Lightning Slinger is an archaic term for a telegraph operator, and an apt simile for a pianist who translates musical ideas into an electric medium. Dead Ringer, which means an exact substitute, is a term that was first coined at racetracks when a superior lookalike horse would be substituted to foil the bookies and beat the odds. The dead ringers in this case are samples of piano sounds: the detuned, retuned, pinging, sliding, and rattling sounds are altered piano, prepared piano, and inside the piano techniques, which sometimes resemble guitar, bass, and even synthesizer sounds. Towards the end of the piece the machines step in, incorporating samples drawn from factory environments along with vintage analog Serge and Arp synthesizers. The machine sounds were taken from the vast library of factory environments that the composer recorded in Nuremberg, Germany during a residency designed to combine art and industry. In the end, the piano part takes its cue from the samples: propelled by driving rhythms and dense tonalities, the piano becomes part of the machine itself. All of the samples were recorded and edited on Native Instruments Kontakt3 sampler. (notes by the composer)