I wonder who has written the vocal melodies for MM's lyrics, maybe James?
I would be surprise if any vocal melody at all not written by JP comes from anyone but JP himself and/or JR..
James might change some lines to adjust what's necessary/more comfortable for him, but I think every DT song's vocal melodies has been created by JP, the keyboardist on duty and MP..
The rule that they always had was whoever wrote the lyrics was responsible for writing the vocal melodies.
Yeah, I totally forgot about that.. But, there's also another rule that JP once said, that 99% of the times the music comes first, and then the lyrics... So, given the fact that LaBrie does not contribute in the musical composition, what I wonder is how exactly does he write his lyrics and vocal melodies.. My guess remains the same (lol), that vocal melodies of songs penned by James are at least very guided by JP and/or JR.. Because there's something you're both missing (at least in your recents posts), and that is that there's several ways of creating the pair vocal melodies/lyrics, even if we consider the "99%" rule:
-you can write the lyric, then add to it some form of melody and only then pick the song to insert it;
-you can write the lyric already knowing in which song it will fit, thus the melody becomes somehow 'easier' to make;
-you can write a melody first, then write the lyric and then look for a song for it;
-you can write the melody and then the lyric already knowing the song for it;
-you can write a vocal melody and, based on this create, or begin to create, the whole song (this still fits the "99%" rule because the lyric itself would come at the end anyway)
-etc
So, what I'm saying is that I don't see James working in any of the last three ways.. For me, even the first option would be a total surprise..
Definitely an interesting discussion, and something worth asking next time someone does an interview with one of the band members!
For sure. As I was typing my earlier response, I was already mentally adding it to my list of things I want to talk to them about at some point in the future.
Absolutely!.. That would be something great to know about, and I guess they would find the question to be fresh and interesting too.. I personally like when someone asks me how do we compose songs and things like that.. It's a great question, and very useful to fans that are also musicians..