Soundtracks: creating the soundtrack for Avatar

Digidesign (now part of Avid) has an article and video in their Articles & User Stories section: Avatar - Creating an Otherworldly Soundtrack with Pro Tools|HD, ICON, and Sibelius. The video includes an interview with composer James Horner, talking about his goals and process:
“I didn’t rely on a written score for large parts of the film,” he says. “Instead, I improvised much of the score against the picture. There was no orchestra involved until the end — just me playing the parts into the film, using an electronic instrument or a piano. I find myself trying to move slowly away from writing conventional orchestral music, incorporating other instruments into my scores that don’t necessarily play orchestral music.”

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