By Lesley Mahoney
April 25, 2012

The Artist captured audiences and critics, earning it the Oscar for Best Picture and the distinction of bringing newfound attention to silent films. The Berklee Silent Film Orchestra has been carving a corner on that market, too. Under the direction of film scoring professor Sheldon Mirowitz, students compose original scores to classic silent movies and perform them live-to-picture on the big screen. The without-a-net element adds another layer to the communal movie-going experience.

Each semester Mirowitz's class, Scoring Silent Films, takes on a new project. Students have composed and performed three silent scores: Sunrise (1927), It (1927), and Battleship Potemkin (1925). They debuted at Brookline's Coolidge Corner Theatre, which commissioned the works, and Berklee took Sergei Eisenstein's Potemkin on the road for a packed performance at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center. For Potemkin, five students each conducted the reel they composed, passing the baton between reels, and spotters ensured the music of the 10-piece orchestra matched up with the picture.

The Kennedy Center audience was rapt with attention as the dramatic score punctuated the emotion in the tale of a 1905 mutiny aboard the Russian battleship when the sailors rebelled against their Tsarist leaders. While the score itself is remarkable, the synchronization to the film with such seamless precision is another feat altogether.

"It's a really good score," Mirowitz said of Potemkin. "All three of our projects are legitimate scores." 

Next up is E.A. Dupont's Piccadilly starring Anna Mae Wong on May 7 at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline.

Hear Mirowitz talk about the complexity of composing for and performing to silent film, and how Berklee students more than live up to the task.

Inside Berklee: Sheldon Mirowitz

Let Me Sleep

From the upcoming album "Say So", out 5/20 on Cuneiform Records

Pre-order at http://tinyurl.com/bksayso

Watch the official music video at https://youtu.be/sqx3xfVQXSo

bentkneemusic.com
facebook.com/bentkneemusic
twitter.com/bentkneemusic
instagram.com/bentkneemusic
cuneiformrecords.com

Bent Knee is:
Ben Levin - guitar & vocals
Chris Baum - violin & vocals
Courtney Swain - lead vocals & keyboards
Gavin Wallace-Ailsworth - drums
Jessica Kion - bass & vocals
Vince Welch - production & sound design

-

Lyrics:

Electric poles sprout from the Earth
While no one was watching
The crooked smile you always wore
Like you were born sideways

Flip on the light
Grab my braids
Prop me up right
I try to speak but I only leak water

Tentacles crawl through your curls
I spin around 'til I'm nauseous
My child teeth fall through my lips
The new ones grow in sharp

Flip on the light
Grab my braids
Prop me up right
I try to speak but I only leak water

Matching bows
Strangle hold 
In the morning light
The taut strings of my family tree
Too tight to tie
Too harsh to hold
Too tight to tie

I try to speak but I only leak water

Leak Water

From the upcoming album "Say So", out 5/20 on Cuneiform Records

Pre-order at http://tinyurl.com/bksayso

Watch the official music video at https://youtu.be/9s7XwPw4Ie4

bentkneemusic.com
facebook.com/bentkneemusic
twitter.com/bentkneemusic
instagram.com/bentkneemusic
cuneiformrecords.com

Bent Knee is:
Ben Levin - guitar & vocals
Chris Baum - violin & vocals
Courtney Swain - lead vocals & keyboards
Gavin Wallace-Ailsworth - drums
Jessica Kion - bass & vocals
Vince Welch - production & sound design

-

Lyrics:

I made myself strong
By getting my skin numb
And loosening up the thumbs
By pumping out the black tar water

I made myself real
By ripping up magazines
And staving off disease
By pumping out the black tar water

I made my friends leave
With tightrope at their knees
And laughing when they sneeze
I’m throwing up the black tar water

I start to tell it wrong
While singing in a song
Where robbers held up guns
They’re shooting out the black tar water

Dripping off follicles
Seeping out my pores
Filling up my lungs
Oh my my

Dripping off follicles
Seeping out my pores
Filling up my lungs
Oh oh my my
My black tar water
My black tar water

Black Tar Water

"BitchSlut" by Anna Wise
Music and Lyrics by Anna Wise
Produced by B. Lewis
Bass performed by Christian McBride
Additional Production by Anna Wise and Dane Orr
Mixed by Dane Orr 
Additional Mixing by Zeke Mishanec
Mastered by Daddy Kev
Buy on iTunes - http://hyperurl.co/1htsod
Follow Anna: 
http://instagram.com/annathewise
http://twitter.com/annathewise
http://facebook.com/annathewise

All inquiries: mgmt@annathewise.com

The Feminine: Act I

BitchSlut

In this episode of Inside Berklee, Emilien Moyon, the director of Berklee’s Global Entertainment and Music Business program, talks entrepreneurship, why people who study abroad have an edge, and the impressive list of industry heavyweights who visit the campus.

Read the story

Inside Berklee—Emilien Moyon

Long live Muhammad Ali!

Composer, Vocals, Accordion, Programming: Christoph Bull
Guitar: Ricky Rouse
Recording Engineer: Paul Moser
Mixing Engineer: Rafa Sardina

© 2016 C Bull Run Music.
Use by permission only.
Contact: www.christophbull.com

Lyrics by Christoph Bull:

Once upon a time we still had a king
The best show ever in and out of the ring
Rope-a-dope and Ali shuffle put the magic in the scuffle
Louisville Lip
Ever so hip
A man who stood up for what he believed

        Ali, Ali, Ali
	Ali, Ali, Ali
	Floating like a butterfly, stinging like a bee
	This is the story of Muhammad Ali

A universe of One from the House of Shock
He danced around the globe fighting for God
In Zaire and in Manila
All the world could feel the thrilla
Full of grace
Beyond all race
He said what nobody else would say

        (repeat chorus)

Bridge:
When he faced his longest fight
The battle with the speed of life
Again, he found the truth inside
Living on the power of will
Slowing down and floating still
Following the light divine
The greatest of all time

        (repeat chorus)




Ali by Christoph Bull

Check out RLETTO's first single, I'm Rising!

I'm Rising

On this episode of Signal Flow, pianist and producer Mark de Clive-Lowe ’94 talks performing with live electronics and finding balance in his music, work, and life. The show features music from his new album, Heritage, the first of a two-part series exploring his cultural roots in Japan and New Zealand.

Live-Rig War Stories with Mark de Clive-Lowe

Oakland-born singer Dalaun (Jordan Holly B.M. ’17) sings with the laid-back confidence of a seasoned R&B star on her first single, "Beggin.'" Catch her at BAMS Fest (https://www.bamsfest.org) on Saturday, June 22.

Engineered by Tony Brown 
Edited by Darcy Davis
Theme music by Sleeping Lion

Dalaun Gets Vulnerable on Debut Single ‘Beggin’’

Listen to the stars of tomorrow…today, as well as Berklee faculty members, alumni, and a few legendary artists, coming to the college as visiting artists.

Inside Berklee: Sheldon Mirowitz

Sounds of Berklee

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