Infra E-resource pack 2018

ARTIST PROCESSES
32
Left: Max Richter;
Right: Chris Ekers
Meeting with composer Max Richter and sound
McGregor gave Richter some lines from the
Stage 3
McGregor uses a combination of approaches when
designer Chris Ekers. Richter composed the music
T.S. Eliot poem The Waste Land as inspiration.
Meeting the dancers
working in the studio with the dancers:
for Infra and Ekers created the sound design. The
sound design role involves specifying, acquiring,
manipulating or generating the sounds played live
during the performance.
McGregor describes Richter’s music as being
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,
I had not thought death had undone so many.
T.S. Eliot The Waste Land
Before meeting the dancers McGregor had done
extensive research on the ideas, concepts and
themes for design, music and movement. However,
he arrived to the studio with an empty notebook
in order not to be fixed to specific ideas or
1. SHOW
Arrives at the studio with pre-prepared movement
vocabulary that he teaches directly to the dancers.
(He does not stay in this mode for long.)
in ‘wide-screen’ and as providing a landscape
for incredible work to grow, suggesting a rich,
cinematic feel. McGregor also comments on
Richter’s ability to compose music that taps into
a listener’s memory, evoking particular moods
and thoughts when watching dance.
They discussed the idea of the sound being a
combination of electronic and live instruments
This dialogue between the artists was continuous
throughout the creative process. Richter would
sometimes be required to respond to conceptual
changes affecting the mood of the choreography
or extend/shorten certain passages of music
in accordance with changes to the movement
phrasing.
movements.
For McGregor the first few weeks of rehearsals are
about getting to know the dancers, discovering
something new about them and building a working
relationship. He works hard with each dancer to
find their unique physical signatures and individual
self-expression.
2. MAKE
Works with what is inside the individual dancer,
their particular physical signatures. In this mode
he sees the dancers as architectural drawings
or models to experiment with. He moves the
dancers and offers a number of suggestions and
possibilities so that they are creating a movement
language together.
being played alongside the manipulation of sound
3. TASK
and found sound to create a real-life environment.
Sets an improvisational task based on one aspect
They discussed the idea of Ekers mixing Richter’s
of his research. They then all explore this task
electronic sound designs with the instrumental
individually and then develop ideas together.
music as it was being played live through
a surround sound system in the auditorium.