DT15: A View From The Top Of The World (Timeline for DT15)

[Ben_Jamin]

It'll be hard due to the mics picking up the wind, and other sounds. I've been thinking about this too. It'd have to be somewhere nice and quiet, like in the mountains.

I can see the headline now:  "Local band killed in avalanche".

"Recording to be on their Posthumously released new album entitled Frozen in Time."

[Kotowboy]

Rolling Stone writer regrets recent article about the band - describing the prolonged sessions for their most recent studio album as being " glacially slow ".


' turns out they can move quite fast sometimes...'

[Schurftkut]

8string guitar confirmed by jp

[TM172003]

I just came to post that, I’m watching the interview now.

For those interested, he also confirmed details that the 8 string Majesty has fan frets and no trem.

https://youtu.be/lFGb6g2FUBc

[gzarruk]

Also confirmed that the 8 string is already in, at least, one song for DT15

[Mladen]

Was there an 8 string guitar on Distance over time?

[Max Kuehnau]

Was there an 8 string guitar on Distance over time?

No.

[IgnotusPerIgnotium]

So far the impression that I have is that there's going to be not only a spontaneous vibe to the songs but also a lot of experimentation with their instruments.
All of that is good, although personally speaking I don't see how adding more stings to JP's guitar is going to really drive anything new in the compositional field, but we'll see.
As long as they won't be carried away and leave also the artistic side of the album. After all it's the little details that will make this album really stand out from the previous one.

[Max Kuehnau]

a studio shot from Jordan: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLfwMEKAy4L/

[Architeuthis]

a studio shot from Jordan: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLfwMEKAy4L/

Nice!  I love that sound.   

[Max Kuehnau]

Updated to include latest info. (https://www.instagram.com/p/CLjsG-GJy6s/) The mixing process happens simultaneously to whatever is left to record btw, according to Mike. Again engineered by Jimmy T.

[Kotowboy]

From their Twitter @DreamTheaterNet

[Setlist Scotty]

a studio shot from Jordan: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLfwMEKAy4L/

Nice!  I love that sound.   

Me too! Kinda little bit of a Tom Sawyer synth pattern at the end.

Gotta ask: am I the only one that was reminded of Derek Sherinian from this clip? Almost seems more like his choice of sounds and style of playing. Not complaining - I love Derek's playing, sounds and style - nor am I hypothesizing that JR's trying to imitate Derek. In any case, I'm loving it and look forward to seeing what JR does with the Moog One for the new album, and if that's a taste of what to expect on the new album, I'm all for it! 

[jonny108]

C'mon DTF, CSI that iPad

[Max Kuehnau]

a studio shot from Jordan: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLfwMEKAy4L/

Nice!  I love that sound.   

Me too! Kinda little bit of a Tom Sawyer synth pattern at the end.

Gotta ask: am I the only one that was reminded of Derek Sherinian from this clip? Almost seems more like his choice of sounds and style of playing. Not complaining - I love Derek's playing, sounds and style - nor am I hypothesizing that JR's trying to imitate Derek. In any case, I'm loving it and look forward to seeing what JR does with the Moog One for the new album, and if that's a taste of what to expect on the new album, I'm all for it! 

I was thinking of something a bit Wakemanian, but anyway, I love it too and I'm very open for the album.

[IgnotusPerIgnotium]

Gotta ask: am I the only one that was reminded of Derek Sherinian from this clip? Almost seems more like his choice of sounds and style of playing. Not complaining - I love Derek's playing, sounds and style - nor am I hypothesizing that JR's trying to imitate Derek.

Actually me too, Derek is drawing sounds from his huge keyboard collection (not that Jordan doesn't have so many keyboards too) and he likes mixing pedals and switching configurations all the time. On the other hand Jordan is really a master in sound design like layering and sampling, a true wizard.
But your question is legit,  when SOA formed one of Derek's core sound (for years now) is the Hammond B3 and generally this album had a very organic feel and sound, something that DT did with DoT especially in the keyboard department. Strangely enough PS had a song that is very very similar with 'Viper King' in it's presentation and vibe called 'Divine Addiction'.  If JR was inspired by that or simply it was their choice who knows, either way it's very good sign that we'll hear some warm analogue greatness!

[gzarruk]

C'mon DTF, CSI that iPad

This!

I'm really excited about this album and wish they would post more "real" updates, but I get why they've been mostly quiet so far. I expect them to reveal much more info in the following months.

[Setlist Scotty]

C'mon DTF, CSI that iPad

This!

I don't have the CSI filter on my copy of Photoshop - sorry guys! But in doing a little bit of poking around, I found a basic instruction video for the Moog One here:
https://www.moogmusic.com/media/moog-one-how-use-midi-learn-0

Towards the beginning of the clip, there's a closeup of the display on the keyboard that looks a lot like 2 of the images on JR's iPad. So I'm guessing it's probably some sort of instruction manual for setting it up, or maybe some sort of discussion forum, judging by what looks like comments along the left side of the iPad screen.

Yeah, it's not exciting like a new piece of music to decipher, but that's probably what it is.   

[Max Kuehnau]

Jordan is still in the process of tracking btw, as he mentioned during his FB livestream today. He will continue tomorrow. I hope DT15 will feature lots of keyboard parts again, after being a bit reduced for D/T.

[Mladen]

The thing I like the most about awaiting DT15 is that we have no idea where they are headed with this one. After The Astonishing, we had a feeling that the band might go back to basics and do something more concise. This time around, however, we can only guess.

[Max Kuehnau]

The thing I like the most about awaiting DT15 is that we have no idea where they are headed with this one. After The Astonishing, we had a feeling that the band might go back to basics and do something more concise. This time around, however, we can only guess.

Very true.

[MirrorMask]

The thing I like the most about awaiting DT15 is that we have no idea where they are headed with this one. After The Astonishing, we had a feeling that the band might go back to basics and do something more concise. This time around, however, we can only guess.

That's a great point! yeah, we couldn't predict the exact details on the album, but on the broad strokes we all knew it was gonna be heavier and concise. Now they could really go anywhere with the direction, keeping in mind they'll hardly tread any recent steps!

[Max Kuehnau]

The thing I like the most about awaiting DT15 is that we have no idea where they are headed with this one. After The Astonishing, we had a feeling that the band might go back to basics and do something more concise. This time around, however, we can only guess.

That's a great point! yeah, we couldn't predict the exact details on the album, but on the broad strokes we all knew it was gonna be heavier and concise. Now they could really go anywhere with the direction, keeping in mind they'll hardly tread any recent steps!

yes, in my observation they never make the same record twice, and to me that's a good thing. I'm excited.

[MirrorMask]

So far they've done, with Mangini:

- Back to the roots
- Shorter songs, but a bigass epic
- Rock opera
- Heavier and shorter songs

I'd like them to spread out a little more on this one, like with Dramatic. I mean, On the Back of Angels could have either been on the self titled or on d/t... but both Bridges in the Sky and Outcry couldn't have been on the self titled, because all the songs were meant to be shorter with a single exception. And since the mindframe for d/t was "heavier stuff", we only got Out of Reach - there couldn't have been This is the life AND Far from Heaven AND Beneath the Surface all on the same d/t-esque album.

This time around I hope we can get a little bit of everything: heavy stuff, long stuff, short stuff, very mellow stuff, and some little surprises here and there!

[Kotowboy]

I'm glad they ditched the 20+ minute song on every album as the format was getting tired and it sounded like they were just chucking in random sections just to pad out the running time.

I think a song should be as long as it needs to be. I think the last all around great 20+ minute song was Octavarium. And that flows great.

Illumination Theory does not.

I also noticed that every Mangini album apart from The Astonishing has been 9 tracks. Wonder if that'll keep up.

[IgnotusPerIgnotium]

Although it's true we can only guess what to expect this time as far as the direction of the album but the main ethos in the MM era is short, concise songs. I really think that the sound that they build in DoT is here and it's going to stay. They will probably aim to build upon that in this one and in the future.
As far as the big epic songs, it's a fact that this kind of formula was massively better with MP in the band. To be fair they didn't write a lot of that kind of pieces after MP left, except some in ADTOE (an album that doesn't fit 100% in the MM era) and Illumination Theory which is very awkward structured although it has some great riffs and ideas.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I'm glad they ditched the 20+ minute song on every album as the format was getting tired and it sounded like they were just chucking in random sections just to pad out the running time.

DT has only had a 20+ minute song on 4 out of their 14 albums (not counting ACOS which is not an album per se, and although Six Degrees is a 42 minute song it can be thoroughly listened to and enjoyed by sections) so I really don't get your point lol.

[Kotowboy]

k

[Lax]

I'm kind of stressed not seeing them recording all together...But only future knows !

[Max Kuehnau]

I'm kind of stressed not seeing them recording all together...But only future knows !

mainly because of the pandemic I'm sure. I'm not one to fret over that to be honest. (and btw, James has largely been recording his vocals separately for quite a few albums, so that's nothing new)

[evilasiojr]

I'm kind of stressed not seeing them recording all together...But only future knows !

But you can be sure they wrote the album all together!! At least is what they've been saying about the writing sessions, even JB was there somehow on a big screen in the room. As far as recording, it is kinda a individual process anyway.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

k

Either you're not great dealing with contrary opinions to yours (the MM and his playing style "debates" we've had as of recent come to mind) or you just like to be childish in your ways of receiving and responding to such opinions. Take it easy, dude. It's an internet forum.

[Mladen]

I'm kind of stressed not seeing them recording all together...But only future knows !

But you can be sure they wrote the album all together!! At least is what they've been saying about the writing sessions, even JB was there somehow on a big screen in the room. As far as recording, it is kinda a individual process anyway.

Wait, how do we know this? I'd find it hilarious if there were a photo of the four guys playing in the studio, and then LaBrie's face looms over on a big screen. 

[Lonk]

I'm kind of stressed not seeing them recording all together...But only future knows !

But you can be sure they wrote the album all together!! At least is what they've been saying about the writing sessions, even JB was there somehow on a big screen in the room. As far as recording, it is kinda a individual process anyway.

Wait, how do we know this? I'd find it hilarious if there were a photo of the four guys playing in the studio, and then LaBrie's face looms over on a big screen. 

I believe they mentioned this in an interview, that Labrie joined in on writing sessions through video conference.

Maybe it was on the I&W live stream they did? Can't remember.

[gzarruk]

I'm kind of stressed not seeing them recording all together...But only future knows !

But you can be sure they wrote the album all together!! At least is what they've been saying about the writing sessions, even JB was there somehow on a big screen in the room. As far as recording, it is kinda a individual process anyway.

Wait, how do we know this? I'd find it hilarious if there were a photo of the four guys playing in the studio, and then LaBrie's face looms over on a big screen. 

I believe they mentioned this in an interview, that Labrie joined in on writing sessions through video conference.

Maybe it was on the I&W live stream they did? Can't remember.

Yeah, they said that somewhere, but can't remember where. James also said he didn't want to travel because of covid, so he stayed at home.

Wait, how do we know this? I'd find it hilarious if there were a photo of the four guys playing in the studio, and then LaBrie's face looms over on a big screen.