The Sound of Silent Films

The latest release from the netlabel Absence of Wax is a soundtrack to David W. Griffith’s Broken Blossoms (1919). RPM Orchestra, an undescribable almagation of noise and music, put together Blossoms which was actually performed live in front of an audience as they watch the movie.  You can even hear the audience laugh and gasp throughout the recording.

With no real knowledge of the film, I can say that the music stands on its own. Govem that Blossoms is a soundtrack, one can hear how the RPM Orchestra steps us through pathos and humor while keeping the listener interested and suprised throughout.

One of my take aways from Blossoms is a question on why more Creative Commons musicians don’t write soundtracks for public domain silent movies. Archive.org hosts well over 500 silent films which are . . . well . . . silent. Such rich source material is waiting for musicians and all they have to do is download. I know I’ve seen silent movie footage in various videos, but complete movies with soundtracks, that I haven’t seen. Hopefully, musicians like Ergo Phizmiz or Mystified will take up the challenge if they haven’t done this already.

Artist: RPM Orchestra
Title: Blossoms
Netlabel: Absence of Wax
Released: 01 July 2012
Download mp3: zip
CC BY-NC-ND