By Colin Young
Chatter and cries of “how was your weekend” float above the usual office banter, along with the sound of typewriters feverishly at work. The conversation and drumming of keys continues in this generic office environment until, out of the blue, the typing hits a rhythm. That’s when the Boston Typewriter Orchestra (BTO) is going full force.
The group, based in East Boston, began when original member Tim Devin received a children’s typewriter as a gift from his girlfriend, said BTO member Derrik Albertelli.
“He started tapping away on the typewriter along with the music that was playing at the bar,” Albertelli said. “When the bartender asked him to stop he said, ‘No, that’s OK. I’m the conductor of the Boston Typewriter Orchestra.'”
At that point, Devin decided to actually get some people to form a typewriter orchestra together, Albertelli said.
BTO member Jay O’Grady said the group has developed its technique of getting sounds out of the typewriter in unconventional ways.
“We practice together and we’ve gotten to the point where we all play in rhythm,” O’Grady said. “Everybody has their own style. Nobody says that you’re not doing it the right way. That’s part of the fun of it, getting different sounds out of the typewriter any way you can.”
Albertelli said there are two basic sounds from a typewriter and countless ways to expand upon those sounds.
“When you hit the shift key, you get a very good loud thump, almost a kick snare combo,” he said. “We substitute different materials in there and put things in the typing path and try to explode as many sounds as we can out of the typewriter.”
Albertelli, who has played music from a young age, said he joined the group at the second meeting about four years ago and has been a member ever since. About half of the six current members of the BTO have a musical background, he said.
“I’ve been playing guitar since I was 12 in projects from metal to jazz and just regular rock,” he said. “We have a drummer in the group, and another kid who played for Cyanide Valentine.”
Members of the group said they are able to compose songs on the typewriter to then be performed live.
“Mostly it is hours of practicing with a bunch of guys, but there is the occasion when someone comes in with something [written] that might be cool to try,” Albertelli said.
O’Grady said the group’s writing and practicing process is more off-the-cuff than other bands’.
“Usually somebody creates a rhythm or phrase and then we vamp off of that and maybe come up with a counter rhythm and then add different parts to it,” he said. “[A song] starts with the basic foundation of a phrase, we then improvise and it takes shape.”
But O’Grady said BTO is not just a band – it’s a performance group.
“We wear shirts and ties and make fun of office banter,” he said. “If we just played typewriters that would get kind of boring. We try to entertain people the best we can. So far, we have been quite successful.”
Albertelli said the office satire stemmed from the typewriter itself.
“We are using an outdated piece of office equipment. Why not add a dimension of theatre and dwell on the [mundaneness] of office culture?” he said.
O’Grady said he thinks Northeastern students would enjoy BTO because it’s something they might not have seen before.
“It’s entertaining and a lot of people respond to it,” he said. “Some people call it something like ‘Stomp.’ I wouldn’t say that, but most people have a good time when we perform, young and old.”
BTO said they made their most recent live recording “Overtime at the Piano Factory” available to listen to for free at www.BostonTypewriterOrchestra.com.
