Alloy Orchestra
| Alloy Orchestra | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Genres | soundtrack |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Labels | Accurate Records, Third Man |
| Website | Alloy Orchestra |
| Members | Terry Donahue Ken Winokur Roger Miller |
| Past members | Caleb Sampson |
Alloy Orchestra is a musical ensemble based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, that performs its own accompaniments to silent films of the classic movie era. Percussionists Terry Donahue and Ken Winokur and keyboardist Caleb Sampson founded the group in 1990. After Sampson's death in 1998, the band was joined by keyboardist Roger Miller, better known as the guitarist of post-punk band Mission of Burma. They have released four collections of film music and have toured both North America and Europe in support of cinematic shows.
Since its first performance on December 31, 1991, in Boston, the Alloy Orchestra has developed an extensive repertoire of music and sounds that it performs during the projection of silent films. Its three musicians use an array of found objects and electronics as well as traditional percussion, wind and keyboard instruments. Three years later, the trio released New Music for Silent Films through Accurate Records. It was followed in 1995 by the album Lonesome, which appeared through BIB Records. The collection Silents from 1997 brought together the contemporary scores for the films Plain Crazy, Lost World, Nosferatu, Metropolis and The Unknown.
In 1999 they released Masters of Slapstic, which presented largely incidental music for One Week, Big Business and Easy Street. In the same year, Entertainment Weekly put the ensemble on its list of the 100 most creative people or groupings in the entertainment world. Terry Gross on National Public Radio called the trio "one of the pioneers in composing new music for old movies" and Lloyd Schwartz discussed their recording of scores to a pair of Buster Keaton films: "Most silent movie music just fills the void. Some of it even gets in the way. But the Alloy Orchestra really helps us see what we're watching and often the music, whether driving or fanciful, is worth listening to on its own."
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