"ZERO SUM" - Nine Inch Nails // breakdown and harmonic analysis
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- Опубликовано: 10 янв 2021
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I wasn't planning on analyzing another Year Zero track so soon but Zero Sum was the right track for this week. It's important that during times of unrest that we acknowledge how divided we are, but at the same time give even more attention and energy to the unity that we share. I definitely have been feeling that with all of you over the past few months! So thanks again for tuning in and being a bright light, and thanks to Nine Inch Nails for being a thread for us all to hold onto no matter who or where or when we are.
I have another related video that I'll be publishing this week.
Lyrics in the comments.
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"Zero Sum" by "Nine Inch Nails" is licensed under CC NC-SA 3.0: creativecommon...
"God Given" by "Nine Inch Nails" is licensed under CC NC-SA 3.0: creativecommon...
"My Violent Heart" by "Nine Inch Nails" is licensed under CC NC-SA 3.0: creativecommon...
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Развлечения
They're starting to open up the sky
They're starting to reach down through
And it feels like we're living in that split-second of a car crash
And time is slowing down
And if we only had a little more time
And this time is all there is
Do you remember the time we...
And all the times we...
And should have...
And were going to...
I know
And I know you remember
How we could justify it all
And we knew better
In our hearts, we knew better
And we told ourselves it didn't matter
And we chose to continue
And none of that matters anymore
In the hour of our twilight
And soon it will be all said and done
And we will all be back together as one
If we will continue at all
And you never get away
And you never get to take the easy way
And all of this is a consequence
Brought on by our own hand
If you believe in that sort of thing
And did you ever really find
When you closed your eyes
Any place that was still
And at peace?
And I guess I just wanted to tell you
As the light starts to fade
That you are the reason
That I am not afraid
And I guess I just wanted to mention
As the heavens will fall
We will be together soon if we
Will be anything at all
Shame on us
Doomed from the start
May God have mercy on our dirty little hearts
Shame on us
For all we've done
And all we ever were
Just zeros and ones
Hes using a speaker simulator for the vocal processing. Speakerphone 2 specifically
For all the noisy grooviness that Year Zero was, this final song, this reflective regret, becomes the thing I've always walked away with after a full-album listen. So good.
@@sentient02970 Regret? I don't think that's quite the word for it. The subjects knew they were doomed from the start. Experiencing the doom is more painful than they could have ever imagined. Wishful thinking that the doom could have been avoided, but no regrets. Doom was necessary for rebirth or metamorphosis as much as they may hate to admit it. They'll be back together, stronger like a mended bone. They'll have to be, the whole world is depending on them to make it through the coming rebirth of the world. The pressure that divided them will only increase to reunite them. They can't avoid their Duty forever, everything is at stake; the very fabric of existence.
love your observation on the unfinished sentences trent uses
at least there's SOMEONE in the world who thinks about Trent's music more than I do :D
haha!
Also, I think it's criminal that this hasn't been played live yet. Imagine a whole crowd singing along with the "Shame on us..." lyrics.
I would crrryyyy
closest we ever got was during the tour that supported the album, i think it was lights in the sky, i might be wrong. Anyway, when they ended the concert with "in this twilight" he played zero-sum on the piano as an outro.
try to find concert footage of that, its actually pretty cool how they sign off :)
@@jaidaniels905 ruclips.net/video/BnRBqEa8XZo/видео.html
Goddamn I didn’t think I could possibly appreciate NIN any more than I already do but you have made that possible. I’ve been a fan since 1994. My favorite artist. Thank you for this
Then I've done my job! Thank you so much, that means a lot to me!
@@iximusic Thank YOU! 🤘🏻❤️
@@iximusic Listening to NIN since 1990. Thanks for the breakdowns and all that you do ixi
Yeah, same here. I so wish I had friends like you nearby, for this very reason.
I could listen to you talk NIN all day
And I can’t even play a triangle
Haha thank you! My goal is to reach triangle players and non-triangle players alike!
I love how intimate the vocals are on this track. It gives me a warm comfortable feeling despite how dark everything around it is. Almost like a desperate confession of love before the end.
The last two songs of this album kinda make me wanna cry. You're review/breakdowns are amazing.
Yeah, Zero Sum gets to me as well. Thank you thank you!!
I would add “another version of the truth” and say the last three.. a mind blowing ending
In This Twilight is amazing!!
This song makes me cry every time. It’s so intensely powerful. The chorus just opens up and the intense melancholy and pain feels so overpowering and achingly beautiful
Never knew those samples were there in the background! One of my favorite things about NIN is that I can always discover something new when I listen to them. My interpretation is that these lyrics are the collective thoughts of humanity at the end of the world. In a similar way that Hurt is the epilogue of The Downward Spiral in which the main character reflects on their life, Zero Sum is humanity as a whole reflecting on their choices and regrets. The story of Year Zero played with the concept of this supernatural/alien entity (known as the presence) intervening with humanity in order to prevent them from destroying themselves. The track The Warning covers one of the interactions with the presence in which it threatens to wipe out everything if humanity doesn't change their ways. Gotta stop myself there, I could go on and on about the story of this album as it's probably my favorite concept. Especially the way the story was released piece by piece. Anyway! Awesome video once again. Can't wait for more :)
Love the story on this album so damn much. Its especially relatable in recent years, as scary as that is ahaha.
I wish we got that god damn HBO show, that shit would have been so good.
I agree with your interpretation the more I listen to the album and its lyrics with intent, and its relevance. No need to apologize for going on and on - I love to go on and on!
I'm feeling its relevance too. Was there going to be a Year Zero show? I heard there was an ARG.
@@iximusic Yeah, it was announced in like 2007 that Trent was in talks with HBO for TV miniseries adaptation, but they couldn't agree on the shows direction so it got put in a forever "holding state". There's a small section about it on the Year Zero wiki page under "Related Projects", I'd recommend giving it a read 👌
@@hiddeneye9723 At least we got that Watchmen series which kinda fills that gap lol.
I just discovered your channel, and you’re helping me fall in love with Nine Inch Nails even deeper. I have no musical knowledge, but you help explain how the musics evokes emotion. Thank you!
I think this is definitely an underrated NIN album and I wish that Trent did an HBO series for it. As always, you nailed the analysis and made a song very near and dear to my heart even MORE fascinating and enjoyable! Thanks Ixi 😀
This kind of comment really brings a smile to my face. So glad you were able to deepen your enjoyment.
I love this album - I can understand why it wasn't regarded as strongly as some of the others but, like The Slip, if you appreciate it for what it is instead of comparing it to the others, it's totally awesome and there are some incredible tracks. Plus the whole narrative is really cool, and timely still (unfortunately!).
Been a long time since I've binged on somebody's content like this. You re-ignited my love for the band, I studied music also, but always kept NIN like a very personal and emotional part of my musical upbringing and I really failed to understand WHY they are so interesting sounding to me. Thank you. Also you are a great and very musical teacher.
♥️
Excellent video. In this song I always loved the background vocal harmony on "may God have mercy on our dirty little hearts".
Ah man I talked about that harmony when I filmed but it was soooo long I cut it out! Lesson learned. The vocal harmony during the second verse is strange when isolated. It's like the melody got all the graceful notes and the harmony got all the "dramatic chromatic" movement I was talking about! Together it sounds really beautiful, mostly in 3rds, which feels comforting.
Year Zero is one of my favorite albums in NIN's discography, like it is the perfect "Sum" of what has transpired in the last year. Zero Sum, hits different after the election and stuff. My favorite lines are "Shame on us, doomed from the start may God have mercy on our dirty little hearts."
If you keep up this NIN content, you’re going to blow up soon enough. Love it! I’d love to see analysis from Still
Hey thank you so much! I've got so much Stillness lined up for the spring, so stick around!
4:10 just noticed that that sample playing the A7 is also in "God Given". Check it out at 0:27 and 1:12. The connective tissue across this album is so delightful!!
Thank you! Came to comment this. I love this community! 😊
@@BryanSandor isn't it amazing??? Good catch!!!
I can’t describe how much I love your channel
I'm happy you love it! 🖤
I’ve iced Trent’s music from the start.
I listen to Warm Safe Place, Year Zero and a few other songs every morning to start my day and have for quite sometime. I guess the tubes figured that out. I’ve watched a few of your videos w Mr. Bungle and Faith No More Etc… I really enjoy what you do and your true love for music.
I really love how you show me I’m not wrong for loving certain artists.
Thank You 🤘❤️🤘
Great break down of one of my favourite bands. Also love your pace of coverage and love your candles burning in the background.
What a great analysis, this song has always been my favorite of the album. Both With Teeth and Year Zero are high on my favorites list. I honestly prefer Trent post Fragile and whatnot. That’s not to say the past albums are bad or anything, they’re amazing. I just love seeing him try new things and also being healthier on a mental level.
As a huge NiN fan, I'm loving all your videos. I loved the Year Zero album and concept (and the whole ARG around it!). Keep up the great work!!
Thank you so much for tuning in! More to come soon.
I wasn't aware of the ARG or really any of the Year Zero marketing until very recently - it's a fascinating approach to creating so much more than just a music album.
My new favourite channel! Shoutout from Turkey!
This is amazing. I thinknyear zero and slip are NIN's most underrated albums so its exciting that you choose tracks from this album to analyze. 👌🏻 lovely. Thank you.
I'm so glad you liked the analysis! I really appreciate both albums. I get why they aren't heralded as the strongest albums of the discography but I love them both, too!
Oh Ixi love how you shed light on things ive always know but could never put into words
💜
What a lovely channel!
This song is so moving. Something that always touches me about it is the "... and all we ever were" line. There's just such a sad note of finality to it. We've arrived at this final destination, where everything ends, and there's nothing we can do about it except look at ourselves and try to make some sense of it.
And it's also very singable.
I'm glad there's someone else out there who admits to not really paying attention to lyrics 🤝🏿
06.06.06 he was in Birmingham Alabama. First and only time being here. He opened with somewhat damaged. That was the loudest concert I had been to. Unbelievable is all I can say. Somewhat damaged still blows me away.
I’m jealous! “Somewhat Damaged” is one of my favorite NIN songs!
Howdy, to my untrained ears, I picked up that line for "You are the reason" sounds very similar to the same line that is sung in "Closer". I thought it was a nice callback, but if there is meaning behind it, I don't know. Anyway, I am a new subscriber and enjoying your videos.
He is so incredibly self-referential I wouldn't put it past him! Thank you for subbing - more coming!
Probably because he, and the rest of humanity, truly are closer to god in that moment. As his many hands reach through the sky to cleanse the earth. And interestingly, in "The Wretched", it seems to sort of foreshadow The Year Zero.
Great Analysis!! I think you're right about the verses being in A mixolydian flat 6 (or b 13) scale (which is part of the D Melodic Minor scale). I always thought for the chorus, he switched from Melodic minor key to C major (with the D major being a substituted major 2nd chord or secondary dominant of G major)
Ooh nerd talk imminent! I can hear the C major if I focus. That C does feel like a point of arrival but the III often does. Some would argue it's basically just a Imaj7 without the root.
Yeah I had the same feeling! I do not hear it as VI-IV-III-VII but simply IV-WEIRD-I-V, and then it switches back to A sweet-mixo in the verses. (the "weird" being just a... major II?? I wouldn't call it a secondary dominant since it doesn't go to G or a substitute of G). To my ears it makes more tonal sense
Thank you so much for sharing these in depth analysis of NIN songs. It feels like rediscovering those songs that fans like me are so familiar with from a new point of view. The videos themselves are also very well done. Very personable, very authentic.
I really enjoy chromatic movement in songs, like the example you pointed out here. Last and Happiness in Slavery have a couple of instances, too (a bit more overt ones, in the rhythm guitars).
That would be a great topic for a video! "How NIN uses Overt Chromaticism".
I've been binge watching your videos for the last two days haha. This is my new favorite channel haha
I'm over a year late. Buuuuuut the "string" sample you are referring to is something that Trent does pretty often and is, I believe, one of his favorite production techniques. I can't remember where, possibly his "archetype of a synthesizer" interview/expose (if you haven't, go watch it RIGHT NOW!), but he mentioned that it was something he figured out during the TDS era. Basically, he takes a sample and puts it into an "infinite reverb" loop. If I'm remembering correctly, he basically takes a sample and puts it through some reverb/delay. Then samples that sound, putting it through more reverb/delay, and so on and so on. That's where the weird backing sounds in Hurt and many of the TDS songs come from. I would guess that he is using the same, or a at least a similar, process to produce this sound.
It is a pretty awesome concept and one I try to implement in my own production. Easier said then done though. I've made plenty of nasty feedback loops. Getting that beautiful and ethereal sound though...that's nowhere near as simple as the explanation I gave above.
I believe the drum beat in zero sum , my violent heart, and god given, are in reference to the presence (as their "Motif" perhaps?), as the early release of my violent heart via usb at a concert, had s spectrogram at the end that showed an image of them, and in the current release of The warning (as well as the evident narrative, the warning being The Presence's "Warning" to humanity, and Zero Sum being them exacting their punishment on humanity)
The vocal processing, from what I remember it sounding like, is likely some high-end filtering with some overdrive that's got a real tube feel to it, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's got some reverse reverb or something going on. The man is a brilliant soundscape crafter.
where have you been all my life? awesome content !!!!
I've been hiding...but Nothing Can Stop Me Now! Thank you for tuning in. So much more coming!
Still gutted that I only became aware years later about the USB pen they left in the toilet room in Lisbon that kicked off the whole YearZero thing. Freaking special moment of their first gig in Portugal was a 3-day event in a theater in 2007! Imagine so many crazed Portuguese fans that had waited so many years to see NIN live for the first time.
I only knew the cliché songs back then (hurt, closer, and hand that feeds). But after that gig on their last day that thankfully still had tickets available everything changed. Lot’s of memories etched. Such as seeing an older cousin of mine that left the main area before the encore because he could not deal with all the emotion.
Seeing this breakdown reminded me of all of this. Thank you so much 🙏
This song was my favorite on this album. It’s too bad you weren’t there when they released the tracks for us to play with and remix. I only ever got around to playing with Me, I’m Not. The processing he puts sounds through is intense. Love the breakdown of these songs. I’m not as well-trained, but I have just enough background to catch what you’re saying.
The vocal sample sounds like it's from Beethoven's 9th symphony - in particular the version from the movie Immortal Beloved, last track, 11:00 mark.
I'll check it out, thanks!
I always imagined the verses as someone leaving a voicemail at the end when everyone is trying to reach everyone they love. It reminds me a lot of someone speaking into their phone with their hand cupped over their mouth and the microphone, as if to try to muffle outside noises, to make themselves clearer
The sample is probably just something off of a modular synth rig. His synth collection from late 90s and up just got bigger and bigger. But you can tell he would sample them and the switch to composing an entire album with a DAW (I’m pretty sure Native Instruments) and abandoning tape had happened by Year Zero. In fact, I think he recorded most of it on his tour bus and probably had a portable modular rig to get textures you can’t get with just a DAW’s plug-ins or a single synth.
Interesting insight into his methods! Thanks for the comment!
You can really hear the Sherman Filterbank somewhere in all of the NIN songs. I REALLY love your channel, by the way!
I have no idea what you are talking about, but I DEFINITELY agree with it all!
haha right on!
Great Ixi! Really enjoyed this one from start to finish!
Thank you so much! That's saying a lot, seeing as it's as long as a TV show episode PHEW!
Amazing job for such incredibly powerful song, you just broke it down to a next level, thanks so much for this.
Thank you, such a powerful song for sure!
Thanks for singing the shame on us part. That's what I came here for.
He never takes us home in the chorus because in the story it's the end of the human race and their acceptance of being put to extinction and never going home again.
You’re SO good! Thank you 🙏
11:24 That's very obviously Jurassic Park's most recognisable "riff". I doubt Trent would make that connection intentionally (too corny) but I thought it worth mentioning.
exceptional. you broke into his mind.
I'm glad I came here for some musical technical analysis. Thank you so much.
I love this song. I don't know exactly what his lyrics mean, but it reminds me a lot of the ending of the novel _Cat's Cradle_
Hi! I've just discovered your channel and I love it!! These videos are so cool, thank you for upload them!
About the string-sounding sample you mentioned: in the Netflix series "Songs Exploded" (around minute 11:45), Trent, when asked about the pad sounds of the song 'Hurt', mentions recording the sound of a studio tuning machine, which sounds similar to the samples in Zero Sum, and he also mentions using those samples even to this day.
Also around minute 13:40, he says: "We've come up with a trick where we could take a note on whatever instrument [...] Feed it for a second into, like, an infinite reverb, and it gets locked into a tone that sounds almost pipe organ-y a little bit."
A similar kind of sound can be heard in the intro of 'The Great Below'.
oh yeah, I'm glad you reminded me of that. I loved that episode so much!
Another great video! One of my favorites from Year Zero. Also looking forward to your Hesitation Marks video.
Thank you! Me too, it's turning out to be More Complex Than I Imagined!
I read somewhere that a lot of Year Zero was written while touring With Teeth using Native Instruments' Maschine.
I assume that MVH, GG and ZS were probably based on the same kit, and maybe the beats were created around the same time.
Not sure if the kit is based on samples he and Atticus made, or if it is just a 606 / 707 / 808 kit with a lot of processing.
One of my absolute favorites. Thank you.
thanks for this brilliant video!
The unstable 7th is homey because its Trent's home... ;) Bring you home to NIN
haha, exactly!
A good start to the morning. Regarding the stretched loop and the thinking behind it, I believe it's related to the concept: the population is doped up on a narcotic in the tap water, Parepin. It's also referenced in the full version of the Add Violence artwork;Trent suggesting that he's energized again, hence the three EP's. On a note with the drum distortion also, I believe that it's assisted with a combi-filter to get that 'rattle' but I could be wrong.
Awesome insights! Thank you for tuning in!
Would be something to know how Trent would react to your breakdowns.. gotta love it
Regarding the voice sound you mention around 15:05... "far away" might be the way the low end is filtered out and the high end is also rolled off (there's a mid and upper mid), while "intimacy" might be the proximity effect of a large diaphragm mic... among other things I'm probably not thinking of ;-) This is one of my favorite things about large diaphragm mics.
Another outstanding breakdown Ixi! You're the best! The last part of the vid had me closing my eyes and felt peace and calm for a brief moment... sidenote:
you should do some ASMR with the lyrics of NiN, i see something interesting going on there :)
Thank you! That's an interesting idea, haha!
If you get a chance, and you have already done so, check out the Zero Sum version of the Year Zero Remixed album. It's so good. In general, the Year Zero Remixed album is amazing.
I may not have, actually - I'm pretty behind on the remix albums! But I'm looking forward to catching up with all you fine piggies.
@@iximusic Of the remixed albums, Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D is the best.
Second this, it’s an awesome remix!
I’m sooo excited for you to get to Survivalism! It’s not my favorite song on the album or anything - that goes to Great Destroyer - but I love how there is something tricky going on the whole time but hardly anyone catches onto it! And it was released as a single on top of that, which makes it even cooler... it was a weird little secret hiding in plain view.
CAN'T WAIT. That video's going to be so nerdy. And I think I'm going to get a lot of people disagreeing with me so the comment section should be rousing. haha
I made some vids about Survivalism! ruclips.net/video/AkTnXgCkYgI/видео.html
And I guess I just wanted to tell you
As the light starts to fade
That you are the reason
That I am not afraid...
That shit hits sooo hard. Seems like such a wonderful sentiment. one of the most beautiful things you could say to a person at the absolute end of it all. and ruins me knowing that i'll not ever be able to feel that way.
That ghosty choral-like sample that you were talking about around 4:25 reminds me of a vaguely similar sound in "closer" (though in that case, there's also some aliasing from whatever sampler was used at the time to pitch it up or down). In both cases, I can imagine a lathe grinding away a piece of metal of some kind (sometimes that can cause resonant tones). It's probably not that, but that's where my mind goes. It would be interesting to play with its pitch and duration to see if that reveals anything. Until you started talking about the songs on "Year Zero", I had forgotten multitracks were released for it. I have 'em archived somewhere...
The manipulated sample @ 12:26 sounds like a snippet of the opening of "Anitra's Dance" from Grieg's "Peer Gynt" (starts at :17 in the following link): ruclips.net/video/xV9e9rDsxOw/видео.html
I believe the orchestral sample at 12:26 is a looped beginning of Anitra's Dance by Edvard Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite no.1
Peer Gynt! 🖤
The weird, disjointed-feeling percussion and noise in Year Zero sort of changed my understanding of what music can sound like, particularly My Violent Heart. This one is so beautiful; again interesting to see major chords against all the noise.
Hey! I don't know if it's been mentioned here and maybe I'm totally wrong about it but I've always thought the way he sings the words "You are the reason (that I'm not afraid)" is really close to the way he sings "You are the reason (I stay alive)" in Closer during the Beside you in Time Tour. Besides that, the way Trent's spoken voice is treated in Zero Sum is pretty close to the way it was in the spoken part of Closer on TDS... So, yeah, idk, maybe it's a stretch but it's always been on my mind since the first time I listened to Year Zero.
Thanks for your amazing work and greetings from France!
Could be. He is very self-referential and it's a beautiful thing to explore!
that stretched chorus... hebrew chorus from nabucco or something from carmina burana. but could just be a generic midi/synth plugin
Those 3 beats together was so 🔥
Yeahhh! 🙌
Awesome video as always! I would love you to do Ruiner sometime. Can't really figure that one out especially the horns in the chorus.
I will be analyzing Ruiner in the spring and I can't waaaait. I don't know yet if I'll be able to get a hold of the multitrack files to isolate things, but I'll try! Trent and Atticus made Year Zero and The Slip multitracks available for downloading and remixing through Creative Commons licenses, which makes the analysis a bit easier.
The _very_ last chord played in 'Zero Sum' (as in, if you were to amplify the fade-out so that you could actually _hear_ it) is the first chord played in '01 Ghosts I'. I remember hearing about that from... somewhere... and then jumping in Audacity to do a quick comparison of the two only to find that whoever said that was correct haha
EDIT: If anything, I think a higher note that was played in the 'Zero Sum' chord wasn't played in the '01 Ghosts I' chord but other than that it's pretty much the same
Believe it or not this is my wife amd I's song. Sort of... Well. Has to do the the beginning of our relationship.
Of course our interpretation of the lyrics is very different from yours / the popular one
so that's how the chorus can be in the key A without any A chords in it ! genius !
thanks for your take on the song ! i wanted to mention, the voice to me sound immersive but also supernatural, like etheral, from space as opposed to intimate. like it's not someone talking to you, but your own thoughts instead... as opposed to the soothing Gospel like chorus...
Oooh nice interpretation!
@iximusic The sample for the A7(no3) sounds like Beethoven's 9th. Last movement ruclips.net/video/_AI9kp02eq0/видео.html just around this time...
That sounds just like it! Good ears! Thanks friend.
The song theme brings me to Four of us are dying
Three is the "Ghost in the Shell" if you like. IXI I am liking your material you are explaining to me why Trent Reznor is my favourite artist of all time.
I think "Three" is Emptiness. I think Trent does focus on feeling empty at times I think he found Three reflects his emptiness as a person certainly at the times he was doing from Downward Spiral to Year Zero.
I never ever heard of 1/3/5/7 until you mentioned but I get the idea of it thank you xxxx
Yes! So most scales have 7 notes, and then the notes start over. So you can just number the notes starting at the bottom. They are called scale degrees. :)
More from year zero! I'd love to see the warning or the good soldier
Ugh yes, all so good! Choosing is the hardest part.
"You are the Reason... I stay alive." -- Closer ... but here. No one gets out alive. In Zero sum... we don't live through this. Instead.. he says You are the reason... I am not afraid. -- We are not closer to god... God and us are as separate as possible here. No acceptance of our dirty hearts... we embody shame here. We realize a fact here... we are not everything... we are at our worlds mercy, not the other way around. We realize our self destruction became all of our destruction. Its a moment of introspection that came too late. We see what we did, and its effect... and Year Zero absolutely exists to warn us, we didnt listen, but of course we didnt, we were doomed from the start. It was a hand reaching out to grab us from our invitable demise, and we slapped it away in hubris. But that hand... is our own.
Here is a video of Alessandro Cortini of NIN using a cassette portastudio to create samples and continuous chords that can be pitched bent ruclips.net/video/11BP4Pe8iYk/видео.html
I think the A7(no3) sound is a software synth from Native Instruments Reaktor and not a sample.
Best song on the record
That chord seems to come from a harpsichord or similar instrument. Hell, it may be something from the guys who made the swarmatron though, this was when he was getting into wierd analog musical instruments.
You are genius :) Have you heard Whitey? Nathan White, would love to hear your opinion
That is cool really but I am interested in your plans on the future. What are you going to focus on when there will be no NIN songs left to analyze? Don't get me wrong, I like and appreciate your effort. I'm just scared because there's a finite amount of content that can be made based on this theme
Well, I think it would take me 5 more years to get through the whole Nine Inch Nails catalog! But I am going to start analyzing other bands this year but still focus on NIN.
But I also have some other NIN-related video ideas that aren't straight analyses. About themes, about tendencies, my favorite underrated tracks, etc. :)
too many big words that mean stuff lol but you did a great job with the piano and making the sounds❤️
Zero lipstick
Haha good one!
Amazing song from a great album!
That extended chord is extremely biblical sounding, which really makes sense for this song
IIRC the same sample was used in God Given, which in my mind contributed really well to the unsettling feeling of that particular song throughout
i was wondering what those chords remind me of, then it hit me: Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush. Glory in madness, and a longing to reunite.
I just listened to this track and wow! What a fascinating chord progression.
@@iximusicTo think she was 16 when she wrote that...
This is awesome!
Do you chat?
For me, the drums in this song during chorus are probably the best in all music ever and played really loud (don't annoy neighbours) it's just... aaaah... it's so powerfull and probably the reason I use Year Zero as profile picture on many sites. I like to focus on the woodblock (?) pattern when "playing" it. Didn't know about the similarities with My violent heart and God given, how can someone spot that. :-)
Also Stephen Morris & Gillian Gilbert remix isn't bad (The Other Two from New Order), but original is unbeatable.
I always had a soft spot for big ending epic songs on albums (e.g. DM - Higher Love). And speaking about endings, that live ending with In This Twilight with people leaving stage and finally just Trent... I think I'd die crying if I was there.
Cool video, I always thought this song was extremely simple - but you've highlighted a surprising amount of depth there!
But - one massive negative - your lipstick isn't a garish extreme shade of rainbow - boring! :-P lol
I mean, in a way it is very simple! And, it's also complex. I feel that's true for almost anything; you can appreciate something on a superficial level, and you can always go deeper. There's no guarantee that I wouldn't make a 37-minute analysis of the most straightforward pop song. That being said, NIN music typically has a lot of layers, experimentation with production, and most of all unusual harmonic choices!
EDIT: re: lipstick, it's a dark, dark day when I don't apply the 'stick.
It could probably be pre recorded or from a sample library.
Take notice of every single closing song on each of his EPs. They're all very dramatic, and that's very much on purpose. Hurt, The Great Below, Right Where It Belongs, Zero Sum, Demon Seed, While I'm Still Here, all close the album with a dramatic resolve. They wouldn't fit anywhere else on their respective albums.
Yeah there's a certain poignancy to them all. Nice observation!
Would love to hear your cover of this or any other NIN song.
I did a remix of sorts! I added some piano harmonies and used drums from other tracks on Zero Sum! But a piano-only cover would be lovely too... ruclips.net/video/Vkdu-NBcO7g/видео.html
Also did you see my piano cover of Mr. Self Destruct? ruclips.net/video/92T6y2auxAQ/видео.html
Wow!
There are such talented people on youtube. So many gems.
You just gotta like and subscribe. ..It's the least I can do!
I noticed you're using Reason as the DAW, but what are you using to separate out the tracks so cleanly?