The Ultimate Dream Theater Plugin Guide for Musicians
So, you're in a solo musician, or in a cover band, or you're in any musical and just trying to hunt down the sweet sounds of Dream Theater to use in your productions. Well, you've come to the right place.
Here, compiled by instrument, is what I hope an in-depth guide to a ton of the plugins and plugin presets that are currently available for sale that will get you close to Dream Theater's sound. These are both licensed products being sold by members of the band, as well as unlicensed products that I believe, as a professional sound engineer, get very close to being authentic. There will also be a few third-party and wildcard suggestions that, while not falling into either of those categories, are plugins, sample libraries, ect. that also get close to that authentic Dream Theater sound.
Note: This guide will include every specific piece of software necessary to run each of these plugins, if any. So, if it requires a sound expansion to a base software, that will be noted with each product as well.
What this guide will not provide are the basics of recording, running a DAW, using an interface, ect. We'll presume you've got the foundational knowledge down and are looking for specific sounds at this point.
Drums:
The only official drum plugin by a member of the band, Mixwave: Mike Mangini is a Kontakt instrument that might not to be everyone's taste. It really depends on if you like Mangini's selection of kits or not. It covers everything from 2013's Dream Theater through A View from the Top of World. It also comes with the Kontakt instrument you need to actually run it.
Superior Drummer 3 Presets: Superior Drummer 3 | Toontrack
If you have Superior Drummer 3, these presets from Recreation Mix Challenge get very, very close to their album counterparts.
- Awake: (Superior Drummer 3 Core Library)
https://youtu.be/M4mlyz_H0RM?si=2Mf3_vCM-G3-AGCS- Metropolis, Pt 2: (Requires 'The Metal Foundry' Expansion: The Metal Foundry SDX | Toontrack)**
https://youtu.be/fHL3Wen7YFo?si=IMCsBmMsUVWOYDq6- Octavarium: (Requires 'The Metal Foundry' Expansion: The Metal Foundry SDX | Toontrack)
https://youtu.be/1cBJrMV04fA?si=am4OwejKxp-UKtpQ- Distance Over Time: (Superior Drummer 3 Core Library) https://youtu.be/5dyHLOPMLW4?si=z3pvPe0iGv63APeM
These are also great presets for lots of different projects but nail their particular albums on point.
MixWave: Avenged Sevenfold - Brooks Wackerman
While obviously not related to the band, Brooks Wackermans kit on Avenged Sevenfold's 'The Stage' and 'Life is But a Dream...' bares a ton of sonic resemblance to Mike Portnoy's own kit from several different eras (notably the crisp drum mix from Falling into Infinity/SFAM), and this plugin captures them as well as a few other drum sounds really well. Definitely check this one out if you're looking for a lot of versatility and something that can cover a lot of ground.
Guitar:
Archetype: Petrucci X - Neural DSP
What else could it be? Having included and used some of the other guitar plugins on this, this is really the definitive package, short of getting the JP-2C, the mics and preamps used to record John's guitar tone. The plugin has everything you need to emulate a Mesa JP-2C and John's broad signal chain.
Regardless of which plugin you prefer, if you're looking for John's sound, definitely also get his impulse response pack. You'll still need an amp and cab loader to use these.
These were captured from the signal chains on his cabinents during the recording sessions of 'A View from the Top of the World', 'Terminal Velocity', and 'Liquid Tension Experiment 3'
Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ Suite - Neural DSPIf you're looking for an officially licensed version of John's favorite amp, and the amp upon which the JP-2C is an updated version of, then this plugin will do the trick. Arguably, a little redundant if you already own the Archetype: Petrucci plugin, the Mark IIC+ Suite offers some very different, more straight rock oriented sounds. When double tracking, I tend to use the Petrucci X for one guitar and use this plugin for the opposite because this plugin isn't quite as clean and processed as the Petrucci is.
IK Multimedia - AmpliTube MESA/Boogie & AmpliTube MESA/Boogie 2
A lot of people knock Amplitube for having some lackluster amp models, and that certain is true, but Amplitube also has lots of fantastic amps - these two being one of them. Pairing these with John's IR pack, or even a cab from Neural DSP really elevates them. These include lots of other amps John has used in his career, including the Mark IV (Black Clouds), Dual and Triple Recs (Awake, Six Degrees, Train of Thought), the Mark V (ADTOE, DT2013) another version of the Mark IIC+ as well as several other amps.
Cali Axis All Tube Guitar Amplifier – Nembrini Audio & Mercuriall Audio Software
John has, at various points in his career, also used the rack mounted Triaxis preamp, both of these are excellent emulations of that. They cover eight separate modes covering the Mark I, Mark IIC+, and Mark IV, as well as, get this, a Marshall tone as well.
At the end of the day, if you double track this with any of the other plugins, or stack them together in a mix, you're going to get a rich, Mesa/Boogie sound. Your pickups are the biggest component of the front end, and your IRs are going to have the biggest effect on the tail end. Mix and match to taste.
Keys and Piano:
Arturia - Analog Lab with https://v2.arturia.com/sound-banks/dreamtheatertribute
If you have Analog Lab by Arturia, then it makes this whole thing easy. They have an actual Dream Theater Tribute ready to go for you. It covers a wide range of the band's discography, and frankly, all of these sounds are easy enough to make work for basically any song Dream Theater has. Leads, Organs, Keys, Pads, Pianos, they're all here. This is perfect for Dream Theater fans, but also people who just enjoy really versatile synth patches for their own work. Most of Jordan's and Derek's sounds are covered here, some of the 90's Kevin Moore sounds are alright, but you may want to get something more specific for those 90's tones.
Kevin Moore Specific:
If you're looking for the synths that Kevin Moore used during his tenure, and you're willing to do a little leg work, you can get these emulations and program them. Most of Kevin's sounds are based off of presets that are already available on the keyboards themselves, with a little tweaking.
Roland JD-800 Software Synthesizer | Sweetwater
Used for piano, synth pads, chimes and most notably the "Wailing Guitar" solo sound used on 6:00 and Scarred, most strings and distorted organ.https://www.fullbucket.de/music/fb7999.html
An emulation of the KORG DW-6000 and DW-8000, used for solo sounds for songs such as Take the Time and Pull Me Under.
Bass
Unfortunately for you bass players out there, John Myung doesn't really have a ton of stuff that's emulated in plugins. Fortunately, he has mentioned using the Parallax plugin before. It's generally a very good bass plugin anyway, and because most bass sounds are the bass going direct in and then being mixed after, you can't go wrong here.
Anyway, I hope this helps anyone that has been tone chasing this band for as long as I have. If you have good quality plugins you think should be added, let me know and I can put them in the post proper. Happy playing!