Washington DC, Nov. 28 -- When directors Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar asked long-time collaborator Bryce Dessner to score the Netflix drama Train Dreams, the composer knew he wanted to escape the usual studio routine, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"I wanted to get away from my computer," Dessner said. "A lot of film scoring is done in front of a picture, often with advanced technology. This was the opposite."

For about a week, Dessner, a fan of the Denis Johnson novel on which the film is based, holed up at Flora Recording & Playback in Portland, Oregon, the same studio his band The National uses.

There he recorded with vintage gear - upright pianos, harmoniums, old acoustic guitars and ribbon microphones - set against the stud...