Panic attacks are periods of intense fear or apprehension that are of sudden onset^[1] and of variable duration of minutes to hours. Panic attacks usually begin abruptly, may reach a peak within 10 minutes,but may continue for much longer if the sufferer had the attack triggered by a situation from which they are not able to escape. In panic attacks that continue unabated, and are triggered by a situation from which the sufferer desires to escape, some sufferers may make frantic efforts to escape, which may be violent if others attempt to contain the sufferer. Some panic attacks can subside on their own over the next several hours. Often, those afflicted will experience significant anticipatory anxiety and limited symptom attacks in between attacks, in situations where attacks have previously occurred. The effects of a panic attack vary. Some, notably first-time sufferers, may call for emergency services. Many who experience a panic attack, mostly for the first time, fear they are having a heart attack or a nervous breakdown.^[2] Experiencing a panic attack has been said to be one of the most intensely frightening, upsetting and uncomfortable experiences of a person's life and may take days to initially recover from.^[3] Repeated panic attacks are considered a symptom of panic disorder.^[4] Screening tools like Panic Disorder Severity Scale can be used to detect possible cases of disorder, and suggest the need for a formal diagnostic assessment.^[5][6]

Sufferers of panic attacks often report a fear or sense of dying, "going crazy," or experiencing a heart attack or "flashing vision," feeling faint or nauseated, a numb sensation throughout the body, heavy breathing (and almost always, hyperventilation), or losing control of themselves. Some people also suffer from tunnel vision, mostly due to blood flow leaving the head to more critical parts of the body in defense. These feelings may provoke a strong urge to escape or flee the place where the attack began (a consequence of the sympathetic "fight-or-flight response") in which the hormone which causes this response is released in significant amounts. This response floods the body with hormones, particularly epinephrine (adrenaline), that aid it in defending against harm.^[3]

A panic attack is a response of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). The most common symptoms may include trembling, dyspnea (shortness of breath), heart palpitations, chest pain (or chest tightness), hot flashes, cold flashes, burning sensations (particularly in the facial or neck area), sweating, nausea, dizziness (or slight vertigo), light-headedness, hyperventilation, paresthesias (tingling sensations), sensations of choking or smothering, difficulty moving and derealization. These physical symptoms are interpreted with alarm in people prone to panic attacks. This results in increased anxiety, and forms a positive feedback loop.^[7]

Often, the onset of shortness of breath and chest pain are the predominant symptoms; the sufferer incorrectly appraises this as a sign or symptom of a heart attack. This can result in the person experiencing a panic attack seeking treatment in an emergency room. However, since chest pain and shortness of breath are indeed hallmark symptoms of cardiovascular illnesses, including unstable angina and myocardial infarction (heart attack), especially in a person whose mental health status and heart health status are not known, attributing these pains to simple anxiety and not (also) a physical condition is a diagnosis of exclusion (other conditions must be ruled out first) until an electrocardiogram and a mental health assessment have been carried out.

Panic attacks are distinguished from other forms of anxiety by their intensity and their sudden, episodic nature.^[3] They are often experienced in conjunction with anxiety disorders and other psychological conditions, although panic attacks are not usually indicative of a mental disorder.

Signs and symptoms[link]

Diagnostic criteria[link]

DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria for Panic Attack

A discrete period of intense fear or discomfort, in which four (or more) of the following symptoms developed abruptly and reached a peak within 10 minutes:

Note that while the DSM-IV-TR only lists the 13 specific symptoms above, it has been proposed that culture-specific symptoms (e.g., tinnitus, neck soreness, headache, and uncontrollable screaming or crying) be added to the DSM-V diagnostic criteria for a panic attack.

Causes[link]

• Long-term, predisposing causes — Heredity. Panic disorder has been found to run in families, and this may mean that inheritance plays a strong role ^[8] in determining who will get it. However, many people who have no family history of the disorder develop it. The onset of panic disorder usually occurs in early adulthood, although it may appear at any age. It occurs more frequently in women and often in people with above average intelligence^{[citation needed]}. Various twin studies where one identical twin has an anxiety disorder have reported an incidence ranging from 31 to 88 percent of the other twin also having an anxiety disorder diagnosis. Environmental factors such as an overly cautious view of the world expressed by parents and cumulative stress over time have been found to be correlated with panic attacks.^[3]
• Biological causes — obsessive compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, hypoglycemia, hyperthyroidism, Wilson's disease, mitral valve prolapse, pheochromocytoma, and inner ear disturbances (labyrinthitis).^[3] Parasitic infection can cause psychiatric symptoms.^[9]
• Phobias — People will often experience panic attacks as a direct result of exposure to a phobic object or situation.
• Short-term triggering causes — Significant personal loss, including an emotional attachment to a romantic partner, life transitions, significant life change and, as seen below, stimulants such as caffeine or nicotine, can act as triggers.^[3]
• Maintaining causes — Avoidance of panic provoking situations or environments, anxious/negative self-talk ("what-if" thinking), mistaken beliefs ("these symptoms are harmful and/or dangerous"), withheld feelings, lack of assertiveness.^[3]
• Lack of assertiveness — A growing body of evidence supports the idea that those that suffer from panic attacks engage in a passive style of communication or interactions with others. This communication style, while polite and respectful, is also characteristically un-assertive. This un-assertive way of communicating seems to contribute to panic attacks while being frequently present in those that are afflicted with panic attacks.^[3]
• Medications — Sometimes, panic attacks may be a listed side effect of medications such as methylphenidate^[10] or even fluoroquinolone-type antibiotics.^[11] These may be a temporary side effect, only occurring when a patient first starts a medication, or could continue occurring even after the patient is accustomed to the drug, which likely would warrant a medication change in either dosage or type of drug. Nearly the entire SSRI class of antidepressants can cause increased anxiety in the beginning of use. It is not uncommon for inexperienced users to have panic attacks while weaning on or off the medication, especially ones prone to anxiety.
• Alcohol, medication or drug withdrawal — Various substances both prescribed and unprescribed can cause panic attacks to develop as part of their withdrawal syndrome or rebound effect. Alcohol withdrawal and benzodiazepine withdrawal are the most well known to cause these effects as a rebound withdrawal symptom of their tranquillising properties.^[12]
• Hyperventilation syndrome — Breathing from the chest may cause overbreathing, exhaling excessive carbon dioxide in relation to the amount of oxygen in one's bloodstream. Hyperventilation syndrome can cause respiratory alkalosis and hypocapnia. This syndrome often involves prominent mouth breathing as well. This causes a cluster of symptoms including rapid heart beat, dizziness, and lightheadedness which can trigger panic attacks.^[3]
• Situationally bound panic attacks — Associating certain situations with panic attacks, due to experiencing one in that particular situation, can create a cognitive or behavioral predisposition to having panic attacks in certain situations (situationally bound panic attacks). It is a form of classical conditioning. Examples of this include college, work, or deployment.^[3] See PTSD
• Pharmacological triggers — Certain chemical substances, mainly stimulants but also certain depressants, can either contribute pharmacologically to a constellation of provocations, and thus trigger a panic attack or even a panic disorder, or directly induce one.^[13][14] This includes caffeine, amphetamine, alcohol and many more. Some sufferers of panic attacks also report phobias of specific drugs or chemicals, that thus have a merely psychosomatic effect, thereby functioning as drug triggers by nonpharmacological means.^[15]
• Chronic and/or serious illness — Cardiac conditions that can cause sudden death such as long QT syndrome; catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia or Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome can also result in panic attacks. This is particularly difficult to manage as the anxiety relates to events that may occur such as cardiac arrest, or if an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator is in situ, the possibility of having a shock delivered. It can be difficult for someone with a cardiac condition to distinguish between symptoms of cardiac dysfunction and symptoms of anxiety. In CPVT, anxiety itself can and does trigger arrythmia. Current management of panic attacks secondary to cardiac conditions appears to rely heavily on benzodiazepines, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and/or cognitive behavioural therapy. However, people in this group often experience multiple and unavoidable hospitalisations; in people with these types of diagnoses, it can be difficult to differentiate between symptoms of a panic attack versus cardiac symptoms without an electrocardiogram.

Pathophysiology[link]

While the various symptoms of a panic attack may cause the person to feel that their body is failing, it is in fact protecting itself from harm. The various symptoms of a panic attack can be understood as follows. First, there is frequently (but not always) the sudden onset of fear with little provoking stimulus. This leads to a release of adrenaline (epinephrine) which brings about the so-called fight-or-flight response wherein the person's body prepares for strenuous physical activity. This leads to an increased heart rate (tachycardia), rapid breathing (hyperventilation) which may be perceived as shortness of breath (dyspnea), and sweating (which increases grip and aids heat loss). Because strenuous activity rarely ensues, the hyperventilation leads to a drop in carbon dioxide levels in the lungs and then in the blood. This leads to shifts in blood pH (respiratory alkalosis or hypocapnia), which in turn can lead to many other symptoms, such as tingling or numbness, dizziness, burning and lightheadedness. Moreover, the release of adrenaline during a panic attack causes vasoconstriction resulting in slightly less blood flow to the head which causes dizziness and lightheadedness. A panic attack can cause blood sugar to be drawn away from the brain and towards the major muscles. It is also possible for the person experiencing such an attack to feel as though they are unable to catch their breath, and they begin to take deeper breaths, which also acts to decrease carbon dioxide levels in the blood.

Classification[link]

Agoraphobia[link]

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Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder which primarily consists of the fear of experiencing a difficult or embarrassing situation from which the sufferer cannot escape. Panic attacks are commonly linked to agoraphobia and the fear of not being able to escape a bad situation. As a result, severe sufferers of agoraphobia may become confined to their homes, experiencing difficulty traveling from this "safe place".^[16] The word "agoraphobia" is an English adoption of the Greek words agora (αγορά) and phobos (φόβος). The term "agora" refers to the place where ancient Greeks used to gather and talk about issues of the city, so it basically applies to any or all public places; however the essence of agoraphobia is a fear of panic attacks especially if they occur in public as the victim may feel like he or she has no escape. In the case of agoraphobia caused by social phobia or social anxiety, sufferers may be very embarrassed by having a panic attack publicly in the first place. This translation is the reason for the common misconception that agoraphobia is a fear of open spaces, and is not clinically accurate. Agoraphobia, as described in this manner, is actually a symptom professionals check for when making a diagnosis of panic disorder. Other syndromes like obsessive compulsive disorder or post traumatic stress disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder can also cause agoraphobia, basically any irrational fear that keeps one from going outside can cause the syndrome.^[17]

People who have had a panic attack in certain situations may develop irrational fears, called phobias, of these situations and begin to avoid them. Eventually, the pattern of avoidance and level of anxiety about another attack may reach the point where individuals with panic disorder are unable to drive or even step out of the house. At this stage, the person is said to have panic disorder with agoraphobia. This can be one of the most harmful side-effects of panic disorder as it can prevent sufferers from seeking treatment in the first place.

Panic disorder[link]

People who have repeated, persistent attacks or feel severe anxiety about having another attack are said to have panic disorder. Panic disorder is strikingly different from other types of anxiety disorders in that panic attacks are often sudden and unprovoked.^[18]

Treatment[link]

Panic disorder can be effectively treated with a variety of interventions including psychological therapies and medication^[3] with the evidence that cognitive behavioral therapy has the longest duration of effect, followed by specific selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.^[19] However, subsequent research by Barbara Milrod and her colleagues^[20] has shown that psychoanalytic psychotherapy is equally effective in relieving panic attacks as behavioral approaches and has fewer relapses. A psychoanalytic approach that identifies actual but dissociated causes of panic reactions may lead to rapid disappearance of symptoms.^[21]

The term anxiolytic has become nearly synonymous with the benzodiazepines, because these compounds have been for almost 40 years the drugs of choice for stress-related anxiety. Low doses of complete-agonist benzodiazepines alleviate anxiety, agitation, and fear by their actions on receptors located in the amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, and insula.

Breathing exercises[link]

David D. Burns has some useful breathing exercises for those suffering from anxiety. One such breathing exercise is a 5-2-5 count. Using the stomach (or diaphragm) - and not the chest - you inhale (feel your stomach come out, as opposed to your chest expanding) for 5 seconds. As you reach the maximal point at inhalation, hold your breath for 2 seconds. Then slowly exhale, over 5 seconds. Repeat this cycle twice, and then breathe 'normally' for 5 cycles (1 cycle = 1 inhale + 1 exhale). The point is to focus on the breathing, and relax the heart-rate.

Physical exercise, 30 minutes a day, is also extremely important, as well as nutrition and healthy sleeping habits. Many panic attack sufferers as well as doctors recommend breathing into a paper bag as an effective short-term treatment of an acute panic attack.^[22] However, this treatment has been criticised by others as ineffective and possibly hazardous to the patient, even potentially worsening the panic attack.^[23] Critics say that this technique can fatally lower oxygen levels in the blood stream,^[24] and increase carbon dioxide levels, which in turn has been found to be a major cause of panic attacks.^[25]

It is therefore important to discover whether hyperventilation is truly involved in each case. If it is, then rebalancing the oxygen and CO₂ levels in the blood and/or re-establishing an even, measured breathing pattern is an appropriate treatment which may be also achieved by extending the outbreath either by counting or even humming.

Psychotherapies[link]

According to the American Psychological Association, "most specialists agree that a combination of cognitive and behavioral therapies are the best treatment for panic disorder. Medication might also be appropriate in some cases".^[26] The first part of therapy is largely informational; many people are greatly helped by simply understanding exactly what panic disorder is, and how many others suffer from it. Many people who suffer from panic disorder are worried that their panic attacks mean they are 'going crazy' or that the panic might induce a heart attack. Cognitive restructuring helps people replace those thoughts with more realistic, positive ways of viewing the attacks.^[27]

Another helpful treatment for panic disorders is meditation. Medication is the common treatment for the disorder, but meditation is a great help too.^[28]

Medication[link]

Prognosis[link]

Heart attack and stroke[link]

A recent study suggests that menopausal women with panic disorder and many occurrences of panic attacks have a threefold higher risk of suffering heart attack or stroke over the next five years. The researchers believe that panic attacks or more accurately their associated symptoms (chest pain, shortness of breath) can be manifestations of undiagnosed cardiovascular disease, or result in heart damage due to cardiovascular stress in patients with panic disorder and many panic attacks over periods of years.^[29] However, the study did not find that isolated cases of panic attacks in patients without panic disorder or agoraphobia would lead to immediate heart damage, nor did it prove that the correlation between panic disorder and strokes was causal, or that it couldn't be attributed to the cardiovascular effects of medication that many panic disorder patients receive, such as SSRIs and benzodiazepines. Panic attack symptoms may be masking heart attack warnings and precursors. Chest pain, shortness of breath, unusual exhaustion and other heart attack symptoms should be evaluated by a physician to distinguish panic symptoms from heart disease symptoms.

Limited symptom attack[link]

Many people being treated for panic attacks begin to experience limited symptom attacks. These panic attacks are less comprehensive, with fewer than 4 bodily symptoms being experienced.^[3]

It is not unusual to experience only one or two symptoms at a time, such as vibrations in their legs, or shortness of breath, or an intense wave of heat traveling up their bodies which is not similar to hot flashes due to estrogen shortage. Some symptoms, such as vibrations in the legs are sufficiently different from any normal sensation that they clearly indicate panic disorder. Other symptoms on the list can occur in people who may or may not have panic disorder. Panic disorder truly does not require four or more symptoms to all be present at the same time. Pure causeless panic and the racing heart beat that panic causes are quite sufficient to indicate panic attack.^[3]

References[link]

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External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Panic

• American Psychological Association: Answers to Your Questions About Panic Disorder
• Anxiety Disorders Association of America Information for families, clinicians and researchers
• Anxiety Disorders on the United States Surgeon General Website
• Anxiety Attack symptoms can sometimes mimic physical problems

Mike Portnoy
Background information
Birth name	Michael Stephen Portnoy
Born	(1967-04-20) April 20, 1967 (age 45) Long Beach, New York, US
Genres	Progressive metal, heavy metal, progressive rock
Instruments	Drums, vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards
Years active	1984–present
Labels	Roadrunner
Associated acts	Dream Theater, Transatlantic, Liquid Tension Experiment, Neal Morse, OSI, Avenged Sevenfold, Adrenaline Mob, Stone Sour, Flying Colors
Website	www.mikeportnoy.com

Michael Stephen "Mike" Portnoy (born April 20, 1967) is an American drummer primarily known as the former drummer, backing vocalist, and a co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. Known for his drumming prowess and technical skill, Portnoy has won 26 awards from the Modern Drummer magazine^[1] . He co-produced six Dream Theater albums with guitarist John Petrucci, starting from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory through Black Clouds and Silver Linings. From A Change of Seasons onwards, Portnoy had been writing a significant amount of Dream Theater's lyrics. He is the second youngest person (after Neil Peart) to be inducted into the Modern Drummer's Hall of Fame (at 37 years of age).

Besides his work with Dream Theater, Portnoy is known for his many side projects and tribute bands. He is a founding member of Liquid Tension Experiment, an instrumental progressive rock band featuring fellow DT members John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess along with bass legend Tony Levin. He is also a founding member of Transatlantic, a progressive rock "super-group" featuring Spock's Beard keyboardist/vocalist Neal Morse, Flower Kings guitarist Roine Stolt and Marillon bassist Pete Trewavas. Portnoy has also recorded and/or toured/performed live with Avenged Sevenfold, Neal Morse, OSI, Hail!, Stone Sour, Fates Warning, Overkill and G3. Over the years, Portnoy has also created tribute bands to The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Rush, and The Who, which has allowed him to perform the music of his four favorite drummers.

On September 2010, Portnoy announced that he had left Dream Theater after 25 years. He was replaced by Mike Mangini. Since his departure, Portnoy has started two new projects. One is with Symphony X singer Russell Allen and guitarist Mike Orlando, a straight rock/metal band called Adrenaline Mob^[2]. He has also started a progressive pop oriented band with Steve Morse, Neal Morse, Dave LaRue, and Casey McPherson called Flying Colors.

Dream Theater history[link]

Portnoy was born April 20, 1967 into a Jewish family and raised on Long Island in Long Beach, New York.^[3] According to a post made by Jordan Rudess on his forum, Portnoy is ethnically Jewish but does not practice. His father worked as a DJ at a local radio station, helping Portnoy gain an appreciation for music at an early age particularly, as Portnoy has pointed out, because he had access to his father's collection of LPs. He developed a preference for bands including Rush, Queen, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Iron Maiden, and The Beatles, among many others. Portnoy claims to be self-taught as a drummer, though he did take music theory classes in high school. During that period he began playing in local bands, two of which (Rising Power and Inner Sanctum) recorded and released independent albums. He left Inner Sanctum (his last high school band) after being awarded a scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston. There, he met John Petrucci and John Myung. They formed a band, initially taking the name "Majesty" before changing their name to Dream Theater. They left Berklee soon after.

Influences[link]

In the April 2001 edition of Modern Drummer & Portnoy's website, he names Neil Peart,Buddy Rich, Frank Zappa, Vinnie Paul, Carl Palmer, Bill Bruford, Terry Bozzio, Nicko McBrain, Billy Cobham, Alan White, Nick Mason, Stewart Copeland, Phil Collins, Chester Thompson, Simon Phillips, Nick D'Virgilio, Andy Sturmer, Dave Lombardo, Jon Fishman, Vinnie Colaiuta, Ringo Starr, Peter Criss, John Bonham, Keith Moon and Lars Ulrich as influences.^[4]

Awards and recognition[link]

Modern Drummer

Mike Portnoy won the following Modern Drummer magazine Reader's Poll awards:

1. Best Up & Coming Talent (1994)
2. Best Progressive Rock Drummer (1995–2006)
3. Best Recorded Performance (1995 for Awake, 1996 for A Change of Seasons, 1998 for Falling Into Infinity, 2000 for Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory, 2002 for Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, 2007 for Score) and 2011 for Nightmare (Avenged Sevenfold).^[5]
4. Best Clinician (2000, 2002)
5. Best Educational Video/DVD (2000, 2002)
6. Hall of Fame Inductee (2004)

He has co-founded several progressive rock groups and projects, including Transatlantic and Liquid Tension Experiment.

He has released three instructional videos, "Progressive Drum Concepts", "Liquid Drum Theater", which has won awards from Modern Drummer Magazine, and his latest "In Constant Motion". He has released many "Official Bootlegs" on his website, including footage of the studio sessions for the Dream Theater albums Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, Train of Thought, Octavarium and the Transatlantic release Bridge Across Forever. He has released bootlegs of his tribute bands Hammer of the Gods (a Led Zeppelin tribute), Yellow Matter Custard (The Beatles), Cygnus and the Sea Monsters (Rush), and Amazing Journey (The Who).

On September 18, 2006 within his website's forum Portnoy cagily stated that he had finally met one of his drummer heroes from youth from the band Rush;^[6] drummer Neil Peart (one of the few heroes from his youth Portnoy had never met, owing to Peart's legendary privacy), that "Neil and I have finally met and we spent some time together this week and had a great time...",^[7] and that a possible collaboration was underway/had been discussed with the teasing statement of "Patience everybody... all will soon be revealed!" It has now been revealed that this meeting was for an interview Portnoy did for his stint as guest editor of Rhythm Magazine.^[8] Portnoy had previously written the liner notes for the Japanese pressing of Rush's 2002 release Vapor Trails,^[9] but publicly denounced Peart in 2000 after Peart called the people involved in the Rush tribute "bar bands" .^[10]

In the October 2009 issue of Rhythm Magazine, Portnoy was listed as #5 in their list of the Top 50 Drummers of All Time.^[11]

He was featured on Fuse TV's Talking Metal where he joined with Bobby Ellsworth and the show's hosts in covering Motörhead's "Overkill."

In June 14, 2010, Mike Portnoy won the Metal Hammer Golden God Award for Best Drummer.^[12]

As voted on by 6,500 drummers worldwide, Portnoy won the Drummies Award for Best Progressive Rock drummer in 2010, while Joey Jordison of Slipknot/Rob Zombie/Murderdolls won the award for Best Metal drummer.^[13]

At the Revolver Golden God Awards in April 20, he won the "Best Drummer Award" for his work with Avenged Sevenfold.^[14]

In June 7, 2011, Portnoy posted on his Facebook that he had won DRUM! Magazine's "Drummer of the Year Award" and the "Metal Drummer Award".^[15][16]

Drum kits and percussive equipment[link]

• When Dream and Day Unite/Images & Words Kit - This Tama Imperialstar kit (the previous model of the Imperialstar, unlike the 2007 Imperialstar, which is an entry level kit)and Zildjian cymbals which was bought originally by Portnoy himself through working three jobs. It was used until the end of the Images and Words tour when Portnoy was signed by Sabian and Mapex.
• Awake/A Change Of Seasons kit - This Mapex USA Maple kit was used on the world tour supporting the album Awake. It had two bass drums, one snare, six toms, two small timbales, a section of various percussion instruments, and four Octoban-sized drums in a 2x2 formation. This marked Portnoy's first use of Octobans on a record, which were custom-made by Mapex using maple as opposed to Tama's more traditional acrylic, giving them a slightly different, more "natural" tone.
• The Purple/Green/Red Monsters - These were Tama Starclassic kits which marked Portnoy's signing with Tama in the late '90s after his endorsement deal with Mapex fell through (they took the kit he was using off the market, meaning that he was endorsing a product the public could not buy.) Used for the recording of Falling Into Infinity" and "Scenes from a Memory and the North, South American, and Asian tours for said albums, they are so named because of their striking color/white/color fade finishes. Each version of the kit was kept in a different part of the world to avoid overseas shipping costs; the "Green Monster" was used for European tours and the "Red Monster" was used for Asian-market touring. It is similar to the "Awake" kit but features many more cymbals, the left-side octobans in a four-inline configuration (as opposed to his last kit which held them in a 2x2 pattern) and two more "low"-tuned octobans on the right side of the kit held overhead of the floor toms. This kit featured a snare drum with a foot-operated snare strainer mechanism which allowed for different snare drum sounds without having to use his hands to adjust it. On the Purple Monster Portnoy used DW 5000 Pedals, instead of the Iron Cobra Pedals. He uses this kit in his 1999 Instructional DVD "Liquid Drum Theater".
• Liquid Tension Experiment kit - A comparatively modest kit used in his supergroup project Liquid Tension Experiment. The bass drum and toms of this kit (not the snare, timbales, and cymbals) were the first Portnoy ever purchased used according to an interview where he gave a tour of his basement and this kit showed up. This kit was unique in that it used a pair of small timbales where the two smallest toms would normally be. It was otherwise a normal "seven piece" rock kit with three toms (five if you count the timbales), and a single bass drum with a double kick pedal. It marks the first time Portnoy uses a floor tom on either side of the kit for a recording (during footage from their Fan Club Show in 1998 featured on 5 Years in a LIVEtime, Portnoy's "Unplugged" kit contained a left-hand floor tom used heavily during that performance) with a 14" floor tom on the left and an 18" floor tom on the right. It is the first time Portnoy used his MaxStax cymbal line in the studio. Portnoy notes in his Liquid Drum Theater instructional video that the reason behind the smaller kit is that when Liquid Tension Experiment went into the studio to record the first album, The Purple Monster kit was still being shipped back from some shows they had played immediately prior in Brazil.
• Transatlantic kit - The kit used to record and tour behind the first Transatlantic album was the same as the Liquid Tension Experiment kit, but with five regular toms. When recording and touring behind the second Transatlantic album, Portnoy added his new Melody Master snare drums for the first time and some different cymbals including a set of custom made 15" hi-hats. The smaller Melody Master displaced the 14" floor tom, which was moved back to the right of the kit for the Transatlantic recordings. For the filming of Portnoy's 2007 "In Constant Motion" instructional DVD set, the Transatlantic kit was reproduced in Tama drums' new line of acrylic shells named Starclassic Mirage in the "Black Ice" finish. The original recording was done with more traditional Starclassic wood drums.
• The Siamese Monster - This kit was an amalgamation of two individual kits. The left side of the kit is laid out similarly to the Liquid Tension Experiment kit, with a floor tom on his left side, a modified tymp-tom on his right side, and three rack toms. The right side is laid out as a normal five piece kit but with the two rack toms reversed, a gong bass drum in place of a floor tom (with modified floor tom legs), and the ride cymbal in front of the hi hats, which allows him to share some of the cymbals and toms between the two kits. It has two stools, and while is not capable of being played in its entirety by one person, Portnoy often invites other drummers to sit in on the unplayed half during shows. It is a predominantly black kit with Majesty symbols around each individual drum. Much like the Colored Monsters, there were three identical versions of this kit for use when touring different continents, the North American kit being the "featured" kit with purple markings as was the case with the Colored Monsters. It was built by Tama for the recording of the Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence album and tour as well as the Train of Thought album and tour.
• The OSI kit - Portnoy used the small (right) side of his Red Siamese Monster kit for the recording of the first Office of Strategic Influence album. For the second he downsized even more to a four-piece consisting of his signature snare, one timbale as a tom as previously used on his Liquid Tension Experiment kit, one floor tom, and a single 18" kick drum with a double pedal.
• Yellow Matter Custard kit - A specially designed set for use in Portnoy's Beatles tribute band, Yellow Matter Custard. It is modelled on Ringo Starr's kit, and is quite simple compared with his Dream Theater kits. Its in the sizes: 12"x8", 14"x14" & 20"x14". The cymbals are an 14" AA HiHat, an AA Crash on the left and a HH Crash/Ride on the right.
• Hammer Of The Gods kit - A John Bonham-replica kit that was used in Portnoy's Led Zeppelin tribute band. Custom-made acrylic shells were used (transparent amber), and the kit is always played while wearing the obligatory bowler hat.
• The Albino Monster - The previous kit used by Portnoy is similar to the Siamese Monster. Aesthetically, it is white with silver sparkle Majesty logos instead of the black/colored logos of the Siamese Monster. In layout it is almost exactly the same, the only differences being the right side of the kit mimics his earlier Hammer of the Gods kit; two of the timbales were removed, the 10" tymp-tom was changed to a 14", and the gong bass drum was replaced with a floor tom. He kept some of the cymbals from the right side of the Siamese Monster, including the 13" HHX Groove Hats, and the 19" Hand Hammered Fierce Crash, so there's more distance between the two sides in the Albino Monster, than there were in the Siamese Monster. So far it has been used for the Gigantour (a tour that Dream Theater participated in alongside Megadeth, Symphony X and several other bands) and throughout the Octavarium 2005-06 World Tour. The modification to the right side stemmed from sessions for Dream Theater's Octavarium album, where what began as an experiment became the inspiration behind most of Octavarium. When recording of Octavarium began, Portnoy brought along the Hammer of the Gods kit, resulting in the kit being used for part of the album: he ended up using it on five of the album's eight tracks. The kit utilizes larger "Rock" sizes, with a 14" rack tom, a 16" floor tom, an 18" floor tom, and a meaty 6.5" x 14" snare drum, much reminding of the drum sizes used by John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. Additionally, Portnoy only used a few crash cymbals, and used a splash and china sparingly. When touring began, Tama had the shells changed to traditional Starclassic Maple shells, because they didn't want Portnoy touring with a kit featuring shells that Tama didn't mass-produce for public acquisition. The touring kit includes two new limited-edition Mike Portnoy signature snare drums with the same matching finish used on the rest of the kit. On Tama's official website, Portnoy released details about changes to the kit for his upcoming tours, beginning with G3 in March. He says the left side will stay the same, but the right side will change. The sizes will change to more conventional sizes-22" kick etc. and will have three rack toms as opposed to the 'Bonham'-size, one rack tom kit of before. The shells would be Starclassic Mirage acrylic shells instead of the Starclassic Maple he has always used. He used this kit in his DVD In Constant Motion.
• The Mirage Monster- Revealed at Gods Of Metal 2007, this kit is made up of two kits once again, except built out of Tama's new Tama Starclassic Mirage acrylic drums in clear "Crystal Ice" finish. The left side is virtually identical to his previous kit, except made with clear acrylic shells. The new configuration of the right side of his kit has replaced the "Bonzo Kit" of "The Albino Monster." His new right side of the kit includes: a 22" kick and 3 rack toms (8", 10", and 12") "so it's going to be a little more of a conventional, small kit." (Click on "Interview" link button) The snares used are his Signature Melody Master snares. He uses 2 12x5" steel snares (one on the right side of the kit as a main snare and one on the left as a side snare) and uses one 14x5.5" maple shell snare. These snares are the same snares used in the last 2 kits (Albino Monster and Siamese Monster) and they are in the original black color. This kit has been scaled down to a relatively small double-bass kit for several shows taking place in smaller venues.
• Black & Silver Monster^[17]- Similar to the Mirage Monster, this kit is made up of two different kits, this time with the new Bubinga wood drums with a black and silver finish. This kit was used for the Black Clouds & Silver Linings tour. To record the album he used two diiferent sets of Tama drums - his main set was Starclassic Bubinga Elite and the second, smaller one was Starclassic Performer.

Several of Portnoy's drum kits make use of Roland electronic drum pads. Portnoy uses these as what he calls the "secret cowbell", to count off the songs in a way that only his fellow band members and the technicians can hear it. An example of this can be seen on the Score DVD, where it can be seen in the background that Portnoy counts off the song "Under A Glass Moon" on the pad. Portnoy explains the use of these pads in the commentary track of the "Drum Cam Only" version of the Live At Budokan DVD, as well as the "Mike's Stage Tour" featurette on the Chaos in Motion 2007–2008 DVD.

Tama has marketed two different sized Mike Portnoy signature snare drums, known as "Melody Masters" (named after Melody, his daughter), since the late 1990s. The smaller of the two has a 12x5" steel shell and the larger has a 14x5.5" maple shell. Both snare models have a unique three way snare strainer mechanism.^[18] Portnoy and Tama have custom-made versions in various colors to match the color schemes of the kit he was using at the time (i.e. The "Purple/Red/Green Monsters", "Siamese Monster" "Albino Monster", etc.). For 2006, in recognition of his 'Albino Monster' kit, he released only 250 of these snares worldwide in a white, gloss finish. The older colour (black) is not limited edition.

Sabian has marketed three different sized signature cymbal stacks, known as "Max Stax" (named after his son, Max). They consist of a hand hammered china kang-style cymbal on top of a splash (or crash) cymbal that can be played much more like a drum than a cymbal, used much more in traditional drum fills than most quickly decaying cymbal tones. Their sizes are 8/8", 10/10" and 12/14". Sabian has marketed odd-sized 7, 9, and 11" "Max Splash" cymbals which have a fast decay and can be used in fills and drum patterns that have the same namesake.^[19]

Portnoy has endorsed Promark sticks since the early 1990s. His signature stick is the TX420N.^[20] It is .531 inches in diameter, 16 1/8 in length, and has a 747 taper and nylon tip. The color of the ink and the design of the logo has changed several times. When Mike was in Dream Theater, it had purple ink and had the Dream Theater logo on it. When he toured with Avenged Sevenfold, the Pro-Mark logo was replaced with the Deathbat and used regular black ink. The "420" in the model number, which is printed on the sticks, is a reference to his birthday (and not a marijuana reference, as has been suggested). He is known for gripping his left stick on the reverse side to attain a different sound on the snare drum - at times he would incorporate the act of tossing his drumstick in the air to change to the other end.

Other instruments played[link]

Portnoy played John Myung's bass when Dream Theater performed as the fictitious band Nightmare Cinema. Before live performances of "Trial of Tears", he would sometimes switch instruments with John Petrucci and play a fragment of "Eruption" by Van Halen. In Nightmare Cinema he got the "alternate stage name" Max Del Fuvio. He was seen playing Pink Floyd's Sheep, in a sunburst 4-string Music Man Stingray belonging to Myung on The making of Systematic Chaos. He plays bass guitar during a jam by Liquid Trio Experiment 2.

Avenged Sevenfold, departure from Dream Theater and future[link]

In spring 2010, Portnoy filled in for Avenged Sevenfold's former drummer, Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, who died during production of the band's latest album Nightmare.

On May 5, 2010, Portnoy released a statement on his status with Avenged Sevenfold on their official website saying: "Although I wish I could stay on board with A7X in a more permanent capacity, the reality is that I am committed to Dream Theater as my main priority and I will need to resume work with DT to start a new album at some point in 2011.....However, I will be able to join my brothers in Avenged Sevenfold for at least the duration of their touring throughout 2010.....You can look at me like the band's "rebound drummer" to buy them some time until they are comfortable and ready to make a commitment to somebody new for full-time relationship in their future!"^[21]

On Wednesday, September 8, 2010, Mike Portnoy announced he would be leaving Dream Theater. In his official statement^[22] he said:

The rest of the band did not agree and decided to continue on without him. Because of this decision, Portnoy decided to leave Dream Theater. After auditioning seven world-class drummers, Dream Theater selected Mike Mangini to replace Portnoy.^[23]

On December 16, 2010, Portnoy announced via Facebook that although he would have liked to continue working with the band, Avenged Sevenfold had decided to stop using him as their drummer.^[24] He later announced that he had asked to rejoin Dream Theater, but had been rejected,^[25] as Dream Theater had already chosen their new drummer, Mike Mangini.

Portnoy announced, that he has started 2 musical projects; one project with Russell Allen, Mike Orlando, Rich Ward and Paul DiLeo, titled Adrenaline Mob, and another with Neal Morse, Steve Morse, Dave LaRue and Casey McPherson (confirmed by Portnoy to be called "Flying Colors.") Portnoy recently stated on Facebook that both band's drum tracks are done. (Adrenaline Mob released a debut EP in August 2011) ^[26] In response to twitter questions, Portnoy has stated "Flying Colors" debut album is scheduled to be released in 2012,^[27][28] and that a full release album for Adrenaline Mob is also slated for release in 2012.^[29]

On June 10, 2011, Portnoy announced on his website, that he would be playing a show in New York City on June 24, 2011 with Adrenaline Mob.^[30]

On August 5, 2011, one of Adrenaline Mob's new songs, titled "Hit the Wall," debuted on the Q104.3 radio station following a live interview with Portnoy about Adrenaline Mob, as well as his hopes for the future and his feelings towards Dream Theater.

On September 14, 2011 it was announced that Portnoy would fill in on drums for Stone Sour's show at Rock In Rio for drummer Roy Mayorga, who asked Portnoy to fill in due to Mayorga expecting the birth of his first child on the same day as the show.

Mike and John Sykes formed a band yet untitled together with Billy Sheehan as the bass player. In early January 2012, it was revealed that this band would not go ahead due to unknown reasons. Instead, Portnoy revealed that he and Sheehan are working with guitar great Richie Kotzen.

Personal life[link]

Portnoy and his wife Marlene (née Apuzzo) live in Upper Saucon Township in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania with their children, Melody Ruthandrea and Max John. Marlene used to be a guitarist in the all-female band Meanstreak, and two of the other members, guitarist Rena Sands and bassist Lisa Martens, are married to Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung, respectively.

Near the end of every year since 2001, Portnoy shares on his blog a personal choice on the top ten music recordings, films and TV shows released along the year.^[31]

Discography[link]

Instructional DVD releases[link]

Portnoy has released several instructional drumming videos/DVDs. These include:

• "Progressive Drum Concepts" (Rittor Music 1995 1 VHS/DVD)
• "Liquid Drum Theater" (Hudson Music 2000 2 DVDs)
• "In Constant Motion" (Hudson Music 2007, 3 DVDs)

Portnoy's self filmed performances[link]

Portnoy has self-released "drum-cam" DVDs of the last several Dream Theater and side project recording sessions through his own "MP4" production company. These are "in-studio" recordings typically consisting of Full Band, Isolated Drums tracks, and an Audio Commentary.

• "Asian Clinic Tour" (MP4 Productions 2001, 1 DVD) (out of print)
• "Ten Degrees of Turbulent Drumming" (MP4 Productions 2002, 1 DVD)
• "Drums Across Forever" (MP4 Productions 2002, 1 DVD)
• "Drums of Thought" (MP4 Productions 2004, 1 DVD)
• "Live at Budokan" (MP4 Production 2005, 1 DVD)
• "Mike Portnoy - Drumavarium" (MP4 Productions 2005, 1 DVD)
• "sysDRUMatic chaos" (MP4 Productions 2007, 1 DVD)
• "SCORE" (MP4 Productions 2008, 1 DVD)
• "Black Clouds & Silver Drumming" (MP4 Productions 2009, 1 DVD)
• "Whirlwind Drumming" (MP4 Productions 2010, 1 DVD)
• "Testimony 2:Live Drum Cam" (MP4 Productions 2012, 1 DVD)
• "Drumertá" (MP4 Productions 2012, 1 DVD)
• "Drumming Colors" (MP4 Productions 2012, 1 DVD)

Credits[link]

Bands MP has played in, performed &/or recorded with:

1. Dream Theater (1985-2010)

2. Liquid Tension Experiment (1997-1999, 2008)

3. Transatlantic (1999-2001, 2008- )

4. John Petrucci/G3 (2001-2007)

5. Andy West (2001)

6. Neal Morse (2002- )

7. OSI (2002-2004)

8. Yellow Matter Custard (2003 & 2011)

9. Hammer Of The Gods (2003)

10. John Arch (2003)

11. Overkill (2004)

12. Fates Warning (2005 & 2012)

13. Cygnus & The Sea Monsters (2005)

14. Amazing Journey (2006)

15. Hail! (2010 & 2011)

16. Avenged Sevenfold (2010)

17. Flying Colors (2011- )

18. Adrenaline Mob (2011- )

19. Stone Sour (2011)

20. ___(just recorded new album of)___ (2012)

Singers MP has worked with:

1. James LaBrie (Dream Theater)

2. Neal Morse (Transatlantic, Neal Morse, Flying Colors, Yellow Matter Custard)

3. M Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold)

4. Corey Taylor (Stone Sour)

5. Russell Allen (Adrenaline Mob)

6. Casey McPherson (Flying Colors)

7. Ripper Owens (Hail)

8. John Arch

9. Ray Alder (Fates Warning)

10. Bobby Blitz Ellesworth (Overkill)

11. Jason McMaster (Cygnus & The Sea Monsters)

12. Daniel Gildenlow (Hammer Of The Gods, Transatlantic)

13. Gary Cherone (Amazing Journey)

14. Whitfield Crane (Hail)

15. Charlie Dominici (Dream Theater)

16. Chris Collins (Majesty)

Guitarists MP has worked with:

1. John Petrucci (Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment, G3)

2. Paul Gilbert (Yellow Matter Custard, Hammer Of The Gods, Cygnus & The Sea Monsters, Amazing Journey)

3. Steve Morse (Flying Colors)

4. John Sykes (Unreleased Sykes/Portnoy Demos)

5. Roine Stolt (Transatlantic)

6. Jim Matheos (Fates Warning, OSI, John Arch)

7. Mike Orlando (Adrenaline Mob)

8. Synyster Gates (Avenged Sevenfold)

9. Zacky Vengeance (Avenged Sevenfold)

10. James Root (Stone Sour)

11. Josh Rand (Stone Sour)

12. Andreas Kisser (Hail)

13. Frank Aresti (Fates Warning)

14. Eric Brenton (Neal Morse)

15. Glen Drover (Hail)

16. Phil Demmel (Hail)

17. Dave Linsk (Overkill)

18. Tony MacAlpine (Portnoy, Sheehan, MacAlpine, Sherinian)

19. Richie Kotzen (Portnoy, Sheehan, Kotzen)

20. Rich Ward (Adrenaline Mob)

Bassists MP has worked with:

1. John Myung (Dream Theater)

2. Tony Levin (Liquid Tension Experiment)

3. Pete Trewavas (Transatlantic)

4. Billy Sheehan (Amazing Journey, PSMS, PSK)

5. Dave LaRue (G3, Hammer Of The Gods, Flying Colors)

6. Paul DiLeo (Adrenaline Mob)

7. David Ellefson (Hail)

8. Johnny Christ (Avenged Sevenfold)

9. Randy George (Neal Morse)

10. Kasim Sulton (Yellow Matter Custard)

11. Matt Bissonette (Yellow Matter Custard)

12. Sean Malone (Cygnus & The Sea Monsters, OSI)

13. Joey Vera (Fates Warning, OSI, John Arch)

14. DD Verni (Overkill)

15. Jason Rapisse (Stone Sour)

16. James LoMenzo (Hail)

17. Andy West (Rama)

18. John Moyer (Adrenaline Mob)

Keyboardists MP has worked with:

1. Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment)

2. Neal Morse (Transatlantic, Neal Morse, Flying Colors, Yellow Matter Custard)

3. Kevin Moore (Dream Theater, OSI)

4. Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, PSMS)

Musicians MP has jammed with:

1. Dweezil Zappa (Los Angeles 2009)

2. Steve Vai (Japan 2005, Los Angeles 2009)

3. Joe Satriani (Long Island 2002, Japan 2005)

4. Scott Ian (NYC 2011)

5. Charlie Benante (Chicago 2006, Los Angeles & NYC 2011, LA 2012)

6. Frank Bello (NYC 2010, Los Angeles & NYC 2011, LA 2012)

7. Kerry King (NYC 2011 & LA 2012)

8. Phil Anselmo (NYC 2011 & LA 2012)

9. Dave Mustaine (Dallas 2005)

10. Bruce Dickinson (London 1995, Los Angeles 1998)

11. Nicko McBrain (Florida 1998)

12. Paul DiAnno (Austria 1995)

13. Steve Howe (London 1995)

14. Steve Hogarth (London 1995)

15. Steven Rothery (London 1995)

16. Mikael Akerfeldt (NYC & London 2009)

17. Burton C Bell (Dallas 2005)

18. Doug Pinnick (Studio 1997, North America 2002)

19. Jay Beckenstein (Studio 1991, 1998 & 1999, NYC 2000)

20. Scott Rockenfield (Seattle 2004)

21. Alan White (Mexico 2004)

22. Mike Mangini (Boston 2002)

23. Jason Bittner (Wallingford 2006)

24. Richard Christy (Long Island 2005)

25. Martin Axenrot (NYC 2008, London 2009)

26. Blake Richardson (NYC 2008)

27. Chris Gartmann (NYC 2008)

28. Steve Frothingham (Los Angeles & London 2009)

29. Joe Travers (Los Angeles 2009)

30. Pat Skeffington (Los Angeles 2009)

31. Landryx (London 2009)

32. Chris Jericho (Toronto 2002)

33. Gregg Bisonette

34. Steve Smith

35. Terry Bozzio (Los Angeles 2010)

36. Jack Bruce (Anaheim 2011)

37. Jerry Goodman (Studio 2009)

38. Barney Greenway (London 1995)

39. Steve Hackett (London 2010)

40. Steve Moore (Switzerland 2011)

41. Dee Snider (Video 2012)

42. Dave Lombardo (LA 2012)

43. Chris Broderick (LA 2012)

44. Geezer Butler (LA 2012)

45. Lzzy Hale (Studio 2011)

46. Theresa Thomason (1999 & 2000, 2005)

Bands MP have Jammed with:

1. Zappa Plays Zappa (NYC, Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles 2009)

2. Queensryche (North America 2003)

3. Megadeth (Toronto 2005)

4. Beatallica (Madison 2004 & Columbus 2010)

5. Bigelf (North America & Europe 2009, South America 2010)

6. Fozzy (NYC 2010)

7. Pain Of Salvation (Paris 2001, Barcelona 2002, Australia 2009, Istanbul 2011)

8. Spock's Beard (Europe & North America 2000, Paris & London 2007)

9. Galactic Cowboys (North America 1993)

10. I Mother Earth (North America 1994)

11. Z02 (Buffalo 2010)

12. Enchant (Europe 1997)

13. Vanden Plas (Europe 1998)

14. Tiles (Europer 1999)

References[link]

External links[link]

• MikePortnoy.com
• VIDEO Interview with Portnoy on BackstageMusician.Com
• Interview with Portnoy in Drummer's Digest web magazine
• http://jacksonnewsnow.com/radio/1023-the-rocket/1023-the-rocket-latest/mike-portnoy-joins-avenged-sevenfold
• VIDEO interview with Portnoy at DrummersDigest.com
• Metal Sludge 20 Questions with Portnoy
• Progressive Nation 2008
• Portnoy discusses his memories of the now-defunct New York record store, Slipped Disc
• Mike Portnoy named the 5th best drummer of all time