we can do it , we love u , courage , step by step. xx from all
Get better brotha 😎
I remember the super disciplined practice you would do sir...
Pretty much teh same principle that applies to martial arts ... stop thinking and simply focus and try to bead your mind not to think when you practice ... simply focus on what you are doing and it's perfection, distanciate from yourself and try to see the bigger image and focus on small little details etc etc .... nice topic drum brother ... :)
👏💯
I remember seeing you with Steve Vai on The Ultra Zone tour,how many times did you practice triplets with one hand while eating marshmallows?
Amazing! Thank you for that 🔥
Hi Mike - my biggest enemy: breathing (or rather very irregular breathing while playing). Any ideas?...
I still think that Rage Against the Machine has a legitimate copyright claim on the 'Know Your Enemy' concept 😊
No!
true
The concept is from “The Art Of War” by Sun Tzu.. Rage Against The Machine did not originate that quote or concept.
@@isaiahneilguitaristofficia549 - A fair point. If I were to perpetuate this line of thought, I'd argue that 'The Art of War's copyright is public domain by now. ;)
RATM and Sun Tzu :)
You gott'a put the time in. You can't improve just because you want to improve. You have to practice and learn. It's hard work. You have to want it, a lot.
What I would like to know is, say that your practice space only consists of you, your drumsticks and your snare practice pad set-up, how are you able to transfer the idea of 'I'm about to get to the end of this 100th careful repetition of a rudiment and now something else' when your options are that...limited?
MIke
Sei sempre Er Mejo
Hi Mike! You Scary Creep! 🤣😂 I'm KIDDING! You are so scary good. You Friggin' Machine! Only Love, Mike. 😍🤩❤
kids in band, drummers especialy had to count many measures
Johnny X on the sand pile .... I hope that you see. By now you should see.
Or: Playing a 4 quarternote pattern at let's say 60 BPM means 15 reps every minute. 3000 reps means 200 minutes. No counting.
I tried taking drum lessons again after 37 years and it was just rudiments again your right there is nothing worse than having to think playing from the subconscious part of the brain is the best way to play however if I was to take lessons on Indian tabla drums I would take the approach that I'm an absolute novice and follow my teacher's instructions to the best of my abilities and hopefully not let my teacher or myself down
Or, you could count the number of times you can play the exercise in a minute, and then compute how many minutes you need to play it to reach your goal. Then, just play it for that number of minutes.
Tought it was Ozzy at first!! :p
Yeah, I practiced without counting for years. One of my mentors encouraged me to count for a while....ALSO to slow down the metronome. He gave me some crazy exercises to learn. My coordination and independence is insane now. I can hear poly-rhythms like mad now. I'm also just a nut for drums and nearly every type of music--especially Jazz, Hip-Hop, and Metal.
However, learning the pocket stuff is more important in the beginning. Depends on the learner's interest and where they are in the moment of the journey. Drumming discipline calls for relaxation of the mind. Great point on that Mike Mangini. Took me 20 years to get down on speaking my voice through the drums. :)
Wish I had this level of discipline. 10,000 times 😮 Jaw dropping! Thanks for your constant stream of advice, Mike. Keep on keeping on👍🤘🤘
just try bro , we can do it.
Too much discipline makes you stiff and robotic
@@krioni86sa Thanks so much for your advice. I just wish I had heard this earlier. 30 years wasted, practising. What was I thinking!?! 😆
Thanks for sharing Mike. I am and old guy already. Want to share my drum feelings so to speak. I always plays a lot at home and I like different styles of music. Rock..Blues and so on. Wenn a new cd came out I didn't listen to it first but played with it right along. That's the perfect way to improvise. Of course it is not perfect but wo cares there is no audience 😊 you need basics that's clear. On other tip don't copy what other drummers play. Think I am one of a kind and want to sound different. Nice day all !!
Nine notes?
That opening figure he plays? I counted 13
This is Zen Drumming
his English is as beautifull as his playing
Is that a rack snare!? 🤔 😮 😁
Get your voice audio louder. 🎤
I see! You’re using the cymbals to put into practice the age old concept of reaching little goals to get to the ultimate goal. Don’t focus on the end of the war. Focus on winning the smaller battles one at a time to ultimately win the war. I know that may be oversimplifying the point, but it makes the,concept click. Which reminds me of a dad joke. “I have problems with Roman numerals until I reach 159. Then it CLIX” (clicks). Get it?! 😂
Truth W Mike and lang is there extreme practicing kinda wipes out their personality when they play imo. Players like cris kontos machinehead Jimmy chamberlin brain primus manu katche all have plenty character when they play. I personally feel manginj and Thomas lang lack character imo
I’m a very nice person. But I’m still surprised this guy won the contest. 🤷🏻♂️
This is great Mike! I used to practice 15 hours a day and loved every minute! Keep Rockin'! 🤘🤘
I'm sorry what
You must practice, that's for sure, but you must not end up like a machine or else you lose the feel... Just saying...
Yup. "a daunting task", i've found it to be mostly environment based. Almost never do i practice rudiments at home where i have a kit. Now the downsides are that i don't want to play it after 10pm, i mean there isn't any rules but deing dickish to neighbors is never a good look. But when im on a dance "tour", i lug around a practice pad and every day do rudiments. Then dancing is a way to practice "rudiments" with the feet, but if i'm at home i got my kit where i i can use the 15 mins available to learn on the actual kit. But good point about the muscle memory, like it's been academically studied, that one has the concentration for 15 minutes of something, then they need sleep. But like, the discipline is to just do rudiments if nothing else comes to mind. But the adhd takes always over, it's never just rudiments.
But no way i'd go for 1000 reps, how i do it is i listen to music. In all cases, there is music playing. And that "yea just do paradiddle using this song as a clicktrack" usually doesn't last long, because the drums are an awesome way to have fun. So like "i dont do rudiments, heres what i got against them"; Using the discipline part you mentioned to do something that pisses you off, might not help in the longetivity of said discipline. Sure results matter, and give motivation a lot. But if every time one goes to "perform their passion", and said action is a burden... No wonder people see it wonderous if someone practices daily. "how do you have the motivation?", by having fun. Secondly, if lets say someone has effectively 15 minutes a day to practice drums, which would yield better applicable results/skills if gone the distance over time; a practice pad, or the whole kit, that is rudiments vs playing actual music? The answer to this depends is one in a marching band, or is a backline for a rock group.
Having that said, not saying rudiments are useless and dumb, they're a great way to improve speed fast, So thanks for the tip, i'm gonna drill some holes to this cab im using as a computer desk to mount an edrum pad, because i got more than 15 minutes a day and atm i shouldn't play that loud af kit.
อาจารย์ผมชอบพูดอะไรคนเดียว😂 #อย่ามาพูดแบบนี้ที่เมืองไทยนะครับ 😂😂
Laberhannes.
He looks like Fauci😂
He’s drunk ;)
crap?!
Quite frankly I find this guy overrated.
Too much discipline makes you stiff and robotic
Hey Mike. What's the best hairpiece glue? No soul in your playing. That's the most important thing. Sterility in feel is the kiss of death. That's your main projection sterility.