In January 2012, the I Dream of Wires team visited the Hollywood studio of Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, for a joint interview with fellow NIN member, Alessandro Cortini. Through his continued interest and adoption of cutting-edge electronic instrumentation, Reznor's been witness to the evolution of the synthesizer, from the giant unobtainium of '70s modulars, to the digital "how's the piano sound?" ROMplers of the '80s, right through to the current dominance of computer-based plug-in synthesizers. In our interview, Reznor expresses his enthusiasm for the recent wave of boutique modular synthesizer manufacturers, for having "brought a lot of that magic back into the synth world, that got lost in the Korgs and the Yamahas and the Rolands…." Additionally, Reznor and Cortini offer insight into the influence of an instrument's physical presence, and how for both of them, the process of interacting with hardware plays a crucial role in the resulting sound.