Am I the only one who's uncomfortable with this whole transcribing of the screenshot and making a midi out of it?
I feel it's a slippery slope where if it gets out of hand artists might not want to release anything (studio diaries, photos, etc) for fear that people will be able to figure out things that were supposed to be a surprise or, even worse, somehow release that music "first" and then claim that DT ripped them off.
That's basically it, I'm not going to go on a huge rant or anything, just thought I'd try and voice my concerns. I won't be listening to this until after the actual album comes out and then I can say "yeah, that's pretty cool". But can you imagine if it's almost EXACTLY like the album? That would definitely be a red flag if I were DT for any future releases (ie no more studio diaries or photos) and that would definitely be a bummer.
I *do* realize that there are very few fanatics like us who have the skills and passion to actually pull something like this off and that the vast majority of DT fans won't ever come across this and will be none-the-wiser. It's just rubbing me the wrong way.
I do see your point, but I work under the assumption that they wouldn't stick anything in a video they didn't want to be seen. All we've really got is trivial working titles, a chart showing supposedly how many tracks the album will have, and a few bars of one instrument of one song.
I think of it like a nugget, or a challenge for the real diehard fans who want to go the extra mile for a bit of info, stuff you'd otherwise miss while watching it casually. And as this thread shows, it's been effective at creating some buzz and interest leading up to the album, which is a good thing.
I think you have to consider the artist. Dream Theater don't strike me as the type to freak out about this kind of thing. I think, if anything, they'd be impressed and amused by the ingenuity and dedication of their fanbase.
Probably this too. I think they'd be proud to have such a dedicated fanbase that can take a blurry screenshot from a video and turn it into actual music from the album!