DREAM THEATER Taking changes in stride, the prog metal icons return in epic form  Four years ago prog metal giants Dream Theater were forced to navigate stormy seas when drummer and founding member Mike Portnoy left the band. Through the period of transition, the remaining members—singer James LaBrie, guitarist John Petrucci, keyboardist Jordan Rudess, bassist John Myung, and new drummer Mike Mangini—emerged stronger. “That whole transformation... 

APP HAPPY What can the right music-making mobile applications do for you? Just five years ago, cellphones were just that: phones. Enter the brave new world of smartphones, where the mobile gadgets have evolved into an entirely new category of creative tool—one that can help you create music. With the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 and the iPad tablet in 2010, music software developers have been quick to harness the power of these powerful... 

SYNTH SENSE Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess lets you in on the secrets to making your synthesizer sounds soar  If you’ve listened to pop music created since the 1960s, there’s little doubt you’ve heard synthesizers at work. Innovators have been trying since the 1800s to create devices to replicate sounds otherwise unavailable to the layman, but it was only in the last four decades that the synthesizer became thought of as an instrument in... 

DREAM THEATER A Dramatic Turn of Events [Roadrunner] Legions of Dream Theater fans were dismayed when drummer (and founding member) Mike Portnoy and the band parted ways last year. Never fear—with new drummer Mike Mangini behind the kit, the veteran prog-metal ensemble sounds re-energized, engaged and focused on songwriting in ways not heard since 2002’s Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. On the harder side of the ledger, songs such as “On the...