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Wow. I can hear Myung!!

#21
peledog said:
The earlier album mixes were pretty awful, IMO.
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I'll give you WDADU (although she shows up plenty of times, like in Ytsejam, Killing hand, Matter of time, etc) but Images and Words? Awake? Falling Into Infinity? Those are by far the best sounding, best mixed DT albums. Not sure how they could sound better than they do.

IMO or whatever.
 
#22
Epitaph04 said:
I'll give you WDADU (although she shows up plenty of times, like in Ytsejam, Killing hand, Matter of time, etc) but Images and Words? Awake? Falling Into Infinity? Those are by far the best sounding, best mixed DT albums. Not sure how they could sound better than they do.

IMO or whatever.
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I think they all have pretty good production with the exception of When Dream and Day Unite. Also except Train of Thought, which is entirely too much C-standard guitar to hear Myung except in a few parts, like that groove in "In the Name of God."
 
#24
Epitaph04 said:
Really? I can hear Myung throughout most of Train of Thought. It's among the most prominent bass guitar mixes DT has done, I think. Odd.
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I think the new album takes the cake for that (in most songs, anyway). I dunno. I haven't listened to that album in a while; I'm more a fan of their melodic side (with a heaviness to the melody, of course).
 
#28
Ive never had problems hearing Myung on the albums. "On the backs of angels" was the last song of theirs I jammed a lot and even on half blown car speakers I could hear all the notes. He mostly just follows Patrucci though. I dont blame him. The guy can control the temperature of the sun eith his rackunits.
 
#29
Sorry for bumping an almost 2 years old thread, but I am curious about other's opinions on his playing in The Astonishing. Personally, even though I could still (barely) hear him in some songs, overall his playing is surprisingly weaker than the previous album. I don't know why, but I really do miss his contributions in song writing like in the early DT albums. Additionally, his tone right now is a little too distorted for my own liking, making his tone is almost indistinguishable from Petrucci's guitar parts.

Oh well, I guess considering that he said himself that he prefers to be in the background that should be expected. I really wish that Dream Theater didn't change into "Petrucci, Rudess, and 3 Other Guys" like it is right now.
 
#30
I've never had a problem hearing Myung in the mix - maybe not all the notes when there's a rhythm guitar in there, but that is sort of the point of that - his fills are immense, and even when 'following Petrucci's riffs', they are some pretty blistering riffs. I don't have anywhere near enough fingers to play half the stuff he pulls out.

I've seen them live twice - yes, his sound is sort of distorted and not always clear: but I think he's made a sound that HE can hear over the noise of the drums and guitar.

If you want to hear him playing with presence in the mix - get the 2 Platypus and 3 Jelly Jam albums.
 
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#31
CronusUranus said:
Sorry for bumping an almost 2 years old thread, but I am curious about other's opinions on his playing in The Astonishing. Personally, even though I could still (barely) hear him in some songs, overall his playing is surprisingly weaker than the previous album. I don't know why, but I really do miss his contributions in song writing like in the early DT albums. Additionally, his tone right now is a little too distorted for my own liking, making his tone is almost indistinguishable from Petrucci's guitar parts.

Oh well, I guess considering that he said himself that he prefers to be in the background that should be expected. I really wish that Dream Theater didn't change into "Petrucci, Rudess, and 3 Other Guys" like it is right now.
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I'm thinking as it was in this thread 2 years ago one or more the following is true:
- someone needs better listening devices or gear. I have never had a hard time hearing the bass in DT, ever.
- someone expects the bass to be different then the way they would like to hear it. Bass can support a song in many ways other then as a lead instrument. Watch any video from the John's about song writing process and know that they always work as a team. So if the bass is taking a supporting roll, it doesn't mean that the bass player didn't help write.
- fill in the blank: IMO the [mix, vocals, keys, guitar tone, song writing, bla bla] could be better. I have seen them 5 or 6 times. All shows have been great. I could hear everything and all involved always have a great performance. Not sure why the ponytail dudes with their arms crossed through the whole show think they know better then the band itself on every minor detail.
- people don't respect that a band with a long career will try different things album to album. The audience's taste varies and the band will try to evolve both to survive, not get bored and hopefully continue to learn and create something new.

Uncross those arms! Be open to new ideas from a band you love. Get some decent headphones already, stop projecting your idea onto their music and enjoy the new album already.
 
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#32
Dug2 said:


whoa
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Of course he's pissed off, he has dream theater in his in ears... ;-)

I heard an interview with Tom Size (a recording engineer) the other night in which he said,"prog Rock is code for "we don't know how to edit ourselves." "

I was a big dream theater fan around 1995 but the next album kind of turned me off and I never went back. Obviously the don't care very much about what I think. They shouldn't!

However, I do think that the more complicated the bass rig the less audible the tone- listen to John Entwhistle anytime since they started playing again in the late 80's, nothing but distortion, making it totally inaudible with $30,000 worth of amp...
 
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#33
Michael B said:
I'm thinking as it was in this thread 2 years ago one or more the following is true:
- someone needs better listening devices or gear. I have never had a hard time hearing the bass in DT, ever.
- someone expects the bass to be different then the way they would like to hear it. Bass can support a song in many ways other then as a lead instrument. Watch any video from the John's about song writing process and know that they always work as a team. So if the bass is taking a supporting roll, it doesn't mean that the bass player didn't help write.
- fill in the blank: IMO the [mix, vocals, keys, guitar tone, song writing, bla bla] could be better. I have seen them 5 or 6 times. All shows have been great. I could hear everything and all involved always have a great performance. Not sure why the ponytail dudes with their arms crossed through the whole show think they know better then the band itself on every minor detail.
- people don't respect that a band with a long career will try different things album to album. The audience's taste varies and the band will try to evolve both to survive, not get bored and hopefully continue to learn and create something new.

Uncross those arms! Be open to new ideas from a band you love. Get some decent headphones already, stop projecting your idea onto their music and enjoy the new album already.
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Maybe I came across as being too presumptuous in that post, but to be completely honest post-Train of Thoughts Dream Theater's albums make me feel harder to care about them. I can sense the bass is somewhere there in those albums too, but compared to Myung's presence in earlier albums, recent musical direction doesn't really click with me personally.

I'm aware that the bass parts don't always have to cut through the mix, and Myung had admitted himself that he chose to lay low in the background in some interviews couple years back. If he thought that's what is the best for the band as a whole, then what do I know?

Lastly, I'd be lying that if I don't enjoy any of the song on their recent albums (I love the Limelight-ish song "The Looking Glass", for example), but together as an album, I guess those records aren't really for me.

Despite these seemingly baseless complaints, I'm glad that it seems they are doing really well sales-wise with The Astonishing. I still consider Dream Theater as a huge part of my influence musically, and obviously my opinion is just an opinion of a single fan.
 
#34
CronusUranus said:
Maybe I came across as being too presumptuous in that post, but to be completely honest post-Train of Thoughts Dream Theater's albums make me feel harder to care about them. I can sense the bass is somewhere there in those albums too, but compared to Myung's presence in earlier albums, recent musical direction doesn't really click with me personally.

I'm aware that the bass parts don't always have to cut through the mix, and Myung had admitted himself that he chose to lay low in the background in some interviews couple years back. If he thought that's what is the best for the band as a whole, then what do I know?

Lastly, I'd be lying that if I don't enjoy any of the song on their recent albums (I love the Limelight-ish song "The Looking Glass", for example), but together as an album, I guess those records aren't really for me.

Despite these seemingly baseless complaints, I'm glad that it seems they are doing really well sales-wise with The Astonishing. I still consider Dream Theater as a huge part of my influence musically, and obviously my opinion is just an opinion of a single fan.
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Cool. If it wasn't obvious in my post, I realize that even those arms crossed ponytail dudes critiqueing everything are good fans. I have heard both of the John's describe a particular song and say "that's a John line". My point is that Myung is more involved in the writing then it might seem and completely seperate from the bass role in a given song. My first impression of the new album was that the bass was more straightforward and a new tone. Not a bad thing at all. That said I need to listen to the whole album in its entirety as I haven't had time to do so.
 
#35
I agree with the last few posts about roles and how it all fits together. Myung is sort of the unseen glue - a bit like Brad Whitford in Aerosmith (shh, a guitarist).

As for the new album. I've heard it once, and like A Dramatic Turn of Events, it's going to take a few listens to get into. The whole opera/ballady/atmospheric thing isn't my preference - but I respect and admire the ability to put something like this together. Imagine what it'll be like Live with a proper sound rig, some stage backgrounds and so forth: a bit like 'Dream Theater presents...'

Am unsurprised but annoyed at the 'fans' who have waded into reviews on Amazon with rubbish like: 'go back to Train of Thought, that's what your fans want..' and other such grumbling.

It's called Progressive for a reason. I fully expect the next album to be totally different!
 
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#36
The reason that you can't hear him in some songs is because most of the time he's following along with the guitar. Sometimes he just gets lost in the mix. I would really love it if they re release their songs with the bass volume increased a bit but really that will never happen
 

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