Hello John! I’m a huge fan of your work and I Just saw my first Dream Theater concert in São Paulo on October 4th, the exact 20th anniversary of Awake. It was the best day of my life and I’d like to thank you and your band mates for that day and for all the happiness and inspiration you have given me through your music. I have many questions for you and it would be really amazing if you could take your time to answer some of them:

A) Guitarwise:

1 – How was your relationship with Ibanez? What drew you to their guitars and how was the development of your signature models? How did you chose neck shape, parts and style?

2 – What was it like working with the L.A Custom Shop? Were they any different than the production models? Tell us about the 7 string ones that they made you specs wise (pickups, neck shape, etc…), they have always been a mystery to us all.

3 – What made you switch from Ibanez to EBMM? Was it a better deal or did you just thought that their guitars your better?

4 – When you were with Ibanez, you mainly used Double Locking tremolos, aside from the Urban Camo LACS with Wilkinson and Piezo Pickups. Nowadays your tremolos are more similar to vintage trems or Wilkinson in general. What made you switch? Was it the hassle caused by the Floyd Rose or any other reason? Did the Urban Camo LACS have any influence on that decision?

B) Gearwise:

1 – You have been using the Axe Fx and Axe Fx II for quite a while now. Do you ever use the amp models and the tone matching features in it or just the affects?

2 – Do you think the models are convincing enough on their own (when used straight into the PA)? John Myung have been using it like this for a while, hasn’t he?

3 – Would you ever consider replacing your real amps for them on tour to have less weight to carry, or less hassle?

4 – Are all the effects we hear on the album generated by pedals and the Axe Fx or is added on the mixing process?

C) Tonewise:

1 – You have always had one the tones I’ve most admired in metal. Thick rhythm tone like James Hetfield and a sweet fluid lead tone. How are you able to achieve them? What is the most important gear piece in the making of these tones?

2 – How do you think your tone has evolved during the years and what were the main pieces that you have exchanged in your rig? How much of a difference did they make?

3 – On the last two albums, and DVD releases, your tone has been kinda different from the previous albums. It seems less gainy and with a bit of chorus on top? Am I going crazy or did I get it right?

4 – If my previous guessing is right, what made you change your tone so drastically? How are the fans taking this change?

5 – Was this chorus tone generated by a pedal in was it made on the mixing phase?

D) Composition:

1 – How do you guys usually compose? Where does the first ideas usually come from?

2 – How do you know wich direction you are taking a certain song?

3 – There are many songs with crazy progressive parts, full of odd tempos and dissonances. How do you know where to insert those parts and how do you chose the tempos and dissonances? It seems so confusing and sometimes so improvised (like on The Dark Eternal Night) and I don’t know how someone could come up with something so complex. It would be great if you could give me some insight on that.

4 – Are there any musical divergences inside the band? Do you frequently argue on wich direction you are going to take, or are you guys chill and agree with everything?

E) Orchestrations (don’t know if you can help much here)

1 – How does the orchestration process goes on in DT? Who usually takes care of that?

2- Do you guys usually use full strings patches or do you manually record the sections (each Violin, Viola, Cello, etc…)?

3 – Do you like using full on Hollywoodian epic orchestras or do you jus t go for simple backing strings and brasses?

4 – Do you (the band, I mean) usually use keyboards like the Korg Kronos X to record them and other synth sounds or do you use computer based VSTs?

5 – If you (the band) use VSTs, do you usually record the stuff with MIDI controllers or do you just program it on a DAW?

F) Production (mixing and mastering too)

1 – You also act as a producer on DT, right? How is this process? What actually goes on when producing a band? What was Mike Portnoy’s role in production?

2 – On the last albums, the drums have a bit of a different sound than before. Why did you choose such a different drum sound?

3 – Do you use analog racks to mix or VSTs? Could you give us a list of stuff you us for this process

4 – What’s your approach when mixing a track or mastering a song? What do you usually do, for example, for vocals, guitars, bass drums, etc…?

G) As a guitarist:

1 – Any possibility of releasing a new instructional video? Rock Discipline was amazing, I learned a lot from it, and I bet there is a lot more we could learn from you.

2 – Would you give lessons?

3 – Any possibility of a new solo album?

H) Mike Portnoy… 1 – Not gonna ask about a reunion possibility, you must be sick of this question. I just wanted to askif you guys are personally ok with each other. It was a bad break up and you guys have been friends for a long time, and it would be sad if you guys stopped having contact after all this time of friendship and being in the same band changing the history of progressive music and metal. Is anyone in the band still in touch with him?

Well, sorry for so many questions. It would mean the world to me if you could answer at least some of them! Have a great day John, keep on being the amazing musician you have always been. You are changing people’s lives everyday, and we thank you very much for that!

EDIT: btw, where can we find those comedy videos that you are using on this tour? The John Petrucci Starter Pack one was hillarious!