Music in the Dark: Extemporaneous Scores for New Silent Films

NEW YORK, NY (February 13, 2004) "Music in the Dark," an evening of visceral, improvised music making combined with visually stunning and emotionally intriguing filmmaking, featured EMMY Award winning composer and Yamaha artist Michael Whalen improvising "scores" to eight new silent films, Tuesday, February 24th at New York's Anthology Film Archives.

Michael Whalen

Although reminiscent of the silent movie era where a pianist played off-the-shelf classical pieces, Music in the Dark is far from the days of scratchy films and tinny piano music. Music in the Dark combines the tradition of scoring silent films with an new edge fully orchestral soundtracks, heavily processed with loops, ambiences and effects using a combination of a laptop computer and Yamaha S90 synthesizer. The result is music created on the spot with a very modern sound and some very interesting textures to enjoy.

The performance featured eight short films, three of which were created specifically for the New York performance: Future Tense, directed by Amy Guggenheim; From Conception to Birth, directed by Alexander Tsiaris; Apology to Josh Fleishman, directed by Danny Goldfield; Hold On, directed by Stephen J. Walker; Rhythm, directed by Johnathan Russek; George's Dilema, directed by Mitch Goldman; Brooklyn Twilight, directed by Rob Kuhns; and Perfect Moment (excerpt), directed by Nicholas Hondrogen.

The DME64N features four times the processing power of the DME32, and includes up to 64 channels of I/O. Four mini-YGDAI slots will accept a full range of 8- or 16-channel digital and analog I/O cards. A cascade connection will allow up to eight DME64N units to work in tandem, or to connect to the new Yamaha PM5D mixing console.

Whalen plans to take the show to other cities, including Boston and London. A DVD project, which will give the viewer a choice of multiple music tracks for each film, is also slated for production.

COMPOSER BACKGROUND:

With music heard on over 350 television and film projects, as well as thousands of national ad spots, Michael Whalen is one of the industry's most sought-after composers. His work includes the theme for ABC's "Good Morning America," plus dozens of scores for HBO, CBS, National Geographic, PBS, Disney, The Discovery Channel and The History Channel.

Whalen is a noted producer who works with artists as diverse as Stephen Sondheim and Jim Brickman, and is also a prolific recording artist who composes pop, ambient, new age and jazz music for a variety of labels. His most recent recordings, the soundtrack to From Conception to Birth and his new solo CD Like Rain Through My Hands, will be released in early 2004. He lives and works in New York City.

"Music in the Dark," Whalen's first-ever live performance, will be made into a DVD, and he will be touring with the show worldwide, performing it in numerous other cities through 2004.

For more information on Yamaha, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Pro Audio & Combo Division, Digital Musical Instruments, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.