Hybrid Scores: Choosing Sounds Beyond the Orchestra

by Kristen Baum

I frequently compose hybrid scores for the film projects I score. In several of my scores, I use sounds that aren’t traditional instruments. There are a variety of reasons for hybrid scores. Sometimes a project’s budget restrictions necessitate it. Other times, it can be chosen for the effect and what that will bring to the story.

So, let me pull back the curtain a bit and share my thoughts. A hybrid score is one that combines elements—from live-recorded instruments to computer-generated/software sounds to elements recorded in the real world (field recordings/found sound).

I work in Logic on my MacPro and like most composers today, I own a variety of software libraries. These libraries range from orchestral instruments to atmospheric instruments to ethnic instruments and voices and things even farther afield. These could be specific instruments (like a theramin), or manipulated metallic sounds. The list goes on and on.