Trent Reznor | Archetype of a Synthesizer 

He's actually talking to a huge modular synth - no one is even in the room.

This is the most intense video I've seen of someone talking about a synth

Trent Reznor could talk for an hour about how vacuum cleaners work and I would still listen with great intensity.

Trent smiles a lot when he talks about this, which says a lot.

"I was afraid to write music to find out that it sucked" brilliant man.

Trent Reznor endorsing a synth is like John Wick endorsing a gun

For a guy that makes such aggressive, depressing, dark music, Trent seems like a really cool guy to hang out with

he's so progressive this is actually his new song

Imagine if Trent did audio books, especially horror or post ap type books. Would be intense.

Trent Reznor: "Playing keyboards, I got pretty good at it." Most modest understatement in electronic music history.

I like how he refers to NIN as "them", when it's mainly been just him for the majority of its history. Still includes the live group even when referring to something he did completely himself.

Trent Reznor - guy was my parents nightmare in the 90s with his fishnets and goth looks. Turns out to be the safest adult - Love you Trent, thanks for being a great example of growing up since we all have to do it.

Never an ounce of pretentiousness with his interviews. He expresses honestly his insecurities and doubts going into a project explaining his process. Much respect for Trent Reznor.

i don't think i'm the only one ...but, i could listen to him talk for hours.

"It felt like a musical instrument, not just a collection of circuitry in a box" * Camera pans to Prophet 12 * Sick burn

The music in the background makes it sound like he's some sort of super-villain

This music fills me with dread that somewhere in the interview Reznor will suddenly lose it and do something violent to the cameraman...

It's always nice to see Trent smile.

This is the single greatest advertisement for moog products ever

This guy from Slam Bamboo actually took the time to sit down with the kids before the show and explain to them how a synthesizer works. Trent, you’re a treat.

This is great. Trent Reznor actually inspires me to make music.

Man I could watch hours of Reznor speaking with that ambiant background music, it just feels so relaxing.

I don't know if its just me, but he could be talking about his stamp collection and I would be captivated with interest.

Trent Reznor was such an influential artist for me. I remember listening to his music like a scientist studies something under the microscope. I had some medical condition that caused depression and I was so disturbed by the fact that what I was upset was not real. But when I was in the mental doctors office he had a photo of Trent Reznor on the wall. And he said that Trent Reznor was an artist that overcame depression to make wonderful. And if he can have a successful life in spite of depression that I can too.

"I was afraid to write music to find out if it sucked" I am having this exact problem, there are things I want to do, but if the smallest sliver of a hint that it might suck enters my mind I get incredibly discouraged. That is the best thing I think I could have heard today.

Moog is one of the reasons NIN sounds so distinctive. Luscious sound, eerie tones, complex harmony. It's realer than real.

His voice is like butter. I could listen to him talk for hours.

I'm just so happy he's had the tools to express himself. He's been such an inspiration to me and my music.

I got to meet Trent, he was one of my customers. He is a really nice guy.

Trent Reznor is a 'True' genius. His music is timeless yet completely in the moment and very "now' feeling. He's been an inspiration to me since I was a kid and I heard Pretty Hate Machine and it spoke to me both musically and lyrically. I would love to be a fly on the wall during the making of one of his albums or scores. Just to see his (as well as Atticus's) approach first hand would be life changing. I just really hope he continues to make music for as long as possible. I know that's a selfish request but his music is just so important to me and I know i'm not the only one. Thanks to Moog for helping him find that feeling/sound when he needs it because it translates to greatness.

The timbre of his voice alone was enough to make incredible music. It helps that he’s also the epitome of vulnerability and intellectual bravery.

Thanksgiving holiday, 1989. Before the internet... I was buying music the way you used to. A bit of luck and intuition was involved. You often couldn't listen, so you had to take note of the artwork, pictures, song titles.. etc to give you a better chance of finding something good. God tossed me a bone that day. I stumbled upon Pretty Hate Machine.Tile ✔ Flipped it over, saw Trent kneeling in pain, was a black and white picture. Picture ✔ Then I read the track list. Track list ✔lol. Completely unaware of what I had stumbled upon, I left the record store with my Aunt. Trent and I were united, my world forever changed. For years, Trent voiced and expressed what I could not, until I found my own. This helped keep me here... alive... knowing that other people feel the same.... Even if it didn't, this music altered my life for the better. I was sitting in a 1987 blue Buick Electra, (fake wood panel option) in a mall parking garage in Minnesota. Portable CD to tape converter cable lol. Then it happened. Something I Can Never Have... That was the first NIN I ever heard. I gave me the chills... Thanks power higher than me. (God, Allah, Buddha, Earth God... whatever) You might not have given two sh1ts about my struggles, but you introduced me to NIN. I felt loved :]

Trent Reznor, you sir are a musical genius.

While I am a guitarist and only like a few tunes by Trent. I do believe he is a musical monster. Honest, talented and passionate about his craft.

This man put suffering, death, synthetic heartbeats and sounds from hell, piano and more than often his own voice to make the most beautifull music. People who don´t enjoy NIN just haven´t suffered enough in life to do so. Thanks for the music and the Quake 1 Soundtrack. Atmosphere dripping from the walls.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting this man and he is so down to earth and very humble I am and will always be a huge fan of the music Trent Reznor makes.

What an incredibly articulate and insightful man. This is also the best homage to the Moog synthesizer that I have ever seen. The creepy music in the background just added such a dramatic effect to the dialog.

The man, the myth, the legend: Trent Reznor. A musical mastermind genius who I have always had great respect for.

Love the way he articulates his music into vocabulary. Smooth.

Trent is a genius, his music is beyond any other music in this world.

Trent is such a huge inspiration to many of us for so many reasons. Thank you Moog and Trent.

Trent Reznor you're a human synthesizer.

Trent seems like such a knowledgable and chill guy. It's nice seeing troubled people realize their potential and find the inner peace they deserve.

Trent has to be one of the luckiest persons in the world.Handsome,deep voice and makes fantastic music.Long live Mr.Reznor!

I can't overestimate how important Trent Reznor's been. His music keeps me going. Should I have a son. His first or middle name will be Trent.

What an articulate, down to earth real human being. Easy to see why Charlie Clouser has so much praise for him.

I think he influenced modern music more than anyone could explain.

Oh shit. He's just as articulate and intelligent as I was afraid he was. The swatches of sound this guy lays down together is just mind blowing. By the way, the interviewer did a great job. Trent started out like, "Ok, how honest am I going to be with this guy..." ( or woman) Whatever an interviewer does to stay out of the way and draw out his subject, this guy did.

We need much more videos of Trent talking about synths

I don't play an instrument or care about synthesizers, but I was hanging on every word.

Love the way he points out personality in each piece of equipment. True musician.

He did the scoring for Gone Girl, just amazing stuff. Truly elevated the movie.

I was the roadie for a garage band in late 70's that placed a classified ad for a keyboard player and Trent showed up for the audition and IIRC he was too young to drive at that time and he was dropped off by his grandparent. In short order the lead singer was gone and Trent was fronting it. I remember the time when he showed up with the Prodigy and said "listen to this". Over the next few years Trent and the band spent countless hours in my basement studio making demos on a 4-channel Teac open-reel. We were so poor that we'd spend weeks making some songs on the sole 10.5" master tape and then dump them to cassettes for our cars and THEN overwrite the master tape with new recordings. Neither I nor the other band mates can find a single cassette because they are forever buried in the glove compartments of old Chevy Novas and other POS junkers. They would have made a killer NIN "basement tapes" triple album. Oh well. BTW, the talent was obvious on the first day he auditioned in Pat's (bass player) garage.

That synth room looks amazing. Trent is an incredible talent. Discovered Nine Inch Nails in 1994

The Fragile is one of my favorite albums and i still listen to it often.

This guy is a true artist, through and through. Just hearing him talk about his music and his machines. He really-really cares about his craft. Like-- a lot...

The music backing the interview makes it sound like some horror movie and he's about to reveal some really crazy twist that's gonna blow everyone's mind.

I don’t know where I’d be without Trent’s talent. Never disappoints and just keeps getting better and better. His music has made a huge impact on me over the years and helped me out of some pretty dark spaces in the corners of my head.

Wow, thanks for the fantastic video, Moog! Definitely the best interview I've ever seen or read with Trent with regards to the instrumental side of his music creation. Not to mention all the gear eye-candy; my gosh, what a collection! And as if I didn't already want a Minimoog badly enough, to then hear Trent refer to it as having been _indispensable_ to him since the beginning!

Unique, Tren Reznor is a person that i look up to as a muscisian since the 90s. I don't get whta's to dislike when someone like him is sharing knowledge and experiences. Greetings from Mexico.

Trent isn’t a musician, he’s a magician.

"It felt like a musical instrument, not just collection of circuitry in a box"- cut to a Dave Smith Prophet 12. I see what you did there Moog! ;)

Trent Reznor!!! Interview! Yes please and thank you! 🙏His music got me through years of stuff...he is timeless and his music is in my top 5. Period. Years later I still go back to listen to his stuff, depending on what I am going through or feeling. Let the music have the darkness and lift that weight off your back...and smile with the good stuff and let it intensify that good feeling. Everything has its reason for existing. Love #NIN.

Trent is one of the most inspiring people in the music industry right now.

The backing music sounds almost identical to the music he wrote for the game Quake 1nearly 20 yrs ago. Spooky atmospheric landscape type stuff.

I'd love to see more collaborations with Trent Reznor.

Absolutely loved this interview. This man is in command of his creativity and knowledge of his instruments. What an example to any artist.

By far the humblest interview I believe I've ever watched. But being a similar electronics nut, love the revealing of his attachments and reasoning to specific instruments and how to evoke emotional responses based on their capabilities as you master each instrument. That is an excellent teaching point.

I only have one dream. To have a piano lesson sit down with Trent

Trent mentioned he bought his first synth at New York Music in Youngstown, Ohio. I worked there for ten years. After 40+ years, the business no longer exists, but there is a Guitar Center located just one block away :--(

PURE GOLD! Thank You Trent! Your thoughts have generated So Many ideas.

Wow, thanks for posting this interview with Trent Reznor. Very inspiring

I was in the Chinese Theatre audience when Trent won his Oscar for Best Original Score in 2011. It was awesome to see him collect it for he is a genius.

Trent is a true inspiration for me, he got me into creating an industrial sound, mixing rock/metal with electronic music is my dream genre to make

Its amazing the amount of content and insight we get from this. Just shy of 12 minutes, but great to hear his outlook on music creation.

Trent you're an amazing legend. thanks for sharing. great work.

It's a treat getting to hear Trent Reznor say that something is a "treat".

I can remember being a little kid sneaking to stay up late so I could watch headbangers ball, back when I was just starting to figure out what kind of music I liked as opposed to what my parents played. I can remember the very first time I ever saw the video to head like a hole and at that moment I knew that this was the coolest shit I had ever seen in my life. I didn't even know what it was called but I knew that THIS was what I liked. I have been a nin fan ever since.

Extremely intelligent, creative musician. Saw NIN back in early 2000 and was totally amazed the effort he places into his music.Debut NIN and Ghosts are truly works of art.

That was a great insight into the thinking processes involved with generating sounds with difficult-to-describe "mood" or "vibe". Thank you Moog and Trent.

always loved Trent. genius.

I love it when he says I'm Trent Reznor and I'm NIN.

NIN has been one of my favorites since I was 16. 20 years later, and I still listen to NIN almost daily. I loved seeing this video, wish there was much more. For any fan of NIN, this video, and the documentary: I Dream of Wires, are absolutely essential.

I love this man and every sound he's made so far

now imagine the same interview with david guetta :/ ...people like Trent are so inspiring..They think about the instruments, the music, the outcome, the message.. not the damn money..

Holy fuck, Thank you Moog for uploading this, i never listened to NiN, but Mr Reznor just said something that has helped me more than any advice I've received in my life. Thank you !!!! Now I need to go make something on my moog voyager XL :D

One of the most inspiring interviews I have seen. After being put in a box all my life and trying to redirect my music after twenty years. Wow, what a video to watch! As a techie I totally regret getting rid of my DX7 and a random analogue monophonic synth I pick up from a second hand store, just because I like all the switches (while at college). If only the Internet was around in the 80's instead of the 90's when I started my career with it.

Love you so much, Trent Reznor. Fantastic video.

Thanks Moog and Trent. Looking forward to the day that I can get a Moog into my studio. I think if I ever entered Trent's studio, it would be difficult to leave. Infinite sonic possibilities...

the music in the background remember me the "Quake" score he made more than 20 years ago. very good electronic musician.

this is a great interview. eerie just like the band itself.

I'm sincerely happy and thankful he can still harness his creativity to produce meaningful things. Trent, whatever you do, you're an amazing Artist.

Trent is a master producer and composer of dark sounds. Also like the brooding soundscapes of other artists like Massive Attack, Portishead, Unkle, Gary Numan, Tricky, Atoms For Peace, Allflaws

Thanks for the post moog- Trent is absolutely underrated as a composer!

Super huge fan. So cool to hear you explain this!

Trent you are an amazing artist and person. I have been a long time fan, and I want to say thank you for what you have done for art and music!

Whenever I go back to listening to pretty hate machine, I'm always astounded by Trents music production prowess. He uses every production trick in the book on that album. Not only that, but the crazy thing is, the album has a strange almost pop sensibility to it. How can I put it? Its catchy as hell! Much respect to this massively talented man from one fellow synth head to another.

What a fun video. This is why RU-vid is cool.

Thanks Trent, I always DEEP DIVE into anything I get synths, effect, etc.

It's that spiritual connection & expression with any instrument, that makes a Legend! And Legends live forever.