Mirror Smasher Zero

About Mirror Smasher Zero

Mirror Smasher Zero is the first movement of an album length work to be, titled Mirror Smasher. The zero version of the piece is much shorter – I think of it as proof of concept for the sound world of the larger piece. I’d considered not releasing it, but it works pretty well as a standalone, and it’s nice to have this shorter version for when piano duos or presenters don’t have forty minutes of program time to spare. Call it a teaser.

I am grateful to my friends in HOCKET (Sarah Gibson and Thomas Kotcheff) for collaborating with me on this project. They gave the premiere of Mirror Smasher Zero at a Synchromy concert in Los Angeles on November 5, 2016. The title is a nod to my friend Alex Miller‘s piece Clock Smasher, which was also on the program.

Technical notes

The pianists will need a click track on a separate channel from the stereo backing track. Both the click track and the stereo track will be included with your purchase of the score.

Align the start times of these files in your digital audio workstation. Route the click track to the pianists’ headphones and the backing tracks to the mains.

If possible, the piano should be amplified. If not, get the tracks as loud as possible without completely losing the piano. They should blend together, and the piano should be slightly buried by the synths when they kick in around 6 minutes.

Please do not perform Mirror Smasher Zero without a PA hits you right in the gut. No M Audio 5 inch monitors for this one. Systems with subwoofers are preferred.