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No problem! It IS a lot of fun :P

Thank you! I've never heard of the iRock contest before -- goes to show how much I've kept up to date with drum things lmao. Where can I find more info?

@@BenMichalowicz If you google iRock Contest it should pop up!

You know it! He's my favorite drummer, and his ambidextrous approach (and my watching way too many of his drum solos :P ) have substantially improved my drumming over the years (at least, when I had the time to practice a decent amount lol)

@@BenMichalowicz It was the second snare and tom placement that immediately made me think of it, nice playing btw! 👍

@@thebillbo Thank you so much!!! :D

Thank you so so much!!

Thank you so much Dean!! I'm trying to remember the first time I had heard the difference between Elements of Persuasion's tracks and Static Impulse's. Not sure if I kinda figured it out quickly from seeing Peter's BTS videos for this and Impermanent Resonance or if I was scratching my head as to why it didn't sound like Mangini hahaha

@@BenMichalowicz You can see why they asked them both in to audition- not dissimilar styles! 😁 Have a good week! PS: I hadn’t heard any of JLB’s solo stuff and I’m really sorry Mangini is no longer in DT, so thanks for introducing me to this stuff. I’m going to dig up Elements of Persuasion for more “DTesque” Mangini playing 😁👍

@@deantalbotdrums Quite the contrary from what I can tell -- Peter and Mike have VERY different styles and approaches from what I could tell :P Have a good week as well! JLB's first 3 albums with MM have more of a proggy sound in my opinion. Once Peter joined/with the release of static impulse, it went towards the metalcore-esque sound, and then with "Shades of Grey" there's a completely different feel there hahaha (All under the "JLB" or "Mullmuzzler" name)

@@BenMichalowicz Thanks. I’ll check them out.

Thank you so much!! It was years of practice and building up. I prefer a "Mike Mangini" approach to fast playing (less fingers, more wrist/use of larger muscles as needed). From there it was bumping up the metronome periodically (200, 220, 240, 260, 280, etc,) and keeping them up for longer periods of time. I'm nowhere near as good as I was 2/3 years ago IMO, but I can still muscle through as needed :P

Thank you so much!! I'll add it to my laundry list of covers to try and do!

Thank you so so much!!

Dude, your analysis is amazing! 14:33 -- who else? :P 18:16 -- strictly it's like 3/4 or 6/8 or even 4/4 if you want to have the rotating rest throughout the bar I've listened to Gavin a bit here and there, but his taste and groove have influence me a bit as well, yeah! 8:41 - I'm surprised it hasn't sounded worse, tbh! I'm much more out of practice than I was before grad school 😅 One of these days I'll just stop working, get all my blisters, and then pick up like nothing happened... hopefully hahaha Agreed on your comment about MM!! I'm upset that he's out of DT as well -- I loved the music he made. Wasn't ever really stale IMO (S2N and IT are my top favorites of the Mangini era at the moment). Seriously, again: Thank you so so much for this!!

@@BenMichalowicz 😁 14:33 Yep, soooo NP. What a guy and what a style! 18:16 - sorry, I didn’t mean the time signature, I just meant where you’re playing 5 against a count of 7 😁. I remember in the first two Mangini DT tours, he played solos where he did the same thing - playing 5 beats with one hand and 7 with another. It wasn’t exactly what you were doing, but it reminded me very much of that. By The Astonishing of course he was too busy to solo 😆! Yeah, frankly, I’m gutted mate. I think with MM they were the best they could be, but I try not to get into it online too much. It’s very polarising the whole MP/MM thing. I’m just glad we’ve still got 13 years of his playing in this band. It was my pleasure really! Amazing skills man. You could/should make a career out of this. All the best. 🤘🤘👍

@@deantalbotdrums-- Ah, gotcha!!! Oh man, RIP NP. I had a chance to see RUSH during the R40 tour and I just had too much going on elsewhere to see them. Like Taylor Hawkins (RIP) said, his soloing was songwriting. As for 18:16 -- My bad!! I know what you're talking about though!! The weird 5/8 (5/16?) Thing I've been doing was derived from MM as far as I recall...? Tbh, I thought it just sounded cool :P Same w.r.t MM/MP. My rationale is the following: I'm a simple guy: I see DT music, I listen to it, I enjoy it :P (and the same applies to any group/artist I listen to). I'd LOVE to make a career out of this at SOME point, or even a side gig, though I'm equally as happy pursuing my current studies so I can still keep it as an avocation (in my case, computer science research and fun with supercomputers). As long as I remember to practice!!! XD

Thank you so much!!

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it!

Thank YOU hahaha. Honestly I'm surprised this video still gets views. I was SO BAD 10 years ago lmao

Me too, you should make an updated cover on this song. I see you have made alot of progress! :D

@@grayflam I won't promise anything, but I've got a few cover ideas for when I return to this kit! :P

Dream Theater IS my biggest influence these days (even after so many years XD) -- Mangini's and Portnoy's drumming is just out of this world.

Thank you so much!!! I'm really glad you enjoy them! If you've got any requests/suggestions, I'd be happy to consider them! Just need to find the time to practice these days lol

@@BenMichalowicz that’s awesome. If you ever have the time, please do Glasgow Kiss from John Petrucci’s solo album.

@@ebbyboazmusicI'll add it to my ever-increasing list!

Thank you so much! Really appreciate it :)

Muchos gracias!

Thank you so much!! :D

Thank you so much!!! Mangini's been my main influence since 2011 (yes, I also joined the DT bandwagon around then lol), and his tips and approach have been nothing but super-helpful for my chops and everything.

That's on my to-do list! I'll have to do it next time I can hit the kit, as I'll be busy until the start of my semester next week. I have been meaning to cover it for a while though

Thanks so much, Dean!!! Glad you enjoy it as always. LOVED your DT tribute for MP's return!!

Thank you so much!!! Glad you enjoyed it

Thanks so much!! I really appreciate it. I mean, I don't have the time to drum these days as much as I did back then (early college/end of high school lmao), but I'd LIKE to think I can still nail something like this. I'm gonna try and post some new things while I'm home. Not all super-technical, maybe, but I'll figure SOMETHING out with songs I find fun haha

@BenMichalowicz Right on--having fun is the main bit. Life gets in the way for sure, but I hope you're able to find the time to play as much as you'd like :) I did actually check out your channel after I commented and also really dug your Persuader cover! Awesome job with that too, and it really is cool to hear covers of these lesser-known bands. Happy holidays!

Thank you so much! Appreciate it :)

Thank you so much!!!

Thanks so much, hahaha. They've lowered a little bit in the past eight years, but they're still kind of high :P Admittedly, I didn't rehearse this song too much. It was a bit of guesswork if I recall correctly, especially after the second chorus, I think? Either way, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you so much!!

@@BenMichalowiczNo problem!

Thank you!!! The last time I did this was 7 years ago, and I'm STILL surprised that I could do it a second time after so many years :P

In terms of endurance? Kinda, yeah :P In terms of complexity, the sections before this are a little bit more, given that you're transitioning from different "feels" of 4/4 timing, and memorizing all the necessary hits and beats in this track. This may be in 5/4, but it's one of the easier parts lol. Lost Horizon leaves little room to improvise. Also -- see my updated cover. It's FAR better than this one from almost 7 years ago :P

I do, yes! A bit of a note/asterisk with that, however: Because of academic things (see my website for more info on THAT end), I'm normally not in the same state as this acoustic kit is these days. I'm not fully able to record things YET with an electric kit in my apartment. Tl;dr, I take requests, but I'll be able to fill them out more quickly during some times of the year than others. July through November is NOT one of those times haha. Sorry for the trouble on that end!

Also as a slight shameless plug, I have a playlist on my channel detailing all of the requested covers I've been able to fill over the many years I've been drumming and posting to YT.

STEVE!!! Thank you!!

Thank you! I'm about to head back to PhD things, so I won't be able to do this until more subsequent videos, time permitting. Will return to it throwing the foot cam back in eventually, I promise!

Thank you so much! All in all, not really 😅 I've played a bunch of speed metal, prog metal, and power metal over the past 12 years (when I finally got a drum kit at home back in 2011 haha). Blast beats aren't my forte, nor is playing double bass beyond 220 (after warming up, that is :P). I just like what Mike Mangini does with his drumming, which had led to a lot of development growing up.

@@BenMichalowicz Very impressive!

Thank you so much, Alex!! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Hope Kamelot's US tour goes smoothly in 2-ish months!

Whoa! If it's not Alex himself!!! Congratulations dude. Great job!

@@EderGiufrida Sorry I just saw this 😅 Thank you so much!

Thank you so so much!! I'm honestly surprised I was able to do it in the first place 8 years ago (read: one of my "prime" moments), let alone recently 😅

Muito Obrigado!! Just keep practicing! The usual advice I'd give anyone is the following: 1) Keep practicing and pushing yourself 2) Metronomes are your friend

Eu não tenho bateria amigo,tenho vontade de aprender kkkkkk

@@sandrogameplay264 Oop, I'm sorry! Thanks for clarifying. If you can find a music teacher near where you live, or use Drumeo or something else, then that's the best start IMO -- find a starting point for lessons or technique. CZcams videos also help, too, depending on where you need to look.

@@BenMichalowicz toca muito amigo, sempre volto para ver esse video curto demais sua batera o jeito que você toca sucesso.

Muito Obrigado again@@sandrogameplay264 !!! Glad you enjoy it :)

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks so much, Dean!!!

Thank you so much!! Appreciate it as always :)

Thank you!! 🥁🔥

Thank you so much!! 🥁

Thank you! And at first, it was like that definitely, but enough listens and counting and playing to it kind of erodes the difficulty, so to speak. A LOT of it is in 4 or 7, with a few different time signatures throughout (e.g. 19/16 in the second verse, 13/16 -- I think -- I the first verse, etc.), and then it's in 3 for the entirety of the crimson sunset. Then again, I've probably listened to it far too often hahahaha. Either way thank you again!

Thank you so much!!

Welcome to the drum world!!! And I get that feeling entirely haha. These days, they aren't as high, but I've gotten super-used to them being at/about my eye level :P Either way, thank you!!

@@BenMichalowicz BTW, is there any chance I can contact you via Instagram, Facebook etc.? You are one of my reasons to start playing drums and I didn't really expect you to reply this immediately at all. LOL

@@ramazantaikocusu Sure, yeah! You can find my contact info through my YT channel (link to my personal site, email, etc. -- my username on IG isn't that creative so I hope I'm easy to find hahaha) As for being a reason for you to start drumming -- wow, thank you! It's really humbling to hear that at this point😅I'm just a random guy who likes uploading meager-quality drum videos haha In terms of responding, I try my best to respond ASAP. I may not be able to post as much as I do, but this channel certainly isn't dead... at least not while I'm not dead hahah

Thank you as always!! I DO remember, yes! In this case, everything seems to have resolved itself; the original video is back up. At the least, this one's here now JUST in case :P I didn't send an email to The Orchard Group just because I've been busy elsewhere (and totally forgot about it after a while :P), but the algorithm underneath seems to have resolved itself.

@@BenMichalowicz glad to hear it’s sorted Ben👍

Thanks Dean! Love the stuff you're putting up, too!!

Thank you so much!!!! Glad you enjoyed it!!

Thank you so so much! The kit's setup is derived from Mike Mangini's apex drum setup. There's plenty of videos of him explaining it. As for the hand speed, a LOT of it is just practice -- cranking up the metronome bit by bit and watching a lot of Mike Mangini videos on how HE does his speedy playing.. but mostly practice 😅 There ARE tricks and techniques like utilizing push-pull or the Moeller approach, for example, but I prefer the Mangini approach. Hope this helps!!

Thank you!!