I’ve always been interested in how creative people deal with limits and barriers. The pandemic-related restrictions on public gatherings have caused great disruptions for performers like myself and many in my circle. I want to highlight one friend and colleague who has successfully brought his skills to a new medium.
Andrew Earle Simpson is a composer, performer, and improviser I’ve collaborated with over the years, including on the recently released Hermit Songs recording. Among his many pursuits, he has developed a reputation for his skill and artistry in accompanying silent films. He is the Resident Film Accompanist for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and a favorite performer at the Library of Congress’ Mt. Pony Theater.
MOVIE NIGHT! Be sure to tune in TONIGHT to a live YouTube stream featuring some of Andrew’s silent film accompaniments! The show is at 8pm EST this evening, Wednesday, August 12, 2020. Films with Harry Langdon and Charley Chase will be screened, along with commentary by Andrew Earle Simpson and silent film authority David Kalat. Not convinced? It’s called “An Exploding Cow and Other Fancies.”
Andrew’s music for films is sometimes completely composed (that is, written down and published), but often improvised, either fully or partially. For example, he might come up with various melodies associated with a character, place, or emotion (a love theme or music for a villain), and then weave those themes together with music he improvises on the spot. He’s even accompanied films he’s never seen before!
When the pandemic hit and all public performances were cancelled, Andrew had the idea to produce a series of short, improvised videos on his YouTube channel, one video each night, called “Sparklers.” There’s a nice interview with Andrew about the series in Catholic University’s blog.
After struggling to keep up with the daily videos, I decided to watch the previous night’s video with my morning coffee every day. It’s hard to choose favorites from the (at last count) 117 shorts (!), but I have a sort of curated collection for you.
Bioluminescence (May 13) is one of the videos that resonates most with me. It features images of deep ocean creatures that emit their own light. The music, for prepared piano (prepared with rubber spatulas among other things), creates a soundscape that matches the weirdness and awe of these deep-water denizens. I wish this were a much longer film. If you’re not familiar with prepared piano, this is a great introduction to some non-traditional sounds that a piano is capable of.
Several of the films/improvs are laugh-out-loud funny. One I keep wanting to watch is Alligator Antics (July 8), which alternates between images of real gators and loopy, flamboyant cartoon alligators who dance around in various costumes. The ominous and heart-pounding piano music, heavy on bass notes, is perfect for the real gators and comically ludicrous for the cartoon ones.
Some of the videos, like Bounce (May 8) and “And the Dish Ran Away…” (May 29) use common household objects in mesmerizing animation. Others like Cookout (May 23 — performed with a quirky electric piano setting), and the caffeinated This Is Coffee! (August 8) feature vintage public domain images and videos from the Prelinger Archives, a treasure trove of everything from commercially produced videos to old home movies.
I suggested to Andrew that I could send him photos of birds for one of his improvs, since he’d already done a bird theme in Disgracing the Windshield (May 7). He chose to point out the silliness of birds – and humans – in his August 6 electric piano improv, “What if Birds Were More Like Us?”
Personally, I’ve found it emotionally difficult to watch or listen to much of anything during the pandemic. Sometimes it’s unbearably sad to see someone “making do” with tawdry technological platforms and heavily manipulated sounds, when I know what their artistry is like in real life. But in these improvisations and truly creative visuals, the art seems made for the medium. And during a time when most of us find that our attention span is in shambles, it’s refreshing to consume a brief but whole bit of art.
MOVIE NIGHT! Be sure to tune in TONIGHT to a live YouTube stream featuring some of Andrew’s silent film accompaniments! The show is at 8pm EST this evening, Wednesday, August 12, 2020. Films with Harry Langdon and Charley Chase will be screened, along with commentary by Andrew Earle Simpson and silent film authority David Kalat. Not convinced? It’s called “An Exploding Cow and Other Fancies.”
