Sean here! Thanks so much for trying this out, Andrew! I love your points about the dynamics and sounds of the drums. Jay's such a good drum composer for these songs and it shows through Mike's drumming here. Great spots on the technical points, too. :) And yes! Dan Tompkins is an amazing vocalist. He also sang on that track from Earthside that you reviewed with Ben Shanbrom, "Let the Truth Speak" as a guest singer. He's so talented! Thanks again for doing this, looking forward to vid 2! Last bit: As far as the order of the videos, my thoughts were that I wanted you to hear it with the vocals/live recording first so that when you hear the instrumental version, it feels a bit more like you have the full context, vs listening to a clean recording and then listening to a muddled environment. Jay's will be a bit smoother regardless given that he wrote it for himself, so I also didn't want that natural comparison to weigh on the incredible talent that Mike has on display here. Hopefully that makes sense!
This way around makes more sense for sure, I think he definitely needed to Experience Dan's vocals for context! Ive seen both Malyan and Jay live and I always think Malyan likes to sit on top of the beat while Jay likes to sit just behind it giving their performances a completely different feel! However I definitely prefer Jay playing Jay parts and Malyan playing Malyan parts cause their both so differently creative with their fills :D Im so sad Malyan left Monuments tho ;(
@@OfficialMxMusic Same! I hope he's able to find some more awesome gigs in the meantime, but otherwise gets to work on projects that put him closer to home and his family so that he doesn't have to sacrifice his talent to be in a good mental place. :) Cheers to him for making that choice in the first place!
Couple of interesting bits of context is that Dan Tompkins wasn't the original singer for this album so he's also performing someone else's parts. He sings harmonies of the original parts in quite a few places but makes them sound they were original. Also, on the album Altered State they ran out of time so didn't end up recording the kit parts live (written mainly by Acle who does the majority of writing) - i can't find the interview but he basically had to learn it all himself for the shows!
Great video as usual, Andrew! If you enjoyed Mike's playing here, I'd strongly recommend checking out his work with his band, Monuments. His playthrough of their song "Cardinal Red" is insane.
Hello! I heard Mikes playing the first time about 10 years ago, when I bumped to The Algorithm London show (complete). I was stunned by his playing. I heavily recommend to check that one out, even if not doing reaction video. Salute from the opposite side of the world! Keep it tight!
I think the difference between him and Jay is that Jay having composing these songs and having played them hundreds of times demonstrates a super human naturalness that impressed me very much, in contrast this guy sounds more robotic (just in contrast) , it that make sense? jajaja both are amazing !
The singer for this band is Daniel Tompkins probably one of the best singers in the genre just so so insanely talented what’s even crazier is this is off an old album, his voice has gotten leaps better to on there newer stuff!! You should listen to there song War Of Being for some dynamics by the whole band
Sean here! Thanks so much for trying this out, Andrew! I love your points about the dynamics and sounds of the drums. Jay's such a good drum composer for these songs and it shows through Mike's drumming here. Great spots on the technical points, too. :)
And yes! Dan Tompkins is an amazing vocalist. He also sang on that track from Earthside that you reviewed with Ben Shanbrom, "Let the Truth Speak" as a guest singer. He's so talented! Thanks again for doing this, looking forward to vid 2!
Last bit: As far as the order of the videos, my thoughts were that I wanted you to hear it with the vocals/live recording first so that when you hear the instrumental version, it feels a bit more like you have the full context, vs listening to a clean recording and then listening to a muddled environment. Jay's will be a bit smoother regardless given that he wrote it for himself, so I also didn't want that natural comparison to weigh on the incredible talent that Mike has on display here. Hopefully that makes sense!
Thanks so much for commenting Sean!
I had some questions on the next vid for you. I hope you take a look :)
Killer track and killer drummers! Love it
@@AndrewRooneyDrums I absolutely will!
This way around makes more sense for sure, I think he definitely needed to Experience Dan's vocals for context!
Ive seen both Malyan and Jay live and I always think Malyan likes to sit on top of the beat while Jay likes to sit just behind it giving their performances a completely different feel!
However I definitely prefer Jay playing Jay parts and Malyan playing Malyan parts cause their both so differently creative with their fills :D
Im so sad Malyan left Monuments tho ;(
@@OfficialMxMusic Same! I hope he's able to find some more awesome gigs in the meantime, but otherwise gets to work on projects that put him closer to home and his family so that he doesn't have to sacrifice his talent to be in a good mental place. :) Cheers to him for making that choice in the first place!
Mike always looks happy behind a drum kit. It’s obviously his happy place.
He's having a blast
Another great video. Always love your comments, reminds me of my first drum teacher from many years ago. Keep up the good work.
🙏
His face says Look mom I'm doing it!
Couple of interesting bits of context is that Dan Tompkins wasn't the original singer for this album so he's also performing someone else's parts. He sings harmonies of the original parts in quite a few places but makes them sound they were original.
Also, on the album Altered State they ran out of time so didn't end up recording the kit parts live (written mainly by Acle who does the majority of writing) - i can't find the interview but he basically had to learn it all himself for the shows!
Playing like a Dynamicasaurous! 🦖
Great video as usual, Andrew! If you enjoyed Mike's playing here, I'd strongly recommend checking out his work with his band, Monuments. His playthrough of their song "Cardinal Red" is insane.
Can’t wait to see more 👍
I was bummed when Jay couldn't travel during lockdowns to be part of the Portals project, but Mike did a phenomenal job filling in.
Nice! I'm not familiar with this song but I have to say, Mike appears to have done a phenomenal job.
Hello! I heard Mikes playing the first time about 10 years ago, when I bumped to The Algorithm London show (complete). I was stunned by his playing. I heavily recommend to check that one out, even if not doing reaction video. Salute from the opposite side of the world! Keep it tight!
I think the difference between him and Jay is that Jay having composing these songs and having played them hundreds of times demonstrates a super human naturalness that impressed me very much, in contrast this guy sounds more robotic (just in contrast) , it that make sense? jajaja both are amazing !
Brilliant
The singer for this band is Daniel Tompkins probably one of the best singers in the genre just so so insanely talented what’s even crazier is this is off an old album, his voice has gotten leaps better to on there newer stuff!! You should listen to there song War Of Being for some dynamics by the whole band
Crazy good vox!
@@AndrewRooneyDrums hope you give “war of being - TESSERACT” a reaction down the road
more of mike would be sick, he is seriously unreal on the kit
D y n a m I c s
Smashed it! 🙌
Daniel Tompkins is the singer for Tesseract and Skyharbor
Daniel also lends his voice to Earthside’s Let the Truth Speak. And A Dream in Static
actually, Dan WAS in Skyharbor; left a few years back after doing two albums with them. Phenomenal singer, regardless!