All Aboard Visiting the Rail Yards M Imagine the sight of fresh produce, the sound of live music, and the smell of freshly cooked spices wafting through the air. You can find it every Sunday at the Rail Yards Market, and an Albuquerque summer is hardly complete without at least one visit. Located in Barelas, the Rail Yards were first built in 1880 when Albuquerque was named the location where the Atlantic and Pacific (A&P) and Santa Fe railways met. By 1919, as many as a quarter of Albuquerque’s workers were employed at the Rail Yards, and shops and offices began sprouting up around the area. But the railroad business steadily declined after that. The Rail Yards were a shell of their former self by the 1950s, and they closed entirely in the 1990s. You can learn all about that history at the WHEELS museum on- site. Though the area was in a state of disrepair for years, the city purchased the Rail Yards in 2007, and the location now hosts an eclectic mix of events, but the Market is perhaps its signature affair. Each week, farmers, food vendors, artists, and musicians gather for a joyous reminder of what makes Albuquerque great.
Early feature films were in black and white, only available in theaters, and perhaps most significantly, silent. But movie theaters still needed sound to keep the audiences engaged. So, they enlisted piano players to accompany the films, conveying excitement, fear, sorrow, joy, tension, and danger through their music. It seems like a job any musician can do, but in truth, it was much more complicated than it sounds. Silent films usually didn’t arrive in theaters with sheet music attached, so theaters were on their own when it came to setting the mood. Since watching a movie in a hushed theater — or worse, one filled with chatter — wasn’t very enticing, they had to find their own ways of creating an immersive experience for patrons. As a result, your movie-viewing experience could vary greatly depending on which theater you visited. Pianists used different methods for creating their film scores, depending on their skill, time, and access to the films in advance. In small towns, only the church organist might be available — and they might choose to play assorted hymns over the entire movie, making for a less than enjoyable experience. More accomplished pianists worked differently. Since they would often not have the opportunity to view an advance screening, they would improvise, trying to predict where the film’s action was headed and adjusting their playing accordingly. When a film was popular, most players eventually developed a standard score. Eventually, some production companies shipped “mood cues” with their movies, which provided a breakdown of when to play melodies better suited to romance, action, or comedy. Believe it or not, the tradition still continues to this day. Some theaters show the occasional silent movie, and they turn to one of the 50 or fewer silent film accompanists still working in the U.S. for help. Since the films are often rare and otherwise unavailable, the pianist does not always have the time or opportunity to plan their music. So, like their predecessors, they play it by ear, using knowledge of specific actors, directors, and film conventions to guide them. Screenings are not particularly common, but if you ever have the opportunity to watch a silent film with live accompaniment, you’re in for a real treat. No matter how entertaining the movie is, watching the pianist may be half the show. When Theaters Provided Their Own Movie Soundtracks Thanks to the Pianists
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