My new Jordan Rudess interview (February 2016)

[Kyo]

Here's an interview with Jordan Rudess that I conducted about a week ago - enjoy!


https://dreamtheater.club/blog/2016/02/27/we-can-do-whatever-kind-of-music-we-want-to-do/

[hefdaddy42]

Nice!  Great interview, thanks for sharing!

[Bertielee]

Nice read, Kyo. Always nice to "hear" the wizard speak.

B.Lee

[Shooters1221]

Agreed with above. Thanks!!

[vazquez]

Thank you! Finally I know why he does not sing or write lyrics! 

[Dream Team]

No mention of Myung sadly.

[Prog Snob]

Good interview. Thanks for sharing it!   

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Awesome interview!

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Amazing. Thank you!

[SebastianPratesi]

Nice interview. From the answers, it seems like Jordan felt comfortable and was having a great time with you interviewing him.

On one of the answers he basically confirms that the self-titled album's credits were wrong, so I guess I was wrong too.

[Another_Won]

Yeah great interview thanks for posting. You had some really great questions! Do we know what new parts will be in the live show?

[KevShmev]

Very nice!! Well done.

Cool to hear that there will be another album with Levin and Minnemann.

[ytserush]

Very nice!! Well done.

Cool to hear that there will be another album with Levin and Minnemann.

You said it.

Hopefully a tour to ice that cake.

[Progmetty]

The last 16 years John and I have been the main composers of this band.

Did this really come as a surprise to anybody? I mean they never said it before but it's an easy educated guess and makes perfect sense, some people on fb seem surprised by it.

[SebastianPratesi]

Well, on all albums Jordan's been a part of, I also hear cool spotlight moments or sections led by JM, and it always seemed to me that MP wrote whatever he played. Plus the writing credits on all the albums (minus ADTOE and a few songs here and there) listed all the musicians. So in fact I was surprised with his recent comments on the subject.

[KevShmev]

I am sure all of the musicians wrote their own parts over the years and whatnot, but songwriting credit usually goes to the ones who write the melodies and arrangements.  If we can assume that what Rudess said is true, it sounds like he and Petrucci have always written most of the music since 1999, with Portnoy chiming in with some stuff here and there and likely being a big part of the arrangements (from 1999-2010).  What is striking is the lack of Myung in his comments.

[Progmetty]

But I'd say 97% of DT's music is based on and centered around the guitar and keyboards, so even though we know all the band members wrote their own parts; everything is built around what JP and JR create, this has always been my thoughts on this and I always assumed it was a common conviction among fans.

[SebastianPratesi]

But I'd say 97% of DT's music is based on and centered around the guitar and keyboards, so even thought we know all the band members wrote their own parts; everything is built around what JP and JR create, this has always been my thoughts on this and I always assumed it was a common conviction among fans.

When I was in my The Mars Volta phase, I kept reading that Omar wrote all of the music, and everything recorded by any other musician on the albums was dictated by him (well, except solos by others I guess). On some albums, he had each musician record their parts separately, without giving any information about the rest of the song - in fact, the musicians didn't even hear their bandmates' parts until the album was done.

So, since the music was credited solely to Omar, I've always thought that the credit goes to whoever came up with 'something' that was played - not just the melodies, chord progressions and arrangements. If Mike or JM came up with something for their own instruments, then it seems natural to me that they should also be credited.

It might not be the way credits usually are assigned, but it seems logical to me. Or, maybe the band has an agreement of sorts (that whoever contributed to the initial draft gets credit). I don't know.

[Kyo]

You don't get songwriting credits for merely playing along to what was written by others. Even if it's inventive stuff, as long as it remains limited to your own part, you're just playing an accompaniment.

Of course it's possible that someone can come up with some bass line for, e.g., a verse that ends up defining an otherwise finished song in a big way - and then a co-writing credit is justified.

[fischermasamune]

JP has said that some riffs he plays on guitar were created by JM (so it was JP doing the accompaniment).

I'll try to retrieve the interview. It was for promoting a line of guitars, I believe.

[ErHaO]

I don't think there is a simple universal rule for song writing credits, but I am sure Myung, Mangini and especially Labrie have added much of their own creativity into their parts. But the credits often (usually?) go to the person(s) who made the initial song/idea.

I think covers are often an easy distinquishable example. For example, Proud Mary of Tina Turner is quite different than Proud Mary by Creedence Clearwater Revival, yet John Fogerty is credited for writing the song (everywhere I think?). For a cover it is easier to determine as we all can listen to the initial piece, but even if a cover has many unique parts and creativity, I probably wouldn't simply agree if a cover artist simply slapped his or her name onto the writing credits.