This article examines my participation in the ACTOR partnership’s 2019-2020 Composer-performer Orchestration Research Ensemble (CORE 1), and the methodology for achieving blend in my composition, E-Rock. The CORE 1 project was comprised of performance and composition students collaborating on new compositions for the heterogeneous ensemble of violin, bass clarinet, trombone, and vibraphone/small percussion. After initially struggling with timbre-base composition, I drew inspiration from klezmer music and jazz to bring cohesion to the ensemble and used compositional techniques inspired by timbre semantics and aural sonology to explore blend. Collaborating with the ensemble’s performers played an important role in shaping E-Rock: discussing how to translate different imagery into musical gestures offered ways to treat the ensemble as one instrument and allowed for a deeper exploration of blend. Ultimately, E-Rock demonstrates numerous approaches to blend, be it by a common style, imitation, or textures that make the ensemble more than the sum of its parts.