Download the score – Let’s Keep It That Way
Setup:
- improvised setup of resonant metals and drums
- Computer for stereo playback of live-triggered events
- A foot pedal to trigger the events is recommended
- Amplification for the spoken voice is also recommended
Program Note
I am an avid reader of comic books and one of my all-time favorite series is Planetary by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday. One of the main characters in the series is The Drummer, a man who can control the flow of energy and information with drumsticks. By drumming on computers, televisions, or electrical panels The Drummer can move, shape, and bend the forces to his liking. This piece does a similar thing with chaotic and random synth textures becoming transformed and shaped as the percussion soloist plays. In addition to the synth textures, I’ve used recordings of my father and I doing some carpentry work in his garage on summer. The power tools (and our captured conversations) are another stream in this “control and shape things” metaphor.