Ukulele music for silent movie!

drbekken

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http://youtu.be/EXmMaREdHiw

Here is a silent film made to bring attention to the rights of freelance writers to get their fair share of whatever turnover their work may produce. Guess who composed and played the soundtrack?
 
very nice work doc. really showcased your signature soprano style very nicely. Must have been a nice feeling to be a part of that.
 
Excellent! Simply excellent! (Good cause, too.)

As a side note, I've been told that I have a face for radio and a voice for silent movies... LOL

John
 
Just what we expected from a pro like the one and only Tor Einar "Dr." Bekken! Perfect style, well done (although we could hear some dangerous moments about 1:40 ;) ). btw: did you play to a click?

You got some fans down south in Germany!
Well, thanks! To you and all other commenters...I played this music live in real time, watching the movie on a screen. As a pianist, I have done a lot of live improvised piano soundtracks for silent film classics, such as films by Keaton and Chaplin and German expressionist films. I have actually been 'touring with Keaton' once, when his film 'Sherlock, Jr' was shown various places in Norway in a film club network. Playing for silent movies is one of my favorite challenges as a professional musician. I always do it live and unedited, and it's quite hard work. If a feature film lasts up to ninety minutes, I cannot take my hands off the keyboard for that time...on a uke, this two minute clip is just about all I can manage, stamina-wise...
 
That was fantastic.

I would love to see and hear one of your classic silent film performances. The best silent film presentation I saw was a restored print of the original Ben Hur. A small orchestra did the accompaniment. It was amazing.
 
Love the tone on it. Which one of your ukes did you use to play this (and what strings)?
 
Very nicely done, Doc.

My father's been a freelance journalist/writer for thirty-odd years. I forwarded the video to him and he got a chuckle out of it, so thanks for that as well.
 
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