While Red Dead Redemption 2 looks insanely gorgeous, a lot of the ambiance of the game can be attributed to the fantastic sound design as well. It might not get as much attention, but the Red Dead 2 music and sound effects definitely are top-tier, too.
In a press release, Rockstar Games names a lot of the people behind Red Dead Redemption 2’s music, and it’s a badass list of known movie, TV, and video game sound people!
First off, the dynamic score is produced by Woody Jackson, whom Rockstar fans might rememeber as the same person who scored Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire, and Grand Theft Auto V with Tangerine Dream, The Alchemist, and Oh No.
Additional production and arrangement from the musical score by Jeff Silverman (Truth and Soul, Aloe Black), with additional musical score and orchestration provided by:
- Colin Stetson (Bon Iver, Hereditary)
- David Ferguson (Johnny Cash’s engineer)
- David Ralicke (Beck, Sons of Anarchy)
- Gabe Witcher (Punch Brothers, True Detective)
- Luke O’Malley
- Mario Batkovic (of Geoff Barrow’s Invada)
- Matt Sweeney (Chavez, Superwolf, Iggy Pop, Bonnie Prince Billy)
- Rabih Beaini
- Senyawa
In addition to that, there are contributions from over 110 other musicians as well! These include but are not limited to:
- Arca (frequent Bjork, Kanye West, Frank Ocean and Kelela collaborator)
- Duane Eddy (Lee Hazlewood protégé)
- Jon Theodore (former drummer of Mars Volta and current Queens of the Stone Age drummer)
- Michael Shuman aka Mikey Shoes (Queens of the Stone Age, Mini Mansions)
Impressed by the vocal work in Red Dead Redemption 2? You should be as they are produced by Grammy Award-winner Daniel Lanaois, who’s known for producing albums for Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Willie Nelson, as well as collaborating with musician Brian Eno to produce several albums of the band U2 (including album The Joshua Tree).
Rockstar has also named some of the vocal actors who lent their voices to the game, and they include:
- D’Angelo
- Willie Nelson
- Nas
- Rhiannon Giddens
- Josh Homme
Lastly, an additional track was written, produced and performed by David Ferguson. Rockstar mentions that all songs for both score and soundtrack were created exclusively for Red Dead Redemption 2.
Want to download the official Red Dead Redemption 2 soundtrack? Rockstar says that news and info about that will be shared at a later date.
Impressive, no? Then again, the entire game’s scope is massive, and to no one’s surprise, that includes the musical arrangements and vocal work.