Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess Offers Extensive Video Tour of His Home Studio

Musician's Friend recently caught up with Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess for an intimate, two-part tour of the famed musician's home studio. Both videos explore his vast collection of keyboards and synthesizers, which run the gamut of analog Moog models, modern digital synthesizers, rare and unique models, and more.

During Part A of the tour (seen above), Rudess explains that his studio began as a simple shed in the house that he and his wife had just purchased. Many of his most powerful and luscious-sounding synths live within Studio A, such as his Korg Radius, Novation Supernova (which he relies heavily upon), Mellotron 4000D, Moog MiniMoog, and HakenAudio Continuum Fingerboard controller. The back stories that Rudess gives for each instrument shows that they all serve specific purposes within his studio, and that he knows their strengths and weaknesses far better than most keyboard and synth enthusiasts.

Studio B is a larger space than Studio A, and houses some of Rudess's most experimental and wild instruments. One of these is the Roli Labs Seaboard, which uses a rubber keyboard that lets the player's fingers sink into the keys to create more expressive notes. The video portion of this tour can be seen below.

Rudess also takes a few moments to comment on his Korg Kronos X 88 synthesizer, which he describes as being "solid as a rock". The Kronos X was designed by Korg to be the ultimate live performer's synth, and in the case of Rudess (who tours and performs for the majority of the year) the vast capabilities of the Kronos X are a perfect match.

Watch the Second Part of Jordan Rudess' Video Tour