Dream Theater entered the studio in February v. No News is Good News

[rumborak]

I don't want to say anything ... but look what happened last time when the drummer went on another band's tour....

[Bertielee]

I don't want to say anything ... but look what happened last time when the drummer went on another band's tour....

Yeah and btw, didn't JP say he should have thought twice before accepting? Well, probably nothing in there but still...

B.Lee

[nikatapi]

Well drums are the first that get recorded, so i guess MM can have a break from the studio having recorded his parts.
I wonder if the guys had some material prepared, since it seems a short period to write-record. It's not that they aren't able and that they haven't done it before, but it seems a little strange to me.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I love all the video teases of the recording process but it would be kind of cool in a month or so for them to have not said a word and just announce "we're done".

I think that would be a cool approach for a band that is known for usually documenting their recording process. Sort of "this time we go into hiding, and will emerge with this gem". But, ever since MP left, the fan communication has (IMHO) suffered a great deal. Not doing any updates would just come across as ... meh.

Their 'DT Studio Diary' videos from the last album were really lackluster in that department.

You got four 1:30 videos of the guys saying 'we're inspired, we're better than ever, this is going to be DT to the max, chocolate cake, we have to prove ourselves to our fans', etc. and no actual new music or something that might hook you in. I agree that in their post MP era, DT hasn't lived much to their 'we're going to speak a lot to the fans' stance that they took in their first post-MP months.

[bosk1]

I agree that in their post MP era, DT hasn't lived much to their 'we're going to speak a lot to the fans' stance that they took in their first post-MP months.

I know.  Bummer.  They never talk to the fans at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx8cLlXnHpA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNrsD2JF6Q8

[rumborak]

Nobody is saying they don't do any communication. But since MP's departure it has become very "corporate", for lack of a better word. I actually unfriended DT on Facebook because 95% of the updates were just RR marketing messages, with no personality behind it.

[KevShmev]

I agree, and in all fairness, stuff like that probably isn't part of their nature, which is why none of them were doing in the first place.  Sure, they'll do the occasional this or that, like stuff bosk1 linked to, but did anybody really expect them to jump online and communicate with fans the way Portnoy did/does?  I would say that anybody who did was being totally unrealistic.

[bosk1]

Nobody is saying they don't do any communication. But since MP's departure it has become very "corporate", for lack of a better word. I actually unfriended DT on Facebook because 95% of the updates were just RR marketing messages, with no personality behind it.

I know.  I don't disagree.  I'm just gently indirectly reminding that we are sort of spoiled as a fanbase, and even though it "ain't like it once was," the band still goes out of its way to do some really cool things that are above and beyond what most bands do.

[rumborak]

@Kev: Nah, I personally never did. I know a lot of people bought into every statement they made right after MP's departure, I.e. the communications, the continuation of YtseJam etc., but maybe because I've worked for the last 13 years in the corporate world, I knew that maybe 50% of those things wouldn't come to fruition. I also can't fault them; on one hand they likely had no idea how this would shake out in the long run, and on the other, soothing the fans' minds was more important at that time than being historically accurate in the long run.

That said, I think the let go of the reins too much. They lost the personability they used to have, IMO. And I also just can't imagine that out of the 5 guys that are in the band, there isn't a single one who wouldn't be up to the task of doing some band-fan communication.

[Kotowboy]

Maybe their "MO" this time is to record an album quickly.

[Prog Snob]

That is one of the things I do miss about MP.  If the band farted a new tune out, he'd be sure to make sure it was recorded on CD, DVD, Bluray, and there would be a commentary track.  I'll admit I loved those DT commentary tracks on the live video releases.  I bought everything that MP offered from the band.  So in a way we were spoiled by MP because he really did make everything easily accessible, including the band themselves.

[erwinrafael]

Good thing that we never had access to those here in the Philippines, so all I get to care about is the music.

[fadetoblackdude7]

True, but I sometimes wonder how much MP did for the fans, without the rest of the band even knowing about it.

I miss the old fan interaction as much as everybody else, but you gotta admit that communication within the band is better now.

[ZKX-2099]

They gave a free double live album for X-mas.

Just feel I should state that.

[Prog Snob]

We all realize the band has done things to try and keep the same level of interaction that MP would ensure was there.  However, I doubt anyone can argue that it has actually reached that level over the past couple of albums.  I'm not being spoiled as I can and will take anything I get graciously, I am just pointing out the simple fact of the matter.

[erwinrafael]

They gave a free double live album for X-mas.

Just feel I should state that.

Free album? We'd rather have livechats to show that they love us, fans!

[Kotowboy]

I am fine with the level of fan interaction the band has & with keeping us updated.


Better than Tool level where they do almost nothing for several years upon end with barely any updates except for some trolling newsletter written by a sniggering

webmaster.

[Mladen]

I am fine with the level of fan interaction the band has & with keeping us updated.

Me too.

And I hate to do this, but I honestly think it's accurate - the fans got spoiled because of Mike Portnoy's communication with the fans. Don't take it for granted, people, be grateful.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I am fine with the level of fan interaction the band has & with keeping us updated.

Me too.

And I hate to do this, but I honestly think it's accurate - the fans got spoiled because of Mike Portnoy's communication with the fans. Don't take it for granted, people, be grateful.

Everything is never enough...

[the_silent_man]

I agree, DT are generally pretty good with fan interaction/updates. I wouldn't expect a studio update until early March. They've been in less than 2 weeks people!

It does concern me that they've boxed themselves in time-wise though and if they need extra time they should take it after the mini-tour and return to the studio. I'd rather a great album released early - mid 2016 then an ok one this year. And its the production that'll suffer most as they're usually mixing throughout this tour period...

[MajorBoobage]

Doing studio work at home, but No DT Studio for me for days ago and days to come. It is all about snow management and kids home from school...again. I'm sure my fellow Bostonians have it bad too. Unbelievable !! And we're expecting another 18" where I am tomorrow ! On top of the over 7' high on one side of my house, that'll be a record setter that's hopefully never broken ! Our front yards on my street are 3-5' high solid blocks !! I suppose every place has something crazy: earthquakes, floods, tornado and hurricane rampages, drought, excessive heat, locusts and rain made of frogs and toads... we have snow. I have come up with some wicked cool, multi-polyrhythmic but groovy drum patterns and riffs though !!

Update from MM facebook

[rumborak]

Now I'm officially confused. How do you write/record an album from home? I know Steven Wilson did that with Gavin Harrison for many PT albums, but that worked because SW had essentially written the complete songs.

[BlobVanDam]

Now I'm officially confused. How do you write/record an album from home? I know Steven Wilson did that with Gavin Harrison for many PT albums, but that worked because SW had essentially written the complete songs.

He might be composing his parts based on the demos they've come up with, or practicing his parts. I wouldn't expect it's anything to do with recording.

[Chino]

Now I'm officially confused. How do you write/record an album from home? I know Steven Wilson did that with Gavin Harrison for many PT albums, but that worked because SW had essentially written the complete songs.

Well, if JP, JR, and JM came up with something funky, I suppose MM could write some drum stuff for it on his own.

[rumborak]

Probably somewhat overanalyzing this thing, but that means he's not gonna be directly involved in the songwriting process on this one either, doesn't it? "No DT studio for days ago and days to come". He can only be "reactive" in that scenario, not proactive, no?

[Chino]

There's got to be a music callaboration tool that allows bands to play over the internet together without lag.

[Lucien]

There's got to be a music callaboration tool that allows bands to play over the internet together without lag.

Not really, latency is always going to be there. It does take time for information over the internet to get from one place to another, usually just a few (50-200) milliseconds. It's virtually never instant, especially across the ocean.

[bosk1]

I could be wrong, but I took the "days ago" part to mean that they were in the studio together, which means they wrote some material together as a group already.  But that is just a guess on my part.  I could be wrong.

[rumborak]

There's got to be a music callaboration tool that allows bands to play over the internet together without lag.

Not really, latency is always going to be there. It does take time for information over the internet to get from one place to another, usually just a few (50-200) milliseconds. It's virtually never instant, especially across the ocean.

Yeah. I have tried that with my previous band, but the lag, even when you're down at 50 ms, is killing it. What you need is <20ms, and the internet just can't handle that. Not when it gets routed through 10 servers on the way.

I could be wrong, but I took the "days ago" part to mean that they were in the studio together, which means they wrote some material together as a group already.  But that is just a guess on my part.  I could be wrong.

I think given that the snow situation is the reason he's not down there right now, I think it's unlikely that he was before, given how Boston had a big blizzard + statewide travel ban just a few days ago.

[nikatapi]

Ι'm certainly curious about the creative process of this album, given the schedules and MM's limited time in the studio.

[OsMosis2259]

Group Skype session?

They can't jam online but I think JP and JR have a lot of riffs and ideas and they can kind of just go over them. They also have all the tools that they need to demo their song ideas  at home and present them to each other in a more complete way.

I know DT is kind of old school and they like to all be together in the studio for 5 months to write and record but that's pretty much how a lot of bands(Periphery, Alter Bridge to name a couple) do it nowadays.   

[bosk1]

I could be wrong, but I took the "days ago" part to mean that they were in the studio together, which means they wrote some material together as a group already.  But that is just a guess on my part.  I could be wrong.

I think given that the snow situation is the reason he's not down there right now, I think it's unlikely that he was before, given how Boston had a big blizzard + statewide travel ban just a few days ago.

Oh, okay.  I dunno then.

[rumborak]

I mean, I don't think it's particularly hard to piece it together. JP and JR have always been the core songwriters, and given DT12's lack of drum-driven parts, I don't think it's too far fetched to assume that MM's involvement for that album was on the same level as it seems is now, where JP+JR lay down the basic songs, and then JM and MM play along to it. That playing-along-and-figuring-parts-out can be done from home as well as in the studio.

[?]

I'm sure my fellow Bostonians hav it bad too. Unbelievable !! And we're expecting another 18" where I am tomorrow !

Someone needs to Photoshop a fake album cover:

18 Inches of Bostonian Snow

[rumborak]

I also gotta say, as a Bostonian here, it's not that we're in a Katrina-esque state here. We got FEMA helping out, and given that we usually know two days before when another snow storm will hit, you can easily plan around it. Meaning, if MM wanted to be in New York, he would be in New York. I myself went to, and came back, from Florida during all this.