Here’s a clip from the middle of the score for Oz, which I recorded with my Zoom H4 sitting on the piano’s folded down music rack, pointing into the piano (with the lid on short stick):
http://www.odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_black.swf
Both films really came to life during the show. The Whirl of Life, which stars Vernon and Irene Castle, has a melodramatic plot device in which Irene is kidnapped by a rival producer bent on ruining the Castle’s so his show will be a hit. The whole storyline seemed a bit silly to me when I screened this, but the audience was really with it, cheering for Vernon, as well as for his dog and a squad of marines, during the rescue and chases, and I took this and the audience’s vibe into consideration and really went for it. Joe told me later this storyline was deliberately done as tongue-in-cheek, and we were both pleased at how well the audience (consciously or not) picked up on this and really enjoyed it.
I recorded the whole show, and the sound quality came out quite well. I’m really impressed with the H4. Afterwards, since I was at the library, I returned a few silent film DVD’s I’d borrowed to prepare for shows. Have I mentioned what an amazing resource the NYPL is for silent film on video? I believe I have…