We put the world’s greatest cinematic composer, Hans Zimmer, behind the wheel of a Range Rover, and asked him to compose an original score for a drive across the Angeles Crest Highway.

A historic road that runs through the San Gabriel mountains, Angeles Crest Highway is a stunning, challenging drive, and despite being just outside Los Angeles, it feels like a completely different world. Zimmer spends a day driving through the rugged hills and finding inspiration in every element of the vehicle.

Twenty-four hours later, Zimmer sits down in his studio in Santa Monica and begins writing an original score as he watches footage from the drive. He talks in depth about what he felt and what he wanted to capture from his experience. The final product is a film that charts Zimmer's journey from the road to the studio, narrated with his words, and culminating with his evocative score.

Hans Zimmer is an Academy Award-winning film composer who is responsible for some of the most impressive scores of all time, including The Lion King, Gladiator, Inception, and Blade Runner 2049. Movie composers do not often gain much recognition among the general population, but Hans Zimmer is one of the few exceptions. He has a devoted group of intense fans, and he is widely recognized throughout the general movie watching public as the clear leader in music composition for films.

The drive takes place on Angeles Crest Highway (otherwise known as Los Angeles’s “highway into the heavens”), a 66 mile, majestic roadway that was carved out of the San Gabriel Mountains in 1929.

With Scoring the Drive, the music very much IS the story, versus a complement to it. It was very important to find a composer who was not only willing to experience the drive himself, but also one who could own the development of the final score. Hans uses proprietary software, centered around a synthesizer, to develop his music. This gives him greater control over the final pitch, volume, and tone of every note that is heard in his music.

Twenty four hours after driving Angeles Crest Highway, Hans laid down the foundation for his original score. He then spent the next 4-6 weeks more intricately going over the footage and reliving his experience behind the wheel, ensuring each note was tied to each turn and acceleration of the drive. The ultimate score is one that matches the calibre of his Oscar-nominated works.