How To Sound Like NINE INCH NAILS | Producing Industrial Rock

[@_surreal99]

Renzor is the type of artist that'll turn you into a sound engineer as you study his work.

[@DielectricFailure]

I think what makes Nine Inch Nails so special is Trent has a unique voice. No matter what he makes musically, his voice is the glue.

[@chronic_johnson_a.r.a.b]

It's definitely a recognised voice. But I've heard a lot of his instrumental/soundtrack stuff without even knowing it was him and instantly thought, is this Trent Reznor? He has a very particular approach to atmosphere, melody, drum grooves and synth sounds.

[@dopey473]

I think what makes NIN special is the layers

[@salvadordollyparton666]

@@dopey473 it's just all of it, really... trent's voice, his attention to detail, the layers... it can be very simple, or chaotic and complex, but everything is absolutely deliberate. you don't even really notice a lot of little sounds, but if they're taken away, then you're like oh... that was really doing something. absolute talent, unique creativity and approach, meets insane attention to detail and work ethic. truly one of the greats.

[@salvadordollyparton666]

@@chronic_johnson_a.r.a.b especially like the social network... you hear the opening credits, and just know without even looking at them.

[@AFRoSHEENT3ARCMICHAEL69]

It's that Major 3rd he sings all the time.

[@vincentsvirtues4172]

NIN may seem chaotically dissonant, but there is purpose in it. He tends to use not-quite-major and not-quite-minor scales, like Mixolydian, Aeolian Dominant, and Dorian

[@RichiiWainwright]

Oh for sure. Especially on the Fragile. I feel like the best way I’d describe Trent’s approach with that is that he likes to find the beauty in dissonant/atonal scales and the dissonance in pretty sounding scales

[@motaki79]

Oh, I just saw your comment, I thought and generally said the same thing. His version was nice too-just more Mick Gordanish

[@motaki79]

This guy did a good job emulating trents sound (albeit making fun of trent) kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHq8hnh7brGUqs0si=XgLYpFGlGRp9SULz

[@LessThanPulp]

The Fragile is a tremendous work. An epic poem for the 20th century.

[@salvadordollyparton666]

it really is. what i've always loved is how it can go from soft and melodic, to aggressive and abrasive and just work so well. simple and slow, to pure chaos.

[@iphatbass]

Now that's goated tutorial!!! I wish me and my friend had this kind of tutorials 10 years ago xD There were kostly tutorials for "normal" metal and electronic subgenres

[@barchel]

Yoooo another the fragile lover! Also amazing video!

[@timothygilman3010]

Richii, excellent tutorial and song building breakdown. I really like your approach to songwriting. Thanks for sharing this with all of us.

[@AFRoSHEENT3ARCMICHAEL69]

Total NIN bass line nice.

[@farmcommand7923]

NAILED IT

[@yurif4n]

Fantastic video i love nin and industrial music

[@tom_kennedy]

Magnificent. So many great tips in one video!

[@Caesar_Online]

I love the reference material and how you implemented elements from different albums!

[@FelipeARatto]

Awesome vid!!! Thanks a bunch!!

[@philippgrunert8776]

This video is a gem

[@AEONtheproducer]

When Richii Wainwright uploads, it's a good day

[@Jonnyism]

Doing something in the style of Nine Inch Nails or at least influenced by them is kinda easy when you're referring to certain things. I like industrial music because the electronic sounds are diverse and you'll rarely hear a electronic noise that sounds similar to another electronic noise but sometimes you do which happens sometimes.

[@AbominusRules]

ive been at this whole industrial music thing since 1995 and theres a lot of cool tips in here! well done man!

[@paullay9869]

More more more please! Learning a lot from this. Such simple modulations to help harness those tight NIN lines! 👍👍👍

[@leonsoundgears]

Going through all your last videos, exactly this one caught my attention. It is that shows how your production level has grown over the last year. Keep it up!

[@000wjw]

Amazing video. I love how this is a tutorial shows how much talent you have. Thx

[@MylerTartin]

This was fuckin great dude!

[@nicoantuna1454]

Thank you so much for doing this, The Fragile is my favorite album ever. Please do more videos like this, and if you made a NIN Vital Preset pack I would buy it immediately

[@Chamaenerion-angustifolium]

thank you bro, you are the best

[@legionxeroactual]

if memory serves, that synth sound from 'ruiner' was based on a brass preset from the Kurzweil K2000 series of synthesizers that was heavily edited.

[@RichiiWainwright]

Interesting! I’ve never heard another sound like it before

[@legionxeroactual]

@@RichiiWainwright if we're both referencing the pad type sound, then yeah. that whole album was full of great sound design. the K2000 series had hit the market a few years prior and was a staple instrument on that album. not just the synthesizer, but also the sampler. it was crazy powerful for the early 90s, heh.

[@RichiiWainwright]

@@legionxeroactual oh I’m talking about the high airy synth. Although I do love that brassy sound too

[@legionxeroactual]

@@RichiiWainwright oh wow, thanks for clarifying!! haha. so just to be clear, the high pitched sound from :30-1:00?

[@legionxeroactual]

@@RichiiWainwright sorry, homie, my dumb ass didn't even think to go back and rewatch the video, haha. now i know what sound you're talking about, the lead synth with the percussive front end. yeah, that's a super cool sound. almost like a revamped sample from PHM, yeah?

[@itsarilu]

bro this is GREAT great great

[@privatgustl]

Reaaaaally nice😍😍😍

[@michaelkonomos]

Man I cannot express just how good this video is and how much it helped me to understand what makes the music I love sound the way that it does. You make it seem so easy and obvious, but watching this felt like years of study concentrated into 18 minutes. Definitely going to fun through this again. It's not that I want to copy Trent, but knowing the principles helps me better understand his creative choices which pushes me to explore my own "wrong" ways to EQ things or whatever to get new sounds. Very cool.

[@olegvasilev1973]

this shit rocks so hard! killer track!

[@JoshuaTMagee]

This is great! Would love to see more in-depth sound design videos on how you're creating some of these signature sounds in your tracks. Thanks!

[@adorethered]

This is awesome! I'd love to see your take on Hellbilly Deluxe era Rob Zombie!

[@RichiiWainwright]

One of my fav albums. Great idea. Gonna make that happen sometime soon🤘

[@GerardHampton]

​@@RichiiWainwright Could you take a look at The Prodigy 🤘🥂 cheers

[@RichiiWainwright]

@@GerardHampton yeah also planning to do a Prodigy style track at some point!

[@GerardHampton]

@@RichiiWainwright Legend, great videos thanks!

[@akshayde]

It's the same music. Just have to do 7000 'Yeah!' per song

[@broccoliking6668]

I've been loving these videos! Great description and advice.

[@Tristbag]

So talented.

[@whitelinerz4110]

Love this mate! i learned so much from this, i would love to see a detailed breakdown though on some of the effects settings your using.. either way! good job man!

[@earlsfield]

That pad/lead from Ruiner is Prophet VS, I am pretty sure. Good work, nice track.

[@SeeDTraX]

Cool idea putting different NIN Album techniques in one video. Interesting sound I like it. I also took a couple notes, I really like the Vital plugin never heard of till watching, and it’s really a lot of fun to play with so far. Would also be interested to see a Pitchshifter or Static X production video if possible. Thanks for the great in-depth 👍

[@Emcfree2084]

Awesome videos. Banger after banger.

[@truthseeker333-id7ex]

bruh i been trying to recreate this sound for years, thank you!

[@frankiewylde7649]

Great insights thank you! 🙏

[@Fiveash-Art]

Brilliant stuff. 👍🏻

[@egorwav]

Bro love your channel

[@Rhekluse]

Very cool!

[@Tkivo]

This sounds more like the recent work of Gary Numan, who has been heavily influenced by NIN for the last 20 years. But great job capturing the '90s industrial rock feel. The acoustic guitar elements of 'Fragile' always sounded like heavily compressed piezo pickups with funky robot-like strumming.

[@follow-the-white-rabbit5015]

Nine inch nails took influence from Gary numan first.

[@rapastronaut77]

this is dope sir

[@tentickterror8308]

great video!

[@mr.e643]

Nice one dude

[@teacherdominic3907]

damn that bass line sounded good

[@zacharyvargo9011]

Well done sir

[@NILEGOD.777]

This actually kind of reminds me of "Golden Age" era marilyn manson with those choppy drums, those guitars sound sick btw.

[@sointrusive]

Anti-Christ Superstar?

[@NILEGOD.777]

@@sointrusive No no like the actual album "The Golden Age Of Grotesque"

[@chronic_johnson_a.r.a.b]

Honestly, you could have kept the drums as they were prior to the bit-crushing effect and it would've had Fragile/With Teeth era vibes. Sometimes people lean too hard into the "idea" of industrial music and forget that so many NIN songs have a live drum sound, even if it's several different samples put together and looped. That blend of garage-y, punk rock with the industrial synths and guitars. Very well done on the bass part, the acoustic guitar and ring modulation though.

[@seeskiprap]

Inspired

[@olek9259]

banger

[@worksofein6449]

Damn, nailed it! Suddenly I was an awkward '90's teenager again.

[@squattermelon.]

Fantastic how-to, Richii, don't get me wrong, but Trent is definitely not "anti-melody". On the contrary, Trent is an absolute genius when it comes to melody and counterpoint, whether it's piano, vocals or anything else. Again tho, your work is just super, but I wanted to clarify the melody thing

[@motaki79]

I love the track! Although I thought the end result was much more aligned with Mick Gordan and his Doom soundtrack-as Trent Reznor tended to deviate from the Dorian mode. Still, great job.

[@jayreiter]

I love this. I would dig working with you on some stuff

[@RichiiWainwright]

@@jayreiter thanks! Feel free to hit my email (in description) and I’ll hit you back when I can. I’m booked up for a while but if you can wait we could def do something!

[@jayreiter]

​@@RichiiWainwright sweet! I'm not in a super hurry. I'll send you some stuff I've done. Check it out when you can!

[@JasonPruett]

he is good at this so it looks easy. it is not that easy for most of us

[@_mario_mind]

Incredible work dude! Can your project be heard in full?

[@DaxHamel]

Greatjob! Now fill it with a lyric about how broke the world and your own soul is.

[@huhno8414]

Dude I’m like so in love with what you make! I really wanna start making my own music as well but I don’t own any instrument nor really any program to start. What would you recommend to total beginner? I dream of making my own music someday and to study it in the future 🖤 could you maybe do a video of how to start and what products are you using? Everything you make is so dope! You’re so inspiring honestly 🖤🖤

[@jonny26281]

From what I’ve read from various sources there’s very little acoustic guitar on the fragile. Apparently he used a Parker guitar with a piezo pickup.

[@RichiiWainwright]

Interesting! That would make sense since it’s such a weird acoustic type of sound

[@geraldgoodiii6993]

I produce industrial techno… So some of these techniques like bit crushing the fuck out of a drum loop layered on the main drums .. something I wouldn’t have thought of Thanks for the influence

[@agoraphobiapublishing]

🔥🔥🔥

[@teknotarot3125]

Niggy Tardust vibez in the intro part. nice!

[@RC-nj1by]

sounds more like a Marilyn Manson song than it does NIN

[@LouisMinett1994]

Resident evil af

[@adamswierczynski]

I mean it starts very Nine Inch Nails, but then sounds like a middle school squabble between Ministry and Mick Gordon.

[@Arklelinuke]

Well yeah, Mick Gordon is basically if NIN leaned harder into metal and kept going heavier after Broken in a metal way

[@sirmarmotas3091]

🤘

[@SaburoYanagiuchi]

Kind of reminds of Quake soundtrack album.

[@lambdalabs8216]

Sounds exactly like NIN

[@mstcrow5429]

Reminds me of Sonic Mayhem's Quake II OST.

[@tendrel_sound]

i couldn’t subscribe fast enough

[@jeffreybenson8910]

I'm really interested in producing a song like "Even Deeper", which is my favorite song off "The Fragile".

[@JDMarshall-og9vb]

Thats Pretty cool NIN used a Oberheim Xpander from 1984 For his main synth Pretty much for Everything but he did use other synth aswell The Oberheim Xpander it is pretty much out of reach for anyone Oberheim Xpander from 1984 cost anywere from $10k to $20k USD But There is good news. There is a plug in Called Matrix 12 by Arturia that is Pretty much the same as the Oberheim Xpander Trent Reznor used a ZOOM 9030 for Pinion And he used a ZOOM 9002 on wish with a ZOOM 9030 blend on wish He does use a ZOOM 9150 for some of hes vocals But I honestly don't know what songs or fx at all Head Like A Hole he used a MXR M-80 with Behringer Model D Juno 60 Arp Odyssey NIN The Hand That Feeds NIN used a Old school bigmuff pedal the name of the pedel was a Vintage russian bigmuff PI-V7 for like $500 USD But there are smaller versions of the same pedal for like $80 to $100 USD But i think it was just a fuzz bass pedel really And a PB bass or a HH Style bass pickups like a musicman With 45 to 100 flatwound strings not roundwound strings He's alsol used Digidesign Turbosynth TR-808 (sampled) Roland R-70 Akai S1100 Kurzweil K2000 Prophet VS Oberheim Xpander PPG Wave 2.3 Waldorf Microwave Nord Lead Yamaha VL-1 E-mu E4 Emax This is just some Of the gear I know NIN has used Hope this helps

[@trustno_one]

I'm at 4:00 and it's already TERRIFIC!

[@Chamaenerion-angustifolium]

Could you please do more tutorials about Merelyn Manson instrumentals🙏

[@FlashStallone]

Fragile is probably my top album too, and I'm getting "The Big Come Down" vibes on this when you started laying down the bass. Edit: Called it, now you pulled out the acoustic. Lolol I love it

[@RichiiWainwright]

Haha you saw it coming. It’s such an underrated NIN track

[@s.gharavi1614]

Have you ever used an mpc for industrial rather than cubes?

[@Ullish1989]

What's the bit crusher you mention at the start?

[@Intensethougts]

which program does he use?

[@Travvyhouse]

Wanna start an NIN band? Lmaoo

[@jefflwadfordjr.1128]

Teach me thank you

[@deeforty]

Daft question, but can i add vsts to audio files ? For example, can i record a guitar track and put serum on the track ? Like is there a way to mix both? In real time or after its recorded.

[@HelicopterRidesForCommunists]

You missed a golden opportunity for a title... How to NAIL sounding like Nine Inch Nails.

[@RichiiWainwright]

Damn that’s good

[@RichiiWainwright]

How to NAIL Nine Inch Nails’ sound in NINE minutes (x2)

[@HelicopterRidesForCommunists]

@@RichiiWainwright Thats the one!

[@HelicopterRidesForCommunists]

Got to finish the video today. Id say you nailed it mate.

[@justinwilliam4644]

It's a REECE BASS, alot of peeps use it

[@RichiiWainwright]

There’s a couple of Reeses in this. Not sure which one you mean. But yeah, I know haha

[@GWHPhoto]

Is there a possibility of doing this in fl studio's so we can produce the same sound? Its a bit difficult to know what your doing.

[@RichiiWainwright]

I don’t use FL but yeah, everything I’m doing here can be done in FL or any other DAW. They’re all basically the same imo

[@brokenegomusic]

and this is why no one can sound like NIN...

[@natepolsky4398]

Yup agreed! 😮

[@StanSinitsky]

Hey man, I just wanted to ask how do you like your PRS SE Starla? I have a chance to get one for real cheap but the seller is from another city and he plays blues and stuff like that so his demos aren'te very informative for me. How does it handle stuff like nu metal or modern metalcore, do you like its neck for these styles?

[@RichiiWainwright]

@@StanSinitsky I did my usual dumb trick of buying a guitar purely based on its looks. So.. it’s not 100% ideal for modern metal, but the stock pickups are pretty good (but not amazing). They do the job. The neck is my least fav thing about it. It’s kinda fat and not the best for shredding. For normal playing it’s fine though. Overall I really like the guitar but I’m definitely more of a 90s metal guy than a super tight modern chugga chugga guy. If that’s what you’re going for, it’d do the job but not as well as any modern Ibanez or Jackson etc. They do look super nice in person though and for the money it’s a great guitar overall !

[@StanSinitsky]

@@RichiiWainwright thanks for detailed response! I have a Schecter with a very thin neck for everything metal, so what I'm looking for now is a guitar that is on vintage side but capable of providing heavy tones if I need them in a different tuning. From what you said, Starla might be a good fit, so I'll give it a try!

[@RichiiWainwright]

@@StanSinitsky that’s pretty much what mine is for and I love it. As long as you have a backup for when the starla feels a little too clumsy I’d say it’s worth it!

[@bsmith8166]

What about vocals????

[@olakvernenestkje7332]

May i suggest the following bands, any one of these would make my day! Motionless in white Thirty Seconds To Mars (A beautiful lie era) HIM She Wants Revenge

[@RichiiWainwright]

HIM has to happen someday, one of my fav bands growing up. MiW and 30STM would be fun too. She Wants Revenge I need to get into more

[@olakvernenestkje7332]

@@RichiiWainwright that sounds really awesome. Im excited!

[@olakvernenestkje7332]

@@RichiiWainwright also may i suggest Type O Negative!, that would be so cool!

[@kitschbreeder8546]

hook me up with those samples....

[@butsukete1806]

I have to have a DAW?

[@gabrielpadua3568]

Yep

[@atrus3823]

Really cool, but I feel like advertising it as a breakdown of iconic nails sounds is a little misleading. What you show is your own nails-inspired sounds, which is really cool, but not what I was expecting. One other nitpick: I don’t want to assume your age, but I’m guessing 1999 was a little before your time. There was tons of bass-heavy music from that time and earlier. Vegas by The Crystal Method springs to mind. I was in high school in 1999 and I had friends with giant subs in their cars, and they blasted all kinds of crazy stuff so loud it was hard to breathe.

[@RichiiWainwright]

I mean I said at the start that they’re my own presets. And I meant bassy for rock. Hard to compare to fully electronic music when the approach for NIN is so inherently different to stuff like the crystal method

[@akshayde]

Doesn't sound like NIN. Sounds more like what mason's industrial producers would do and also some modern industrial bands like 3Teeth or something like that. Can't remember the name

[@voidcollectivephl]

Trent was Manson's producer lol

[@DretLort]

Можешь свой голос делать посередине? Не слева или справа... Пожалуйста... Очень тяжело слушать в таком виде

[@rpple5796]

2:41 literally the kick in closer

[@MrOuija-rr8kq]

The kick from closer is a 909 layered with the kick drum from “Night Clubbing” by Iggy Pop

[@cthulholmhastur5317]

Sounding like NIN is not something u will get from a tutorial. I knew Trent from Ytown days. He was a genius with a passion. If ur that, then u can sound like NIN.

[@tonymont72]

You skip a lot of stuff - editing out important info - trying to make video fast and short. Otherwise good info, just wish it wasn't cut up and short.

[@RichiiWainwright]

I really try hard to cram all the most important stuff in there but it's a difficult balance. If I showed the whole process it'd be hours long and boring af haha

[@davypelletier]

Sounds like health ripping off nin.

[@callactm14]

hire a producer and a sound designer like Trent did, he is useless

[@mediumvillain]

idiot talk. he has production collaborators (Alan Moulder & Atticus Ross mostly) but he's been writing & producing his own records for 35 years, producing other peoples records, and composing film & television scores for over a decade.

[@garethde-witt6433]

Sorry but it’s rather boring and predictable.

[@wasabifinessed]

Have you ever heard NIN?

[@garethde-witt6433]

⁠@@wasabifinessedBig fan of NIN and have been to concerts so yep I’ve heard them

[@michaeldeane6102]

You ever listen to breaking Benjamin? ive tried a million times to get the guitar tone from Saturate but never successfully. Id love to see a video on them, checkout “Polyamorous” if u get the chance to

[@michaeldeane6102]

their newer stuff is more production heavy tho if you’re jnto that stiff more.. check out tourniquet

[@RichiiWainwright]

Yeah great band! I don’t know if I’ll do a specifically Breaking Benjamin themed vid but the Saturate tones are very typical late 90s/early 00s tones, which I will probably do a vid on at some point 🤘

[@michaeldeane6102]

@@RichiiWainwright Sounds great man! Love your videos

[@StanSinitsky]

It's basically a PRS into Mesa sound. Keep in mind that bands during that era had a bit different tone for L and R channels - they had "bright side" and "beefy side". They used Marshall amps for the "bright" and Mesa for the "beefy", and all through the same Mesa 4x12 cab.

[@michaeldeane6102]

@@StanSinitsky Duude thats so cool you’re totally right. I feel like I can hear this in Pain by Three days grace. left side is brighter right? Do you know a good source to learn this kind of production from?