Petrucci: Things go in stages. Right now, my focus is on the fact
that I know I have to tour, and the first show is September 24,
so I have to be able to play such and such songs. There’s a whole
process of learning them—isolating the guitars and going back and
learning what I played—then memorizing it and practicing the difficult parts. It’s not the time to be searching out and practicing new
things: The focus is the short-term goal. Once I get comfortable
and I’m on the road, or when the tour cycle is done and I’m home,
then I can take a deep breath and start asking questions again, start
learning new things.
Myung: I’ll know what the set is going to be at least a month prior
to a tour. Then I put myself on a schedule where I at least run
through every song once a day, going through the set for two or
three hours. Some of the songs are really long, so it can take over
ten minutes to get through it once. Even if you’ve played it for
an hour, you’ve only gotten through it five times or so. Our set is
like two hours, and we’ll have a master set with extra songs in it,
so maybe there will be—from start to finish—like, three hours of
material to run through. Then, slowly it starts to come together.
Apart from just running through the set, I also have to get my hands
to do what I want them to do, which is a whole other thing where I just
warm up. I have a certain procedure that I do with my hands before I
feel totally dialed in. It’s two or three hours of subtle movements. And
it’s not anything that I learned from a book, it’s just playing.
Are you able to find time to do this every day?
Photos by GianIuca Trombetta
the Straight Truth About Pickups by Jason Lollar
The “magic” found in some (but not all) classic vintage pickups
was created by accident. Don’t let anyone tell you different. And
over time, some pretty stellar accidents happened. The only way
to recreate that magic is to study more than a few exceptional
examples of all the classic pickup types, while acquiring a
thorough understanding of exactly what materials were used
and precisely how each pickup was constructed and wound. Only
then is the “magic” repeatable, if you are willing to spend the time
and money required to chase the dragon. I am.
I personally design and wind over 30 different pickup models,
including all the vintage classics, many obscure works of art
known only to lap and pedal steel players like Robert Randolph,
and even a few of my own designs that never existed in the past.
I invite you to visit our website for sound clips, videos and
current product information, or call us for a free product
highlight brochure.
