1. for amplified cello, dancer, and electronica
   

2. 15 minutes
   

3.    
   

4. full mp3  (Silvia Lenzi, cello)
   

5. excerpt 1   excerpt 2    excerpt 3 
   

6. commissioned by Silvia Lenzi and Anne Dreyfus
   

7. Premiere (cello and electronica): April 3, 2009 at L’Archipel in Paris
   

8. Premiere with dancer at Le Generateur in Gentilly, France on February 13-15, 2010

1. Program Notes
   

2.  
   

The title comes from a William S. Burroughs novel called The Soft Machine (1961), one of the first publications in which the term "heavy metal" was used outside of chemistry or metallurgy. This work owes many of its rhythmic ideas to the Swedish "math metal" band Meshuggah, whose songs feature drum pulses in regular meters with superimposed guitar riffs in complex, polyrhythmic patterns, often complimented by the kick drum.

In the Burroughs novel, the term "soft machine" refers to the human body. In this piece, the term addresses a human-cello hybrid. Traditionally, strings have been considered soft instruments, especially when competing with loud percussion. But here, with a wide use of the cello's low range, complimentary electronic drum parts, and amplification, the human and her cello become less soft, and more heavy. In order to do this, the cellist must often play mechanically, and tirelessly, much like a machine. The dance is intended to further this human-machine relationship.

Soft Machine was commissioned by cellist Silvia Lenzi and dancer/choreographer Anne Dreyfus for a premiere in Paris.

promotional poster for premiere at Le Generateur in Paris