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… Read More »Scoring Something Good
In selecting “appropriate music” for a scene in silent film accompaniment, there’s a fine line between support and simply mirroring what’s onscreen. It’s something I learned and developed during the first few years I was accompanying silents at NYU. It’s… Read More »Matching Music: Dramatic Boost or Overkill
As a fan and proponent of silent films, I’ve enjoyed seeing that every year at Halloween time, more and more shows of silent films are happening. It’s occurred to me that this means there are a lot of musicians accompanying… Read More »How to Play the Piano or Organ for a Halloween Silent Movie
Three Songs You Won’t Hear During My Accompaniment to “Show People” — and Why One of the bugaboos in film accompaniment that my mentor Lee Erwin (1908-2000) had, and one I share, is the use of “song title puns”. In… Read More »Hooray for Hollywood and the 2018 TCM Classic Film Festival
As you know, using recognizable music is a big no-no for me (unless it’s specified onscreen). And so, I was puzzled by hearing a certain song from a 1950s MGM musical in my head while playing for Keaton’s The Cameraman the… Read More »Buster Keaton inspires Don Lockwood