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Alien Robots Unite!
General Info
Year: 2014
Duration: c. 8:00
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Adam Silverman Music Publications
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $150.00; (digital) - $80.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II-III-IV (II doubling Piccolo)
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV (I & II may double B-flat Flugelhorn)
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V-VI, including:
- Bass Drum
- Brake Drum
- Chimes
- Crotales
- Glockenspiel
- Guiro
- Hi-hat
- Hotel Bell
- Marimba
- Orchestral Cymbals
- Ride Cymbal
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Crash Cymbals (2)
- Tambourine
- Tom-toms(2: low)
- Vibraphone
- Wood Blocks (2)
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Oddly enough, the original creative spark of this piece came from flapping my hand over the lips of my five-month old daughter Zoey while she made rudimentary moans and coos. By having muted trumpets imitate this sound, I was able to create burbling sounds that reminded me of the wonderfully bizarre sounds in robot and alien movies from the 1950s and ’60s. I then set forth to create a fantastical concert piece that used these bleeps and blurps to make a palette of sounds that I had never before explored. Further inspiration for this piece was drawn from a bizarre hodgepodge of sources, including memories from sci-fi soundtracks, sound effects from the old Lost In Space TV series, atonal techniques blended with overtone harmony, 8-bit video game sounds, ring modulators, “color music” pieces by Michael Torke such as Ecstatic Orange and Green Music and the soundtrack to Mars Attacks! by Danny Elfman, the sound of a 2400-baud dial-up modem, and elementary school science filmstrips.
- Program Note by composer
Alien Robots Unite! is a fast-paced, aggressive and engaging work for wind ensemble that features an incredible array of colors established through tessitura, mutes and instrumentation.
- Program Note from Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, Vol. 12
Media
(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- University of North Texas (Denton) Wind Symphony (Eugene Migliaro Corporon, conductor) – 20 February 2020
- Shenandoah Conservatory Wind Ensemble (Winchester, Va.) (Timothy J. Robblee, conductor) – 9 November 2019
- University of Central Florida (Orlando) Symphonic Band - 8 October 2017
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln Wind Ensemble (Carolyn Barber, conductor) - 7 December 2015
- Florida State University (Tallahassee) Wind Orchestra (Richard Clary, conductor) - 20 November 2015
- The University of South Carolina (Columbia) Symphonic Winds (Jayme Taylor, conductor) - 14 February 2015
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Alien Robots Unite! (2014)
- Alternating Current (2011)
- Carbon Paper and Nitrogen Ink (2013)
- Hard Knocks (2011)
- I echo you, we are repeated (2004)
- Raining Bricks (2018)
- The Rule of Five (2017)
- Speaking Truth to Power (2018)
- Wail (2010)
- Zipzap (2016)
Resources
- Adam Silverman website
- Byrd, Josh. "Alien Robots Unite!." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 12, Compiled and edited by Andrew Trachsel, 883-894. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2021.