DT: Thick thick tone!

jammadave · #1 09-11-2004, 09:01 PM

I've asked questions about John Myung's tones before, but I just wanted to call attention to this: Dream Theater's "Endless Sacrifice" I think it's called (My XM display in the car is only 10 characters long on song title) - MAN that's some incredible bass tone!

I just had to share, I know it's probably not a source of good thread material, but still...

sargebaker · #2 09-11-2004, 10:11 PM

ehh possible, I,ll try to find it and give it a listen. Live, he has NO tone.

SlavaF · #3 09-11-2004, 10:20 PM

Yeah, that tone is pretty sweet! How about his tone on "This Dying Soul" (precedes ES). That CD has great bass tone!

Lackey · #4 09-12-2004, 04:39 PM

I was just watching their double dvd, live in tokyo etc... The only thing impressive at all was Myung's playing (could actually hear him most the time) and Petrucci's speed - Portnoy and LaBrie sucked.

Myung seemed to be much more audible before he switched to Yamaha, the tone outta his Tobias' and Tungs is pretty good.

therealting · #5 09-12-2004, 05:12 PM

I think he has also changed his amp setup, and the basses have the MM-style pickup. The mixing of the new disc is a bit strange, the keys are very low and the band sounds different as a result. I wonder if the inaudibility is a change of mixing style, or just the sound of the band.

Ian Perge · #6 09-13-2004, 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lackey

Myung seemed to be much more audible before he switched to Yamaha, the tone outta his Tobias' and Tungs is pretty good.

I doubt anyone would disagree with that... except me, for a moment. After Tung went out of business but before his original signature model came out, JM was using fretted and fretless TRB's and John Patitucci models onstage (1996-7 mini-tours) and during the recording of "Falling Into Infinity". The tone from those were just as nice as the Tobias/Tung eras, and he still uses those as his live and recording fretless as opposed to having a custom RBX-JM fretless. Who know? Maybe for that style he prefers the larger spacing then his signature model.

Quote:

Originally Posted by therealting

I think he has also changed his amp setup, and the basses have the MM-style pickup. The mixing of the new disc is a bit strange, the keys are very low and the band sounds different as a result. I wonder if the inaudibility is a change of mixing style, or just the sound of the band.

Being a longtime DT fan, I can say with a fair amount of certainty it was after the "Waking Up The World" tour of 1994-5. John Petrucci didn't have such a saturated Mesa Boogie tone, and Mike Portnoy didn't insist on every one of his 27 drums needing perfect clarity.

Long story short? DT developed into a "guitar and drum" sonically led band, and having Jordan Rudess' right hand cover all the bass parts takes up ever more frequencies. Simply put, Myung's been pushed out of the mix... and it's not due to stage volume. I've heard from opening bands that's have played through his rig that it's audible as hell. It's all the FOH guitar/drum ego issues.

The_Owl · #7 09-14-2004, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jammadave

I've asked questions about John Myung's tones before, but I just wanted to call attention to this: Dream Theater's "Endless Sacrifice" I think it's called (My XM display in the car is only 10 characters long on song title) - MAN that's some incredible bass tone!

I just had to share, I know it's probably not a source of good thread material, but still...

Right on brother! Finally someone ho recognizes JM as a player withouht dissing him. JM's tone just keeps getting better. Live the tone is great also, just listen to the intro to As I Am, just a bit low in the mix, but they fixed that after the first set the night I saw them.

odie · #8 09-14-2004, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scarred2112

Long story short? DT developed into a "guitar and drum" sonically led band, and having Jordan Rudess' right hand cover all the bass parts takes up ever more frequencies. Simply put, Myung's been pushed out of the mix... and it's not due to stage volume. I've heard from opening bands that's have played through his rig that it's audible as hell. It's all the FOH guitar/drum ego issues.

I really dislike it when a band doesnt try to mimic or improve the sound of their studio recordings when playing live. Its almost as if the band leader or member is having his way when the studio producer isnt around.

leffe luffer · #9 09-17-2004, 03:13 PM

Yeah his tone on Endless Sacrifice is really sweeeet. But so is his tone on the entire album, althou ES is the highpoint. Can´t say much about his live tone sice I only have heard it on scenes from new york and it´s good there. But then again that DVD is a couple of years old now.

The tone and playing on through her eyes when he´s playing his fretless is just magical, makes me wanna cry almost.

The_Owl · #10 09-19-2004, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leffe luffer

Yeah his tone on Endless Sacrifice is really sweeeet. But so is his tone on the entire album, althou ES is the highpoint. Can´t say much about his live tone sice I only have heard it on scenes from new york and it´s good there. But then again that DVD is a couple of years old now.

The tone and playing on through her eyes when he´s playing his fretless is just magical, makes me wanna cry almost.

The whole tune Through Her Eyes is very touching...and JM makes his fretless sound like someone that is crying! It's so beautiful!

MacheteJames · #11 09-19-2004, 04:56 PM

I liked the tone that I heard on the new album, but live, he has no tone... as in, he isn't audible. Like someone else said once, he is the world's first bass mime, and it really is too bad because his hands were all over the neck, I knew he was playing his a$$ off but none of it made it to past the stage. When I saw them at The Orpheum in Boston earlier this year, I left feeling very unsatisfied. I didn't hear a single damn note that he played.