The Silent Film Music Podcast with Ben Model

About The Silent Film Music Podcast with Ben Model

A podcast from renowned silent film accompanist/historian Ben Model covering the techniques of creating and performing live scores to silent films, as well as a discussion of the language of silent cinema. Find what goes on in the mind of a silent film accompanist before, during and after playing for a show. Learn about the aesthetics of silent filmmaking and storytelling language.

Publisher

Ben Model

Category

music · tv & film · tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

9 Dec 2014

Latest episode

26 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 75 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   26 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT

   ep. 73: Go Into Your Trance

   Host Ben Model and guest Kerr explore Ben's busy performance schedule, the scoring of classic silent films, and the new podcast index.

2. 

   10 Jan 2026

   ep. 72: 2025 Year-End Roundup

   Ben and Kerr discuss accompaniment Ben’s accompaniment techniques for films he played for toward the end of 2025: Keaton’s “Steamboat Bill, Jr.” at the Barrymore Film Center, Mary Pickford in “Sparrows” at the Library of Congress, and Max Davidson in “Pass the Gravy” at the Silent Clowns Film Series in NYC. Ben gives an update on the Undercrank Productions releases currently in production, of rare silents with Roscoe Arbuckle and with Marion Davies. Ben shares some advice for aspiring accompanists about the kind of music light to bring to a show. Ben and Kerr close out the episode discussing ideas about the current status and next-steps for silent film restoration and exhibition. Show notes for episode 72 can be found here (https://silentfilmmusic.com/episode72-show-notes/).

3. 

   4 Dec 2025

   ep. 71: Phantoms and Pipe Organs

   Ben and Kerr talk about Ben’s busy Halloween season, underscoring the unmasking scene in “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925) at Angel Nyack, and his encounters with theater ghosts; also covered are Ben's accompanying “Her Sister From Paris” (1925) with Constance Talmadge at the Silent Clowns Film Series, the differences between playing a church pipe organ and a theatre organ for silents, and more. The episode includes performance excerpts from Ben’s scores for the two films mentioned above as well as from a show at the Library of Congress Packard Campus Theater of Josef Von Sternberg’s “Underworld” (1928). Show notes for episode 71 can be found here.

Inside a recent episode

ep. 73: Go Into Your Trance

Published 26 Aug 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] And even in the Patsy, she's always on the outside. And in The Cardboard Lover, she's just vivacious. And it's her picture. She's just driving for us throughout the film. I kind of feel the first time I feel like I've seen the real Marion. I think so. Of the films of hers I've seen. Yeah. That this is her. And of course, she takes the opportunity to kid the other woman. She does a devastating impression. Laura and I talked about this. You really, if you look at stills, you can't tell. You have to look really closely. Is that Jetta Goodall or is this Marion Davies as Jetta Goodall? So the thing is, I thought, well, that's the thing. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

1,884,657

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

31 ratings

Spotify

4.8 / 5

4 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 49 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

30

Social presence

0

YouTube

86

Engagement

85

Contact The Silent Film Music Podcast with Ben Model

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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  The Extras

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