Mike Portnoy
Dream Theater · Progressive-metal architect — coordination, orchestration, odd meters
Portnoy builds drum parts like a composer builds a score: linear phrases, huge double-kick vocabulary, tom orchestration around a big kit, and constant metric surprises, all locked to the band's stop/start writing.
- Linear hands-and-feet phrases with no doubled notes
- Double kick woven into grooves and fills, not just blast sections
- Orchestrated fills that use the whole kit as one melodic line
“Play for the song — even when the song has nine time signature changes in it.”
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