Mike Portnoy Learns Impossible Danny Carey Drum Part

what else would we give you you can play

everything I don't know if I should

thank you or kill you this isn't a song

this is a mathematic

equation you

Danny Carrey lose my

number I don't want this gig you want to

do a first attempt

no I'm speaking out loud here I'm just

so freaking confused

this makes Dream Theater sound likeing

[Music]

Weezer Mike I've waited a long time to

do this video you know it's strange I'm

not nervous about this like I should be

scared because now I'm actually expected

to nail something what would we possibly

give Mike pornoy who can play the dance

of Eternity but before we jump in if you

look at the iPad on your left and you

swipe left there's a video for you to

watch before you start oh

boy oh hey Mike Jordan here I know

that everybody at Dro has a pretty cool

challenge for you but I also know that

you my friend of the ultimate Prague

drummer you can do it your musicality

will shine through breathe get your

bottle of Advil ready it's all going to

happen you're going to have fun and I'll

see you soon

enough this this track does he know what

it is he knows what it is he said it was

a great Choice I'm a 56-year-old man

here I I I have I have my limitations

you may have heard uh Jordan did have to

learn the woven web by animals as

leaders you please we're we're not

giving you that according to the

internet in 2019 you went on record

saying this album that the song is from

was one of your top albums of 2019 so

that may help you out what did I was

what was I listened to in 2019

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h i mean this is this is tool right this

is tool it is how would you how can you

give me a tool song come

on just for you Mike I'm not Dennis

Chambers you know okay I got a problem

with this I mean for the record Danny

Cary

is one of the most creative drummers

I've ever heard so whatever I mean this

is going to be

impossible I mean do I have to play all

of that I don't have any kind of can

make your own creative choices well I

whatever you want to do here we

go let me find the

one I already can't find the one

Danny

oh there's a

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click all right we got to get the time

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signature triple

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f are the vocals

help oh

man please tell me this is only like 4

minutes long not like eight or 9 or 10

or 12

minutes you're a legend

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[Applause]

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[Applause]

Mike all right this part I

got those verses are

Killers can I just say Danny they

probably spent how many years writing

this like 10 years what do I get 10

minutes

no it's going to be a long night boys

better put that pot of coffee on it's

going to be a long

night

oh this is a play on the versus I

believe well I'll figure that out when I

come to

it is so

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good all right boys wrap it up wrap it

up get on with it you wankers

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all right so I have to start by saying

first of all that's awesome so

phenomenal I mean Danny is just so tasty

so creative but

what else would we give you you can

play everything it's one thing to write

like that it's one thing to write

like the I have written with Dream

Theater but to be put on the SP like

this is just cruel on the record this is

uh definitely the most Savage learning a

song video dromeo has ever done oh

thanks so um welcome

here uh this is going to take a little

while I'm going to probably need a round

to get just the arrangement before I

even start tackling the time signatures

and then then there's the actual drum

Parts themselves base

intro now that's the key right there

that's I got to

unlock that time signature a song like

this you need to listen to 20 30 times

to the 100 times to get these nuances we

believe in you Mike I still have yet to

crack the code on the time signatures

and the verses yeah we can Loop that as

many times as you want yeah yeah yeah

that would be

good ah oh it's a it's almost like a

nine a not time before the the tag I

think once I crack the code everything

else will fall into place assuming they

stick to those time signatures cuz a lot

of times like what we'll do in dream

theat is we'll have this wacky code that

and once you crack it then we'll

with it some more

later well that doesn't help that it

sounds like he's coming in on the upbeat

or on the two I'm speaking out loud here

I'm just so freaking

confused doesn't help if he's playing a

poly Rhythm over that

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I'm going to put add fills for the

second half of the second

chorus then the halftime

tag all right let's keep going I'm going

to have to come back to the Crack the

Code still have to make some drumming

notes for this breakdown and the pump

count

bars all right so here comes the pump

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two three these poor camera guys I feel

so bad for you

guys I mean it's building every time

every four bars something else is coming

in oh where was

I okay so four rounds of counter double

base comes in that's two

rounds land on the

four land on four guitar

setup now back to the code

[Applause]

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every time that comes in it's so

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huge snares are

on adding Phils again on the second half

of the course then the

tag what a song yeah it is it is an

amazing song to listen to It's a

nightmare to learn I will get

this it's just going to take some time

all right piss break piss and coffee

break you guys are okay with being

patient right oh yeah all the time you

need okay enjoyable us what was some of

the other ones that other people yeah

you couldn't give me a foo fighter dude

or

a God I would have loved a foo fighter

song you want to do a first attempt

no let me ask you something you

mentioned Danny car's playthrough would

it be cheating for me to watch that I

think that that could be cool uh see

already having the visual helps and this

is he's not even playing the groove yet

but

just when I have to learn a song A lot

of times I will go to YouTube and and

seeing it somehow helps cement it a

little bit

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better now it's not any easier

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all right so for starters I'll say this

when I was just listening I was only

hearing the drums but now I'm seeing

what he's performing that he's doing so

much more I still I don't know how many

full listens through it this is at this

point maybe five or you can't feel this

so I have to I have to crack the

[Music]

code we

are well and

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wonder about you

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[Music]

I so wish like I already knew how to

play this song yeah he just bust it out

and like it's

perfect do you want to take a listen to

the the verse section once more yep I'm

still I'm still trying to trying to C

crack that code watching definitely

helped the other thing would be to look

up the transcriptions we have that lever

but we're not going to give that one to

you yeah okay if it if it gets to that

point that's uh we've got that

all right keep going I think I've

getting

somewhere all right I'm counting a lot

of elens in there six and

fives 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2

3 4 5 6

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have you figured out like what the cycle

is at this point uh um well the start of

each phrase is a 66 and a five thank you

for your patience but yeah this is a

challenge uh if you don't mind

keep looping

[Music]

that 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 so it's 1 2 3 and 1

2 3 4 five I think 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1

2 3 4 okay all right that's three 3 3 43

you sure you don't want to do a food

fighter

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[Laughter]

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so how many hours are we on at this at

this point Mike we've loaded up uh Dro

songs with the transcription for Numa

yeah it's all sixes fives and threes I

mean then again all all of music is yeah

wow okay well this helps I'm not even

going to look at the actual drum

notation I'm just going to look at the

numbers 3 5 1 2 3 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4

5 2 3 6 1 2 3 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 4 5 6 1 2 3

4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

6 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3

all right hang

on it's got bars of five fives and

threes think of those mors as sixes and

twos but maybe maybe not are you

noticing uh like a time signature

pattern or cycle that's repeating in in

the verse I'm still trying to grasp it

do you do you know it the accents are

all weird but there is like a three

number cycle that well six 65 65 65 it's

all 65 it's pretty much all 11

6565

665 the neighbor of the

Beast I've always thought of this as

like a 12 1110 cycle or broken out I

mean sixes and fives all the way through

but this makes Dream Theater sound like

Weezer with all due respect to Weezer I

love

Weezer but yeah I mean this is this is

crazy

[Music]

even even seeing it it's hard to even

Crack the Code so when you're learning

uh for any of your other bands or

anything where what you could stop right

there whatever I have done to ever learn

for any of my bands is completely

pointless to this

exercise or to anybody else ever needing

to learn anything who who is going to

need to learn this

you might get the call and then you'll

thank us no Danny Cary lose my number I

don't want this

gig on that note here's H here's the top

of the song

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

okay uh can you take it from the the the

guitar setup

[Applause]

[Music]

okay it's not the same

thing it's

not all right hang on a second you

when the setup is in the

in the same riff and then they decide to

change it yeah what the what we'll

do in Dream Theater is we'll have this

code that and once you crack it then

we'll with it some more later this

isn't a song this is a mathematic

equation

all right let's

[Music]

go we're going to have to Loop this last

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

bit do I have to get this in one take in

one shot I would say even if we do like

a few sections of this and end the video

there's no way like the song can be

perfected in a session no there's no way

I think it would be most advantageous if

we took it section by section I mean

this is like tossing somebody like Frank

Zappa the black page the

comprehension the learning the listening

well not even get talking about the

playing the playing is just one of so

many aspects to this that is makes this

a a ridiculous experiment all right so

at this point uh do you want to just

jump to that first verse I I say let's

start from the top play along with that

and let's see where we end up is it do

you have a music stand I could put this

on yeah we can bet you one all right May

the force be with you

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you

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[Applause]

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we

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are

Spirit I'm bound to this

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flesh we going

around watch nail

down about

you a reach out

beond this

[Music]

flesh we

are will wonder

don't

you

remember

are one

breath one

word

I one spot Sun

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause]

child W up

child Wake Up Now child wake up

child light wake up

child

[Music]

about

you of this

flesh this guys this

m this

dream wake up

remember are BN out one

breath one word

I all one SP

Sun King

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a

[Applause]

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[Applause]

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[Applause]

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n

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[Applause]

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[Applause]

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n

a

[Applause]

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he

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[Applause]

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let

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Reach Out be

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on wake up

remember we

are one

breath one word

all one spot I for a Wonder

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[Applause]

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oh

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that's the one I mean that that that was

the ending I hope to uh everyone

watching this video that they realize

what you've just done you just played

one of the most difficult songs ever

recorded you're not kidding legit that

really is I mean I I I knew this song

from hearing it as a fan as a casual

listener but I heard it loved it was

blown away by it but never in a million

years considered learning it there's no

way on Earth I could have learned all of

Danny's fils I mean I'm sure Danny spent

days weeks months years constructing

this masterpiece and it is a masterpiece

it really is but there's no way even

though I know my odd time signatures and

all that I I'm a field guy and this was

Challenge and a half I don't know if I

should thank you or kill you we'll let

the the internet decide they might thank

me or they might thank you wow well

Danny and

tulle that's a beautiful piece of work

but now Danny you got to you got to come

in do the dance fraternity now all right

fair is

[Music]

fair so I just took a a pee and coffee

break and my son Max texted me he's like

so what song did they they toss you

here's the text I'm in hell

[Music]

tul ma Max's response is LOL with a

million exclanation points and then this

is the funniest response how the is

that even going to be

possible he'll have to see the video and

I feel like writing to him it's not it's

impossible we're proving it's possible