Glossary: Silent Movie

Before the advent of Sound film, recording technology, during thr brief period of the "Biophon," where synchromized Sound was recoed on wax drums, was simply not enough loudness for the large movie houses of the time. Only in the 20's, with the development of the optical Sound track were "Talkies," as they were know, possible. The period before 1928 is called the silent film era. This is somewhat of a misnomer as film music was plyed live in the theater by orchestras, individual musicians and or music machines; there were also sometimes film narrators, and large cinemas even had a kind of Sound imitator, like a live foley Artist.