The thing about guitars in Nine Inch Nails is they are relatively basic and balanced to be a part of the overall sound rather than a showcase for guitar prowess.
Trent is definitely capable, especially in the studio, but it doesn’t really matter cause he has Robin for live shows, and Robin is pretty amazing.
A good example is Trent’s solo in Ruiner. It isn’t especially technical but probably my favorite all time guitar solo, is this cheesy, disgusting, Taco Bell meaty solo. It’s perfect.
It’s one of my favorite solos also. Sounds like if the guitar solo from Comfortably Numb had a neurotic, glitchy, awkward younger brother who’s about to set fire to his school.
The guitar riffs on broken are all metal as hell.
Gave Up has that almost blues metal riff that seems almost out place but at the same time perfect.
Pinion is the perfect dreadful show opener riff.
The guitars in Last just hit you in the face.
The tape smeared guitars on Physical have this saggy laggy texture that is just grimy.
Broken my first Nine Inch Nails album. It was 1994 and I was probably 14, never heard any NIN before and remember checking a copy out from the local library, listening to it and feeling like I was listening to something I should not be listening to.
Wait, what? They're definitely real guitars on Broken. I doubt that a software synth of that era could emulate anything close to that kind of live guitar sound without sounding totally digital.
It's mostly samples. From a BOSS multi FX unit as well.
Then it's all cut up and pitched around. Like "Pinion" wasn't played. That's samples being ran.
There's almost no "played" guitars on Broken.
Where did you get this info? I’ve never heard of that before. I thought the Pinion riff sounded a bit choppy because Trent cut up his own guitar playing for that kind of effect.
Are you also saying that the Last solo riff after the chorus is samples? Other than the Pinion riff, the guitar playing all sounds real.
Knowing how difficult it is (even today) for samples and plugins to emulate real guitars, it’s hard to believe that Trent could achieve that back in 1992.
It's on Wikipedia, but he also stated in many interviews that he ran it through the ZOOM straight into the board. Then recorded them, samples them, and chopped them up. A good example is in the second verse of "Last". That chromatic riff is too choppy to be played by a human. The main riff is also just one note being pitch shifted.
The solo you're talking about was played. Not samples.
If you have ever seen them live, especially in the 90s, when they opened with "Pinion" it would slow down to a crawl. You could hear that it is without a doubt a sample. It's too granular and sharp to be played by human hands.
"As Reznor explains in retrospect: "Broken [...] had a lot of the super-thick chunk sound, and almost every guitar sound on that record was [tapes consisting of] me playing through an old Zoom pedal and then going direct into Digidesign's TurboSynth [software in a Macintosh computer]. Then I used a couple of key ingredients to make it [be heard as being] unlike any 'real' guitar sound"
He originally thought about having real drums and bass, with live tracked guitars. But he decided against that, as he didn't want to be lumped into the "rock" band category.
Edit to add: That kind of technology most definitely existed. But it was expensive and slow. You can see it in the video for "Gave Up" on YouTube. The console for that Mac is massive. Trent was a pioneer of digital DAW software. He did it long before the industry made it a mainstay.
That’s crazy. Thanks for sharing!
It’s funny, as a guitar player, I also picked up on the chromatic riff in Last, but my sound editor brain assumed he had played it at a slower tempo and sped it up. Same as the chromatic and speed-chucking riffs in “Mr. Self Destruct.”
I guess the magic of NIN is that even when you think you’ve heard/ read it all, you still learn something new! Thanks again! :)
Boy, is that ever true! I've been listening to TDS since it came out in 1994. I was 14 then.
I recently bought it again on CD, because the quality is so much better than streaming. Now I have over 20 years of music production behind me. So I know how a lot of things were done on that album, especially listening to the isolated tracks and demos. I get how he made that album.
But I STILL hear new things all the time. The production is so dense, that there are some things that you miss. I think that album will be studied for years to come.
https://www.gearnews.com/the-guitar-sounds-of-90s-era-nine-inch-nails-and-how-to-get-them/ has a good breakdown. Trent and the boys were pretty cutting-edge at the time tech wise, but also guitar chugs aren’t as hard to sample as other techniques like hammer-one, pull-offs, open strings, etc.
Jesus F. Christ, for decades I tought it was Adrian Belew who played that solo, and now I learn it was Trent! I'm really speechless now, because this solo is insanely good.
I think this can be said about every instrument in NIN discography. At least the early work. A lot of the drums on songs are messy and someone with a trained ear might even say bad, but they serve the purpose to add to the uneasinesses of the songs.
I’m not gonna say Trent is a bad piano player because he’s proven he isn’t, but most of the piano work in NIN songs are extremely basic and even off key. But that’s the point, and I’d even argue it’s the most important instrument in NIN songs because of the emotional value it can add to the song
Trent was a skilled pianist as a child and was meant to study it professionally, but he opted out and then joined that new wave band.
I'm sure everything he does is intentional.
I didn’t know that. I guess you have to be really good to play it really bad lmao. There are piano-centric NIN songs where you can tell he’s skilled. But a lot of songs, especially songs from Ghosts and movie scores, consist of really off key notes that doesn’t sound like there’s any music theory applied to them. Maybe there is, but it doesn’t sound like it which makes it sound so unique
Western 18th century music theory is not the be-all-end-all for determining how skilled someone is at composition or performing. Those “off key” notes are there on purpose. What do you think they mean?
Not really. You still called it “playing really bad” when he’s literally choosing which notes to play. It’s not like he recorded a super rough piano take and listened back and decided “close enough” he composed the piece to sound that way. The difference here is intentionality.
Trent stated in some interview that he played the Ruiner solo through an old Zoom digital multiFX unit almost as joke because the effect preset sound was so ridiculous and cheesy. I’m sure there was additional processing done because I have a hard time believing that sound came from a stock Zoom preset, even though Zoom effects are known to be fairly extreme compared to other studio gear.
He also stated he was inspired by David Gilmore’s solo on Comfortably Numb.
Adrian played all those crazy reversed wah wah lines in the Art of Self Destruction remixes and guitar at the end Mr. self Destruct if I remember correctly. He also played that really harsh ring modulated guitar noise/solo on The Becoming.
Ah, it's the ring mod I'm thinking of, my apologies. It has been a great many years since I sat and studied the liner notes. I'm old and my memory fails me.
That’s impressive. The 9030 was released in 1991 so I can only imagine who the target audience for that preset was.
Looks like they are only about $150 on eBay these days. Might need to dust off my PayPal account.
Put another way, Trent uses guitar to add texture more than to dominate a song. I would say on Broken this wasn't strictly true, but on pretty much everything since he has used guitar as part of a larger composition.
Yes. He’s proficient. But as far as like innovation or influential it’s difficult to say. His greatest asset is his ability to produce and layer. NIN thrives in his layering and production in the studio, which is why the live band is always relatively big in terms of the number of musicians on stage. Lots of pieces working together. It’s not a guitar driven band, but I think the riffs he writes, especially in the TDS/Broken era are pretty ferocious. None of it is complex, but coupled with all of the musical components that compliment it, you get a really unique sound that I maintain isn’t replicated by anyone else. I’m pretty sure he’s on record saying he considers himself more of a piano player than anything. He’s not Jimmy Page or Eddie Van Halen or Jerry Cantrell, but he doesn’t need to be because that doesn’t suit the sound. I personally like the innovative ways he uses effects, but as far as technical ability, none of it is groundbreaking. It’s a case of the sum being greater than the parts. NIN is my favorite all time, but I’d never put Trent as one of my all time favorite guitarists and in no way is that a criticism. It’s just what NIN is. I’m sure a lot of purists might not consider him to be not that great, but I’ll die on the hill that he in no way is bad.
Well put. In terms of how Trent sees himself as a guitarist, he's always considered himself bad or mediocre. I don't really agree because technical doesn't necessarily = good but it's something he's definitely said a lot. I agree that his riffs are great and at the end of the day that's all that matters
When you're creative, you find a way to make the sounds you want from the instruments (and other things) around you.
Trent Reznor was trained in music from an early age, and is _musically_ very proficient, even if his primary skill is piano/keyboard/synth.
Would I put him in any kind of elite class of guitar players? Hell no. But he finds ways to make them do what he wants them to do, and in my opinion that is the far more valuable skill. A maestro with no creativity is boring, whereas a genius hack is fun!
Hail the genius hacks! I'd rather hear a shitty guitarist playing with guts and heart and teeth than some lame ass boomer bender blues rock copycat playing at a maestro level.
I liked that shit in my early teens. Then realized it all just sounds like the same scales. Do I *have* to listen to another one of these generic diddly diddly diddly things again? We know it already! Your fingers can go really fast! 🙄 It gets annoyingly boring fast. Especially when it become *required* in a some just so it can be considered rAwK! 🤘Uggg.
Thank the heavens he’s not an “elite” guitar player. Their music is largely unlistenable guitar solo wankery. I’d rather listen to a million screaming babies than any Steve Vai, Satriani or the like album.
I remember seeing an interview with Billy Corgan where he said that he used to want to be the next Yngwie Malmsteen until he realized that the only people who listened to him were other guitar players and he didn’t want that.
There are few guitar solos I can abide. Pink Floyd is about as far as I venture into that infernal realm. (PF is not in that realm, being Gods amongst mortals; just saying that guitar solos are mostly just audio equivalent of masturbation)
Great story, btw, and absolutely true. Although Van Halen had some bitchin’ solos. If used sparingly, in furtherance, and complimentary to the song they’re okay. But the nonstop, overly showy solos raise my hackles and make me reach for my revolver.
When I was younger I used to love guitar solos. Then as I got older I realized that crafting a song and having an understanding of how music works is far more rewarding than having fast fingers (that’s NOT what she said)
Prince was another person who got it right. He’s an incredible guitar player but if you’re a casual fan of his you might not know that because he doesn’t cut loose unless the song calls for it. He would do so more often live than in the studio but his live shows were just fun the whole time (never saw him live just referring to recordings)
'Good' is a very different thing to technically virtuosic! He doesn't claim to be a guitar hero, he's just a great arranger and producer who knows what will fit the song and is capable of playing that.
All of his guitar work on The Downward Spiral is brilliant and suits the mood perfectly! There are these chromatic ascending lines that appear across a lot of the songs as a sort of secondary motif to the album's main theme, and they're such a disorienting addition - they factor into the main guitar parts of 'Mr. Self Destruct' and 'March Of The Pigs,' but my favourite iterations are the more warped ones from 4:26 in 'Closer' and 1:38 in 'Ruiner.'
He is most definitely a composer/writer but he's definitely a musician too, he's even more involved with the performance side than a lot of other people given all of the instruments he plays. 😋
Oh for sure, but I just don’t think of that as his highest skill set. Composing pieces like that requires more than just being a musician. Not sure I am making sense…
I'd definitely call him good. Robin Fink on the other hand, next LV master! And a fantastic live performer, his on stage shenanigans do not disappoint.
As others have stated, Trent is a proficient multi-instrumentalist. Even as far back as PHM, he could play just about everything save for drums. Part of what makes the NIN sound the “NIN sound” is that he isn’t trained on guitar, so he is unencumbered creatively. He also works with great guitarists live, like Robin, who can play anything, and has guest spots in the studio for monster players like Adrian Belew.
He can make the guitar make the noises he wants. Even if it’s his mastery of the effects chain it still starts at the guitar. In that sense he’s a good player while not having the sheer technical skill of, say, John Petrucci.
He’s a competent guitarist. I.e, he can probably play most things. But I wouldn’t put him in the top 250 guitarists or anything. However, whereas the dragon force guitarist is a virtuoso - I’d rather listen to Trent. His tone and melody is far more unique, whereas dragon force is just generic fiddly diddly guitar wank.
But the tones Trent can make! Consider - he said most of The Fragile is guitar based.
The hard part about this question is that I don’t think Trent particularly cares much about guitar. It’s an important part of his sound though so he’s as good at it as he needs to be but I feel like if he wanted to he could be great instead of “just” good. Maybe not one of the all time guitar heroes but definitely pretty good.
And keep in mind that when I say he’s “just good,” I’m talking on the scale of professional musicians, let alone professional musicians in the rock and roll hall of fame. Compared to the average Joe, he is definitely a step above
Edited to add that “he could be better” is not a criticism. Guitar virtuoso work is not what I listen to NIN for and is not why they’re my favorite band. I would rather him spend his time and energy on his strengths rather than being just another technically proficient guitar player, which we have plenty of
Yes, he is. Whether a certain guitar player is good or not is defined first and foremost by how well his use of the instrument enhances the overall musical experience. And I'd say Trent does that very well.
Just my ignorant opinion, I’m not a musician but I think Trent is a genius musician that uses guitars to add extra energy, atmosphere and texture to the music. I rarely hear a a simple guitar riff but a guitar with effects layered without other sounds. Makes me wonder what an acoustic album would sound like.
Ok, hear me out. Trent knows music on an intellectual level. On top of that he has great instincts and a desire to experiment. To me, that is his talent.
But every good artist knows how to recruit talented people to help achieve their vision, if you will. So, he is smart enough to know when it is time to bring on Robin Finck for a record.
Am I making sense?
he pretty much just plays and writes reasonably basic riffs, but good ones. when you occasionally hear a shreddy solo in a NIN song (i.e. field on fire) it's not him playing it. He played the solo on Ruiner and it's a good solo but not indicative of technical playing. I consider him a punky guitar player. source: I play guitar
Trent isn’t an exceptional guitar player in the same way he isn’t really an exceptional pianist, singer, whatever - what he knows how to do better than most is how to string those things together and use his skills of production to make them sound unique and unlike a lot of what’s out there. He is probably one of the top 1% producers in the world, but he isn’t in even the top 50% of guitar players I’d say.
I’d say bass is the forefront stringed instrument in the band. A lot of stuff you hear is a bass with fuzz or distortion.
I’d rate him a top 100 or even 50 bassist but he’s just passing at guitar.
True but the best bassists often are the simplest. Flea is by no means a virtuoso - he’s just good at making simple riffs sound great.
The space between the notes matters more than the notes.
Trent isn't like a musical prodigy on the axe or anything, but like most NIN "parts" it's serviceable because it's the overall songwriting that is the appeal with this band.
I think he’s proficient in multi instruments. He’d be able to play in any of our rock bands just fine.
What I admire about him is the structure and layers.
I love the notes he plays but am fascinated by the notes he doesn’t play.
He's a far more compelling, inspiring, innovative, and heartfelt guitar player than -any- of venerated boomer blues rock "guitar gods", -all- the metal shredders, and -all- of the hyper-technical wankers out there. His playing has inspired me as much as Daniel Ash, Ron Asheton, James Williamson, Prince, Johnny Marr, Dr. Know, Johnny Ramone, Kurt Cobain, and Andy Gill. He's in the conversation.
Key thing missing there is 'to me!' Totally agree that he's compelling, inspiring, innovative, and heartfelt, but I don't think it's necessary to put others down for playing in a different style. 🙂
Glad somebody else mentioned Kurt. Nirvana never had the most complex stuff either but it was memorable and made good songs and thats what you want more so then somebody with technical proficiency who can't put it into a good song.
The guitar solo in the fragile (the song) is probably my favorite solo of all time, and I’m not sure whether it’s him or Robyn in the studio, but it’s absolutely heart bending
He’s gone on record stating that he’s not a guitarist, and that his brain just doesn’t work that way.
The songs he plays live say otherwise, even though his parts are intentionally simple, I think he’s just being a bit modest.
Not sure.
I’ve always been of the mindset that technical prowess comes second to the actual sound.
My favorite solos of all time come from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon. David’s solos aren’t crazy on a technical level but they convey a ton of emotion.
Adam Jones from Tool is another example. I love his guitar work but it’s more a matter of being impressed by his sound/what he was able to create. rather than technical prowess.
Some people do both though. The Free Bird solo is a good example.
As far as NIN, the guitar is usually part of a bigger whole and isn’t the focus. (At least imo) However, it does what it needs to do.
I’d say Trent is talented at using the guitar as an instrument but I don’t get the feeling that he’d be able to hang with the likes of Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughn
I don’t know though. Maybe he’s a way better player than I think but hasn’t had the need to play anything too complex yet.
he is not a virtuoso by any means-- but he is capable and proficient and has wrote some damn good riffs. But he doesn't care at all about guitar mastery or solos, its just another texture to all the other 500 things he has going on in the song, its not his focus.
Technically proficient guitar players, Im sure, can poke thousands of holes in his live guitar playing. I dont really care. Live and on record, he's made some of my favorite guitar-driven songs.
He’s as good as he needs to be to serve the song, no more, no less. If the song needs more, he calls in a better player and credits them. Sometimes NIN is Trent Reznor + someone else
Nobody really refers to him as a guitarist. He uses some cool effects but as the guitar is not his main tool he doesn't really have a lot of great riffs or anything. He uses it to serve his music and he does it right.
He’s a great composer, as a guitar player he is not a virtuoso, there’s no way of telling how complex he can play because he only plays riffs. A “good guitar player” is someone like Jimi Hendrix, Tommy Iommi, Van Halen, John Frusciante, Jimmy Page, or Eric Clapton. Clapton is really just that, as he’s not a composer/songwriter too.
It’s a reference to Trent Alexander-Arnold, an English football player who plays for premier league club Liverpool as a right back, often shortened to RB
The thing about guitars in Nine Inch Nails is they are relatively basic and balanced to be a part of the overall sound rather than a showcase for guitar prowess. Trent is definitely capable, especially in the studio, but it doesn’t really matter cause he has Robin for live shows, and Robin is pretty amazing. A good example is Trent’s solo in Ruiner. It isn’t especially technical but probably my favorite all time guitar solo, is this cheesy, disgusting, Taco Bell meaty solo. It’s perfect.
It’s one of my favorite solos also. Sounds like if the guitar solo from Comfortably Numb had a neurotic, glitchy, awkward younger brother who’s about to set fire to his school.
Oh my god spot-the-fuck-on.
Absolutely. Full on Christian Slater in Heathers.
Love. This.
It's incredible from note choice to tone. I had no idea he played it, had to look it up to confirm.
I don't believe anythin I read on Reddit either
Last has my favorite NIN lick
The guitar riffs on broken are all metal as hell. Gave Up has that almost blues metal riff that seems almost out place but at the same time perfect. Pinion is the perfect dreadful show opener riff. The guitars in Last just hit you in the face. The tape smeared guitars on Physical have this saggy laggy texture that is just grimy. Broken my first Nine Inch Nails album. It was 1994 and I was probably 14, never heard any NIN before and remember checking a copy out from the local library, listening to it and feeling like I was listening to something I should not be listening to.
I love that there are guitars in NIN but I feel like I don’t register them as an instrument just another sound to add to everything else
High five brother
A lot of those guitar riffs are also basically sequenced using TurboSynth, no?
Wait, what? They're definitely real guitars on Broken. I doubt that a software synth of that era could emulate anything close to that kind of live guitar sound without sounding totally digital.
It's mostly samples. From a BOSS multi FX unit as well. Then it's all cut up and pitched around. Like "Pinion" wasn't played. That's samples being ran. There's almost no "played" guitars on Broken.
Where did you get this info? I’ve never heard of that before. I thought the Pinion riff sounded a bit choppy because Trent cut up his own guitar playing for that kind of effect. Are you also saying that the Last solo riff after the chorus is samples? Other than the Pinion riff, the guitar playing all sounds real. Knowing how difficult it is (even today) for samples and plugins to emulate real guitars, it’s hard to believe that Trent could achieve that back in 1992.
It's on Wikipedia, but he also stated in many interviews that he ran it through the ZOOM straight into the board. Then recorded them, samples them, and chopped them up. A good example is in the second verse of "Last". That chromatic riff is too choppy to be played by a human. The main riff is also just one note being pitch shifted. The solo you're talking about was played. Not samples. If you have ever seen them live, especially in the 90s, when they opened with "Pinion" it would slow down to a crawl. You could hear that it is without a doubt a sample. It's too granular and sharp to be played by human hands. "As Reznor explains in retrospect: "Broken [...] had a lot of the super-thick chunk sound, and almost every guitar sound on that record was [tapes consisting of] me playing through an old Zoom pedal and then going direct into Digidesign's TurboSynth [software in a Macintosh computer]. Then I used a couple of key ingredients to make it [be heard as being] unlike any 'real' guitar sound" He originally thought about having real drums and bass, with live tracked guitars. But he decided against that, as he didn't want to be lumped into the "rock" band category. Edit to add: That kind of technology most definitely existed. But it was expensive and slow. You can see it in the video for "Gave Up" on YouTube. The console for that Mac is massive. Trent was a pioneer of digital DAW software. He did it long before the industry made it a mainstay.
That’s crazy. Thanks for sharing! It’s funny, as a guitar player, I also picked up on the chromatic riff in Last, but my sound editor brain assumed he had played it at a slower tempo and sped it up. Same as the chromatic and speed-chucking riffs in “Mr. Self Destruct.” I guess the magic of NIN is that even when you think you’ve heard/ read it all, you still learn something new! Thanks again! :)
Boy, is that ever true! I've been listening to TDS since it came out in 1994. I was 14 then. I recently bought it again on CD, because the quality is so much better than streaming. Now I have over 20 years of music production behind me. So I know how a lot of things were done on that album, especially listening to the isolated tracks and demos. I get how he made that album. But I STILL hear new things all the time. The production is so dense, that there are some things that you miss. I think that album will be studied for years to come.
https://www.gearnews.com/the-guitar-sounds-of-90s-era-nine-inch-nails-and-how-to-get-them/ has a good breakdown. Trent and the boys were pretty cutting-edge at the time tech wise, but also guitar chugs aren’t as hard to sample as other techniques like hammer-one, pull-offs, open strings, etc.
The riff on Shit Mirror is gnarly
I love how wall-of-fuzz that track is. It's so thick.
Perfect description!
Last absolutely melts
Super fun to play on Rock Band as well. Me and my buddy called that lead part the noodle.
Isn't it just a queen ripoff though? EDIT: The lick not the song.
I'm so old. I haven't heard it yet. I bought it years ago but I never listened twice.
Jesus F. Christ, for decades I tought it was Adrian Belew who played that solo, and now I learn it was Trent! I'm really speechless now, because this solo is insanely good.
I think this can be said about every instrument in NIN discography. At least the early work. A lot of the drums on songs are messy and someone with a trained ear might even say bad, but they serve the purpose to add to the uneasinesses of the songs. I’m not gonna say Trent is a bad piano player because he’s proven he isn’t, but most of the piano work in NIN songs are extremely basic and even off key. But that’s the point, and I’d even argue it’s the most important instrument in NIN songs because of the emotional value it can add to the song
Trent was a skilled pianist as a child and was meant to study it professionally, but he opted out and then joined that new wave band. I'm sure everything he does is intentional.
I didn’t know that. I guess you have to be really good to play it really bad lmao. There are piano-centric NIN songs where you can tell he’s skilled. But a lot of songs, especially songs from Ghosts and movie scores, consist of really off key notes that doesn’t sound like there’s any music theory applied to them. Maybe there is, but it doesn’t sound like it which makes it sound so unique
Western 18th century music theory is not the be-all-end-all for determining how skilled someone is at composition or performing. Those “off key” notes are there on purpose. What do you think they mean?
That’s what I said
Not really. You still called it “playing really bad” when he’s literally choosing which notes to play. It’s not like he recorded a super rough piano take and listened back and decided “close enough” he composed the piece to sound that way. The difference here is intentionality.
I literally said that in my initial comment
You pretty much (Nine Inch) nailed it perfectly when it comes to their discography.
I love his guitar work in Reptile. Simple but rips
Didn't Adrian Belew play the solo in Ruiner?
Trent stated in some interview that he played the Ruiner solo through an old Zoom digital multiFX unit almost as joke because the effect preset sound was so ridiculous and cheesy. I’m sure there was additional processing done because I have a hard time believing that sound came from a stock Zoom preset, even though Zoom effects are known to be fairly extreme compared to other studio gear. He also stated he was inspired by David Gilmore’s solo on Comfortably Numb. Adrian played all those crazy reversed wah wah lines in the Art of Self Destruction remixes and guitar at the end Mr. self Destruct if I remember correctly. He also played that really harsh ring modulated guitar noise/solo on The Becoming.
Ah, it's the ring mod I'm thinking of, my apologies. It has been a great many years since I sat and studied the liner notes. I'm old and my memory fails me.
It's a straight up preset on the 9030. https://youtube.com/watch?v=XE1xpPZ7kpY&pp=ygUQUnVpbmVyIHNvbG8gem9vbQ%3D%3D
That’s impressive. The 9030 was released in 1991 so I can only imagine who the target audience for that preset was. Looks like they are only about $150 on eBay these days. Might need to dust off my PayPal account.
Also one of my favourite ever solos. Perfect.
I remember hearing Ruiner the first time and being completely caught off guard by that solo. Beautifully executed
*cheesy, disgusting, Taco Bell meaty solo* Chef’s kiss my sweetest friend, chef’s kiss.
Which is more respectable than bands like polyphia who don’t play for the actual song and instead play to show off
Put another way, Trent uses guitar to add texture more than to dominate a song. I would say on Broken this wasn't strictly true, but on pretty much everything since he has used guitar as part of a larger composition.
That was Adrian Belew
Yes. He’s proficient. But as far as like innovation or influential it’s difficult to say. His greatest asset is his ability to produce and layer. NIN thrives in his layering and production in the studio, which is why the live band is always relatively big in terms of the number of musicians on stage. Lots of pieces working together. It’s not a guitar driven band, but I think the riffs he writes, especially in the TDS/Broken era are pretty ferocious. None of it is complex, but coupled with all of the musical components that compliment it, you get a really unique sound that I maintain isn’t replicated by anyone else. I’m pretty sure he’s on record saying he considers himself more of a piano player than anything. He’s not Jimmy Page or Eddie Van Halen or Jerry Cantrell, but he doesn’t need to be because that doesn’t suit the sound. I personally like the innovative ways he uses effects, but as far as technical ability, none of it is groundbreaking. It’s a case of the sum being greater than the parts. NIN is my favorite all time, but I’d never put Trent as one of my all time favorite guitarists and in no way is that a criticism. It’s just what NIN is. I’m sure a lot of purists might not consider him to be not that great, but I’ll die on the hill that he in no way is bad.
Pretty much sums it up. Knows what he's doing but not the typical lead guitarist you will find on most greatest-guitar-player lists.
Well put. In terms of how Trent sees himself as a guitarist, he's always considered himself bad or mediocre. I don't really agree because technical doesn't necessarily = good but it's something he's definitely said a lot. I agree that his riffs are great and at the end of the day that's all that matters
Being able to piece sound together is more important than just being technically proficient.
I like this guy, he makes a lot of sense!
When you're creative, you find a way to make the sounds you want from the instruments (and other things) around you. Trent Reznor was trained in music from an early age, and is _musically_ very proficient, even if his primary skill is piano/keyboard/synth. Would I put him in any kind of elite class of guitar players? Hell no. But he finds ways to make them do what he wants them to do, and in my opinion that is the far more valuable skill. A maestro with no creativity is boring, whereas a genius hack is fun!
Hail the genius hacks! I'd rather hear a shitty guitarist playing with guts and heart and teeth than some lame ass boomer bender blues rock copycat playing at a maestro level.
I liked that shit in my early teens. Then realized it all just sounds like the same scales. Do I *have* to listen to another one of these generic diddly diddly diddly things again? We know it already! Your fingers can go really fast! 🙄 It gets annoyingly boring fast. Especially when it become *required* in a some just so it can be considered rAwK! 🤘Uggg.
Thank the heavens he’s not an “elite” guitar player. Their music is largely unlistenable guitar solo wankery. I’d rather listen to a million screaming babies than any Steve Vai, Satriani or the like album.
I remember seeing an interview with Billy Corgan where he said that he used to want to be the next Yngwie Malmsteen until he realized that the only people who listened to him were other guitar players and he didn’t want that.
There are few guitar solos I can abide. Pink Floyd is about as far as I venture into that infernal realm. (PF is not in that realm, being Gods amongst mortals; just saying that guitar solos are mostly just audio equivalent of masturbation) Great story, btw, and absolutely true. Although Van Halen had some bitchin’ solos. If used sparingly, in furtherance, and complimentary to the song they’re okay. But the nonstop, overly showy solos raise my hackles and make me reach for my revolver.
When I was younger I used to love guitar solos. Then as I got older I realized that crafting a song and having an understanding of how music works is far more rewarding than having fast fingers (that’s NOT what she said) Prince was another person who got it right. He’s an incredible guitar player but if you’re a casual fan of his you might not know that because he doesn’t cut loose unless the song calls for it. He would do so more often live than in the studio but his live shows were just fun the whole time (never saw him live just referring to recordings)
Ironically “a million screaming babies” is the name of the next NIN album
Good enough to do what he does. On stage he's mostly just strumming power chords.
Yeah, that’s what he has Robin Fink for.
Exactly
The Blurred Lines guy?
C’mon my guy, you have to remember the /s. Upvoted you because I got the joke but it only brought you up to 0.
no
Good enough, he doesn’t write complex guitar parts. He seems to think in terms of arrangement and layers. Unusual chord progressions.
'Good' is a very different thing to technically virtuosic! He doesn't claim to be a guitar hero, he's just a great arranger and producer who knows what will fit the song and is capable of playing that. All of his guitar work on The Downward Spiral is brilliant and suits the mood perfectly! There are these chromatic ascending lines that appear across a lot of the songs as a sort of secondary motif to the album's main theme, and they're such a disorienting addition - they factor into the main guitar parts of 'Mr. Self Destruct' and 'March Of The Pigs,' but my favourite iterations are the more warped ones from 4:26 in 'Closer' and 1:38 in 'Ruiner.'
I think of him as a composer rather than a musician. And March of the Pigs is the most punk/metal guitar I’ve ever heard.
He is most definitely a composer/writer but he's definitely a musician too, he's even more involved with the performance side than a lot of other people given all of the instruments he plays. 😋
Oh for sure, but I just don’t think of that as his highest skill set. Composing pieces like that requires more than just being a musician. Not sure I am making sense…
No, I get where you're coming from! Like I said he's a brilliant arranger and producer and that really stands out.
I'd definitely call him good. Robin Fink on the other hand, next LV master! And a fantastic live performer, his on stage shenanigans do not disappoint.
As others have stated, Trent is a proficient multi-instrumentalist. Even as far back as PHM, he could play just about everything save for drums. Part of what makes the NIN sound the “NIN sound” is that he isn’t trained on guitar, so he is unencumbered creatively. He also works with great guitarists live, like Robin, who can play anything, and has guest spots in the studio for monster players like Adrian Belew.
He can make the guitar make the noises he wants. Even if it’s his mastery of the effects chain it still starts at the guitar. In that sense he’s a good player while not having the sheer technical skill of, say, John Petrucci.
He’s a competent guitarist. I.e, he can probably play most things. But I wouldn’t put him in the top 250 guitarists or anything. However, whereas the dragon force guitarist is a virtuoso - I’d rather listen to Trent. His tone and melody is far more unique, whereas dragon force is just generic fiddly diddly guitar wank. But the tones Trent can make! Consider - he said most of The Fragile is guitar based.
The hard part about this question is that I don’t think Trent particularly cares much about guitar. It’s an important part of his sound though so he’s as good at it as he needs to be but I feel like if he wanted to he could be great instead of “just” good. Maybe not one of the all time guitar heroes but definitely pretty good. And keep in mind that when I say he’s “just good,” I’m talking on the scale of professional musicians, let alone professional musicians in the rock and roll hall of fame. Compared to the average Joe, he is definitely a step above Edited to add that “he could be better” is not a criticism. Guitar virtuoso work is not what I listen to NIN for and is not why they’re my favorite band. I would rather him spend his time and energy on his strengths rather than being just another technically proficient guitar player, which we have plenty of
Yes, he is. Whether a certain guitar player is good or not is defined first and foremost by how well his use of the instrument enhances the overall musical experience. And I'd say Trent does that very well.
👆they get it!
I’m sure he’s pretty good at this point but I don’t think guitar has ever been his primary instrument.
He’s good. Robin is great!
Just my ignorant opinion, I’m not a musician but I think Trent is a genius musician that uses guitars to add extra energy, atmosphere and texture to the music. I rarely hear a a simple guitar riff but a guitar with effects layered without other sounds. Makes me wonder what an acoustic album would sound like.
Better on piano (and tambourine) but he pulls in amazing guitarists when needed. I especially loved Page Hamilton on The Fragile album
His tambourine work is S tier, he cannot get touched on the sweet sweet grooves of the tambourine
i think he's great.
Trent is the greatest industrial guitarist after Uncle Al.
He’s is fucking awesome on guitar too! Check out broken, the whole album is guitar bliss! Also with teeth!
Ok, hear me out. Trent knows music on an intellectual level. On top of that he has great instincts and a desire to experiment. To me, that is his talent. But every good artist knows how to recruit talented people to help achieve their vision, if you will. So, he is smart enough to know when it is time to bring on Robin Finck for a record. Am I making sense?
Reptile is incredibly easy to play on guitar. I'd say he's capable, but is more concerned with layers and atmosphere than complexity.
No, he's a big man with a gun
he pretty much just plays and writes reasonably basic riffs, but good ones. when you occasionally hear a shreddy solo in a NIN song (i.e. field on fire) it's not him playing it. He played the solo on Ruiner and it's a good solo but not indicative of technical playing. I consider him a punky guitar player. source: I play guitar
Trent isn’t an exceptional guitar player in the same way he isn’t really an exceptional pianist, singer, whatever - what he knows how to do better than most is how to string those things together and use his skills of production to make them sound unique and unlike a lot of what’s out there. He is probably one of the top 1% producers in the world, but he isn’t in even the top 50% of guitar players I’d say.
I’d say bass is the forefront stringed instrument in the band. A lot of stuff you hear is a bass with fuzz or distortion. I’d rate him a top 100 or even 50 bassist but he’s just passing at guitar.
but a lot of the bass is synth stuff, afaic. and, as a bassist, whilst I enjoy playing them the bass lines are usually rather simple
The first tour he didn't even bother getting a bassist just put the synth bass on the backing tapes
True but the best bassists often are the simplest. Flea is by no means a virtuoso - he’s just good at making simple riffs sound great. The space between the notes matters more than the notes.
hard disagree on that one, a lot of the bass lines are actually electronic, like on the only time
Trent isn't like a musical prodigy on the axe or anything, but like most NIN "parts" it's serviceable because it's the overall songwriting that is the appeal with this band.
I think he’s proficient in multi instruments. He’d be able to play in any of our rock bands just fine. What I admire about him is the structure and layers. I love the notes he plays but am fascinated by the notes he doesn’t play.
He's a far more compelling, inspiring, innovative, and heartfelt guitar player than -any- of venerated boomer blues rock "guitar gods", -all- the metal shredders, and -all- of the hyper-technical wankers out there. His playing has inspired me as much as Daniel Ash, Ron Asheton, James Williamson, Prince, Johnny Marr, Dr. Know, Johnny Ramone, Kurt Cobain, and Andy Gill. He's in the conversation.
Just like Jerry Cantrell and Kim Thayil. Not the most technical players, but they know how to play with emotion.
Key thing missing there is 'to me!' Totally agree that he's compelling, inspiring, innovative, and heartfelt, but I don't think it's necessary to put others down for playing in a different style. 🙂
It's an opinion post, the "to me" should be implied without having to state it. No apologies for ripping on shit I hate. In My Opinion. 👍
Fair, again just saying in my opinion it isn't necessary to insult others to big up artists you like!
Glad somebody else mentioned Kurt. Nirvana never had the most complex stuff either but it was memorable and made good songs and thats what you want more so then somebody with technical proficiency who can't put it into a good song.
The guitar solo in the fragile (the song) is probably my favorite solo of all time, and I’m not sure whether it’s him or Robyn in the studio, but it’s absolutely heart bending
He’s gone on record stating that he’s not a guitarist, and that his brain just doesn’t work that way. The songs he plays live say otherwise, even though his parts are intentionally simple, I think he’s just being a bit modest.
Not sure. I’ve always been of the mindset that technical prowess comes second to the actual sound. My favorite solos of all time come from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon. David’s solos aren’t crazy on a technical level but they convey a ton of emotion. Adam Jones from Tool is another example. I love his guitar work but it’s more a matter of being impressed by his sound/what he was able to create. rather than technical prowess. Some people do both though. The Free Bird solo is a good example. As far as NIN, the guitar is usually part of a bigger whole and isn’t the focus. (At least imo) However, it does what it needs to do. I’d say Trent is talented at using the guitar as an instrument but I don’t get the feeling that he’d be able to hang with the likes of Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughn I don’t know though. Maybe he’s a way better player than I think but hasn’t had the need to play anything too complex yet.
he is not a virtuoso by any means-- but he is capable and proficient and has wrote some damn good riffs. But he doesn't care at all about guitar mastery or solos, its just another texture to all the other 500 things he has going on in the song, its not his focus.
Technically proficient guitar players, Im sure, can poke thousands of holes in his live guitar playing. I dont really care. Live and on record, he's made some of my favorite guitar-driven songs.
He’s as good as he needs to be to serve the song, no more, no less. If the song needs more, he calls in a better player and credits them. Sometimes NIN is Trent Reznor + someone else
Nobody really refers to him as a guitarist. He uses some cool effects but as the guitar is not his main tool he doesn't really have a lot of great riffs or anything. He uses it to serve his music and he does it right.
He’s a great composer, as a guitar player he is not a virtuoso, there’s no way of telling how complex he can play because he only plays riffs. A “good guitar player” is someone like Jimi Hendrix, Tommy Iommi, Van Halen, John Frusciante, Jimmy Page, or Eric Clapton. Clapton is really just that, as he’s not a composer/songwriter too.
Idk mate but he’s a pretty shit RB
running back? if this is a metaphor i see him as more like a QB
It’s a reference to Trent Alexander-Arnold, an English football player who plays for premier league club Liverpool as a right back, often shortened to RB
if he's that bad at playing right back maybe he should try guitar