Music of Red Dead Redemption

Woody Jackson composed the score for Red Dead Redemption, in collaboration with Bill Elm.

Red Dead Redemption is one of the first games by Rockstar to use an original score. Music supervisor Ivan Pavlovich has cited the large scale of the game as one of the largest difficulties when producing the score. He said that, in order to achieve an effective gaming experience, the game could not solely feature licensed music, like previous Rockstar games. "We figured we'd need to write an original score," Pavlovich said. To work on the score, Rockstar engaged Bill Elm and Woody Jackson, member and former member of Friends of Dean Martinez, respectively. In collaboration with each other, the duo composed over fourteen hours of music, which scores the game's missions, across fifteen months. The original score and subsequent album were both recorded and mixed at Jackson's personal recording studio in Los Angeles, and mastered at Capitol Studios.[1] Following the recording, Irish producer and composer David Holmes listened to the original score, and subsequently spent three weeks compiling fifteen instrumental tracks that could be used as standalone songs for the game's official soundtrack. Holmes attempted to make the soundtrack representative of the variety of sounds and moods in the game. Four vocal performances were also recorded for use in the soundtrack.[2][lower-alpha 1]

Recorded at 130 beats per minute in A minor, most of songs featured are constructed from motifs in the game's dynamic soundtrack. A mix of modern instruments and those featured in traditional Western films, such as the jaw harp, were used. Creative uses of instruments were used to bring unique sounds, such as playing a trumpet onto the surface of a timpani drum. Rockstar also consulted musicians who played traditional Western instruments; harmonica player Tommy Morgan, who had been featured on several films over his 60-year career, provided traditional harmonica segments for the game.[3] Beyond trumpets, nylon guitars and accordions, the composers incorporated other instruments, such as flutes and ocarinas. When researching music for inspiration, Jackson found that there was no "Western sound" in 1911; he felt that the soundtracks of 1960s Western films, such as Ennio Morricone's work on the Dollars Trilogy, was more representative of Western music. In appropriating the score to the game's setting, Elm commented that the process was initially "daunting", taking a long time to discover how the music was to work in an interactive way.[4]

Red Dead Redemption won the award for Best Original Music from GameSpot,[16] Music of the Year and Best Interactive Score at the Game Audio Network Guild Awards,[17] and Best Original Score at the Spike Video Game Awards; the latter also awarded "Far Away" by José González with Best Song in a Game.[18] Gonzalez performed the song on Zane Lowe's show on BBC Radio 1 in June 2010,[19] at the Rockstar offices in New York in July 2010,[20] and at the Spike Video Game Awards in December 2010.[21] The performance at the Spike Video Game Awards was accompanied by a music video for the song, which Rockstar published a few weeks later.[22] Ashtar Command also performed a live version of the song "Deadman's Gun" in August 2010.[23] The popularity of the game has led to numerous cover versions of the music being released by various artists, such as musician Ben "Squid Physics" Morfitt,[24] and artist María Katt.[25]

• Red Dead Redemption official website
• Official website music page