Podcast

In this episode: Ben accompanies Tom Mix in “Sky High” at the Library of Congress, adapting for organ some themes he originally composed for piano; Ben and Kerr discuss the importance of seeing silents with live music, and how a… Read More »ep. 62: accompanying a Mary Pickford film on campus, Marcel Perez at the Silent Clowns, Monta Bell at MoMA, and more

In this episode: Ben shares his experiences accompanying the silent era blockbuster “The Big Parade”, the rare Italian film “A’ Santanotte”, Laurel & Hardy shorts, and others; he and Kerr discuss the practices of creating leitmotifs on the fly during… Read More »ep. 61: Improvising Themes for Re-Use and Development

In this episode: accompanying several films at MoMA in August of new restorations and a series of early color process silents; audience response difference between San Francisco Silent Film Festival and MoMA screening, and how this affected Ben’s score in… Read More »ep. 60: Music on the Road: Late Summer – Autumn 2023

In this episode: Ben talks about preparing for his performance at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, his first time at the fest; his Undercrank Productions home video label celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2023; Ben talks about the two… Read More »ep. 59: San Francisco Silent Film Fest, Undercrank’s 10th Anniversary, Tom Mix, and More

In this episode: Ben talks about doing double-duty as both silent film accompanist and Blu-ray producer-distributor; Ben talks about accompanying “Clash of the Wolves” starring Rin-Tin-Tin at the TCM Classic Film Festival and the differences between this performance and the… Read More »ep. 58: “Potato Salad”, TCM Classic Film Festival, Ernie Kovacs, Undercrank Prods 10th Anniversary