When people ask why I like NIN, I say "the complexity and attention to detail". They usually look at me like I'm an idiot...but this video totally proves it. To have that setup on a live stage and have that level of freedom in the sound from night-to-night is just mind blowing. Props to everyone who makes it possible!
The inherent bounds on reproducibility of something like a Buchla must make each live performance sound slightly different. Much like how a guitar or drum might produce slightly different sounds, depending on the variability of the individual performer, and the myriad other variables that might change from performance to performance.
This was one of the best rig rundowns I have ever watched. Alessandro is extremely well spoken! Over my head, yet he explained it in a way that made it easy to understand.
That was great. I love when musicians are so frank about their gear and willing to share. Saw them in Barcelona, just three of them on stage, and I was desperate to know how they got such an intense sound.
A stage tech was throwing those cassette tapes to the audience after the last show of the tour in Prague. Too bad I wasn't close enough to catch one :-) And a great video of course, thank you!
For the OP-1, he was talking about automating the patch change recall (Prg Change) via USB during a live set, and that it didn't matter because the device was hands-on enough that he can do that live manually. [calmly uses words actually spoken in the video]
Good but a long way from synth god ...that would probably be Keith Emerson or Wendy Carlos....they actually had to invent the sounds not sample them from some other source ....big difference ....
What an amazing rig! Damn, I need to see this band one day. Almost saw them once in London, but unfortunately the gig was cancelled at the last minute due to illness :(
i just passed out from gleeeee. holy crap. i love the fact that its on mainstage .. i use that as an emulator mostly…. and gb at same time as 2 patch pads or modules or whatever . they are both controlled from my homemade key controller … i have the sanford and son synth
Impressed that he performs with modular on stage. Risky, and hard to do any patch changes. Nice that he uses stored voltages and a roadie to handle tuning. Very cool.
He Pre-records the sound samples on the entire length of the 4 track cassette tapes, and then labels them individually, instead of using a looper cassette tape. That's how I have always done it too👍
Meanwhile Chris Vrenna was talking about how in the early days he'd play drums, do triggers, and set the drum machines live without a click Then would thread tape on a wheel-to-wheel machine between songs
William Callender Agreed. They've already both featured on a release together. The ideal would be a collaboration. Even better, as Cortini can also clearly craft different moods; I'd love to see a series of releases- a Prurient collaboration, a Vatican Shadow collaboration and an RSE collaboration.
I bought a broken modular synth and fixed it for $200. It's not that big, size of a large tablet. I love using it, at first it feels like you are an old switchboard operator. Thing is you have to go old school and make patch cards on mine because mine doesn't have a memory bank.
They've been doing it for years and they've slowly built up to the point where they remember everything based purely on the sheer number of times they've done it
Analogue modular ambient heaven! Node will play live at the Royal College of Music in London on Feb 27th 2015. Full modular rig! Tickets from the RCM box office. Spread the word! www.rcm.ac.uk/events/listings/details/?id=549161
Not only you. I maintain a strictly enforced drink free zone around my gear. But then I've had friends do things like spill their beer on my gear, so that drink free zone isn't just unadulterated paranoia.
Have you ever seen NIN live? ..... there are many liquids thrown and tossed around towards both band members and gear. This guy holding a mug of tea anywhere near it is hardly its worst situation.
You really just said that? There's no nice rappers, because they're all just this singular monolithic being in your totally normal mind apparently? What a freakin cool thing to say.
Wow, intelligent posts on Facebook. The idiots must not have found this video yet. Props, to the posters here! Love NIN, best concert I ever went to. I am a synth lover, mess around with my own music, so I kind of understand some of the gear and how they use it, very interesting to see concert setups, they are crazy complicated. I suppose the special gear and front stage help, but I really respect the mental gymnastics it took to learn how to work with all this stuff live - you can't hit undo live :)
I was also surprised that his background was guitar. I wonder how he transitioned to synths, must be an interesting story. You look at rock now, and many rockers think synthesizer is a dirty word or something. Maybe the resurgence of analog played a role in bringing some people into the fold.
faeker i have, and so have many others. also, what is the point of your comment here, what kind of immature comeback is this. are we going to beat our chests now and start an analog vs digital fight, or some other dumb and pointless shit. youtube is full of those, that was clearly not the intention of my comment. fuck off.
When people ask why I like NIN, I say "the complexity and attention to detail". They usually look at me like I'm an idiot...but this video totally proves it. To have that setup on a live stage and have that level of freedom in the sound from night-to-night is just mind blowing. Props to everyone who makes it possible!
+Dylan Manthei I agree!
Dylan Manthei people asked you why you like NIN?
and Trent Reznor is a big modular synth guy as well who pioneered NIN years ago before bringing Cortini on board
The inherent bounds on reproducibility of something like a Buchla must make each live performance sound slightly different. Much like how a guitar or drum might produce slightly different sounds, depending on the variability of the individual performer, and the myriad other variables that might change from performance to performance.
When you say attention to detail were you talking about the OP-1 or the tape decks?
This was one of the best rig rundowns I have ever watched. Alessandro is extremely well spoken! Over my head, yet he explained it in a way that made it easy to understand.
I started my whole musical project inspired by his use of a 4 track tape recorder at 3:45...
It's like a reverse mellotron!!!!
That's awesome to hear, I love your stuff!
Where can i listen to your stuff?
Where can i hear your project amulets?
congrats on the flenser signing!! super stoked for the new record
That was great. I love when musicians are so frank about their gear and willing to share. Saw them in Barcelona, just three of them on stage, and I was desperate to know how they got such an intense sound.
A stage tech was throwing those cassette tapes to the audience after the last show of the tour in Prague. Too bad I wasn't close enough to catch one :-)
And a great video of course, thank you!
I was aiming for your face! ;-)
My fault for being too far away. Thanks for being awesome anyway! Those that caught them must have been crazy happy :-)
Indiana Drones! that's rather brilliant. killer setup, great piece too - bravo all!
Man I would love to get the mainstage files from that laptop :P
Yup 7:15 made me drool.
Well I'll eat my hat! His use of a 4 track casette recorder is like a mellotron is reverse!!!! Love it!!
This was totally awesome. Big thanks to Alessandro for being so cool and patient; it’s a real treat to get a peek at a rig like this.
Mind blowing rig. Love the way he uses that four track!
"My bloody valentine-ish pitch" hahaha love it!
I love how they embrace and utilise many different mediums and incorporate them into one fluid rig!
A lot more organic than I would have thought, that's cool. I thought they just trigger samples of the source material.
>NIN uses OP-1
[screams internally]
>hasn't bothered backing up patches from OP-1
[screaming intensifies]
>actually uses cassette tapes
[calm]
For the OP-1, he was talking about automating the patch change recall (Prg Change) via USB during a live set, and that it didn't matter because the device was hands-on enough that he can do that live manually.
[calmly uses words actually spoken in the video]
How’s he manage to keep it all together in a live performance? Wow....
Drugs😂
I just love this NIN lineup. Haven't seen them live in years, hope I can catch them this time around.
Wow! Great coup Sonic State! Fascinating to see Alessandro's rig and he is using bloomin TAPE! Wow! Thank you for this!
A-MAZ-ING! The only thing missing was bits of the live performance to put sound to practice. But seriously, I dig this! More of these please!!!
Love this! Especially the cassettes
:)
Imagine how it sounds slowed down and backwards as well as warbled,luv
Alessandro Cortini = Synth God
Good but a long way from synth god ...that would probably be Keith Emerson or Wendy Carlos....they actually had to invent the sounds not sample them from some other source ....big difference ....
You spelled Charlie Clouser wrong
What an amazing rig! Damn, I need to see this band one day. Almost saw them once in London, but unfortunately the gig was cancelled at the last minute due to illness :(
Un orgoglio nazionale!
wanted to hear that big wood synth-thing in action :l
word. i'm trying to take my drones to a new level. thx.
Great review! This guy is a legend :) Top Job Sonic State !
Imagine trying to mix this show in an arena lmao - big props
i just passed out from gleeeee. holy crap. i love the fact that its on mainstage .. i use that as an emulator mostly…. and gb at same time as 2 patch pads or modules or whatever . they are both controlled from my homemade key controller … i have the sanford and son synth
Dear santa.....
I love Aalto, Indiana Drones !
The coolest man in town
Thanks for this awesome presentation
👍❤✌😎💥
Impressed that he performs with modular on stage. Risky, and hard to do any patch changes. Nice that he uses stored voltages and a roadie to handle tuning. Very cool.
Vatican Shadow shirt!!! Awesome!
for being in such a huge band, he seems so humble.
He Pre-records the sound samples on the entire length of the 4 track cassette tapes, and then labels them individually, instead of using a looper cassette tape.
That's how I have always done it too👍
Meanwhile Chris Vrenna was talking about how in the early days he'd play drums, do triggers, and set the drum machines live without a click
Then would thread tape on a wheel-to-wheel machine between songs
Damn that's confusing, the tape thing is brilliant, love how he mixes it all. Really impressed!
he has a great ear he play almost all without the need of synchronization stuff
Amazing video! Would love more of this kind of thing, really interesting. Would have liked to have heard each of the instruments but never mind.
Very cool report, thanks a lot, sonicstate!
I love that he knows the names of the people he gets his modules from. Great dude.
So much interesting, gorgeous set of modular, giant...
Haha Indiana Drones. I would love a couple days to play some of Cortini's synths, especially if he was around to give some pointers
Loving the Vatican Shadow shirt.
I'll be back.. have to guy buy an Octatrack now.
does he actually wear a Vatican Shadow tshirt ?
Weren't a few of most recent releases on Hospital Productions?
How awesome would a Fernow/Cortini split or collaboration be!
Bryan Grimes oh man, a frozen Niagara Falls style hybrid between Alessandro's synth magic and dom's noise crafting would be harrowing
William Callender Agreed. They've already both featured on a release together. The ideal would be a collaboration.
Even better, as Cortini can also clearly craft different moods; I'd love to see a series of releases- a Prurient collaboration, a Vatican Shadow collaboration and an RSE collaboration.
Fernows in the band Cold Cave who were supporting NIN as well
Allessandro, Glad to see you doing well. Coffee next time you are in LA
thanks sonicstate for uploading this!
I'm just a dime a dozen guitar player but,I loved this! I think I'll switch to keys!!
Not really what is called a keyboard player ...check out Keith Emerson. Rick Wakeman
I went to one of those gigs at the O2. It was amazing!!!
so so elaborate!! Love it!
Great interview!
There's always more room to go down the rabbit hole.
8:54 with the VATICAN SHADOW shirt fuck yeah.
A great model of how to sound amazing!
Wow so much goes into making the live show
love the RO ramones ;)
This is an awesome interview. I was worrying about his splooshing and splashing cup of coffee around those nice instruments tho
I’ve just been given a Tascam 4 track, I’m going to experiment with running my prerecorded loops & drones through it, should be fun!
Sweet Vatican Shadow shirt
Takes a certain amount of balls and dedication to take a modular on the road!
Wow. That was ridiculously good!
As a simple Bass into pedals into amp guy, this blew my tiny mind. Dead interesting though
Indiana Drones! Plus maxing out MainStage is classic.
Ooh Did we all just feel out?? well i had a fun time nice guy super cool rig!
awesome video !
Crazy that this is all just the synth player's job. There's still 4-5 other people who do just as much (depending on the tour)
I bought a broken modular synth and fixed it for $200. It's not that big, size of a large tablet. I love using it, at first it feels like you are an old switchboard operator. Thing is you have to go old school and make patch cards on mine because mine doesn't have a memory bank.
The use of the loops on the cassette tape is fucking BRILLIANT!!
wicked interview!! tyty!! \m/
This is amazing.
SugarPitch seems like a very nice guy. Cool, and quite intelligent about his gear. I guess he's pretty well Treznor's right hand guy now.
nice Vatican Shadow shirt
I would love to get some of those loops .... especially for hurt the ones on the multi track tape .
Man, that rig has a lot of work put into it, Awesome
Nice interview! :-)
you just gave me a renewed use for my Tascam 4 track.....thanks you
Wonderful video! have to address something, just because he's a pal - Justin's last name is Mcgrath, not McGraff ;)
Holy Shit! I think my head just exploded!!! How in the hell do you remember when to play what?!
That was awesome! I was wondering what he was using the cassette player for.
Very good stuff!
amazing! thank you!
Wicked! Could've De-noised the audio though!
great video cool guy thank you!
most creative use of a 4 track ever!
very very cool. thanks for the peek, everyone! indiana drones haha
This is really interesting and educational! Sonic State udabes
That cup is freaking me the fuck out
What a great guy! Indiana Drones ahaha
This is crazy how does anyone deal with all of this live?
They've been doing it for years and they've slowly built up to the point where they remember everything based purely on the sheer number of times they've done it
Presets pre programmed call up say #26 and there are sounds for a song
Analogue modular ambient heaven! Node will play live at the Royal College of Music in London on Feb 27th 2015. Full modular rig! Tickets from the RCM box office. Spread the word! www.rcm.ac.uk/events/listings/details/?id=549161
its terrifying to see him holding a nearly full coffee mug near his live set
Am I the only one worrying that he's holding a mug of tea right next to a complicated modular synth?! Put it down, man! your making me nervous...;-)
Not only you. I maintain a strictly enforced drink free zone around my gear. But then I've had friends do things like spill their beer on my gear, so that drink free zone isn't just unadulterated paranoia.
he's a professional mug holder, don't get in his way
Have you ever seen NIN live? ..... there are many liquids thrown and tossed around towards both band members and gear. This guy holding a mug of tea anywhere near it is hardly its worst situation.
AVOLITE probably it’s best situation knowing they smash keyboards on stage
No, no you aren't
Man, what a nice he is!
I just noticed the Vatican Shadow t-shirt
Every interview I see with these guys from NIN shows them to be extremely nice guys who love what they do. Imagine a rapper being so congenial?
You really just said that? There's no nice rappers, because they're all just this singular monolithic being in your totally normal mind apparently? What a freakin cool thing to say.
very inspiring
This is so cool!!!
The op-1 though! Gaahhh! Love it.
Wow, intelligent posts on Facebook. The idiots must not have found this video yet. Props, to the posters here! Love NIN, best concert I ever went to. I am a synth lover, mess around with my own music, so I kind of understand some of the gear and how they use it, very interesting to see concert setups, they are crazy complicated. I suppose the special gear and front stage help, but I really respect the mental gymnastics it took to learn how to work with all this stuff live - you can't hit undo live :)
I was also surprised that his background was guitar. I wonder how he transitioned to synths, must be an interesting story. You look at rock now, and many rockers think synthesizer is a dirty word or something. Maybe the resurgence of analog played a role in bringing some people into the fold.
What a rig!
The whole time I was watching I was thinking "don't drop that mug."
i'm sure you can pull off the same sound with less gear, for those who feel let down.
really? how about you try it then
faeker i have, and so have many others. also, what is the point of your comment here, what kind of immature comeback is this. are we going to beat our chests now and start an analog vs digital fight, or some other dumb and pointless shit. youtube is full of those, that was clearly not the intention of my comment. fuck off.
LfunkeyA Yeah, it is 90% talent and 10% gear.
What a sound bloke