Open invite to anyone who is not offended; feel free to listen to my live NIN cover.

[wheresgrant3]

Haha... I say that because merely announcing that I play in a "cover" band and we play a mix of music ranging from Devo to Prince to Nine Inch Nails is enough to put any Reznor fan into a tail spin. However this is one of my favorite songs to play, and certainly one of the most challenging arrangements to pull off. Live I use a Roland XP30, Triton LE and Alesis Micron and on this song I use all three. A mix of tweaked and factory patches. No sequencing... just two hands, the Micron's latch function and a few sustain pedals.

 

First off... since we are tuned to standard E we had to arrange the synth line a little differently. I really don't like it this way, but our bass player has no way to hit a low d# when tuned this way. So it sounds a little funny at first.

 

Second this is a live recording... a decent mix... not the best, but decent. This isn't a board recording. About a year ago we had a studio guy come out to a show and record us using a mobile recording desk. Everything was mic'd except my keys which went direct. It was for our press kit demo. This of course didn't make that recording.

 

Third... all apologies for the Bon Jovi intro. I'm not a fan but the girls really like it.

 

Head Like a Hole

[Bluenoise]

Hey, I'm a nin fan and that must be cool to play this song live.

 

About the arrangement, I have two things to say : the way the drummer bangs the hihat is annoying, he does quite the same pattern during the whole song. Tell him to listen the way Dillon plays it live, that's really inspiring (I'm a drummer too, that's why I say this).

 

Second thing : the guitarist needs to calm down. I feel he's always so excited it doesn't get anymore exciting to listen after a moment, because you get used to it. Maybe it works well when played live (not on {censored}ty computer speakers) though.

 

 

 

Well, re-reading this I realise it's like I want your cover to be closer to the original .

 

Have fun!!

[wheresgrant3]

Originally posted by Bluenoise Hey, I'm a nin fan and that must be cool to play this song live. About the arrangement, I have two things to say : the way the drummer bangs the hihat is annoying, he does quite the same pattern during the whole song. Tell him to listen the way Dillon plays it live, that's really inspiring (I'm a drummer too, that's why I say this). Second thing : the guitarist needs to calm down. I feel he's always so excited it doesn't get anymore exciting to listen after a moment, because you get used to it. Maybe it works well when played live (not on {censored}ty computer speakers) though. Well, re-reading this I realise it's like I want your cover to be closer to the original . Have fun!!

 

That's cool!!! Live this song is pretty hard to pull off. I was hoping for comments on the synth parts but I appreciate the comments about guitar and drum. I can tell you honestly that neither player had even heard a NIN song before I suggested we play it it. The drummer is into funk, and mainstream rock (which is why there's a shuffly disco beat) and the guitarist is old school David Gilmore/SRV style guitar player. I don't think he knew what to do during the song, so he overplays a bit. But I think it adds something interesting to the arrangement. We weren't able to go for an exact cover of the song (we string several songs or parts into medleys) so it was really our best shot at it. It's nice to have another pair of ears listen to it!

 

Thanks

[Allerian]

The synth needs to be louder than the guitar (and good luck with that!) Great sounding stage presence from the singer.

[wheresgrant3]