Dream Theater Finishes Smoking Barbecue!! - Album in Food Warmer!

[KevShmev]

Agreed.  If one doesn't like the string section of IT, that is one thing, but when someone says it doesn't fit into the song or feels out of place, it makes me wonder if they have really "listened" to the song. 

[Cool Chris]

I edit tracks like Octavarium, Illumination Theory, and The Count of Tuscany to remove these parts since I mostly listen in my car.  I'd rather them take those 5 minutes and write another stand-alone song.

I tend to edit a lot of the long songs as well. I shortened the sfx / string part in IT by half or so, and I feel it fits much better. However I enjoy the Octavarium intro...maybe it's all about placement because the IT string section is nice, it's just too long in the context of the song IMO.

What's with all this editing songs? That never would have occurred to me. I don't skip boring chapters in books or fast forward through interesting parts of movies. 

[nattmorker]

I havedon't also edited and cut out the middle sections of TCOT and IT for the versions I listen on shuffle when I'm in the car or walking.

[krands85]

IT is the only thing I've edited. I removed almost all the ambient section, leaving just enough so that it still transitions really nicely into the string section (which I definitely wouldn't remove) and also cutting the gap before the easter egg.

I understand why people don't like the idea of messing with something the artist has put so much time and effort into crafting though.

[Ben_Jamin]

I edit tracks like Octavarium, Illumination Theory, and The Count of Tuscany to remove these parts since I mostly listen in my car.  I'd rather them take those 5 minutes and write another stand-alone song.

I tend to edit a lot of the long songs as well. I shortened the sfx / string part in IT by half or so, and I feel it fits much better. However I enjoy the Octavarium intro...maybe it's all about placement because the IT string section is nice, it's just too long in the context of the song IMO.

What's with all this editing songs? That never would have occurred to me. I don't skip boring chapters in books or fast forward through interesting parts of movies.

Same here. I listen to the entire song. As it would be if they play it live. Unless your Fates Warning and don't play the ending of Still Remains.

[MirrorMask]

I edit tracks like Octavarium, Illumination Theory, and The Count of Tuscany to remove these parts since I mostly listen in my car.  I'd rather them take those 5 minutes and write another stand-alone song.

I tend to edit a lot of the long songs as well. I shortened the sfx / string part in IT by half or so, and I feel it fits much better. However I enjoy the Octavarium intro...maybe it's all about placement because the IT string section is nice, it's just too long in the context of the song IMO.

What's with all this editing songs? That never would have occurred to me. I don't skip boring chapters in books or fast forward through interesting parts of movies.

Because there's actually a bit of creative fun in doing your own edits. I don't do it only for practical purpouses, such has having a shorter and more concise song to listen to, I actually enjoy for my own compilations to create edit songs, rearrange them as a setlist and therefore mixing a proper intro at the beginning of the first song, creating medleys.... it's all harmless fun.

[Dtfan6degs]

All I know is that I can't wait for this album. I've been a fan since about 1992, and have seen DT live 4 times so far. If they come to Maine, it will be 5 times. They're my favorite band !

[RMGadelha]

All I know is that I can't wait for this album. I've been a fan since about 1992, and have seen DT live 4 times so far. If they come to Maine, it will be 5 times. They're my favorite band !

I am extremely excited too! And welcome to the board!

[Dtfan6degs]

I am extremely excited too! And welcome to the board!

Thanks !

[KevShmev]

All I know is that I can't wait for this album. I've been a fan since about 1992, and have seen DT live 4 times so far. If they come to Maine, it will be 5 times. They're my favorite band !

Welcome!

Feel free to visit the General Music forum as well. Lots of good chatter there. 

[TAC]

All I know is that I can't wait for this album. I've been a fan since about 1992, and have seen DT live 4 times so far. If they come to Maine, it will be 5 times. They're my favorite band !

Welcome Bro.

Through my connections I just saw a peak of the upcoming East Coast Canadian tour.

Montreal
Toronto
Bangor
Ottowa

[GasparXR]

All I know is that I can't wait for this album. I've been a fan since about 1992, and have seen DT live 4 times so far. If they come to Maine, it will be 5 times. They're my favorite band !

Welcome Bro.

Through my connections I just saw a peak of the upcoming East Coast Canadian tour.

Montreal
Toronto
Bangor
Ottowa

If they actually come to Ottawa, that would be much more awesome than having to travel to Toronto or Montreal like usual.

[Rushspirit2112]

Are they coming to Nashville before May? Or Denver before August? I want to see them agai. I go to school in Nashville but hometown is denver

[ToT-147]

Agreed.  If one doesn't like the string section of IT, that is one thing, but when someone says it doesn't fit into the song or feels out of place, it makes me wonder if they have really "listened" to the song.

This.. Also, never understood the "hate" or dislike of 8V's intro.. For me is one of the best parts of the song and without any doubt one of Jordan's best solos..

Anyways, besides the fact that none of the three sections (8V, TCoT and IT) really reach the 5 minutes, they're all very different one from another so I'd like to think that if they ever do that again it won't be anything like they've already done..

AFAIC, do an "ambient" section and another stand-alone song too!.. There's plenty of room for both in a regular DT album length as this one seems to be..

[PetFish]

... I mostly listen in my car.

If I ever get a chance to just sit there and listen intently then, yes, I will listen to the entire song but due to my life responsibilities and living in a townhouse it's been 6 years since I've been able to do that.

I'm not a moron, I know they are intended parts of the song, but rather than never listen to a 20-minute song I'll edit the ambient parts out instead of having them put me to sleep behind the wheel and then I can at least enjoy the meat of it.

I've never said any of these ambient parts don't fit or feels out of place, they absolutely fit, and I have really "listened" to the songs but I'm making choices based on my circumstances so I can at least enjoy most of the song and there's nothing wrong with that.

Some of you are acting like I, and others, should be lynched for making our own edits for ourselves.  Come on.

[SwedishGoose]

Some of you are acting like I, and others, should be lynched for making our own edits for ourselves.  Come on.

There's one editing songs! Get him up against the Wall!!!

[smegolas]

All I know is that I can't wait for this album. I've been a fan since about 1992, and have seen DT live 4 times so far. If they come to Maine, it will be 5 times. They're my favorite band !

Welcome Bro.

Through my connections I just saw a peak of the upcoming East Coast Canadian tour.

Montreal
Toronto
Bangor
Ottowa

Any word of Vancouver on there?

[Fritzinger]

I never edit stuff out of songs, but I sometimes connect tracks that are usually supposed to be one long song into one.

Examples:
Transatlantic - The Whirlwind
Neal Morse - ?
DT - Six Degrees
Spock's Beard - The Healing Colors Of Sound, As Far As The Mind Can See
David Bowie - Sweet Thing
Chicago - all the long suites on their second album
Talk Talk - Rainbow/Eden/Desire
Genesis - The Story Of Albert/Duke Suite (however you wanna call it)

Because I wouldn't want to listen to the parts on their own anyway! I never got why bands would release songs in fragments. Well, I get it with something like The Whirlwind, since it's just the whole album. But I have never ever played Talk Talk's Rainbow, Eden or Desire on their own.

[bosk1]

I'm not sure what you mean by "release songs in fragments."  The Whirlwind and Six Degrees, for example, are presented as whole songs on their albums.  If you are referring to the track breaks, Portnoy explained with Six Degrees that they did that as a courtesy for fans who wanted to be able to go right to a particular part, since the song is such a long piece.  But it isn't "fragmented"--the movements of the songs are in order and transition right into one another as they are supposed to.

And I'm not sure ? is a "song."  I don't know if Neal has ever commented on that, so I can't say for sure, but it has always played to me as a concept album rather than a song.  But, again, I don't know his intent, so I can't say for sure.

[gzarruk]

I think a better example is In The Presence of Enemies. It's one long song (25 min), but they decided to split it in two separate parts.

[TAC]

I think a better example is In The Presence of Enemies. It's one long song (25 min), but they decided to split it in two separate parts.

But they split it because MP thought the beginning would make a great opener and the ending would make a great closer. He didn't want to start the album off with a 25 minute song. The song seemed to have a natural break, so they split it.

[bosk1]

You guys are both right.  It IS a better example of truly "fragmenting" a song.  But it was indeed done for a legitimate creative reason.   In hindsight, I wish they would have left it together.  But I still absolutely respect the creative decision and the reasoning behind it.  As an aside, I think another factor in addition to it being a good opener and a good closer, I also think they just felt like having a 20+ minute epic to close out an album right after doing that with Octavarium would have been too formulaic.  Splitting the song solved that problem as well.  So many years after the fact, if they closed the album with it, it would probably just be a little footnote by now.  But at the time, I can see how it might have been a sticking point and made them want to rearrange the album.  And they would have had the same issue when they got to BCSL.  Not having the giant epic close the album solves that.

Of course, they could have gotten around it simply by having another song be the closer.  In my alternate track listing for that album (the only time I have rearranged a DT album), I have the entire epic start the album, and I close it with TMOLS (I don't like the song, but it seems to work better as a closer).  I really like the flow of the album that way.  To a new fan, especially one who might not be a prog fan, asking them to sit through a 25+ minute piece of music to start off the album is a big ask though, so I get why they might not have chosen to go that route as well.  But it certainly does flow well.

[RMGadelha]

I do the opposite with In the Presence of Enemies and edit them into one single track.   

[gzarruk]

I definitely get the reasoning behind it: great opener and great closer as well, so I bet it was a big "why don't we have both?" moment. The thing is, the song suffers from it, in my opinion. You'll almost never see ITPOE listed as one of DT's big epics, not because it isn't, but because people don't usually consider it one big song (same thing happens with SDOIT), and, sadly, it's a wonderful song that often gets overlooked.

I always try to remember both parts are just a big, long song, so I made a playlist with both to listen to it in it's full form, just like it was played during the CIM tour.

[Ben_Jamin]

I never edit stuff out of songs, but I sometimes connect tracks that are usually supposed to be one long song into one.

Examples:
Transatlantic - The Whirlwind
Neal Morse - ?
DT - Six Degrees
Spock's Beard - The Healing Colors Of Sound, As Far As The Mind Can See
David Bowie - Sweet Thing
Chicago - all the long suites on their second album
Talk Talk - Rainbow/Eden/Desire
Genesis - The Story Of Albert/Duke Suite (however you wanna call it)

Because I wouldn't want to listen to the parts on their own anyway! I never got why bands would release songs in fragments. Well, I get it with something like The Whirlwind, since it's just the whole album. But I have never ever played Talk Talk's Rainbow, Eden or Desire on their own.

I do the same...I split up The Whirlwind into 3 segments. Same with Beyond The Bridge - The Old Man And The Spirit. I also add the interludes if the song segues into them and vice versa.

Sometimes I want to join some tracks together as one, but they end up long and I will want to hear that certain song on its own. So I just leave those as is.

Ayreon - The Theory of Everything, I had to join the tracks into its 4 phases of 20 min each. No way was I gonna leave those 1-2 tracks alone.

I also joined some tracks on The Astonishing.

[Cool Chris]

Some of you are acting like I, and others, should be lynched for making our own edits for ourselves.  Come on.

PetFish, and others, I never called you a moron or had any intention of calling you out as doing anything lynch-worthy. I just found it strange that people edit tracks for their own personal purposes. It never occurred to me to do that, but of course that doesn't mean no one else would.

[pg1067]

How long will the longest track last?

Definitely longer than 5:00

How many instrumental tracks?

≥ 0

How many ''classic'' DT tracks, around 10 mins?

Are you talking about songs that are both "classic" and longer than 10:00?  Or are you defining "classic" to mean "around 10 mins"?  In any event, I'll say at least one.

[pg1067]

If they do any long songs I really don't want 5 minutes of ambient sounds with nothing or very little going on.

I edit tracks like Octavarium, Illumination Theory, and The Count of Tuscany to remove these parts since I mostly listen in my car.  I'd rather them take those 5 minutes and write another stand-alone song.

None of those songs have anything like what you describe, unless you count the silence at the end of Illumination Theory before the ending credits coda at the very end.

I like the middle section of IT, but the intro to 8VA is boring AF (especially the extended live version), and I always skip through it.  Same with the middle section of TCoT.

[Cool Chris]

I love pretty much every minute of 8VM, even though I realized I ranked it below PA and TRoaE in that thread. That intro is great and even the extended live intro is awesome. The middle part of TCoT is cool though I rarely listen to that song (or album for that matter). The middle part of IT is kinda lame, but then that song isn't that great to begin with, outside of a few isolated sections.

Maybe what I am saying is that I see those sections are an integral part of how I feel about the song as a whole. 

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I think the extended intro for Octavarium is fantastic. I listen to the live version pretty much exclusively, which is pretty rare for me as I tend to be a studio only sort of listener.

[smegolas]

OK - how do you guys edit songs?  What program do you use?  Could something like Garageband work for that?

[lucasembarbosa]

OK - how do you guys edit songs?  What program do you use?  Could something like Garageband work for that?

Yeah. Something like that. Or Reaper, ProTools, etc.

For DT, I'm not much into this kind of editing. But I made an extended outro for Pantera's Floods and PoS' On A Tuesday with the original Ragnar's song I Lost The Way extending the middle section.

[Adami]

I think the only editing on a DT song(s) I did was combining the 12S suite into one long track, and also editing out certain parts, like trimming down parts of the Glass Prison instrumental part that felt repetitive, cutting out the ending of Dying Soul and the intro to ROAE to help the transition, etc. Also some cross fades to make it more smooth.

I liked it, but then I never really wanted to listen to the whole damn thing at once.

[Cool Chris]

Come to think of it, I combined the songs in the 12SS in to one file once. But it was more an exercise of just getting Audacity and thinking it was cool to be able to do stuff like that than, like you said, ever wanting to listen to "the whole damn thing at once."

[ToT-147]

Maybe what I am saying is that I see those sections are an integral part of how I feel about the song as a whole.

That might probably be because those sections are actually parts of the songs?.. 

OK - how do you guys edit songs?  What program do you use?  Could something like Garageband work for that?

I use Cubase.. Not for DT though, but only to cut out the growling sections of BTBAM.. I've already edited a good amount of their catalogue..