This post is slightly off-topic. Sometimes you need to have some fun for Halloween.

We could go down the road of talking about film & audio pairing. But instead, let’s just rock out at youtube doubler. Score 1 minute of film is tricky enough. Scoring 2 hours of film well is nearly impossible. Have fun, and post your creations in the comments.

Nos Feratu vs. Pat Benetar
Two great classics, heading off against each other. See if you can score this one scene, or pick out other scenes from the full version of Nos Feratu.

Haunted Castle vs. Danse Macabre
Can you find a better piece of music to pair up with this cheezy silent halloween film?

Silent films seem to be growing in popularity, often with live performances. Under the screen lurks dj, piano, organ or jazz trio. Scoring a silent film for a live performance presents unique challenges. More often than not, the music signature/tempo of the music doesn’t line up with the way the director cut the film. On top of that, the music cues need to be sync’ed up for maximum impact. There is likely a showing of Nosferatu in your nearest city with some live musical accompanyment. How do they make the crowd laugh and gasp at the film?

A recent showing of the silent movie Faust was brilliant. The musical vocabulary of the performers travelled across three hundred years and many styles. The pianist played non-stop for over two hours, and the vocalist adapted her texts to fit with the film. The performance raised the question – How many different live music scores has a single film inspired? Metropolis may be the most famous silent film of all time, and likely the one with the highest score(s). Although Wizard of Oz (muted) combined
with Dark Side of the Moon might be the most watched.

Happy Halloween!

Opportunities
Moogfest – Win money, prizes, fame and eternal internet glory with your circuit building skills.

Interactive Sonification Let the world see hear your sweet demo.

Marie Curie Fellowship – Go get paid to make music in Padova.

ICad 2014 – International Conference on Auditory Display.  Not sure what that means, go head to NYC and find out!

Music Hack Day is coming to Boston. Come say Hi! And hack together something -or just drink beer and share music apps.