Silent Film Music By Ben Model

"Live-Scoring for the Virtual Cinema" – in part one of this conversation, Ben Model discusses what it's been like to accompany silent films throughout 2021 via live-streams he's produced and presented out of his home. Ben and co-host Kerr Lockhart discuss: the differences for Ben between the creative mindsets of scoring a silent film while performing in a theater, when recording a score and when hosting a live-stream; the reasons Ben prefers live-scoring a stream to pre-recording the music; accompanying Keystone comedies so they work and entertain better; playing the audience into the film, in the virtual realm, and more. Part two of this conversation will be posted next month.

"Adventures In Sound!" - Ben tracks his own journey to find the digital devices that best re-create or at least evoke the classic theater pipe organ experience under modern screening conditions. Topics Ben discusses the “temporary” theme for the podcast, “Those Keystone Comedy Cops” Ben’s instrumental evolution  Learning to play the organLee Erwin, theater organist, as a mentorDifference in technique between piano and organExpanding colors and instrumentationDeveloping the Synth-Org (Sample sounds included)Synth(esized) sounds vs. Digital samplesLimited availability of real theater organsDeploying the Kurzweil PC-2 system with a MIDI pedal unitExamples from two scores for Edison: Invention of the Movies Underwriting announcement: The Alice Howell Collection on DVD from Undercrank Productions Ben’s musical journey continued Jim Henry introduces Ben to the MiditzerAn excerpt from a Miditzer score Ben created for The PenaltyThe difficulty of recording and reproducing a real theater organ

On this episode Ben talks about meeting an audience's expectations of a score when a certain piece of music or style is indicated onscreen, and in a rare case of a non-narrative film made after the silent era. Also covered are silent era mood cues and cue sheets, Marion Davies in "When Knighthood Was in Flower", techniques in performance to match music to action, this episode's FAQ, and more. Live performance clips include Valentino's tango dance in "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse", Keaton's pantomime to "The Prisoner's Song", and Ben's new score for Helen Levitt's "In the Street" (1948). episode 38: Existing Music, Mood Cues and Cue Sheets Historically authentic accompaniment vs. modern scores for silent filmsTango, dancing on-screen and staying in synch with the dancersBen’s score for Four Horsemen as played at MOMA in November 2019Improvising so that it sounds like a piece that had already been writtenListener Erik Andersson talks about The Silent Comedy Watch Party from Salem, OregonAccompanyi

On this episode Ben talks about: the annual Mostly Lost film identification workshop at the Library of Congress, currently postponed until 2021; underscoring a key scene in Keaton's "The Cameraman" and noticing a parallel with "Singin' In The Rain", playing for "Spite Marriage", the challenge of introducing and presenting "The General" at a college show; playing for Laurel & Hardy on a 1980s electric theatre organ, and using that console's MIDI function to bring the sound of the Wurlitzer to a cinema; how Ben chooses and utilizes piano or organ for score recordings, and much more. episode 37: "Comedy Today! – Buster Keaton and Laurel & Hardy" Missing the Mostly Lost workshop, cancelled this year due to the pandemicMaking an alternate accompaniment for The CameramanThe Cameraman’s kiss in the rain and Singin’ In The Rain: Copy, homage or coincidence?Spite Marriage comes to life with an audienceMark Fuller, member of Southwest Silents in Bristol, England talks about The Silent Comedy Watch PartyPuttin

On this episode Ben talks about: using music an audience may or may not expect to hear during a film in preparing scores for shows of Fairbanks' "Robin Hood" and Raoul Walsh's "Loves of Carmen"; using underscore to help smooth over missing footage; playing the theatre organ like it's an orchestra and sparingly using its "toy counter"; expanding his live-streamed silent film shows beyond his weekly "Silent Comedy Watch Party", and more. episode 36: "Famous Players and Famous Melodies" Silent Comedy Watch Party updateAccompanying Westerns - Art Acord in The Showdown and William S. Hart in Three Word BrandFairbanks’s Robin Hood; incorporating songs written for the film by Victor SchertzingerProgramming Douglas Fairbanks films for performance todayKelly Kitchens from Dallas talks about The Silent Comedy Watch PartyThe Loves of Carmen versus the melodies of BizetImprovising in the style of traditional folk music formsCreating musical bridges for missing frames and scenesExpanding live streaming accompani

On this episode, Ben Model talks with co-host Kerr Lockhart talk about a cancelled gig at the Metropolitan Museum of Art turning into an online one, Gage County Nebraska and Hollywood, accompanying Russian silent films, scoring a French film for an audience with live-translated intertitles. Plus: using leitmotifs, finding a lost reel of a Baby Peggy comedy, piano tuning and this week's silent film book recommendation. You'll hear excerpts from Ben's last show before the pandemic shutdown, a screening in Brooklyn and one with theater organ on Long Island. Episode 35 Show Notes Ben talks about accompanying two short documentaries for  the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Pottery Maker(1926) directed by Robert Flaherty (Nanook of the North); and A Visit to the Home of Childe Hasam. Ben discusses accompanying Behind The Door, a film with Nebraska roots at a screening in Beatrice, NE on March 7, 2020 hosted by the Gage County Historical Society and Film Institute. He talks about making an effort to play m

On this episode of the podcast, Ben Model discusses the creation of the Silent Comedy Watch Party and the response so far; talks about teaching his silent film course at Wesleyan using Zoom; shares an excerpt from his score for Alfred Hitchcock’s Champagne for the Hitchcock British International Pictures Collection for Kino Lorber; talks about the annual show at the Idaho State Museum and his collaboration with the Boise Philharmonic, and shares an excerpt from his score for the Nell Shipman film Light On Lookout; discusses the rediscovery of Julia Crawford Ivers during the development of the Kino Lorber box set: Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers; and shares an excerpt from his score for The Intrigue; Kerr Lockhart joins the podcast and begins the new segment: Frequently Asked Questions.  This Week: Do you really make it all up as you go along? (Look for an FAQ transcript page coming to this website soon.) Finally, Kerr and Ben exchange self-quarantine recommendations. Kerr recommends Hollywood: A Celebration

On this episode of the podcast -- I use a song-title-pun during Mostly Lost, play for the same Chaplin shorts three days in a row to work on an orchestral score, play a Möller in Rome like it's an orchestra, bring silent comedies to the Adirondacks, score two Marion Davies films in a recording session and at the Library of Congress, and make the sun rise a little faster in Pennsylvania. Plus news about Douglas MacLean, upcoming shows and more. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Spotify or Overcast; please consider supporting the podcast at Patreon.  And, if you want to say "thanks!", why not buy me a cup of coffee? Links from the episode: My blog post about the historic 1911 Park Theater is here.Read all the backer updates about the Douglas MacLean DVD project on the Kickstarter site's page.The Silent Clowns Film Series has monthly screenings, for free, at the NYPL at Lincoln Center.My orchestral scores are available for performance here.If you're interes

On this episode of the podcast, I discuss meeting an audience's expectations while staying true to the film's original culture, choosing a comedy short to show newbies, and playing for a show where someone else's music credit is onscreen; also, Arthur Kleiner accompanies a Harold Lloyd short with an iPhone, 700 kids in Boise laugh at Buster Keaton, I play a MoMA premiere of a newly-discovered film from 1898; plus – news about recent and upcoming shows. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Spotify or Overcast; please consider supporting the podcast at Patreon.  And, if you want to say "thanks!", why not buy me a cup of coffee? Links from the episode: You can view Something Good – Negro Kiss (1898) at the USC Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive's Vimeo page. My mini-doc about USC archive director Dino Everett and 28mm film is on YouTube.Mostly Lost 8 will be held June 12-15, 2019.The Silent Clowns Film Series has monthly screenings, for free, at the NYPL at L

On this episode, Ben Model talks about creating and performing a live score on theatre organ for the 1931 "Dracula" with Bela Lugosi, shares some insights about programming the "Silent Comedy International" series at MoMA, and discusses why playing at a suburban library is just as important as playing a big film festival. Performance recordings on this episode are from "Dracula" at the Library of Congress, "Vester Vov Vov" with Danish comedy duo Pat & Patachon ("Fy og Bi"), and Harold Lloyd in "Ask Father". Plus, there's news about Ben's upcoming silent film shows and DVD projects. Be sure you're on Ben's email list, so you don't miss a show or new DVD.

On this mini-episode, Ben Model gives you some tips and some do's & don't's on how to accompany a silent movie if you're doing one this Halloween...or any time of the year. Plus, there's news about Ben's upcoming silent film shows and DVD projects. Be sure you're on Ben's email list! Subscribe to the podcast via the platforms listed below, or on Overcast.

On this episode, Ben Model recaps his summer silent film shows, discusses musically wrapping up a scene to match the film, talks about what to do musically when the film breaks, traces a 14-year trajectory in a "how'd you get that gig?" story, shares some info on Lee Erwin's synthesizer-based theatre organ and his novelty song "Tootsie Oodles", and more. All this plus news about upcoming silent film shows and DVD info. Here are links to Kino Lorber's new release of Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers, a video of "Matchmaking Mammas", and Ben's email list.

I've recorded and posted a new episode of The Silent Film Music Podcast with Ben Model. It's the podcast that takes you inside the mind of someone as they prepare for, perform and reflect on performances of live musical accompaniments to silent movies. In episode 28 I discuss scoring a Laurel & Hardy silent comedy utilizing a tune many fans of theirs know, recording a new score for Lois Weber's Hypocrites for the new Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers box set for KinoLorber currently screening in select cities, accompanying The Golem at the Morgan Library and Museum, and other insights into the silent film accompaniment process. You can listen below, and can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Overcast.

On this episode, Ben Model takes you above the Arctic Circle to hear a pipe organ accompanying a Swedish silent, to Boise ID to its historic 1927 Egyptian Theatre, and to Hollywood for the TCM Classic Film Festival. Ben discusses choosing a main theme for his score "Show People", the importance of John Morris's music for Mel Brooks films, plus some insight on the use and usefulness of a silent film score's main theme. All this plus news about Mostly Lost, upcoming silent film shows and DVD info. Show links: Tromsø International Film Festival, Arctic Cathedral, TCM Classic Film Festival, Mostly Lost 7. 

Welcome and intro - reports on recent shows and recordings, and October DVD releases - starting a score at a performance: playing the audience into the film - performance clip: "The Temptress" with Garbo & Moreno, on organ at the LoC - explanation of the podcast's theme - anticipating mood shifts and when to make the change - performance clip: "Metropolis" in Brooklyn - finding a way to make the most of "Spite Marriage" with Buster Keaton - score clip: original 1929 score recording - reasoning behind my choices for the same sequence - performance clip: "Spite Marriage" at the Iola Buster Keaton Festival - my defunct altscore.com service lives on? - upcoming show info: shorts at the Silent Clowns, Nosferatu in Nyack, Keaton and Slapstick Divas at the AFI Silver - signoff and thank you.

Welcome and intro - "Silent Film Days" in Tromsø, Norway - demonstrating musical moods for 5th graders - the universality of silent comedy - recording of score for One Week for students - making underscoring fit physical actions in an unobtrusive way - performance recording ofexcerpt from score for L&H in From Soup To Nuts - waiting for just the right moment for the first instance of a love theme - excerpt from performance of Borzage's Seventh Heaven - upcoming DVD release and project info - signoff and thank you.

Welcome and intro - Stuart Oderman - DVD/Blu ray release of "When Knighthood Was In Flower" - holding back in playing in order to get audience inside a character's head - performance excerpt from "Show People" - underscoring a moment that extends into a scene with different energy - performance excerpt from "The Crowd" - Silent Film Days in Tromsø again next month - score recording of Lee Erwin accompanying "The Thief of Bagdad" - upcoming DVD release and project info - signoff and thank you.

Welcome and intro - "Silent Film Days" festival Tromsø (Verdensteatret 100 År!) - performance clip "Madame de Thebes" - scoring "Why Change Your Wife" and hunting for "Hindustan" for the Kansas Silent Film Festival - performance clip "Why Change Your Wife?" - more about scoring WFYW and about seeing William DeMille's films - show prep is more than just musician prep - performance clip "It's The Old Army Game" - being in an oil painting and on a book cover - premiere of my restoration of "When Knighthood Was in Flower" at the Toronto Silent Film Festival - upcoming shows - how you can help silent film - signoff and thank you.

00:00 Welcome, and intro to Cruel and Unusual Comedy -- 04:02 More Plots and Plotters -- 11:21 Ethnic Profiling: Stereotypically Speaking -- 19:47 Loco Motives: On the Wrong Track -- 27:52 Scared Silent -- 36:27 Hits of the Past -- 45:29 Working Girls.This episode contains chapter stops. (Your podcast player may or may not recognize these.)

00:00 Welcome, and intro to Cruel and Unusual Comedy -- 04:31 Westward Whoa -- 14:36 Love and War: Romantic Skirmishes -- 26:16 Family Jewels: Child Progeny -- 34:29 Wage Slaves and Working Stiffs -- 40:00 Slapstick HashThis episode contains chapter stops. (Your podcast player may or may not recognize these.)