Brief history

The "sound" of film music really started in the mid 1890's with the "silent" film, when an accompanist in the theater gave piano music as foundation to the picture onscreen. when the new century rolled over, motion picture music turned out to be progressively "diegetic", which means it assumed an onscreen part in the story. Production organizations started to print "cue sheets" for their movies as rules on which style of music ran with a specific scene. By 1911, unique piano music was being composed for particular films, and throughout the following decade, the theater organ made its debut while backup in bigger venues developed to incorporate instrumental gatherings and choruses.