Dream Theater

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Knick do you like the first two LTE?

The DT thing is interesting. Cue the rumor mill!

I love the song.
 
I discovered something interesting. On live performances of Octavarium, Jordan plays the whole long intro on his keyboard (synth pad) + continuum (melody), and I've always thought that this was the case on the album. However, listening to the isolated master tracks, both the melody starting at 2:40 and the one at 3:50 when the drums kick in are found on the "Guitar 2" track, followed immediately by an acoustic guitar. This made me wonder if Petrucci actually played those leads himself. According to Wikipedia, Jordan played them on a lap steel guitar, so it would make sense that they are placed on the guitar track. Meanwhile, Rudess' "Keys 1" track keeps playing the synth pad chords and switches to a dirty organ sound once the drums enter. His "Keys 2" track has the first lead up till 2:40, then goes quiet and returns with the drums, playing single distorted bass notes.
 
Maybe the lap steel guitar was placed on the guitar track for convenience, and since Jordan was technically playing a guitar? I don't think Petrucci plays anything until that first big chord hits, but I'll admit that it's been a while since I've heard the song.
 
Yep yep, that's what I was saying. I already got my fanboy hopes up that Petrucci played that, but it's most likely Jordan. In that case, Petrucci's first note on the song is indeed together with the drums. Another minor detail: according to tabs, the first seven bars of JP's guitar are power chords but it sounds more like he's playing octave chords (the outer notes of a power chord without the fifth) in the isolated track, although it's a bit hard to tell because the tone is so compressed and there's heavy pick attack. I'm a nerd, I know.
 
Saapanael said:
Another minor detail: according to tabs, the first seven bars of JP's guitar are power chords but it sounds more like he's playing octave chords (the outer notes of a power chord without the fifth) in the isolated track, although it's a bit hard to tell because the tone is so compressed and there's heavy pick attack. I'm a nerd, I know
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This is the kind of content I come here for.

I always heard those chords as octave chords. Do you have the Octavarium tab book? Pretty sure it’s approved by Petrucci and has octave chords as well. I can scan it for you sometime if you want.

Edit: going back to the recording, some of those octaves would clash with the chord if he played them as power chords anyway.

The placement of the steel guitar part definitely comes from the fact that it’s a guitar, I’m guessing it’s still Rudess though. He also played the lap steel part in Dark Side of the Moon even though that was always a part Gilmour did live.
 
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Mosh said:
This is the kind of content I come here for.

I always heard those chords as octave chords. Do you have the Octavarium tab book? Pretty sure it’s approved by Petrucci and has octave chords as well. I can scan it for you sometime if you want.

Edit: going back to the recording, some of those octaves would clash with the chord if he played them as power chords anyway.

The placement of the steel guitar part definitely comes from the fact that it’s a guitar, I’m guessing it’s still Rudess though. He also played the lap steel part in Dark Side of the Moon even though that was always a part Gilmour did live.
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I don’t have the tab book, I was looking at a random tab on the web. I would love to have a scan of the official tabs.
 
Didnt he say he had an 8 string around the time of the Astonishing era? I feel like I have read this story several times in the last few years. Curious to hear what he comes up with when he finally uses it.
 
I've always loved how JP uses the 7-string specifically for extended single note range, rather than just chugging power chords in a lower key (which often works wonderfully too, like in The Mirror). Let me bring an example of what I mean. The descending part in Illumination Theory that starts around 15:08 and goes all the way down to the low A (his 7-string is tuned down a whole step) and up again to F where it stays while Jordan introduces us to the last majestic section of the song with nice chords. The whole thing is no more than 10 seconds in total but it's so bloody good to hear him go from somewhere in the mid-range all the way down while retaining clarity in each note. JP's guitar tone also plays a role in this, staying clear even in the very low range.


The second LTE song is nice, but less interesting than the first one. It feels sort of like LTE or DT by numbers. "You get a solo here, you get a solo here, we play a riff in between". A bit of a dumbed down approach in my opinion, but still very nice. I like Petrucci's uplifting melody, the one that the song also fades out to.
 
Lampwick 43 said:
Another new LTE song.

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I think I liked the first one more. There's nothing bad here, but man do those riffs sound like Rush. It sounds like a song written with vocals in mind.

LTE is not my favorite project (mostly because of the jamming lunacy), so this more straightforward LTE just seems like Dream Theater without half the members.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Wow. Did not know this was a thing.

I think Jordan has actually mellowed out a lot on the last couple DT albums and I am all in favor of this.
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www.blabbermouth.net

JORDAN RUDESS Says 'People Are Gonna Freak Out' When They Hear The Next DREAM THEATER Album

DREAM THEATER keyboardist Jordan Rudess spoke to Metal Wani about the writing and recording process for the band's upcoming follow-up to 2019's "Distance Over Time" album. He said: "I've gotta say I laid down what I think, sonically speaking at least, are the best keyboard tracks of any DREAM...
www.blabbermouth.net www.blabbermouth.net

He may not be mellow based on this.
 
The Dissident said:
www.blabbermouth.net

JORDAN RUDESS Says 'People Are Gonna Freak Out' When They Hear The Next DREAM THEATER Album

DREAM THEATER keyboardist Jordan Rudess spoke to Metal Wani about the writing and recording process for the band's upcoming follow-up to 2019's "Distance Over Time" album. He said: "I've gotta say I laid down what I think, sonically speaking at least, are the best keyboard tracks of any DREAM...
www.blabbermouth.net www.blabbermouth.net

He may not be mellow based on this.
Click to expand...
Who knows what he actually has in store for us? He talked about sonical quality for the most part. It could mean soothing piano parts like the song I posted above, or alien sounds from space. I’m always excited for a new DT release and I believe the best thing they can do is change things up.
 
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