Nightmare Machine by Adam Silverman

In 2015, I composed “Zipzap,” a madcap work for drum kit soloist with wind ensemble that shuffles original sounds with those inspired by movie chase scenes and big band music. After sharing this music with percussionist Michael Burritt, he offered to commission a new work for drum kit with electronics, this one suitable for solo performance. Having no experience working with sophisticated electronic media, I found a way to create a recorded track that is firmly in my comfort-zone of composing in strict notation: I set up my music notation software to control a high-end sample library with a dizzying array of sounds from vintage keyboards and synthesizers. I picked many of my favorites from the ‘60s and ‘70s: a Wurlitzer electric piano, Hohner Clavinet, Minimoog, and more, and went crazy combining them in intricate ways and being fueled by inspirations from prog rock bands like Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, and Genesis, alongside more contemporary music from Snarky Puppy and Medeski, Martin & Wood. Further inspiration came from strange sources, like promotional videos circulated by drum and cymbal manufacturers and memories of dystopian movies from my childhood in the 1980’s that shared a theme of technology that had run out of control.

This composition is dedicated with gratitude to its commissioner, Michael Burritt. Thanks are also due to collaborators Brian Nozny (who edited the drum solo) and Matt Filosa, who mixed and mastered the accompaniment track.

– A.B.S