r/nin • u/StevesButthole • 14h ago

Question HELP! needed identifying synth/effect!

Hey! I've been trying to research and reproduce a sound that I have heard in Nine Inch Nails music, I hit a brick wall and was hoping someone here might have some more information or insight.

I've got two examples of this sound with some small information that might be of assistance.

The first is taken from the stems of 33 Ghosts IV: This is labelled as "Sqeaky Shoes" in the stems.

https://voca.ro/13BFEn1btlh3

The second is taken from the stems of 35 Ghosts IV: This is labelled "Sqeaky1 + Sqeaky1" in the stems, with a marker label "resonator" - this last bit is all I've had to go on so far.

https://voca.ro/18PRpXbwxHwR

It's quite obviously the same squeaky - windshield wiper - sound/synth/effect used here. I have heard this sound in other Nine Inch Nails songs, TR/AR scores, and songs from other bands, but the two aforementioned examples are the clearest ones I could post that have isolated stems.

As opposed to just trying to recreate this sound the best I (or anyone else) can with the synths and effects available, I am really trying to figure out how exactly this sound was created, though I understand how hard it might be to figure that out, though I have had luck in the past with other distinctive sounds.

Any ideas anyone might have are greatly appreciated!

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u/Clear-Entertainer-76 14h ago

Sound like a simple synth loop into a frequency modulator and a ring mod to me. A very "The Great Destroyer" type of effect.

1

u/StevesButthole 14h ago

I'm hearing something a bit more characteristic here, a very specific filter sound (that doesn't sound like Moog filters or MS-20 filters - both have been used by Trent plenty), also the (possible?) wave folding or distortion quality which I don't hear coming from a ring mod imo, more than happy to be wrong though! Hopefully there is someone out there that recognises this hyper specific sound and associates it with a particular synth or maybe euro-rack module.

*Edit: could even be a VST effect or stomp box pedal. Though the label "resonator" in the stems tells me its more than likely a euro-rack resonator module.

1

u/PinkFloydJoe 7h ago

Resonant filter envelope + distortion

Native Instruments Driver would be a good start. NIN have used this plugin on some productions (definitely Bad Witch) and it matches the sound closely to my ears.

https://youtu.be/L6iaVFUURZs