Ruach is a Jewish American folktale horror film by Derek Delson (
@derekdelson ) that follows a mystic rabbi who, investigating a rumor of demonic possession, joins a father and daughter for dinner.
Recorded at the USC School of Cinematic Arts
Performed By
Shofar: Michael Gropper
Vocals: Roy Gantz (
@roy.gantz )
Violin: Peiwen Su (
@peiwensu_ )
Guitar: David Hernandez (
@davidhernandezmusic )
Cello: Quenton Blache (
@qblache )
Engineer: Miles Jensen (
@mileymomusic )
About the Score
For this score, Derek and I chose to use Hebrew lyrics instead of the classic Latin lyrics of vocals in horror films to immerse us further in this world. This was done by bringing in Roy Gantz (
@roy.gantz ), who regularly sings religious texts in his temple, to sing the vocals, and he did an amazing job powerfully performing them! Most prominently, the Shema Prayer is sung in the opening of the film over an atmosphere of shofar textures, detuned strings, and processed vocals to signify a holy rabbi venturing into dark territory.
A unique instrument in this score is the shofar, an antelope horn used in traditional Jewish religious practices to signify spiritual awakening. For this, we brought on Michael Gropper, who’s a professional shofar player! The shofar is actually seen on screen as played by the rabbi to ward off the evil of the possessed, as well as incorporated into the score as an atmospheric texture.
The rest of the score consists of solo violin and guitar, mic’d very close to give a more folk sound, as well as aggressive cello when the possessed person reveals themself.
Album Art and Session Photos on Film by Derek Delson (
@derekdelson )!
You can stream the full soundtrack on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, etc. with the links in my bio!
#filmscore #horror #filmcomposer #soundtrack #shortfilm
