NIN guitar sound?

[reco]

How does trent Reznor get the guitar sound he does? its fuzzy yet full but not hissy.
all i get is a realhissy buzzy terable sound.
HELP!

[drstawl]

What are <you> using to get that terrible sound?

[reco]

solid state amps boss metal zone crapy cheezy fuzz pedals so far no luck.

[drstawl]

First eliminate the simple cheese sources:
Replace any cables that have been run over by a truck, chewed on by the dog or have shabbily spliced ends.
If your bass player used the cord to hang himself, don't just get a new bass player:
get a new cord!
kinks and knots are a no-no.
Get fresh batteries for any of those squash boxes that need it. Evaluate their sound one at a time. Fling those that sound bad when added to the chain.
Hate to say it, but that POD gets some pretty fuzzy and full tones without much effort....

[nkiner]

One thing you have to remember about NIN is that trent does a LOT of sound processing on his computer. Because of this, a lot of the things he does to his guitar sound can't necessarily be duplicated in real time, at least not with any commercially available effects that I know of. I'm working on a homemade box right now that intentionally undersamples a signal in order to get a really ugly, deconstructed guitar sound. Another trick he uses from time to time is pitch shifting. If you try to shift the pitch of a signal without changing its speed, you have to add new information to the signal to keep the speed right. Since this new information comes from a computer algorhthym instead of an actual instrument, this means that the further you shift the pitch, the less it sounds like whatever made the sound originally. You can try this out with any effects processor that lets you do pitch shifting. Unfortunately, most canned pitchshifters only work well with single notes. Sound forge also has an algorhthm that lets you do pitch shifting. The single note thing isn't a problem there, but then once again your stuck with something you cant do in real time.

Oh, and as to the pod, i've never used one, but line6's web site says trent uses it, so drstawl is probably on to something there.

Whew! sorry about the long winded response, but as you can see this is something of an obsession of mine ...

-Nate K

[Emeric]

Damn pod..

I guess I will have to buy one... VISA here I go.

Emeric

[reco]

nkiner what is this "home made box" you have? how can i build one? or were did you ge it ? do you like it?

[This message has been edited by reco (edited 10-31-1999).]

[tmcbrinn]

I think it would be near inpossible to copy Trent's guitar sound. He uses every and any effect, as well as lots of sound manipulation. A fast and easy solution would be a DOD grunge box. Its a crappy pedal, but with some sound editing, it can be a good foundation. You can also try using a nearly drained battery to get a cool sound as well. I would try to do lots of layering, with lots of similar but not identical guitar sounds. Its tough, but I have mistakenly come up with some good NIN sounds before.

[nkiner]

The homemade box I refer too is basically just a really horrible a/d and d/a convertor. Exactly how horrible it is at any given moment is adjustable. If you convert a signal to digital with too low a sampling rate you get a phenomena called aliasing, which basically means false information is added to the signal. Depending on how low the sampling rate gets, this can vary from a sound thats vaguely not quite right to a sound that totally doesn't resemble whatever it used to be. Bear in mind this is just a tool for the occasional nasty noise, not a way to get an all purpose 'nin sound'. Trent does use something like it from time to time though. As to making one yourself, its doable, and the parts involved are pretty cheap, but you'll need access to a microcontroller programmer (a piece of hardware that, well, programs microconrollers), and those are pretty expensive (I use the one at work).

-nate k, who is too much of a geek for his own good

[drstawl]

So you can slide in on exactly how much sampling loss you want? I was thinking of a path available to those without electronics
breadboard chops. Just switch your resolution
when recording a .wav to 8 bit, 11KHz. That's pretty darn grungy. But it would be marginally cool to investigate all the bit depths and sample rates around the fixed values available in Windows. Especially when you crank it down under 6 bits but keep the sample rate at 22KHz or higher. That's gotta sound unique.

[This message has been edited by drstawl (edited 11-01-1999).]

[CMiller]

I was checking out some plug-ins a couple weeks ago and came across one that is similiar to what you're talking about. The url is...
http://nav.webring.org/cgi-bin/navcg...cubase;id=2;go

If I remember correctly, it did exactly what you guys are describing. You could vary the amount of sampling loss you wanted. It's a VST plug-in. I don't know if that helps you out any.

[Eddie N]

im just curious to know what settings you would use on the POD to get that sorta sound...im having difficulty with mine trying to get a good metal sound that i like.... i guess the guitar matters too , so if it makes a difference , i have a yamaha pacifica 112 ..

thanks.,,...

- eddie -

[eddybee]

yo all you need is the Digitech X series it could sound like anything i use the Digitech grunge pedal distortion , multi chours x-series, hyper phase x-series, synth wah/envelope filter x-series there's just so many settings to fiddle with
Our band does some NIN covers and couldn't sound any better, This month the digitech df-7 distortion factory x-series is coming out and that pedal is dope check out there site you could test all the pedals online digitech.com
For a fact i know NIN uses ernie ball super slinky strings check out our demos at www.myspace.com/delacroix laterz ...........Eddy

[Outlaws]

Seems to me that NIN uses a lot of DI with their Marshalls and stuff. Not like Marshall is the main thing, but they have done that in the past. Pedals DI'd too. They probably mic soimething at one point or another, but it seems like they like to DI.

[bongolation]

Originally Posted by nkiner

One thing you have to remember about NIN is that trent does a LOT of sound processing on his computer. Because of this, a lot of the things he does to his guitar sound can't necessarily be duplicated in real time, at least not with any commercially available effects that I know of.

That is true of virtually every modern recorded guitar track, whether the guitarist knows it or not. He does his track and the engineers and producer doink with it until they get a killer sound.

That's why these "how do I sound like ___" threads are pretty pointless.

I see articles where the musicians talk about the equipment they used to get that sound on that cut and people go run out and buy it...and they don't come much closer than they were before.

The only guys who know are the engineers. They're the stars.

[spoonie g]

Originally Posted by bongolation

That is true of virtually every modern recorded guitar track, whether the guitarist knows it or not. He does his track and the engineers and producer doink with it until they get a killer sound.

That's why these "how do I sound like ___" threads are pretty pointless.

I see articles where the musicians talk about the equipment they used to get that sound on that cut and people go run out and buy it...and they don't come much closer than they were before.

The only guys who know are the engineers. They're the stars.

This is true, but Reznor actually creates a lot of the sounds in the computer rather than just refining recorded tracks, primarily distortion-wise. He actually also does a lot of the producing and engineering on his albums himself as well. That being said, engineering is almost moreso an art than science and there are an infinite amount of variables that could go into getting a particular sound.

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by Emeric

Damn pod..

I guess I will have to buy one... VISA here I go.

Emeric

My POD story...

I bought a POD based on the way it sounded over headphones in a music store, like a lot of other folks. I had this fantasy of going to gigs with my POD under my arm and guitar in hand - no amp, stompboxes, etc. I actually did it once.

It was easy, I'll give it that. I sent the signal out to the sound guy, and he sent it back to me in a monitor mix. It sounded pretty good to me until my partner in music cranked up his Twin and I got out in front of the mains to listen. No matter what I did, no matter what settings I chose, the POD just sounded thin and scratchy compared to the Twin; there was no comparison.

For a while after that I used the POD as a front end for my '68 (retroengineered to AB763 blackface specs) Super - no modeling or anything except for a Marshall sound I used occasionally, mainly as an FX processor.

Then I found an extremely cherry 1965 Deluxe Reverb. I paid too much for it, but oh man, whatta sweet tone. The POD cannot be made transparent enough so as not to color the sound, so now the it sits in my studio and I get it out sometimes on Jam Night.

[blazingstrings]

I find it funny that people are still replying to this guys post.
Especialy since he started it in 0ct 1999!
HAHA!

-Blaze

[faderbug]

i worked backstage during the werchter rock festival last summer and they use computers for real time guitar processing.

they also run background tracks from those computers.

[Trent Reznor]

I'm here to confirm/deny the rumours and offer a little advice.

It's true that lately we use a lot of computers for realtime processing. It's not true that I use a standalone POD. It's true that my cat's name is Fuckhop.

As for achieving a close sound without spending tens of thousands on computer based processing...there are a few things that may work for you. Try a DOD-FX69 as mentioned, in combination with a Boss CS-2 and a good eq. Another variation is to have a FX69 and a vintage Big Muff on the same chain and use them both with the gains turned down a bit. That way your mixing the signal manipulation from both boxes into a hybrid effect that combines for the same amount of distortion you could get from one pedal, maybe slightly more though.

[Thunder33]

Originally Posted by eddybee

yo all you need is the Digitech X series it could sound like anything i use the Digitech grunge pedal distortion , multi chours x-series, hyper phase x-series, synth wah/envelope filter x-series there's just so many settings to fiddle with
Our band does some NIN covers and couldn't sound any better, This month the digitech df-7 distortion factory x-series is coming out and that pedal is dope check out there site you could test all the pedals online digitech.com
For a fact i know NIN uses ernie ball super slinky strings check out our demos at www.myspace.com/delacroix laterz ...........Eddy

Nothing like drudging up a 6 year old thread to give your advice on it.


At least Trent himself replied.

[Purge]

Originally Posted by Thunder33

At least Trent himself replied.

No he didn't. Call me crazy, but I would imagine that Trent Reznor would know slightly more about keyboards and piano playing than this thread would suggest...
http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=185704


Still, pretty funny anyway.

[Trent Reznor]

Originally Posted by Purge

No he didn't. Call me crazy, but I would imagine that Trent Reznor would know slightly more about keyboards and piano playing than this thread would suggest...
http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=185704


Still, pretty funny anyway.

That was my little brother posting those. Yeah, my little brother Johnny Reznor really needs to learn about keyboards!

[faderbug]

Originally Posted by Trent Reznor

That was my little brother posting those. Yeah, my little brother Johnny Reznor really needs to learn about keyboards!

hey trent, how about the guitar you promised to send me last summer?

the guy with long hair and the 'local crew boss' pass. werchter.

thnx in advance.

[Purge]

Originally Posted by Trent Reznor

That was my little brother posting those. Yeah, my little brother Johnny Reznor really needs to learn about keyboards!

LOL...loved ya with Bowie!!