David Kay Photo: Adrian Malloch
The Auckland Philharmonia is bringing the epic scores of The Lion King and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to the stage alongside the films this year.
But conducting a live orchestra alongside a movie is no small feat. David Kay joins Culture 101 to explain the process.
The orchestra is given the film in a special format. This includes the movie itself but also a traffic-like coding system including elements known as ‘ribbons’ and ‘streamers’. An orange streamer moving across the screen acts as a warning signal, a green signal indicates when the music needs to start, and a red signal marks the end of a track.
Alongside the colours, there’s a click track to keep the conductor and those leading the rhythm in time. Only Kay will have a screen with the film playing in front of him, acting as regular conductor for the rest of the orchestra.
Sounds complex, right? It can be high-pressure.
“It’s a different way of playing,” Kay says. “It’s like KPI’s - you’ve just got to hit your moments at the right time and the orchestra will be with you.”
BBC Earth and Planet Earth were the first live orchestra films he conducted “many years ago”, which was a jump in the deep end. There was no specific training for this particular type of conducting Kay says and both films relied on click tracks which at the time were very useful.
But Kay’s attitude towards click tracks has since evolved.
“If we can be a little off the click track then we can be a bit more musical. Musicians don’t want to be forced onto click tracks - they feel like robots. They like to be expressive and do their own thing.”
For a film like The Lion King, it’s all split into different stems: dialogue track, sound effects track, vocal line track and choir track. The live orchestra then acts as another track.
The biggest challenge is to master the transitions.
“Film tracks are recorded in chunks and pieced together but in a live version it’s not completely musical and may not follow a flow,” says Kay.
There can be immediate transitions in the middle of a track, which will then bring up orange ribbons and flashes of white dots across the screen, signalling a change. For the conductor, clarity, calm and focus are needed.
Generally with orchestral performances, conductors bring their own interpretation and vision to the score. But when it comes to playing a beloved soundtrack, the role is clear.
“In these instances, we understand our job and it’s to create an amazing atmosphere for the audience. Recreate something they’re used to.”
Kay says it could be a gateway show for some in the audience who’ve never seen an orchestra live. It can be a chance to understand what an orchestra does, leading to seeking out further shows where the conductor has more control.
With recent rehearsals the conductor has now watched the scene in which The Lion King’s Mufasa dies, at least four to five times. He considers the iconic score by Hans Zimmer his favourite from the soundtrack.
“It’s such a sad scene, the music is beautiful behind it. Even though it’s very sad, it's an amazing moment. The Lion King - we go way back. The soundtrack was released when I was a teenager so it’s right there. I’m all over that.”
The Lion King is a timely choice as the Disney film celebrates its 30th Anniversary this year but tickets have already sold out ahead of the performances next week. Instead, audiences can look ahead to October for Tan Dun’s winning score to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
The soundtrack is centred heavily around a cello solo and in the year 2000 won the Academy Award for best soundtrack, beating John Williams and Enio Morricone. Off the back of the film, a cello concerto was created by Tan Dun combining the cello and an orchestra which is now performed as a stand-alone piece of work.
