A woman’s voice from a forgotten 1940s pop song soars and then sputters. A jet takes off on one side of the house, blasting across to the other. The gigantic ticks of a clock count off long, languid seconds. And with that, Doctor Atomic roars to life.

Sound designer Mark Grey, who has worked with composer John Adams for nearly two decades, moved agile fingers across a landscape of knobs, buttons, sliders and flashing lights. As the orchestra took command and the opera stars center stage, Grey remained positioned in the back of the house, building the architecture of the Doctor Atomic soundscape.

“We implemented a surround sound situation, a six zone surround sound,” Grey explained after a recent performance. “We shoot sound into these different zones. They travel between the zones and circulate around the house. It’s an interesting experience because you can’t quite tell where they’re coming from sometimes.”

And it’s a first for the Met.

As the house moves in new directions, presenting innovative productions and incorporating contemporary scores into its repertoire, cutting-edge sound technology has followed suit. While, to be sure, the experience of Doctor Atomic remains a wholly operatic one, it is one much enhanced by Grey’s innovative sound design and the portraits he paints across Adams’s masterpiece. Low drones mingle with high-pitched, processed sounds. “Isolated, it might feel electronic,” Grey said. “But coupled with the fabric of the orchestra, it blends.”

In addition to being a leading sound designer, Grey is also a major composer. He served as the Phoenix Symphony’s Composer in Residence for their 2007-08 season where he composed Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio for baritone, a chorus of 130 singers and full orchestra, which premiered in February 2008. His ten minute full orchestra work, entitled The Summons, also premiered during Grey’s residency period.

For this, his most recent collaboration with John Adams, Grey worked with the composer in his home studio to create what he called a “palate of sounds.” The results are ethereal, arresting and, in the words of General Manager Peter Gelb, “made the Metropolitan Opera shake as it has never before.”

Listen in on Mark Grey and his Palate of Sounds

This entry was posted by Caroline Cooper on Thursday, October 16th, 2008 at 1:07 pm and is filed under Doctor Atomic Blog, 2008-09 Season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.