Ok, the story on the D112, as I've been told.
The AKG D12 was released as a large diaphragm dynamic designed for vocals/speech.
Many grew fond of it on kick, so AKG modified the capsule and put it in a different body to accentuate the low end and called it the D112.
We've used a D112 on vocals before. Not something for everyone, but for that screamer it worked great. Round bottom end with little proximity, hollow around 500-750Hz, and a boost around1-1.5k. The vocal sound on close deff sounds like a D112 to me. Try it for yourself and you decide.
Remember, no rules.
I couldn't care less about his gear - the talent to use it in his unique way is much more interesting. Those dense, but cohesive layers/walls of sound that work so perfectly and that excessive rock'n'roll sexiness and alienation that comes through his music and sound-design...!! Not to mention his incredibly hot and cool wife and a very fine new project "How to Destroy Angels"...
I think if he would have just a couple of cheap guitar pedals, any random noise generating object, he could still do some dark and sexy magic with it.
Is Trent Reznor the coolest man on Earth or what?
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"The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason."
I know Trent is a big Logic user as well as a lover of Blue Mics. He used the mouse on two albums as well as a Baby Bottle at times. Outside of that I'm not too sure of his gear. I've been more interested in his background since he is a fellow PA guy.
I know Trent is a big Logic user as well as a lover of Blue Mics. He used the mouse on two albums as well as a Baby Bottle at times. Outside of that I'm not too sure of his gear. I've been more interested in his background since he is a fellow PA guy.
However, when it comes to Downward Spiral, the sound was basically Sequential Circuit synthesizers, akai s1000 samplers, samples of 100's of horror movies, guitars were recorded directly into the mixer.
I believe the Oberheim Xpander also played a role there. The Xpander (along with the 2600) are still in his studio, based on recent pics... along with an Alesis Andromeda. It's true that he probably had two of every major synth, although I've never seen or read about any Roland stuff (other than an MKS-80).
Quote:
Originally Posted by subby33
The drums on Downward Spiral were all fake except for the "drum solo" on the song Piggy.
Fake drums?
Quote:
Originally Posted by subby33
He had a prototype oberheim that he used for bass. I know he was an oberheim fan in general. He also uses SQ synthesizers, like the pro one, etc. He also had a minimoog.
Anyway, this subject is always fun – I wouldn't be making music, especially with synths, if it wasn't for Reznor (and Mr. Clouser who also posted here) – but it's very easy to find this information by reading archived interviews.
During the Downward Spiral tour, Trent would go to the local music stores in whatever city he was in and pick up as many DX7's that he could find to use for the show as a sound generating "prop".
He would use it for the random sample and hold LFO and then smash them to hell on stage.
I personally have seen him destroy at least 8 of them.
The Downward Spiral tour was pretty dangerous to life and limb if you were in the band or a slow moving roadie who had to run on stage for something.
During the Downward Spiral tour, Trent would go to the local music stores in whatever city he was in and pick up as many DX7's that he could find to use for the show as a sound generating "prop".
He would use it for the random sample and hold LFO and then smash them to hell on stage.
I do still have a few original DX7s, but only because they were leftovers from the NIN live tours. We used them exclusively as onstage MIDI controllers (no audio connected) because they could be bought in quantity at any pawnshop for $300, were easy for our techs to repair, only transmitted on MIDI channel one, and spare keys were available in quantity from Yamaha - plus the high-quality keybed was nice to play.
I don't remember the article, but I'll see if I can find it, but I remember from it that The Fragile vocals were essentially recorded with two mics. 414 for clean/quiet vocals and 58 for screamed vocals. The drone at the beginning of The Day The World Went Away was created with a Mutronics Mutator (or two, I can't remember) self oscillating and freaking out. The weird stereo effects on The Wretched were done by Keith Hildebradnt, through a Eurorack module, the name of which is currently eluding me. The drums for Star****ers were passed through, I believe, a Swollen Pickle, but I could be wrong; I do know it was some kind of fuzz pedal. The filter effects at the beginning of The Way Out Is Through were done by midi controlling the filters on an Access Virus, and the whisper that seems to get closer was achieved by walking an Auratone down a hallway from a garage to a bedroom.
I also know that throughout that record, a large majority of the guitar sounds were achieved with piezo pickups on electric guitars. The Day The World Went Away, The Mark Has Been Made, The Big Come Down and Ripe (With Decay) for certain, probably a lot more. This doesn't necessarily mean it was a Parker Fly, but Robin Finck has been known to use a Parker Fly on a number of occasions.
I heard he ran a lot of stuff through a TC Electronics Fireworks unit back in the day
I think the Fireworx was out in about 98.. well past the stuff being discussed here.
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"Seriously, there's a certain kind of creative inspiration that can come from exploring the outer limits of a musical instrument. Now days the limits are so vast that it can be difficult to set boundaries." --spargee
I'm listening to Pretty Hate Machine and The Downward Spiral for the first time today. On a cheap computer speaker system, but the production and composition is very impressive! The lyrics I guess are what are particularly love it or hate it about NIN, very emo.
I think maybe yeah Flood and Alan Moulder deserve a lot of credit for producing a lot of this stuff, too. Besides Trent being the auteur.
There's a Trent Reznor collaboration with Josh Homme and Dave Grohl on the new Sound City documentary, and I assume the song they wrote will be on the ablum when it comes out.
Much of the incredible texture/distortion on the Downward Spiral album came from Sean Beavan. There is a magazine article from maybe 13 years ago in which he goes into his use of gear in creating those tones. I can go find it in my collection if anyone's interested in the details. In he, he says that many of the distortions are form a pair of "broken" 1073s. The "Piggy" vox were done under the console through (I think) an SM58 beta and compressed with an LA-2A to get that really intimate feel. To me, the textures on that album haven't been rivaled on any other NIN album and Sean is really an artisan at getting those tones through vintage gear.
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"It's all about the application."
Much of the incredible texture/distortion on the Downward Spiral album came from Sean Beavan. There is a magazine article from maybe 13 years ago in which he goes into his use of gear in creating those tones. I can go find it in my collection if anyone's interested in the details. In he, he says that many of the distortions are form a pair of "broken" 1073s. The "Piggy" vox were done under the console through (I think) an SM58 beta and compressed with an LA-2A to get that really intimate feel. To me, the textures on that album haven't been rivaled on any other NIN album and Sean is really an artisan at getting those tones through vintage gear.
I love that album but I really don't think the textures themselves or the vocal sounds are very high quality (which btw I think is a conscious choice). You can definitely hear digital artefacts all over the place on a lot of the sounds; again, you can tell it's deliberate. I myself much prefer The Fragile for that kind of stuff. Just Like You Imagined, for example, is just awe-inspiring.
Trent has always been known for having a rather "crispy" vocal sound, to which there can be reverb added or not, but it's seldom warm and smooth. Same goes for the guitars. It's an artistic choice but I don't think it's something a lot of people should try to emulate unless they're doing industrial!
Actually the only time I've heard both his vocals and his guitars to sound smooth and warm is on the And All That Could Have Been live album, which sounds absolutely incredible by the way. He's using mostly Beta 58s and normal 58s on that, same as in many of his studio albums (I can confirm Piggy and a lot of Still are Beta 58), but the mix is very different. The newer DVD (Beside You In Time) sounds clearer, but lacks that warmth the first one had and is "smaller" sounding. Neither is better; I prefer the first one for home listening and the latter as a FOH mix.
But yes, Sean Beavan is a great sound engineer; I love his work with 8mm as well, .
Don't forget Cabaret Voltaire too! I've seen pics where Trent used a Blue Mouse or a Sony c800g. I've seen NIN sell some Epiphone Gothic guitars as well as Black Les Pauls. Can't remember the rest really. Pretty Hate Machine is one of my favorite album, and Terrible Lie one of my favorite songs. The Synth lead at the end is sick! Did he record Pretty Hate Machine in California or Chicago? Somehow it reminds me of California.
Trent stated in one of the earlier interviews on the NIN Hotline that PHM was recorded in London...
I'd love to hear more about recent gear he's been using (if that's even possible). I actually wrote a 75 page paper on The Downward Spirals for a class lass semester...had to analyze the production and arrangements of every song (what instruments were used, production techniques, stereo field placement, etc etc.). Fun as hell!
One thing I have a particular question about is the transition from the PHM demos (Purest Feeling EP) and the actual record. I've read different accounts of what he used, which seemed to be only a couple different instruments for the whole record. I'd be curious to see if anyone could find an interview or some info about how much of the first three releases (PHM, Broken, TDS) he engineered himself as well.
He was using Guitar Rig on the Sound City doc. Killer documentary if you have not not seen it.
I own a few of the amps, have used the rest and own all of the mics that guitar rig simulates. I can't tell the difference. The tube screamer pedal sim IS a tube screamer. Guitar rig is SUCH a time saver, and the settings behave identically to the amps too... that said, the other guitar amp sims don't at all. Eleven, GTR, yea they sound good, but they don't behave realistically. Too much tweaking. It's good enough for my personal projects. Of course when I get a client, I'll record the amp and the DI both.
Anyways, NIN is really good at what they do. And not just musically. I never understood the lyrics and themes other than just being sinister, but now that I'm older and have read a lot more and talked to some interesting people from older families that have long and sometimes dark histories, I finally understand the depth of angst expressed and the level of knowledge, consciousness and awareness that Mr. Reznor has so painfully endured... some things you just can't "unknow' ... but "I have found that you can find happiness in slavery."
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For mixing, Voxengo SPAN is my most often used tool... it's great when your ears tell you there's something wrong but you can't quite turn the right knob (and it's FREE too!!)
Much of the incredible texture/distortion on the Downward Spiral album came from Sean Beavan. There is a magazine article from maybe 13 years ago in which he goes into his use of gear in creating those tones. I can go find it in my collection if anyone's interested in the details. In he, he says that many of the distortions are form a pair of "broken" 1073s. The "Piggy" vox were done under the console through (I think) an SM58 beta and compressed with an LA-2A to get that really intimate feel. To me, the textures on that album haven't been rivaled on any other NIN album and Sean is really an artisan at getting those tones through vintage gear.
man, if you could find that article I would really enjoy reading it
I actually have an unrelated comment/question. What do you guys think of the album production of "Hurt" on the Downward Spiral? I have a love/hate relationship with the production of that song. When you hear Cash's version, stripped down and very direct, I feel like the emotion of the song comes through much better than Trent's version. Of course, Trent's is more arty and I love the album version, but I'm always curious as to what it would sound like more acoustic. When he does it live, it feels much more powerful.
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