Should you choose instruments based on sound or theme?

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Sound.

Oh okay, yes, I meant a double bass played with a bow. When you say contrabass, do you mean a contrabass trombone, or what do you mean?

Oh okay, but what is this contrabass string bass? Do you mean the double bass or a different string bass?

Oh okay thank you very much! That helps!

There is also a track like this when it comes to choosing between sound or theme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV_qPnsYIaA

But if I wanted to do something similar, but like the sound of a classical guitar better, than a piano, would the music still have the same emotional effect on the audience, but just with a different sound? Or is the emotional effect changed if you change the instrument, but the music is the same?

the piano seems to have a "heavier" vibe than the guitar.

Oh okay, but couldn't you still make a classical guitar sound heavier through electronic effects, or not really?

you could, but the piano has associations with "heavier" or more psychologically weighty feels.

Oh okay thanks. I guess another thing is, should I compose for an audience who doesn't know anything about music and put myself in their shoes, or should I compose for people who know more about it as well, and may appreciate something more avant guarde?

there is a common musical language of cinema which has been honed for nearly a century. you should stick with it if you want maximum enjoyment of your project. uncommon instruments are good for appetizers but not for the main course.

Oh okay that makes sense. For example there is a section of music where I want something along the range of a cello or a viola, or both. I was thinking I could have a cello and viola playing, or a trombone and viola playing at the same time. But one instrument that sounds better than a cello perhaps is a duduk, so I could use that even as well.

But a lot this also depends on cost of instrument samples. Let's say I have money for one more sample for the music, and I can choose between either a duduk, classical guitar, and xylophone... Each of these would be used for different parts of the music in different sections. But if you only have money for one sample package, of one of them, how do you decide to choose, which one?

which do you need more- a percussive-type instrument [guitar/xylo] or a steady tone instrument such as the duduk?

Well I want to a music track that kind of sounds like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssHHOejixY0&t=90s

Now they use a duduk, but I could use a cello. They sound similar to be me and I like both, but how do you decide which is better when you like both equally? The movie project I want to score is a crime thriller, if that helps.

Also for the part where I was thinking of using a xylophone, it would be a track like this where the xylophone kicks in at 5:53 into the clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps-v-kZ ... 1603765799

However, maybe I don't need a to get xylophone samples for that kind of sound, and I can use something else, like drums or something? Or would drums not be the same? Or what if I just use the classical guitar instead, or is that not percussive enough?

For the classical guitar, I was think of a tune like these examples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnq72gaWEHY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7MfT6L5UQs

They use what sounds like to be an electric and a classical guitar in the one clip. I already know an electric guitar player who is glad to this part, so I could rely on him to do all electric guitar for it, or I could get a classical in samples if that would be even better, but what do you think?

I find the xylophone to be the least appealing to me, and can let that one go off the list of instruments, to save money. However, is the xylophone more important as percussive back up, like in the one example?

So to answer your question, as to what I need more between a steady tone instrument like the duduk, or a percussive type like the guitar/xylophone, I am not sure. Based on the examples, I want to take inspiration from, what do you think I need more?

Thank you so much for your input!