Mike Portnoy’s Drum Theater Part Deux: Falling Into Infinity Tour To The Present Day

We left the previous instalment at the recording phase of FII so to continue, we pick things up with the following tour and beyond...

Mike enlisted the services of John “Magee” McGary for the FII tour as his regular drum tech Jose “Ho” Baraquio was unavailable due to family commitments for the whole FII tour. Jose did meet up with Magee however prior to the first “showcase” show of the tour. Jose had already built the Starclassic kit and Magee was coming in cold. Luckily everything is labelled on the kit, so assembly was fairly straightforward. After the meeting, Magee joined the DT crew full-time.

When touring in support of FII, MP started off with plain black Tama/Starclassic logo’d front kick drum heads. These went through two changes during the tour, the first being when the album cover design heads were printed and mounted. These (in the US and Europe at least) started off life without the Tama logo on them – this was the case up to the end of 1997. The ‘98 legs saw these heads resplendent with the white Tama logo added.

Also during the FII tour, Mike did some one-off clinic appearances around and about. These were tied into the cities in which DT were playing at the time. For example, in Helsinki Mike used his full European kit. In other locations such as Brazil the US kit was used. Curiously, the front FII heads got replaced with black Tama logo’d heads for most of these one off clinic shows.

There was one exception to MP using the green/white/green Euro kit on the FII tour. When the band played Athens, MP used a locally-supplied Starclassic kit which had standard black Octobans and Gong bass drum. There was no rack, so Magee had to set up the kit using stands (a tough job!). This kit was in sunburst fade finish and had black front kick heads with white Tama logo.

Cymbal changes up to this point were that the 10” China Kang, which used to be on the left above the first pair of Octobans, was replaced by an 8” version and the 10” version was remounted on top of the 10” splash (so they touched).

The 12” Mini China to Mike’s right was now stacked on top of a Sabian Jack DeJohnette 14” Encore crash. With both of these setups the upturned edges of the china/kangs got quickly trashed, especially the 10”, but they sounded awesome! Mike and Sabian christened them “firecracker” stacks because of their sharp explosive response.

The 6” splash, which got moved above the tambourine, was now joined by 6” and 8” Latin Percussion “Ice Bells” placed underneath on the same stand. The 17”HH crash cymbal to MP’s front right had now been upgraded to a 19” version and the 16” AA crash to his front left became the 17” HH!

Also at this time, MP used a Tama “Rhythm Watch”, which is a sort of electronic metronome which was mounted to his far left. That was also initially present on all three kits (but as time went on became less of a requirement).

Mike has always had stuff attached to his LP “RidgeRider” cowbell, which is mounted on the right-hand kick drum hoop. This has ranged from ash trays to photos of his wife, kids and animals! (Note: when MP had the Mapex kit, he was smoking and the ashtray would sometimes move to same boom arm that his right hand tambourine was attached to – until this became the home for the 6” splash for the recording of ACOS.)

MP went out on the FII tour with two kits. In the US, it was the four drum version of his original Imperial Star kit, as used for the recording of FII, but with a slightly reduced cymbal arrangement. For the UK and Europe this kit was not shipped over (although for the Rotterdam show it WAS used – complete with “Majesty” kick drum front head and augmented by a 14” tom mounted to MP’s left – see LTE section). Instead a walnut finish four drum Starclassic kit with deep power toms (both mounted) was used. On all shows, Mike used the 12” tom for the “audience participation” part of his solo.

On the ELP/Purple tour in the US (the final FII shows) Mike got two new sets of bar chimes, the LP versions being replaced by shiny new sets. Some of you may have noticed the gradual deterioration of these chimes, especially the set to Mike’s left, as the tour went on – this was also the case on the “Awake” tour. Footwear for the FII tour was ASICS wrestling boots. These are great for drum min~ and they grip the foot/ankle well and have a thin sole for good foot/pedal contact – I know this because I have some myself!

SFAM And Beyond...

The recording of “Metropolis Part 2 – Scenes from a Memory” at BearTracks Studio’s, Suffern, NY saw the US “Purple Monster” in action once again. The only major changes to the kit for this session were the addition of prototypes of the Max splashes and Stax and some Sabian Bozzio Radia cup chimes, which were set up as follows: – the 7” mounted above the 10” Medium Stax at kit front, two more Radia cup chimes (7” and 8”) replacing the three bell disks which had been at Mike’s left and finally another 8” Radia cup chime that replaced the two LP “Ice Bells” that were mounted underneath the 6” splash to Mike’s right (this cymbal had also been replaced by the 7” Max Splash). However, by the time the SFAM tour came, the cup chime over the 10” Stax had been replaced by a 6” Sabian Cymbal Disk.

Other changes for the SFAM tour were that the Sabian “Thunder Sheet” which was to the right rear of the kit on the FII tour was replaced by a 28” Sabian “Zodiac” gong. A couple of dates into the tour this was seen to swap sides from right rear to left rear. This was because of positioning limitations for the percussion rack, so Jose and MP decided to pension this off and move the gong to Mike’s left rear.

When DT came to Europe in November ‘99 to get some shows in with Jordan (and debut some of the SFAM material), the Euro Starclassic kit reverted back to plain black Tama logo front heads. This was also the case for the opening few dates of the SFAM world tour in the US which started end of January 2000. The new “newspaper headline” front heads appeared on the US kit around mid-February. Many of you will have noticed that the newspaper had the word “Daily” replaced by “Tama” – supercool!

Also on those November ‘99 Euro shows, the band was using a new sound engineer/production manager in Jerry Carillo. Jerry was to favour different microphones to the ones Vinnie Kowalski tended to use, though the new mics didn’t appear on the kit until the tour began proper in the US in January 2000. The most notable differences were Shure kick drum mics which sat on the pillow inside the drum itself. The tom mics used were also Shure but way smaller and easier to position than the previous larger tom mics favoured by Vinnie Kowalski.

Cooling-wise for MP during those November dates (and subsequently for the majority of the SFAM tour) the two micro-fans that for FII were mounted either side of the kit were replaced by a massive floor-standing version which was to MP’s left.

The dates on the tour from around about March onwards saw the luminous sign “Echo Hill” appear above the gong (mounted on the gong stand). This was luminous because it was a genuine road sign which had been “borrowed” and forwarded by some DT fans to the band and thus got used for the rest of the tour! (At the Roseland show, this was present at rehearsals during the day, but had disappeared for the show that same evening!).

Another change that came towards the end of the SFAM touring schedule was that the Radia Cup Chime which started out under the 7” Max Splash sometimes disappeared completely or otherwise (like the Roseland show) got mounted on top of the low Stax. This was purely because the extension above the right-hand tambourine just didn’t allow for more than one cymbal to be positioned there. On the Euro kit for the SFAM tour, the right-side cup chime was left out completely.

Recording Of 6 Degrees

So – what was next for Mike as regards his drum set configuration? I knew things were due for a change and that the purple/green/red fade kits were all going to be pensioned off after the end of the SFAM tour. Mike had mentioned this in September 1999 and confirmed it in October 2000.

Rumours abounded when I originally started putting this piece together in mid-January 2001. Mike was bound to include both of the Melody Master Signature snares in his new kit. Also, was he going to be using Sabian’s new HHX range of cymbals or maybe even their “Triple Hat”? Would the Octobans remain and would MP develop some sort of 360-degree setup, possibly incorporating two setups on the same riser? Or maybe go for a triple kick kit? Whatever happened, it was almost certain that Mike would continue the “more is more” philosophy for the new kit!

So nothing was defined as DT entered the studio. As it turned out, Mike had a massive amount of gear assembled at the studio, including many new cymbals from Sabian and an assortment of drums from Tama. He even had the Japanese version of the Purple Monster (the Red Monster) set up in the studio, cymbals and all (this kit was also used when in-situ, for a Latin Percussion photo shoot with MP, which was later used as part of their advertising campaign. Mike didn’t ever use that kit – he preferred to familiarize himself with the configuration of his new baby).

So, the first prototype of the new kit was born and at the time of recording, could be seen on Mike’s site in all its glory. I won’t go into specifics here and now as the kit was very much in a state of fluidity, read on for how it became probably the most impressive kit on the rock circuit – ever!

The Siamese Monster

As usual, I am grateful to Mike and Jose for allowing me (and my trusty side-kick and brother-in-law Robbie), some time to take photos and make notes (this was done during soundcheck prior to the Manchester UK “World Tourbulence” show, when I grabbed 25 minutes of photo-taking and frantic note-making!)

At the time the tour started, there was just the one “Siamese Monster” in existence – this kit having its world-debut at the BB King warm-up show in New York a week or so earlier. It was then shipped to the UK for the two days of production rehearsals at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool, prior to the tour proper in Manchester. The plan was to have three identical kits made as before with the previous “monster” kits for the three main territories in which DT would tour. Jose was scheduled to have all three kits made up and ready for use before the Japanese leg of “World Tourbulence”. This is now the reality with three kits now in existence, all having been put together by Jose.

The setup (drums and cymbals) was as follows; this comes direct from my own notes taken in Manchester in January 2002:

Cymbals (left to right from behind the kit)

15” HHX Studio Crash

18” HHX Chinese

18” HHX Studio Crash

14” AAX Stage Hats

7” Max Splash

9” Max Splash

10” Medium Max Stax (with 7” TB Radia Cup Chime on top)

18” AA Medium Thin Crash

22” HH Rock Ride

20” HHX Chinese

12”/14” Low Max Stax

19” HHX Fierce Crash

13” HHX Groove Hats

7” Max Splash

11” Max Splash

17” HH Thin Crash

8” High Max Stax on top of 12” Ice Bell

20” HH Chinese

8” Max Stax cymbal bottoms X 2 set up as a Hi-Hat under the RH Octobans; Triple Hat made up of two 14” and a 10” AA

16” HHXtreme Crash

20” Sabian Zodiac gong sits on a flight case behind MP

MP had just (end of January) signed an endorsement deal with a company called “Slicknut” which makes a quick release cymbal top (to replace the top felt/nut) – Slicknuts are fitted to all cymbal arms except the 10” Medium Stax/Cup chime and 8” High Stax/12” Ice Bell combinations as there is not enough of the tilter exposed for the Slicknut to grip onto so these use normal Tama plastic Cymbal Mates... (NB – Slicknuts were never used on the Japanese kit... Cymbal Mates were the order of the day...

Drums

Two 22” x 18” kick drums (large kit)

One 20” x 18” kick drum (small kit)

Four Octobans on LH side (large kit) – for the BearTracks sessions there were only two Octobans on the left side of the kit. Two Octobans on RH side (small kit), one Tito Puente 10” Timbalito over 16” floor tom (large kit), rack toms of 8”, 10”, 12” (large kit), rack toms of 13”, 10” (small kit) MP1455 14” Melody Master snare (large kit), MP125 12” Melody Master snare (small kit), 20” Gong bass drum (on legs, not the standard Rollaway stand – however, the original kit used at the BearTracks sessions had a version of the Gong drum on the Rollaway stand). Custom made 10” double-headed Tymp Tom (between both kits) with off-set lugs.

The heads were now Remo Emperors on the tom batters (except the Tymp Tom which had a Pinstripe batter head), Diplomat bottom heads on all toms, Powerstroke 3 kick heads on all three kicks, Remo Falam Slam head protectors on all kick heads (single beater versions also used for the double pedal on the 20” kick), coated CS Ambassadors on both snares (with black dot underneath) – the 12” version of this is not a “stock” item here in the UK but presumably is readily available in the US (i.e. I don’t think this was a “special” for MP).

Tama Iron Cobra pedals – including hi-hats (standard and remote) – double kick PowerGlide pedal on the small kit – MP reverted to Iron Cobra pedals and no longer used DW.

The Sabian Triple Hat was stand mounted and controlled by a cable pedal which is the extreme left pedal, next to the cable controlling the 13” Groove hats on the small kit (there wasn’t enough room to have a stand for these hats), next to this was the left pedal for the Power Glide double, for the small kit – the 8” Custom hi-hats were controlled by a normal Iron Cobra stand (the top rod of which was cut shorter so it fitted under the right-hand Octobans).

Percussion

35 row LP Studio Bar chimes to MP’s left (large kit)

25 row LP Bar chimes to MP’s right (small kit)

LP Granite Blocks (above the Gong bass drum – small kit)

LP Cyclops tambourine to left of 14” hats (big kit)

LP Cyclops tambourine under the 17 “ HH Thin Crash

LP Ridge Rider cowbell (small kit) – no attached photos on here when I saw it

Miscellaneous

Both snares sat on cradles (i.e. not Air-Ride) which were attached to the rack.

All toms (except Octobans) had metal Starclassic badges rather than the more usual graphics (the badges are normally used on the birch “Performer” kits).

The “Majesty” symbol graphic was on all drums except the MP125 which, although it used the Majesty symbol, was the “normal” production version one on this drum. The symbol was the standard embossed version on the 14” snare and a purple “glitter” version on the rest of the drums!

Drinks holders were dotted around the kit and there was a plywood drinks/stick table to the left of the 16” floor tom.

All three kick heads had a different SDOIT graphic.

Stick bags were attached to the 16” floor tom (large kit) and Gong bass drum (small kit). Also, there was a ProMark stick holder (tube) just underneath the 10” Tymp Tom, which would be on MP’s right on the big kit – a normal ProMark “Stick Depot” was attached to the hi-hat stand of the big kit as before on the “Monster” kits.

All of the drums were supported on a Tama rack system, the two smallest Octobans supported by custom brackets (same as on the previous Purple/Red/Green kits). The other four were on standard Tama HW119 stand tops (also mounted on the rack). Everything was memory-locked and many of the mics were attached to the rack system too to save having placement problems with extra legs getting in the way. The rack toms had “clip-on” mics (also the overhead mics changed between the Euro and US legs of “World Tourbulence”).

MP had a “bass booster” unit attached to both his throne seat bases (so he could “feel” the kicks now he was using in-ear monitors) – unfortunately I didn’t note the manufacturer, but it is likely they were “Butt Kicker 2” models made by Guitammer. These could clearly be seen in the latest Tama ads at the time featuring MP and the Siamese Monster, which appeared for the first time in the June 2002 issue of Modern Drummer magazine.

Jose got a mention in those new Tama ads (well-deserved too!) and he had the additional job of erecting a percussion rack for James LaBrie to utilise throughout the show on the “World Tourbulence” tour, consisting of LP bar chimes, congas, cowbells and various shakers and percussive toys.

The drum riser used for the whole of the first legs of “World Tourbulence” was obviously larger than ever before but interestingly was left “open” underneath rather than having a front and side cover (either drapes or wood). This kind of added a more “industrial” vibe to the stage setup!

The kit was featured in the MP cover issue edition of “Modern Drummer magazine (May 2002) in a piece by Mike Haid – the photos on this shoot were taken at the New York rehearsals prior to the BB King warm-up show (for some reason the bar chimes weren’t mounted even though the boom arms were in place) and the set-up was almost identical to when I saw the (same) kit in the UK.

Train Of Thought

Train of Thought saw Mike employ the exact same set up as used for the previous tour – the album was even recorded with the “Six Degrees” logo kick drum heads still in place! (These were again on show when Mike used the US version of the kit at the Modern Drummer Festival in May 2003.)

The following tour demonstrated how different a setup can look just by changing the kick drum heads! All three kick drums sported the Dave Hatlee-designed “steam engine front” look even down to working headlights at the top of each head (there were some problems with reliability of these units early on in the ToT tour, but after a few shows these were ironed out and they became pretty reliable (and very effective!) The only other visible difference was that 4” “Holz” kick drum head port-holes were used instead of the previous 6” versions these suit the smaller drums much better and didn’t impinge on the graphic too much. Additionally, Mike started to use an electronic drum(!!!) – a Roland RP20, but only its cowbell feature to use as count-in cues for the band and Benoit, the lighting director. Later in the tour, a second Roland pad appeared on the right-side of the kit to aid count-ins when MP was over that side.

Octavarium

To bring things into 2005, when the band entered The Hit Factory in November 2004 to record what was to become “Octavarium”, Mike took the complete US version of the kit in with him as well as the custom acrylic kit that Tama has made for him when he did his Led Zeppelin tribute shows as “Hammer of the Gods”. This was fundamentally a replica of John Bonham’s Ludwig kit, which was also acrylic. I won’t go into details here as I have documented this kit elsewhere, but for the album it was used for around 50% of the recordings – in fact, that and the left side of the SM were used exclusively – the right side did not feature.

As I write in July 2005, the first European “Octavarium” shows have been completed and we saw the European version of the kit out. Up until around 1/3 of the way through, it still had the ToT heads in place (new “Octavarium” heads having been held up in Swedish customs!!). Incidentally, the new kick drum heads were designed by Scott Hansen (Setlist Scotty)!!

Mike had mentioned that new shells, new colour and above all, a change to the right side of the kit as a result of using the HOTG kit in the studio was planned. He was hoping to have the new setup (at least the US version) ready for “Gigantour” in mid-July. See the next issue, for the full rundown on the new version of the Siamese Monster!

*Al Muirden July 2005