The New Math
One of Mike Portnoy’s many projects over the past few years has been to produce drum-cam “instructional” DVDs of his drumming on the various releases by Dream Theater and his side projects, complete with full tracks, drum isolation tracks, and commentary. This video comes from a similar Hudson Music DVD called “In Constant Motion” that includes the track “The New Math (What He Said)” from the side project OSI.
OSI is the brainchild of Fates Warning guitarist Jim Matheos and features former Dream Theater keyboardist and Chroma Key founder Kevin Moore, and the name refers to the U.S. government agency formed after 9/11, Office of Strategic Influence, which is also the name of the band’s 2003 debut release. Portnoy provided his drum talents to both this and the project’s second album Free, and the songs are more focused on ethereal, atmospheric soundscapes and compositions than on the progressive rock and metal Matheos and Portnoy are more well-known for. This particular track features samples of news anchor Dan Rather’s on- and off-camera antics and hysterics.
As with Yellow Matter Custard, Mike is playing a smaller kit than his Dream Theater double-kits that can sometimes weigh in at 20 or more pieces and upwards of 30 cymbals. It’s amazing to see what a drummer of his caliber can do with such a (relatively speaking) small kit.
If you like the song itself, you really need to check out Office of Strategic Influence. It contains similar instrumentals, as well as tracks that feature Moore’s laid-back, spacey vocals which provide a nice complement to the instrumental textures of the compositions, and enough background samples and sounds to keep things interesting.
