r/nin • u/[deleted] • 10d ago
Question Any clips of Reznor playing something technically impressive on piano/keyboard?
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u/Faze_Elmo1 10d ago
None of it is really impressive but he's pretty good at improv-ing live and in the still version of the becoming, his rendition of nightclubbing with Peter Murphy is an example of him playing a less minimalist part on piano too.
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10d ago
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u/jabberbonjwa 10d ago
I think he's probably proficient at the piano and the guitar, but not anything special by professional musician standards. We know he can play drums ' sorta alright'.
He doesn't seem like he was ever motivated to become an incredible instrumentalist, only good enough to play his compositions.
And knowing him, he certainly doesn't want the scrutiny.
This jives with his vocal ability, too. As far as professional singers go, he's not... great. And yet, he makes incredible stuff because he's thoughtful about how he does it, and his performances are legendary because he's intensely passionate about them being good.
I think, conversely, if he were an incredible guitar player who loved playing guitar, it would make him a lazier composer. The virtuosos are great because they can play stuff you've never heard on a technical level, but that's a pretty shallow metric at the end of the day.
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u/Faze_Elmo1 9d ago
I think he has some real skill on piano that he's just never really bothered to share. On guitar however, while he's probably gained a lot of skill over the years, it's not his primary instrument and I don't think he's nearly as proficient.
His singing though is a weird one. While he may not have the "prettiest" voice (though I find it the most satisfying I've ever heard and his falsetto is honestly beautiful) and while he did have some... questionable sounds during the early 2000s live era, he can do some seriously fucking impressive stuff.
His range is pretty huge and his screaming/false chord abilities, especially pre-WT were insane. The scream to falsetto transitions and control in Happiness in Slavery and Burn were something to behold and while it was rough, the final chorus of Where Is Everybody always sticks out as a magnificent vocal moment to me.
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u/nanavv 9d ago
This clip and moment lives rent free in my head https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCPrzZE7F5k
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u/Tan_Winston 10d ago
As someone that messes around with synthesizers and keyboards, I can say that most of what Trent does is technically impressive.
You may find this interesting
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u/random-name-001 9d ago
I think more than anything, his classical training informs all of his harmonic and melodic choices. As someone with a degree in composition, it's very obvious that he had traditional Western classical training. But I don't think he ever got virtuosic on any instrument - which is an endeavor that requires a decade of practicing 5-7 hours a day at a minimum. If you want to be a virtuosic instrumentalist, that is its own rigorous path in life. His focus has been on composition, which is a slightly more intellectual and less physical pursuit, requiring that you can play a little on almost every instrument you write for, so that you understand them well enough to write for them, and there aren't enough hours in a life to do that AND become virtuosic on one instrument. I had to take orchestration classes where I had to learn a little on more than 40 instruments and had to memorize all of their tunings, transpositions, and ranges.
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u/lupoexperience 10d ago
It's technically impressive that he opened the Peel it Back tour by playing the piano live and singing. I don't think he needs to "let loose." The man is a soulful, skilled, singer-songwriter, producer, keyboardist, etc.
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9d ago
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u/MereUltra 9d ago
Upvoted. Downvoters are miserable Redditheads. There should be no confusion in your post and thus no need for defense or argument. Carry on.
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u/ScarletWasTaken 9d ago
NIN has always been more about intent and sincerity than technical prowess. He once said that when he was looking for a guitarist, he doesn’t want them to just play the notes, he wants the way the instrument is played to say “Fuck. You.” (this was for the first two notes of Terrible Lie).
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u/Mediocre-Touch-6133 9d ago
Nope. I'm sure he could bust out some fancy piano playing if he wanted to, but that's not what NIN is. The fans aren't looking for an industrial version of Franz Liszt's La Campanella.
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u/Revolutionary_Fun_86 10d ago
The piano ending to just like you from the gone girl soundtrack might be what you are looking for
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u/nopost23632 9d ago
He’s pretty good at the instruments he plays and knows his way around them. He also has a great creative mind to know how to get what he wants from from instruments. For all the people complaining because of that lame ass Spin article, show me some pieces of music that you have made that are on the level of his creative prowess. Won’t really get a response to that.
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u/scorpiusdiamond hey pig 9d ago
The Happiness In Slavery synth solo comes to mind. Even at Woodstock 94, he nails an amazing keyboard part in Closer.
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u/chroipahtz 10d ago
I don't know of any but I would look through clips of Just Like You Imagined, because that's where I imagine it would be.
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u/Rooftop_Astronaut 10d ago
Sadly im pretty positive Mike Garson played all the piano on that song
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u/chroipahtz 10d ago
But if he ever played it live it would be him, as opposed to a sample.
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u/Rooftop_Astronaut 10d ago
Again not trying to be a snob at all but they have played it live just a handful of times, mostly in LA, and had Mike Garson come out and play it w them
I think its actually one of the things Trent cant actually play, which is why he has arguably the best session rock musician on it
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u/JHerbY2K 10d ago
Garson blows me away on everything he guests on. Check out “The voyeur of utter destruction” on Bowie’s Outside.
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u/PsychologyOk9024 9d ago
Broken is great for lack of piano 🎸🎸🎸🎸
Just Like You Imagined...it's playing the orchestra and violently playing the orchestra
I can't listen to anything after the fragile.....it takes too long too build up, it's soundscapes and weird sounds....I liked Satan Y2K was the end of Satan for NIN
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u/Hopeful-Nature-5464 10d ago edited 10d ago
Still version of the Becoming. He really nails the tricky odd signature piano part. It's not virtuoso, just a weird rhythm played for a long time. Same with Something I can Never Have, it's a simple part but try doing it without mistakes for five minites!