Chris Vrenna - Reason on stage with Marilyn Manson

More info on Reason: www.propellerheads.se/products...
We met with multi instrumentalist Chris Vrenna to talk about his use of Reason for writing, producing and performing. Just off touring as Marilyn Manson's keyboard player, he is now in the studio working on new Marilyn Manson material.

[@songsaboutmixing]

interviewer needs props for letting this dude actually explain shit without stopping the flow- more interviewers should watch this to learn something both of them are cool btw

[@sonnybrown4758]

Damn, This guy has done A LOT of work! And he seems like... a kid. I don't mean that in an insulting way at all. Music keeps you young.

[@DarkBubbles725]

bloody hell he is sooo cuutttteee!!!!!

[@innesiain777]

Cool interview. James and Chris are both very inspiring people

[@theREALjsikk]

I've always really respected Pogo, Vrenna, anyone who has MM keyboard duties. There's soo much that goes into all that shit. I'm just a guitarist, drummer. I've never been a computer/keyboard kind of guy. If you ever see old live Manson and Pogos gear isn't working right, you'll see just how much he was responsible for. I could never understand all that shit

[@aegisreflector1239]

@Anthony Hernandez If you really think about it pogo is one of the most underrated keyboardist/programmer ever. he just completely disappeared after manson, damn shame. Someone needs to find him,and do an extensive interview with him. He's a fascinating cat

[@ericdufresne6991]

That’s pretty inspiring to know that Tim Skold is into Reason as well as Chris Vrenna.

[@LESRAM1981]

Chris Vrenne love his job I think. He is a verry talented person.

[@anzatzi]

good interview

[@ScottBrown666]

A cigar of quality!

[@DevilleProducer]

i love vrenna

[@kennyferry]

Chris Vrenna is a nice guy

[@grenade.turtle]

I knew Tim was going to be the “reason” Chris was a reason fan

[@Shurrackia96]

omg Chris Vrenna is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love the American McGee's Alice soundtracks ^_^

[@pilgrimomega]

Another great vid! Chris Vrenna is one of the industry's best programmers and studio jocks (and his solo work is phenomenal as well). Anyone crying about Reason's lack of features or anything else is only showing their own lack of skill. A leading programmer playing on arguably one of the biggest tours going isn't going to use something that's going to fail, cause problems, be hard to use, or sound like shit. If you can't make Reason work, it's your fault, not the software.

[@McgregorKLB]

Great to watch my favorite video's in HD. Good work!!

[@Tkivo]

the song at the beginning of this vid is called ''cauterized''. it's from Tweakers ''2 a.m. wakeup call'' album.

[@Rizimar]

You should check out the song Microsize Boy by Tweaker if you haven't already. I think it's one of Chris's best tracks.

[@astrophonix]

OMG, I didn't realise until 3:26 that the interviewer is the legendary James Bernard!

[@blackpieceofwhite]

I'm glad this guy replaced pogo, he has been involved with marilyn manson for years. However for all the people that say pogo did nothing. Listen to the new album. Those keyboard parts he composed on previous albums are gone. And he had a very distinctive sound, which is now gone and this sound was very dominant in the marilyn manson sound.

[@dontwrite9s4ever86]

his project ":tweaker:" is amazing

[@RandomGuyyy]

Does anyone know what guitar refill Chris was using to get the rhythm guitar sound he demoed towards the end of this video?

[@DebutanteMassacre]

How does he send the signal to the pa?

[@pinksue]

which refill contains the guitar patches??? (other than the factory sound bank)

[@amaurythewarrior]

he must also have a decent soundcard/audio interface, i doubt he uses the laptop's soundcard ...

[@allmightantdawgs]

I miss him being with NIN.

[@ShannonMcDowell71]

For those who are trashing Reason, could you suggest other software options?

[@NeroBorgata26]

The instrumental track in the beginning of the video is that by Chris and does anybody know the name???

[@ReasonStudios]

@AgainstAllGods KZbin doesn't allow me to post links in an easy to read way so forgive me for this weird method: double-u double-u double-u [dot ] propellerheads [dot] se

[@AgainstAllGods]

Does anyone know the official website to Reason?

[@DrZaious]

@NeroBorgata26 If its by Chris its probably from his old band Tweeker.

[@violationoftheart]

whats the name of the software??

[@gangurobitch]

I gotta tell you it ain't always so Somebody loves you who ain't gonna go

[@apocindustries7217]

i always thought the drum solo was a modified amen break. and you also forgot to mention tweaker, amazing new prog/industrial

[@hjx155]

Vrenna's my fucking drum idol, besides Josh Freese, Travis Barker, and Ilan Rubin. I've only been drumming for like, eight months? And I can't do shit. I'm learning to play "Discipline" on drums. But listening to Vrenna's drum work in this NIN rehearsal video I saw is fucking amazing.

[@mealexxx]

Chris Vrenna is boss

[@cthulufunk]

Really talented and friendly, down to earth guy.

[@Polskiiguy1993]

@MansonNiles11 true true ;)

[@Reshme77]

he's cute

[@TheMarroquinTwins]

I mean Cgrus Vrenna is a great keyboard player and all, but FUCK I MISS POGO !!!! I loved his hyperactiveness!!! :(

[@aegisreflector1239]

3:25

[@Joeyslittlemaggot]

god hes hott

[@Polskiiguy1993]

pogo john5 twiggy and marilyn manson are the biggest talents ;)

[@hershism]

Reason is a great program. If you can't make it sound good then it's you not the program. Making it sound good is about knowing how to mix and having good taste in the sounds you choose.

[@Reshme77]

he drank way too much coffee!

[@13StJimmy]

no one could replace Pogo but if anyone had to id have to be him

[@6Slipknot5]

fuck that i miss M.W. Gacy

[@TheMarroquinTwins]

Chris* my bad bad glitchy iPod keyboard.

[@DrZaious]

@DrZaious Tweaker, sorry.

[@LastOneLeft99]

I think he takes speed.

[@666Musik]

Cocaine is one hell of a drug.

[@norseczar27]

Reason is expensive

[@CzechRiot]

I don't know why everybody loved the K2000 back in the 90's, I fell for the hype and bought it, but it was one of the most worthless pieces of gear I bought. It's was good for some live band type of thing, like normal music. But it was too much trouble to tweak stuff ( I had the rack, just like the one in the video) The effects were terrible, no fat basses, no interesting leads. Only orchestral sounds were really good. Why am I rambling about it still I don't even know...

[@elextrixtechnixtree]

ableto live is a better sequencer dude. reasons grea for live work???

[@metalzone2000]

to bad I hate Reason.....but good interveiw....

[@CzechRiot]

you obviously don't know how to use reason.

[@samjbrowne]

Probably because that's the band he used to be in that he knows is way better than Manson....

[@MondoReyTV1]

MM is horribly generic now. And Brian's blimped out!

[@NachtSchreck13]

Yeah, Reason is a great program, but there is no comparison sound-wise between an AKAI S1000 or an E-MU EIII or even E4XT and Reason's NNXT. FORGET ABOUT IT. After ditching my hardware for software (Reason, Ableton, etc.), I really started feeling that something was missing in my music. I returned to using hardware synths and samplers and the sense of creative fulfillment is back. A lot of the old hardware samplers just sound amazing. It's subtle, but totally obvious to a trained ear. It's like recording to a computer hard drive with digital plugin effects vs ¼" or ½" inch reel-to-reel tape through a high end analog mixer with a tube compressor. For those who know what they're hearing, there is no comparison. The same goes for hardware vs software samplers. Sample an Amen break into an AKAI S1000 and play that sh** back, then try playing an Amen sample thru Reason. No way. You'll never get that sound you get on the AKAI. It has teeth. On another note, NIN has sucked without Vrenna. As soon as he left, the band went downhill. As much as Reznor likes to pretend that NIN was his baby alone from the very start, it's obvious to anyone who has been a fan from the beginning that Vrenna was crucial to giving NIN life and giving it that dark edge that made the project great in the early days. NIN's sound is so c0ck-rock these days, it's sad.

[@barneyrubble8255]

I wish Chris would give a complete break down of everything he contributed to first three nin albums. After he left its like a differn't band, it lost its immortal sound.

[@metalzone2000]

Yeah IMO Reason is just one big bloated toy. I can never get a good mix down and everything sounds compressed. Which is bad becouse I like wide open mixes. Oh well.....RENOISE 2.0 FTW!!!

[@legniak1]

Reason sux. Stop playing with kids stuff.....OMNISPHERE

[@Abruzzo333]

Sorry but Reason is no substitute for those banks of Kurzweil K2000RS's and lexicon PCM units and all that other amazing hardware mentioned. A huge step down in sound quality to a laptop with Reason....no matter how good your sound card.

[@DrZaious]

Yes Pogo was an original member but never really contributed anything special to the band. When playing live Pogo mostly had everything prerecorded and sampled, so he would just hit several buttons through out the set. Chris unlike Pogo plays everything live. Trust me you can tell the difference. Plus Chris knows what he is doing and can freehand just as good as Trent Reznor. Pogo stuck to a routine. Plus Pogos a bitch and left.

[@ruipedrosilvam]

Never really contributed anything?? You are joking right?? Pogo was the big loss for Marilyn Manson