64 episodes

A podcast from renowned silent film accompanist/historian Ben Model covering the techniques of creating and performing live scores to silent films, as well as a discussion of the language of silent cinema. Find what goes on in the mind of a silent film accompanist before, during and after playing for a show. Learn about the aesthetics of silent filmmaking and storytelling language.

The Silent Film Music Podcast with Ben Model Ben Model

    • TV & Film
    • 5.0 • 2 Ratings

A podcast from renowned silent film accompanist/historian Ben Model covering the techniques of creating and performing live scores to silent films, as well as a discussion of the language of silent cinema. Find what goes on in the mind of a silent film accompanist before, during and after playing for a show. Learn about the aesthetics of silent filmmaking and storytelling language.

    ep. 62: accompanying a Mary Pickford film on campus, Marcel Perez at the Silent Clowns, Monta Bell at MoMA, and 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 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 film may play one way when watched alone and completely differently at a show; Ben and Kerr discuss the hilarious and gifted silent film comedian Marcel Perez; Ben covers an upcoming Blu-ray/DVD release from Undercrank Productions; discussion of the newly restored "Man, Woman and Sin" screened at MoMA in January; news about upcoming shows, and more.







    Show notes for episode 62 can be found here.

    • 51 min
    ep. 61: Improvising Themes for Re-Use and Development

    ep. 61: Improvising Themes for Re-Use and Development

    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 a show, and then repeating them later in the film's score; there's some deep info and history on the different pianos at MoMA, and how the feel of playing these pianos – and the many others Ben encounters in his work – affect his playing and live-scoring; Ben's New Year's resolution for his silent film accompaniments (with a nod to Akira Kurosawa); and more.







    Show notes for episode 61 can be found here.

    • 59 min
    ep. 60: Music on the Road: Late Summer – Autumn 2023

    ep. 60: Music on the Road: Late Summer – Autumn 2023

    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 NYC; Ben talks about pivoting when presented before a show with a change of running time or of musical instrument; audience laughs during the climax of Harold Lloyd's "Safety Last"; accompanying a film where only way to preview was by reading trade reviews; live recording excerpts from "Loves of Casanova" at MoMA, "Safety Last" in Schroon Lake, "Second Fiddle" at Capitolfest, and "The Mark of Zorro" at the Williams Center in NJ; and more.







    Show notes for episode 60 can be found here.

    • 1 hr 2 min
    ep. 59: San Francisco Silent Film Fest, Undercrank’s 10th Anniversary, Tom Mix, and More

    ep. 59: San Francisco Silent Film Fest, Undercrank’s 10th Anniversary, Tom Mix, and More

    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 newly restored Tom Mix silent films that were released by Undercrank on Blu-ray in July; he shares some tips and insights on having music light on the piano at different venues, some thoughts about scoring a few different scenes from Harold Lloyd's "Safety Last"; and…don't click away during the wrap-up, or you'll miss a nice surprise at the end of the episode.







    Show notes for episode 59 can be found here.

    • 48 min
    ep. 58: “Potato Salad”, TCM Classic Film Festival, Ernie Kovacs, Undercrank Prods 10th Anniversary

    ep. 58: “Potato Salad”, TCM Classic Film Festival, Ernie Kovacs, Undercrank Prods 10th Anniversary

    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 one of recording a score for this film, along; Kerr and Ben talk about the upcoming Ernie Kovacs book "Ernie in Kovacsland", and Kerr takes a real deep dive into the history and recordings of "Die Moritat", known to Kovacs fans as the music heard during the comedian's "oscilloscope" gag sequences; Ben talks about the 10th anniversary of his first DVD release, about starting what became his homevideo label Undercrank Productions, and about he's celebrating; musical performance excerpts are heard from a show for Kindergarteners, and from a recent performance on piano accompanying "Wings".







    Show notes for episode 58 can be found here.

    • 1 hr 3 min
    ep. 57: Recording silent film scores for Tom Mix and Rin Tin Tin

    ep. 57: Recording silent film scores for Tom Mix and Rin Tin Tin

    In this episode: Ben and Kerr discyss about Ben's process for creating and recording silent film scores for home-video releases, and how it differs from scoring a silent in performance. Ben talks about composing by using the start-stop possibilities of recording in place of traditional notation, as well as using underscoring to help audiences register certain kinds of transitions or to grasp subtleties in the mood or intent of certain kinds of scenes. Recording examples includes segments from Tom Mix in "The Best Bad Man", recently restored by the Museum of Modern Art,; Tom Mix in "Sky High"; newly restored by Undercrank Productions; and "Clash of the Wolves" starring Rin Tin Tin, newly restored by Kino Lorber, aired on TCM and also presented at the TCM Classic Film Festival.







    Show notes for episode 57 can be found here.

    • 1 hr 1 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
2 Ratings

2 Ratings

g0mrb ,

Fascinating

Thanks, Ben, for the first three fascinating episodes. The 'live' organ performance in episode two is especially interesting. What a shame that that rare organ was badly damaged in a fire in 2011. One can only hope and pray that someone finds the time and money to rebuild it.

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