‘Without Words’ is a little tune I originally wrote for acoustic guitar. I thought it might have some vocals to go along with it, but it didn’t work, so instead I tried to say something using only music. An instrumental without words.
Although it is short and sweet ‘Without Words’ has become one of the more complicated pieces of music I have produced. It includes a small orchestra of backing instruments including woodwinds, a mandolin section, strings, various percussion and even a juice harp.
Go ahead and download it from DanielHicks.BandCamp.com
folk – acoustic guitar, orchestra
While watching some random silent movie clips I came up with an idea for a video. I noticed the similarity of the film’s accompanying music to what I was doing with ‘Without Words’. Not so much the acoustic guitar but the woodwinds and the orchestra. I just needed a star and the one and only Buster Keaton seemed perfect.
While making this video I have become a big fan of his. He was a master of visual humour but not always recognized for his film making abilities. He was an early innovator that was extremely aware of the camera’s role. This video only shows a quick sampling of his large body of work that, nevertheless, includes early visual effects, tracking cameras and panning cameras and breaking the forth wall.
His style and tone is similar to what I was trying to capture in the music and he did not need words to make anybody laugh.