Jordan Rudess on His Two New Projects, the Musicians He Wants to Perform for Him in His Living Room

Dream Theater keyboard wizard Jordan Rudess is pushing the boundaries once again. He has just teamed up with PledgeMusic to help launch a pair of new projects: an orchestral composition, "Explorations for Keyboard and Orchestra," as well as a solo piano album, 'Explores.'

For Explorations,' Rudess will be creating an entirely virtual orchestral experience, bringing some of the world's best instrumental players into the studio to create both an audio and visual collaborative piece.

His solo piano album will be created as a completely interactive iOS app experience in addition to being made available in a CD and digital download format. As has been described, listeners will be able to use gestures to interact with the audio and visuals and create their own versions of his music.

Rudess of course will be offering some amazing perks for getting involved with the new projects, including a chance at a private in-home performance by the master himself.

Noisecreep caught up with the obviously busy musician to chat about the new projects.

Jordan, give us a general overall sense of what this project entails and how people can get involved.

Absolutely. There are two levels to the project: One is focused on 'Explorations for Keyboard and Orchestra.' The end product will not only be a standard audio release of the music, but since we will be filming all the players in the orchestra, we will also be releasing this on DVD as a next generation video piece. The second part of this focuses on the release of my new solo piano music as an interactive experience. I'm working with developer Joe Zobkiw and some cutting edge sound designers on a completely original iOS app which will allow the listener to interact with the music using standard gestures.

How does this fit within the Dream Theater world? How hard will the balance be?

I think many of the Dream Theater fans will love this. It is another side of my musical world which combines all the elements of who I am as a musician! I'm very inspired by the opportunity to work on such a creative project, supported by my fans. Doing this all through PledgeMusic is also really exciting for me because the industry has changed so much and the people at Pledge are totally in touch with the future of the music business!

And it's true that you'll actually going plan someone's house if they make the appropriate contribution to the project?

Anything is possible.... yes!

Okay we have to ask: If you could have had one musician play in your home, who would it have been?

A private Glenn Gould performance would have been pretty cool. I would love it if Peter Gabriel would stop by to sing for me.

Head over to Rudess' PledgeMusic page for more information on how to get involved with his new projects.