Keeping the Art of Silent Film Music Alive | Hacker News Reader

Keeping the Art of Silent Film Music Alive

atlasobscura.com

32 pointstintinnabula14 comments

Not only did theater organists improvise music, they also improvised sound effects. See this booklet describing such techniques:

https://archive.org/details/TheatreOrganistsSecrets

The right justified text after each heading is the list of organ stops, i.e. the list of timbres played at once. The numbers after each stop name are the pitches. They're specified as the length of an open pipe that plays the lowest note on the keyboard. 8 foot pitch matches a piano, and other pitches are transposed, so by selecting multiple pitches at once you can play chords with a single finger. See:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_stop

Thanks for the link! Should be fun to spend an evening trying to emulate these sounds!

Years ago, I got to watch a Japanese movie narrator (benshi) in action. They're a dying breed who narrate silent movies in real time, on stage, next to the big screen. It's a mixture of narrating, voice acting and improvisation. The same movie could be entirely different with another benshi.

This performance was accompanied by live piano music, played by a pianist who hadn't seen the movie, who didn't speak Japanese, and who didn't have a score. It was over an hour of improvisation, based on what he could see of the movie and his interpretation of narrator's intonation. It was incredible. It was fun, and it was unique. Out of all the movies I've seen, this performance stands out. It would be a shame to lose out on this.

Live narration lives on in some African countries as the "video joker". The narrator translates as well as adding their own jokes and commentary. You can hear an example in the only surviving copy of the famous Ugandan film "Who Killed Captain Alex?"[0] I thought it would be annoying at first, but VJ Emmie does a great job and really adds to the entertainment.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEoGrbKAyKE

In Budapest there's a local bar that does silent movies with live music weekly. Pretty cool, and it only takes over half the bar. Kisüzem on Sundays last I checked.

Check out Club Foot Orchestra[0] as well. It's a great way to watch films!

[0]: http://www.clubfootorchestra.com

Here in Berlin there is this theater, where they do silent movies with live music/effects regularly: http://www.babylonberlin.de/

Very much recommended!

the valerie project[0] was a psychedelic folk band that toured the US playing screenings of "valerie and her week of wonders," a 1970 czech surrealist horror movie (highly recommended!). they were pretty awesome, especially for a one-off super obscure thing like that.

related but different: guitarist loren connors did a soundtrack for "the passion of joan of arc" (1928)[1] that I find incredibly moving. for those not familiar with connors' work, it comes from a kind of catholic guilt that makes his score and this particular film an artfully brutal pairing.

0. http://www.dragcity.com/products/the-valerie-project

1. https://vimeo.com/53953169 (excerpt)

Awesome recommendations, thanks! Was able to find the Valerie Project soundtrack album on YouTube in its entirety. The first track or two is reminiscent of The Mars Volta without the frenzy. Enjoying the heck out of all the tracks though.

If you like the valerie project's music, check out espers, helena espvall + masaki batoh, meg baird, fairport convention, greg weeks, ilyas ahmed, lau nau, gavin bryars, orion rigel dommisse, heron oblivion (definitely chaotic though) and trees (there have been a few bands with this name -- UK 1970s).

In 2008 or so The Hot Club of San Franscisco[0] (gypsy jazz/hot jazz a la Django Reinhardt) played a live accompaniment to some work by the silent film actor/comedian Charley Bowers[1]. It was definitely one of the better performances I've ever seen/heard. What a perfect juxtaposition, not even taking into account the obvious caliber of the musicianship.

Ever since I've been on the lookout for similar "soundtrack" concerts, improvised or composed. A live rendition of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" orchestrated by a Denver jazz guitarist is another favorite.

[0]HCoSF Sample Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZlPBYVOXXg

[1]http://brightlightsfilm.com/forgotten-charleys-i-charley-bow...

A music professor at CU Boulder accompanies silent films at the Chautauqua event hall every summer. It's a wonder to behold the duration, speed, and exceptional timing to bring together a multiple reel silent film.

https://www.denverpost.com/2012/07/06/denver-pianist-hank-tr...

https://www.chautauqua.com/events/film/

I was excited to see a number of silent movies on Amazon Prime Video, but gave up in disgust after trying only a couple. None of the music even remotely matched the film, even when Wikipedia says a full orchestral score was originally produced.

Instead, each was backed by a piano playing Scott Joplin ragtime songs.

Nothing like watching the hero getting struck by an arrow in a sudden betrayal while listening to the Entertainer or Maple Leaf Rag.

A little off-topic but if you want to give silent cinema a go try Abel Gance's Napoleon. It is a 5 hour epic and incredible technical achievement. Some of the tricks in its bag (like the 3 screen finale) haven't ever been attempted since (as far as I know).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6504eRh5h6M

If we're sharing our favorites then I don't think you can go wrong with La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928).

The criterion collection version is great and watch it with Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light, especially if it's your first time.

It's one of the more high profile silent films but with good reason. If you want to try something different with friends but don't want them to fall asleep I've had good success with this film.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com