Category: silent film accompaniment
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The Sounds of the Silents — Theatre Organ Accompaniment in NYC, part 3
When I meet people from other parts of the country and tell them I’m a silent film accompanist , they are often surprised when I tell them there are (currently) no theater organs in Manhattan. There are instruments around the west coast, several areas in the Midwest and the southeast US that get used for…
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The Spirit of ’76 Circa 1905
I usually avoid recognizable music if I can help it, as it’s a distraction to the viewer unless there’s someone playing a record or piece of sheet music shown in a close-up. With this particular 1905 film, I needed to make an exception. Here’s a film (below) from the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company called…
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The Sounds of the Silents — Theatre Organ Accompaniment in NYC, part 2
When I began playing for silent films while at NYU film school I made a point of meeting all the accompanists in NYC. It was at the Carnegie Hall Cinema that I met theatre organist and composer Lee Erwin. I got to hear him accompany films on theatre organ for a number of years before…
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The Sounds of the Silents — Theatre Organ Accompaniment in NYC, part 1
The sound of the theatre pipe organ as live accompaniment to silent films was part of the musical landscape in NYC during the peak years of what I think of as silent film’s first renaissance. Lee Erwin played a silent film show in 1968 at the Beacon Theatre, and was sort the unofficial “house organist”…
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Lee Erwin And…Nas?
A Silent Film Cue Played on a Wurlitzer Gets Sampled On A Rap Record Lee Erwin’s silent film scores are not that easy to find and listen to. Luckily the tracks he recorded for several Buster Keaton features are on the now out-of-print “ultimate edition” DVD and Blu-ray releases from Kino. You can also hear…
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Playing The Audience In To A Film
I don’t remember how or when I started doing this, but I’m certain it’s something I picked up or learned from Lee Erwin. I start playing before the film begins. I’m pretty sure it’s a traditional way to begin a show that theatre organists use and have used since the silent era. Aesthetically, it makes…
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My Scoring Evolves
I can usually recognize the accompaniment styles of a number of my colleagues when I hear them on a home video or broadcast. A few months ago I caught a silent on TCM and didn’t recognize the pianist. Which was weird. Because I was pretty sure I’d scored that film for home video and for…
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Improvising A Silent Film Score: Now, and Then
There was no one way all film was accompanied musically during the silent film era. There was a range. A wide range. Everything from a solo upright to a full symphony. Everything from fully written-out composed scores published, disseminated, rehearsed and performed meticulously…to a blind person with a friend or spouse seated beside them on…
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Scoring Something Good
Every once in a while, I’ll hear or be told about some new amazing silent film discovery being shown at some festivals I don’t get to play at. It happens, I would imagine, with some of my colleagues, as well as with fans who don’t live near those festivals. I’ve learned to tell myself, “That’s…
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The Ripple Effect of Stan & Ollie
There are a number of opinions about the new Stan & Ollie movie flying about on social media. It’s a well-made film, with great performances, lovingly told. It’s a very nice introduction to Laurel & Hardy for folks who don’t know them, and a nice re-introduction to folks who do. For me, there’s a more…