Slashdot Mirror
The Tech Behind a Nine Inch Nails Show
inetstorm, who has "been a NIN fan for ages," sends along a Wired profile giving a look behind the scenes at the tech underlying the current NIN concert tour. "... this time around, NIN has pulled out all the stops, creating a groundbreaking, fully interactive visual display that is as much a part of the show as the band's instruments ... The core of the show is a sophisticated trio of transparent 'stealth' screens, which are raised and lowered during the performance... For the interactive portions of the show, all the onscreen video is rendered by Moment Factory's custom rig, a trio of Linux-based devices collectively known as 'the brain.'"
"a trio of Linux-based devices collectively known as 'the brain.'"
What are we going to do today brain?
The same thing we do every day, pinky. Plan to take over the world.
...kicking 'em when they're down!
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/1725/nineinchfailsur6.jpg
I like NIN as much as anyone, and that concert, along with those FX looks awesome, but there isn't much here that I see that looks much different than what Daft Punk have been doing with their concerts for quite sometime.
Yes, Daft Punk has a scripted show vs. playing instruments that interact with the AV, but the overall display, lighting and controller tech running the show behind the scenes seem much the same.
I was just thinking about interactive audio visualizations for a kick ass guitar appliance. I ran across fluxus which I'd never heard of before, but looks to be a killer app. Check out the movies here.
http://www.pawfal.org/index.php?page=FluxusSecrets
http://www.pawfal.org/fluxus/
NIN makes me wish for the Pink Floyd of long ago. But then again, so does Roger Waters ;)
MP3 Search Engine
and they might of caught up to the tech available in a 90's rave
still rock music allways was behind
This BSOD was set up on purpose - it was a part of the decoration. See http://blog.internetnews.com/apatrizio/2008/09/the-fail-er-joke-is-on-the-web.html
It reminds me of Blue Man Group's visual performance, with better music IMO. They use a lot of LEDs, lights, colors, special effects, etc.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Is there a video clip of this in action? :)
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Trent is a pretty cool dude. He tries to embrace technology and make it work for him and he is a big opponent of the current entrenched system (RIAA etc). Trent sees them as crooks who prey upon the fans and artists alike and did everything in his power to get independent. As soon as he did he started to release albums free with options to donate and ability to purchase physical and/or high rez formats. Needless to say it was a success and now other artists are using his inspiration and trying to change things as well. Normally I detest Mac and all their little fanboys but not Trent because he is not just an empty headed user who is being a partisan simply because of Apple's slick marketing. Trent loves technology and if a tool is good for a job he embraces it. If it works great, if it sucks he denounces it. You have to respect someone like that. We need more of that attitude in every aspect of life.
I saw this show in Lexington, KY. Trust me, the stills on the article don't do it justice. You really have to see the show to appreciate how dynamic and fluid the effects are. Unfortunately, the videos on YouTube are pretty washed out because any camera small enough to sneak in has poor quality, and can't handle the bright lights well.
I've also seen the Blue Man Group concert tour (three times!) and there's no comparison. The FX in BMG's "How to be a Megastar" tour are good, but this blows them away.
That or a really big nail file!
-- Many men would appreciate a woman's mind more if they could fondle it
Someone who used to be a huge NIN fan told me the other day that he saw a quite old video of NIN ripping apart a live monkey on stage and has since lost all respect for the band. Does anyone know if there is truth to this? I wasn't able to find any evidence of this online.
And as some comments have stated, the article doesn't do justice to actually watching the show.
They are my favorite band and it was an amazing thing to watch them perform... I'll go again if I get a chance to :)
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
They're smart to design a concert that provides a non-downloadable experience.
What about Nine Inch Nails -and- a Stonehenge replica, circa 1994? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWw-4I4WUv0 (about 15 seconds in)
I am Leviathant and I approve this message.
Yeah, but can you run Linux on it? Oh. Erm, never mind, I'll get me coat.
I've caught every NIN show in Toronto in the last 5 years, and this stage show was,no contest, the best I've seen. For Trent or anyone I've seen live. The way Trent interacted with it was not only amazing, but (just like the article pointed out) the way he could set moods for different types of his tracks was nothing short of genius. It blew me away the way he was able to set up the environment to play some of their tracks from the Ghosts release (slower, ambient instrumentals for those who haven't heard them). Heh, I until I saw this show I never would have thought one could "rock" the xylophone, but that's exactly what he did. Some of the lights pointed at the crowd were blindingly overwhelming, but those "stealth screens" more then made up for it.
... go up to 11?
The "stealth" screens they talk about are really just Stealth(TM) branded LED screens, which have a fairly wide dot pitch to allow gaps to see through. They are being used right now on such cutting edge projects as Broadway musicals, trade shows, etc. etc. They neither are invisible to radar nor move like ninjas.
Running a Linux what again?
http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/nin-jabs-at-pc-blue-screen-of-death-part-of-concert
Why is this being reported as new? Stealth screens have been in wide use for some time now. Last years matchbox twenty's tour used movable stealth screens. Rascal Flatt's current tour has stealth screens and massive pc controlled set movements. Toby Keith's current tour has stealth screens too. Computer controlled truss, video walls and staging is old hat. This OP was written by a clueless NIN fan Signed your local concert rigger.
Should't they just play quake? :-D
I friend of mine went to see NIN. He told me that during quiet part of âSomething I can never haveâ(TM) someone shouted âoeTIMMY!!â in the style of South Park, a large part of the audience burst in to laughter. I just like to tell that story on NIN fans before I play them some Sun O))).
I was absolutely blown away by the visuals in this show (I'm embarrassed to admit, my first NiN concert in 15 years of being a fan). Awesome to see something talking about how they set up all the multimedia.
When does technology stop being marketroid buzzwords and become art?
This is new because Trent Reznor does things himself, and does them right. It's possible to throw as many screens and lights as you can afford on a stage, but for a concert experience all that matters is how the tech is used. In this case, the artist's vision is directly responsible for the design, programming, and implementation of the effects... and that makes all the difference.
I can't imagine Toby Keith or Rascal Flatts disappearing into their basements for a week to design anything, let alone program and implement it themselves. Either way, I don't know of anyone else with Reznor's combination of technical and artistic chops, and that makes all the difference.
"We have to go forth and crush every world view that doesn't believe in tolerance and free speech." - David Brin