The Inside Scoop
Building the Buddhist Series  •  Published Apr 24, 2026  •  9 min. listen
Building the Buddhist Series  •  Published Apr 01, 2026  •  9 min. read
Building the Buddhist Series  •  Published Apr 24, 2026  •  9 min. read
Building the Buddhist Series  •  Published Apr 01, 2026  •  9 min. watch
Building the Buddhist Series  •  Published Apr 24, 2026  •  9 min. read
Building the Buddhist Series  •  Published Apr 01, 2026  •  9 min. read

Choosing the Instruments

Watch the video to hear the composer for Journey to Hope share about choosing the musical palette.

Composer Grant Fonda considered many factors – story, director's needs and budget – as he developed the instrumental palette for the Journey to Hope soundtrack.

"We'll try to look at the sum of all those parts and figure out how we land in something that's going to be emotionally potent and also unique," Grant shared during an interview at Blackbird Studio in Nashville where he recorded the strings and woodwinds for the project.

He compared it to an artist choosing paints. "Music is very similar in that way, in that you choose the palette before you start creating so that it's consistent across the board," he said.

His goal was to write in a musical language that was accessible to a Southeast Asian audience.

This is episode eight in the behind-the-scenes Building the Buddhist Series — and the second focused on music. In this installment,Grant walks through the specific instruments he chose for the Journey to Hope soundtrack and why.

The Journey to Hope soundtrack is available on most major streaming platforms.

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