We think it is safe to say that 'Terminator 2' was well ahead of its time in terms of practical and digital effects. There is no question that the score has a massive impact on the storytelling, such as Brad Fiedel's ability to use tones, pulses, and simple musical elements to make you feel uneasy. The credit sequence at the beginning of the film is a perfect demonstration of his unique composing ability.

From Wikipedia: While The Terminator score had mainly used oscillators and synthesizers, Fiedel recorded real instruments and modified the resulting sound. He developed a library of sounds for characters such as the T-1000, whose theme was created by sampling brass instrument players warming up and improvised playing. Fiedel described it as having instructed them that "you're an insane asylum. You're a bedlam of instruments." He slowed the resulting sample down and lowered the pitch, describing it as "artificial intelligent monks chanting." Cameron considered the "atonal" sound "too avant-garde" for him, but Fiedel justified it as an accompaniment to Cameron making a film that "people have never seen before."

Where to watch: https://letterboxd.com/film/terminator-2-judgment-day/
Listen to the score: https://open.spotify.com/album/6XvEW217Vz3aergoFkWJDN?si=9a5d27e359454390

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Every Monday and Wednesday, SCORE CUE SNAPSHOTS brings you iconic scenes married to the corresponding score cue without dialogue and SFX, thus allowing anyone to appreciate how the score works with what you see unfold on-screen.