Mike Portnoy Learns Impossible Danny Carey Drum Part
Summary
TLDRIn this engaging video, drummer Mike Portnoy takes on the daunting challenge of learning and playing a complex Tool song, known for its intricate time signatures and Danny Carey's exceptional drumming. Portnoy, despite initial hesitations, dives into the task with determination, showcasing his musical prowess and creativity. The video captures the intensity and frustration of tackling such a challenging piece, as well as the joy of conquering it, piece by piece. It's a testament to the dedication and skill required to master the art of drumming, especially when faced with the intricacies of progressive rock.
Takeaways
- 🎶 Mike Portnoy, a renowned drummer, is challenged to learn and play a complex song by Tool, a progressive rock band.
- 🤔 Portnoy expresses his apprehension and confusion about the task, comparing the difficulty to that of Dream Theater's music.
- 👍 He acknowledges Danny Carey, Tool's drummer, as one of the most creative drummers he has ever heard, setting a high bar for the challenge.
- 🕒 Portnoy discusses the time commitment required to learn the song, implying it will take many hours of practice.
- 🔢 The script frequently mentions time signatures and complex rhythmic structures, emphasizing the song's intricacy.
- 🎥 Portnoy considers watching Danny Carey's playthrough for visual cues to aid in learning the song.
- 🔄 He talks about looping sections of the song and the importance of repetition in mastering the complex parts.
- 📝 Portnoy contemplates the use of transcriptions but decides to rely on listening and counting to decipher the song's structure.
- 🎵 The drummer experiences moments of breakthrough and frustration while attempting to crack the 'code' of the song's rhythm.
- 👨👦 Portnoy shares a humorous interaction with his son, Max, who finds the challenge amusing and seemingly impossible.
- 🏆 Despite the difficulty, Portnoy is determined to prove that it is possible to learn and play even the most complex of songs.
Q & A
What is the main challenge Mike faces in the video?
-Mike is challenged to learn and play a complex song by Tool, which he describes as a 'mathematic equation' and one of the most difficult songs ever recorded.
How does Mike react to the song choice?
-Mike is initially shocked and expresses disbelief at the complexity of the song, comparing it to the difficulty of Dream Theater's music.
What does Mike mention about his previous experience with the song?
-Mike mentions that he had heard the song as a casual listener and appreciated it, but never considered learning it due to its complexity.
What does Mike think about Danny Carey, the drummer of Tool?
-Mike considers Danny Carey to be one of the most creative drummers he has ever heard and acknowledges the difficulty of replicating his work.
What does Mike suggest as an approach to learn the song?
-Mike suggests that he will need to listen to the song multiple times to understand the nuances and time signatures before attempting to play it.
What does Mike say about the time signature and its complexity?
-Mike struggles to find the one (the downbeat) and mentions that the time signature is a triple, which adds to the complexity of the song.
How does Mike plan to tackle the learning process?
-Mike plans to take a section-by-section approach, focusing on the arrangement first before tackling the time signatures and the actual drum parts.
What does Mike do to help with his understanding of the song?
-Mike watches a playthrough video of Danny Carey to get a visual understanding of the performance, which he finds helpful.
What does Mike consider when he mentions 'cracking the code'?
-Mike refers to understanding the complex time signatures and patterns in the song, which he compares to solving a mathematical equation.
How does Mike feel about the task by the end of the video?
-Mike expresses that the task was a significant challenge but also acknowledges the beauty and mastery of the song, calling it a 'masterpiece'.
What does Mike's son Max think of the song choice?
-Max finds the song choice humorous and sends a text to Mike saying 'LOL' with a million exclamation points, implying disbelief at the difficulty of the task.
Outlines
🎶 Drum Challenge Introduction
The script begins with an introduction to a drumming challenge, where Mike, presumably a drummer, is tasked with learning and playing a complex song. The song is not specified, but it's suggested to be challenging, even for a skilled musician like Mike. The speaker expresses anticipation and excitement, hinting at the difficulty of the task ahead. There's a playful banter about the song's complexity, comparing it to the work of Danny Carrey and Dream Theater, indicating a high level of intricacy and skill required to perform it.
🤯 The Complexity of Learning the Song
This paragraph delves into the intricacies of learning the challenging song. Mike discusses the need to understand the song's structure and time signatures before attempting to play it. He mentions the importance of repeated listening to grasp the nuances and the potential need for many attempts to 'crack the code' of the song's rhythm and pattern. The speaker also suggests watching a playthrough by Danny Carrey for visual aid, emphasizing the complexity of the task and the drummer's dedication to mastering it.
🕺🏻 Mike's Struggle with the Song's Time Signatures
In this section, Mike grapples with the song's time signatures and rhythmic patterns. He is trying to decipher the complex structure, which includes repeating cycles of sixes and fives. Mike's confusion and the struggle to find a pattern are evident as he attempts to break down the song into manageable parts. The paragraph highlights the difficulty of the task, with Mike expressing his awe at the complexity and the amount of time and effort required to learn such a song.
🔁 Looping and Practicing the Song
Mike continues to work through the song, focusing on looping sections to practice them individually. He discusses the need to take the song section by section, acknowledging that perfecting the entire piece in one session is unrealistic. The paragraph emphasizes the iterative process of learning, with Mike planning to play along with the song from the top and see how far he can get, indicating a methodical approach to mastering the piece.
🎵 Playing Through the Song
This paragraph captures Mike's attempt to play through the song, starting from the top and progressing as far as he can. The speaker provides encouragement and support, highlighting the challenge Mike is undertaking. The paragraph includes snippets of the song being played, with applause indicating successful moments. It showcases Mike's dedication and the effort involved in attempting to play one of the most difficult songs ever recorded.
🏆 Reflections on the Drumming Challenge
The final paragraph reflects on the entire drumming challenge. Mike expresses his amazement at having played such a difficult song, acknowledging the time and effort that must have gone into creating it. He humorously wonders whether he should thank or curse the person who gave him this challenge. The paragraph concludes with a light-hearted exchange about the song's complexity and the impressive feat of attempting to learn and perform it.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Dream Theater
💡Danny Carrey
💡Time Signatures
💡Playthrough
💡Weezer
💡Groove
💡Polyrhythm
💡Breakdown
💡Masterpiece
💡Learning Curve
Highlights
Mike Portnoy is challenged to play a complex song by Tool, which he initially finds daunting.
Portnoy expresses his admiration for Danny Carey's creativity and musicianship.
The drummer struggles to find the 'one' in the song, highlighting the complexity of the rhythm.
Portnoy mentions his previous experience with odd time signatures in Dream Theater.
He emphasizes the difficulty of learning the song, likening it to a mathematical equation.
Portnoy watches Danny Carey's playthrough for visual assistance in understanding the song.
The drummer counts out time signatures and patterns, trying to decipher the song's structure.
Portnoy discusses the importance of repetition and practice in learning complex music.
He attempts to play along with the song, facing the challenge of odd time signatures.
Portnoy takes breaks to maintain focus and energy during the intense learning process.
The drummer reflects on the process of learning music, comparing it to solving a puzzle.
Portnoy contemplates the possibility of using transcriptions to aid in learning the song.
He expresses his awe at the complexity of the song, considering it a masterpiece.
Portnoy's son texts him, humorously acknowledging the difficulty of the song.
The drummer concludes by stating the song is one of the most difficult ever recorded.
Portnoy reflects on the entire experience, considering the challenge and the learning process.
Transcripts
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
[Music]
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
[Music]
click all right we got to get the time
[Music]
signature triple
[Music]
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
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[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
[Music]
good all right boys wrap it up wrap it
up get on with it you wankers
[Music]
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
[Music]
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
[Music]
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]
[Music]
every time that comes in it's so
[Music]
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
[Music]
better now it's not any easier
[Music]
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
[Music]
wonder about you
[Music]
[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
[Music]
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
[Music]
[Laughter]
[Music]
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
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
you
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
we
[Music]
are
Spirit I'm bound to this
[Music]
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
[Music]
[Music]
a
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
n
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
n
a
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
he
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
let
[Music]
Reach Out be
[Music]
on wake up
remember we
are one
breath one word
all one spot I for a Wonder
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
oh
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
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
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)
Jess Bowen Hears Rage Against The Machine For The First Time
Restoring a 1997 Gateway PC! Windows 95 Pentium 2 Desktop
I Tried Rug Tufting For The First Time
When I DROVE by this House I thought it was ABANDONED but It was a FAMILY that NEEDED HELP!!!
A Difficult Game About Climbing - Part 2
Pokémon Meme Review (April 2024)