Man Meets Machine on Dan Trueman's 'Nostalgic Synchronic'

Composer and Princeton professor Dan Trueman is the inventor of a new instrument combining man and machine: the prepared digital piano. His Nostalgic Synchronic is a series of etudes that showcase the interactive instrument's capabilities, combining old-fashioned composition with responsive elements that anticipate the future of music performance.
Like John Cage's Sonatas & Interludes for Prepared Piano, Nostalgic Synchronic is at once pleasantly familiar – drawing on traditions of Bach, and as Trueman notes, the Hungarian composer György Ligeti – and charged with unexpected colors and nuances.
Last October, we joined Trueman and Sō Percussion's Adam Sliwinski (for whom the pieces were written) backstage at Le Poisson Rouge for conversation and musical demonstration followed by a live performance of Nostalgic Synchronic.

Download Dan Trueman's Nostalgic Synchronic as part of Season Two of LPR Live, with host John Schaefer. Listen to trailblazing new music performed live at Le Poisson Rouge, and enjoy interactions with artists and audience members. Subscribe to LPR Live on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.