| Jordan Rudess | |
|---|---|
 Jordan Rudess with Dream Theater 2007
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jordan Rudes |
| Born | November 4 1956 |
| Genre(s) | Progressive rock Progressive metal Instrumental Jazz fusion New Age IDM |
| Instrument(s) | Keyboards (Synthesizer, Fingerboard synthesizer, Continuum, Piano, Zen Riffer, Minimoog) Lap steel guitar Electric guitar Vocals |
| Years active | 1981 - present |
| Associated acts |
Dream Theater Dixie Dregs Liquid Tension Experiment John Petrucci Rod Morgenstein David Bowie Vinnie Moore Noirin Ni Riain Rhonda Larson Paul Winter Scott McGill Prefab Sprout Jupiter Neal Morse Daniel J Neil Zaza John-Luke Addison Behold... The Arctopus Liquid Trio Experiment |
Jordan Rudess (born Jordan Rudes on November 4, 1956) is a progressive rock keyboardist best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater.
Contents |
Biography
Rudess was recognized by his 2nd grade teacher for his piano playing and was immediately given professional tuition. At nine, he entered the Juilliard School of Music Pre-College Division for classical piano training, but by his late teens he had grown increasingly interested in synthesizers and progressive rock music. Against the counsel of his parents and tutors, he turned away from classical piano and tried his hand as a solo prog rock keyboardist.[1] After performing in various projects during the 1980s, he gained international attention in 1994 when he was voted "Best New Talent" in the Keyboard Magazine readers' poll after the release of his Listen solo album. Two of the bands who took notice of the young Rudess were The Dixie Dregs and Dream Theater, both of whom invited him to join. Rudess chose the Dregs, primarily as being a part time member of the band would have less of an impact on his young family, a choice he was not given with Dream Theater.[2] During his time with the Dregs, Rudess formed a "power duo" with drummer Rod Morgenstein. The genesis of this pairing occurred when a power outage caused all of the Dregs' instruments to fail except Rudess', so he and Morgenstein improvised with each other until power was restored and the concert could continue. The chemistry between the two was so strong during this jam that they decided to perform together on a regular basis (under the name Rudess/Morgenstein Project or later RMP) and have since released a studio and a live record. Rudess encountered Dream Theater once again when he and Morgenstein secured the support slot on one of Dream Theater's North American tours. In 1997, when Mike Portnoy was asked to form a supergroup by Magna Carta Records, Rudess was chosen to fill the keyboardist spot in the band, which also consisted of Tony Levin and Portnoy's Dream Theater colleague John Petrucci. During the recording of Liquid Tension Experiment's two albums, it became evident to Portnoy and Petrucci that Rudess was what Dream Theater needed. They asked Rudess to join the band, and when he accepted they released their then-keyboardist Derek Sherinian to make way for him. Rudess has been the full-time keyboardist in Dream Theater since the recording of 1999's Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. He has recorded 4 other studio albums: 2002's Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, 2003's Train of Thought, 2005's Octavarium, and 2007's Systematic Chaos. In addition, he has appeared on the live albums Live Scenes From New York , Live at Budokan and Score. Rudess says his influences as a keyboardist are Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman and Patrick Moraz.[3]. His favourite bands include Gentle Giant, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Emerson Lake and Palmer, King Crimson, Jimi Hendrix, Autechre, and Aphex Twin.[4].
Use of technology
While many keyboard players in progressive rock tend towards bringing numerous keyboards on stage, Rudess took full advantage of the possibilities offered by the Kurzweil K2600xs during his usage from the 1990s to 2004. Often sampling sounds from other keyboards, Rudess creates a series of setups, each of which maps different sounds to different layers and key ranges of the keyboard controller; these setups are then arranged in the order they will be required for a gig, and cycled through one at a time with a control pedal. While Rudess' physical method of changing live setups will more than likely remain the same, his choice of hardware to implement this changed as of 2005. Citing a need for better tour support and more current technologies (his Kurzweil 2600's maximum sample memory of 128 MB had become insufficient for his touring needs), Rudess switched keyboard endorsements from Kurzweil to Korg's new flagship Korg Oasys workstation (which supports up to 1.5GB of sample memory [1]), which he uses on tour with Dream Theater, along with a Receptor and a Haken Continuum triggering a Roland V-Synth XT and a Synthesizers.com Modular. Rudess is the first keyboardist to bring a Haken Continuum on to a live stage.
On Dream Theater's 2007-2008 "Chaos in Motion" world tour, Rudess' rig is almost identical to that of the previous tour, with the addition of a Maniken Memotron and a Zen Riffer keytar. Rudess stopped using his Synthesizers.com modular after the European leg of the tour.
Equipment
Studio Equipment
- Korg OASYS
- Korg Triton Extreme
- Haken Audio Continuum Fingerboard
- Muse Research Receptor
- Kurzweil K2600xs fully loaded 88 note weighted keyboard
- Kurzweil K2600 Rack modules
- Kurzweil K2000VP keyboard
- Kurzweil PC2 rack
- Roland Fantom-X8
- Minimoog
- Roland V-Synth XT
- Roland VP-550
- Roland SH-201
- Synthesizer.com Modular synthesizer
- Dave Smith Instruments Evolver Keyboard
- Lap steel guitar
- Ernie Ball Music Man guitar, John Petrucci Signature Model
- MOTU MachFive
- MOTU MX4 Soft Synth
- Korg Legacy
- Spectrasonics Atmosphere
- Spectrasonics Trilogy
- Spectrasonics Stylus
- Native Instruments Komplete 2
- Native Instruments Absynth
- Native Instruments B4
- Native Instruments Guitar Rig
- Native Instruments FM7
- Native Instruments Pro 53
- Synthogy Ivory
Live Rig
- Korg OASYS 88
- Korg Triton Extreme 88 (Solo Project)
- Freehand Systems Music Pad Pro
- Muse Receptor
- Synthesizers.com Custom Modular Synth
- Haken Continuum Fingerboard
- (2)Roland V-Synth XT
- Lap steel guitar
- Mackie 1604VLZ Pro Mixer
- APS Power backup
- Glyph and Iomega Hard drives
- Roland VP-550
- Zen Riffer
- Korg Radias (Chaos in motion tour)
Discography
Solo albums
- Arrival (Cassette) (1988)
- Listen (CD) (1993)
- Secrets of the Muse (CD) (1997)
- Resonance (CD) (1999)
- Feeding the Wheel (CD) (2001)
- 4NYC (CD) (2002)
- Christmas Sky (CD) (2002)
- Rhythm of Time (CD) (2004)
- Prime Cuts (CD) (2006, compilation)
- The Road Home (CD) (2007, tribute album)
Dream Theater
- Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (CD) (1999)
- Live Scenes from New York (3CD) (2001)
- Metropolis 2000: Scenes from New York (VHS/DVD) (2001)
- Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2CD) (2002)
- Train of Thought (CD) (2003)
- Live at Budokan (2DVD/3CD) (2004)
- Octavarium (CD) (2005)
- Score (2DVD/3CD) (2006)
- Systematic Chaos (CD) (2007)
Project albums
- Rudess/Morgenstein Project (CD) (1997)
- An Evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess (CD) (2001)
- Rudess/Morgenstein Project - The Official Bootleg (CD) (2001)
Liquid Tension Experiment
- Liquid Tension Experiment (CD) (1998)
- Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (CD) (1999)
- Spontaneous Combustion (CD) (2007, as Liquid Trio Experiment)
Guest appearances
- Vinnie Moore - Time Odyssey (1988)
- Noirin Ni Riain - Celtic Soul (1996)
- Rhonda Larson - Free as a Bird (1999)
- Paul Winter and The Earth Band - Journey With The Sun (2000)
- Scott McGill - Addition by Subtraction (2001)
- Prefab Sprout - The Gunman And Other Stories (2001)
- David Bowie - Heathen (2002)
- Jupiter - Echo and Art (2003)
- Neal Morse - ? (2005)
- Daniel J - Losing Time (2005)
- Neil Zaza - When Gravity Fails (2006)
- John-Luke Addison - Multiple Valences
- Behold... the Arctopus - Skullgrid (2007)
- K3 - Under A Spell (2007)
Other
- Speedway Boulevard - Speedway Boulevard (CD) (1981)
- Steinway to Heaven - Chopin's "Revolutionary Etude (Op. 10, No. 12)" (1996)
References
- ^ Stefanis, J. "Interview with Jordan Rudess", Get Ready to ROCK!, 2004
- ^ "Dream Theater FAQ"
- ^ http://faq.dtnorway.com/question/41
- ^ http://www.jordanrudess.com/jr/
External links
- Jordan's website
- Dream Theater's website
- Accent Magazine (Jordan's Online Magazine)
- Jordan's Online Conservatory
- Jordan Rudess performing on continuum live
- Jordan Rudess Liquid T Lead emulation tutorial on Progsounds.com
- Jordan Rudess emulated patches for various synths on Progsounds.com
