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.'"

Comments

Let me be the first to say

[Nuclear Elephant]

"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.

Re:Let me be the first to say

[Anonymous Coward]

I think the real question here is what type of fasteners they are using to hold it together.

Re:Let me be the first to say

[Anonymous Coward]

6 inch screws

The power of Linux

[Swampash]

...kicking 'em when they're down!

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/1725/nineinchfailsur6.jpg

Re:The power of Linux

[no reason to be here]

The original unaltered picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ltrandazzo/2783768632/in/set-72157606864141506/

Taken by amy Randazzo, sister of one of the guys responsible for http://theninhotline.com/

Just want to give attribution where it's due.

Also, I'm so pissed off I wasn't able to see them this time around, and everytime I hear about how amazing and groundbreaking the show is, it makes me that much more upset. I really hope I can make it to one of the shows when they come back through the US again.

Re:The power of Linux

[RealGrouchy]

FTA:

But Reznor, who is an unabashed Mac fan, is also playful about having to partially rely on Windows boxes for some of the show's visuals.

"We purposefully put one frame of the Blue Screen of Death in this collage of static that comes up at the end of 'Great Destroyer,' and right away people caught it," he says.

That is not a fail; it's win all the way.

- RG>

Re:The power of Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

thats really too bad. in my world, there is no "wasn't" or "can't" for i make my way to see nin.

as for the show, it was the best nin visual show i have seen in the 14 years i have been attending nin concerts. there are things done with with trent and the screens that simply took my breath away. things i never would have thought possible at a "music" concert. this recent show i saw in inglewood, ca was far from being a simple "concert" or "music show." it's something else. something bigger. something that push the envelope.

This looks so familiar

[MrSteve007]

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.

Re:This looks so familiar

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah. That 40-foot neon pyramid looks *just* like the floating screens that NIN are using. Same thing. Exactly. No difference whatsoever...

Re:This looks so familiar

[fraktus]

The difference is that for Daft Punk it's much more video technicians creating the vision of the Band.

For NIN the band is much more involved in the audio - visual synchronization.

I am from the company ArKaos that helped them to fix their show and made the interaction more easy.

ouch

[jacquesm]

NIN makes me wish for the Pink Floyd of long ago. But then again, so does Roger Waters ;)

The BSOD was on purpose

[azrael29a]

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

Re:The BSOD was on purpose

[Sebilrazen]

Pretty much standard fare at a concert of decent size these days. Even before camera phones were basically standard, people would wave their phones in the air, creating a similar effect to a crowd full of lighters.

Not only this, but Trent wants fans to bootleg and remix his shit, he releases albums under creative commons specifically for this purpose.

Trent kicks ass

[runlevelfour]

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.

Re:Trent kicks ass

[X0563511]

We don't know if it's offhand. Support of his opinion would be offtopic, probably long-winded, and probably earn him a few flamebait/troll mods just because.

Hoping for a concert DVD

[Kesh]

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.

Re:Hoping for a concert DVD

[Anonymous Coward]

I believe if they follow their previous concerts, they will also release a blu-ray of the concert as well (taking the best performances). I wasn't aware of these Nin concerts until I picked up their latest concert blu-ray from amazon. It's literally mind blowing how well their technology synchronizes with their performance. I don't get out much (usually I stay in my moms basement hacking linux on the weekends), but if they come to New York I might get tickets. Concerts like those are worth leaving the house for and being around people.

Re:Ripping apart a monkey on stage?

[Deuxsonic]

That seems highly unlikely for someone who did a video for PETA, you know?

Re:Ripping apart a monkey on stage?

[nawcom]

About the only thing I can think relating Trent to a monkey is the one strapped onto a crucifix on the Closer video. It's called symbolism. I'm sure the monkey was fine. He's never done anything with animals on stage. Your friend's mind is twisted.

Re:Video clip?

[coolsnowmen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x9BucfUYCE
Right in the beginning, 0:05 or so.

When does tech become art?

[Behrooz]

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.