 The musicians created the album tracks through improvisation and experimentation . As a result , the initial plan to release a single EP of the material expanded to include the increasing amount of material . Viglione contributed percussion to tracks 19 and 22 . He stated that Reznor 's instructions to him were to " build a drumkit . Piece together any stuff that you want to bang on ; rent what you want to rent . Have fun and ... be creative — See where your mind and your ideas take you . " Viglione 's makeshift drum kit included a 50 @-@ gallon trash can , a pair of water cooler jugs , and a cookie tray with a chain across it . Alessandro Cortini is credited on a total of ten tracks from Ghosts for his contributions on guitar , bass guitar , dulcimer , and electronics . Cortini was brought onto the project two weeks into the process , and his involvement evolved from " first recording some extra parts to some tracks " and eventually into " a collaboration on [ the ] tracks noted in the booklet " . Adrian Belew was also brought on for select instrumental contributions , but as the project evolved Reznor expanded Belew 's involvement and shared writing credit with him on two tracks . 
