{"id":9626,"date":"2016-05-02T20:18:29","date_gmt":"2016-05-03T00:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=9626"},"modified":"2016-05-02T20:18:29","modified_gmt":"2016-05-03T00:18:29","slug":"episode-166-ben-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-166-ben-model","title":{"rendered":"Episode 166 – Ben Model"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ben_LoCorgan-boots\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Virtual Memories Show #166:
\nBen Model<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Episode_166_-_Ben_Model.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

“I’m trying to create music that’s pretty enough to listen to but not interesting enough to pay attention to.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ben Model<\/a> has made a career for himself as a silent-film accompanist, playing for audiences throughout the US (and a city in Norway!).\u00a0I was\u00a0thrilled to have him on the show and\u00a0ask him how he got his start and how he reached\u00a0the top of his field. We talk about\u00a0the not-exactly-secret society of his peers, the challenge of reading and adapting to audience and movie simultaneously, the importance of audience preservation, the differences between playing live and recording a score for a movie, the reasons young and old audiences get engaged by silent movies, why you need to city Chaplin’s City Lights<\/em> with a live orchestra, and more!\u00a0Give it a listen!<\/a><\/p>\n

“No film collector is going to hold up a 4tb hard drive and say, ‘Look at all the movies I have!'”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"26158938853_91a85fd16e_z\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ben & I also discuss the difference between digital and “real” instruments, the way his style has evolved, the Kickstarter revolution and how it funds his DVD label<\/a>, the Stan Laurel comedy that makes little kids lose their minds, his love for Ernie Kovacs, the awful and sometimes incomprehensible stereotypes of century-old comedy, his theory of Undercranking, where the next generation of accompanists is coming from, the multi-decade dearth of comedic filmmakers with distinct vision, the lost comic genius of Marcel Perez, and what it’s like to create “music of momentary significance” (as his mentor described it).\u00a0Go listen<\/a>!<\/p>\n

“Bringing the silent movie experience to a place where it doesn’t usually get to happen is great fun for me.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Episode_166_-_Ben_Model.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

Enjoy the conversation!<\/a>\u00a0Then check out\u00a0the archives<\/a>\u00a0for more great episodes! You might like:<\/p>\n