The Boston Typewriter Orchestra (BTO) is an American collective

percussion ensemble A percussion ensemble is a musical ensemble consisting of only percussion instruments. Although the term can be used to describe any such group, it commonly refers to groups of classically trained percussionists performing primarily classical ...

for

typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selective ...

and voice based in the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

area. It was founded in 2004.Boston Typewriter Orchestra
/ref>

Formation

One night in 2004, Boston-area artist Tim Devin was presented with the gift of a child's typewriter at a bar. His typing eventually annoyed the waitress who asked him to stop, whereupon he responded "It's OK, ma'am. I'm the conductor of the Boston Typewriter Orchestra".BBC World Service – Outlook, Boston Typewriter Orchestra
/ref> Thinking there was something to the idea, he assembled a group of interested performers on the night of October 20th, 2004 in

Somerville Somerville may refer to: *Somerville College, Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford Places *Somerville, Victoria, Australia * Somerville, Western Australia, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, Australia * Somerville, New Zealand, a subur ...

. An office setting was quickly decided upon as an overarching theme for live performances. The members (usually numbering between four and eight people) perform wearing white shirts and ties, engage in typical workplace banter and write office-themed lyrics to satirical or comedic effect. The typewriters are utilized in a rhythmic fashion while melodic elements are supplied by the vocalists. The group uses several varieties of manual typewriters from such manufacturers as Underwood,

Smith Corona Smith Corona is an American manufacturer of thermal labels, direct thermal labels, and thermal ribbons used in warehouses for primarily barcode labels. Once a large U.S. typewriter and mechanical calculator manufacturer, it expanded aggressive ...

, Hermes, Remington and

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

. The Boston Typewriter Orchestra began performing at house parties, eventually expanding venues to clubs, arts festivals and museums. Local and national media appearances soon followed. The group appears in the documentary California Typewriter and their song "Entropy Begins at the Office" has been used in promotional ads for the film The Post.

Notable performances and appearances

* November 27, 2006 –

Paradise Rock Club The Paradise Rock Club (formerly known as the Paradise Theater) is a 933-capacity music venue in Boston, Massachusetts. Due to its relatively small size, it appeals to top local alternative rock performers as well as American and British bands vi ...

with

Amanda Palmer Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer (born April 30, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and performance artist who is the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo The Dresden Dolls. She performs as a solo artist and was also a ...

* February 4, 2007 –

Weekend Today ''Weekend Today'' is currently the branding of the weekend editions of ''Today'', an American morning news and talk program that airs daily on NBC. Weekend editions of ''Today'', began with the launch of the Sunday edition of the program on Se ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

* October 9, 2008 – ''Boston Orchestra Makes Typewriters Sing'',

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

Boston Orchestra Makes Typewriters Sing
/ref> * June, 21 2011 –

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribu ...

* January 31, 2015 –

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, H ...

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running ...

Langston Hughes' 113th Birthday Google Doodle
/ref> * September 2, 2016 – California Typewriter * April 5, 2017 – ''Playing Against Type'',

Great Big Story Great Big Story was a media company producing micro-documentaries based in New York with offices in London. Launched in October 2015 by CNN, the company created 2,600 videos, being published on various websites such as Facebook and YouTube. ...

( CNN)Playing Against Type
/ref> * September 27, 2017 – Outlook,

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

* December 30, 2017 – The Post (ad)The Post , “An Exhilarating Thriller" TV Commercial , 20th Century FOX
/ref> * February 9, 2020 - The Blunderwood PortableProjects by Jason , The Blunderwood Portable , directed by Juan Mandelbaum
/ref>The Blunderwood Portable , Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
/ref> * August 17, 2020 -

The Kelly Clarkson Show ''The Kelly Clarkson Show'' is an American daytime television variety talk show hosted by American singer Kelly Clarkson. It is produced and distributed by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios and features Clarkson interviewing celebrities and segm ...

NBCUniversal Television Distribution NBCUniversal Syndication Studios (a.k.a. NUSS), formerly known as NBCUniversal Television Distribution (a.k.a. NUTD), Universal Domestic Television, Studios USA Television Distribution and MCA TV, is the television syndication division of NBCUni ...

Orchestra Plays Music Using Only Typewriters!
/ref>

Discography

* ''The Revolution Will Be Typewritten!'' (2006) * ''Overtime at the Piano Factory – Live'' (2008) * ''Termination Without Prejudice, Volume 1'' (2017) * ''Workstation to Workstation'' (2020) * ''Delegation: The Remixes'' (2021)

References

{{reflist Musical groups established in 2004 Musical groups from Boston