Music of The Last of Us

During the initial development of The Last of Us, creative director Neil Druckmann and game director Bruce Straley compiled musical tracks that they found inspirational. When searching for a composer to work on the game's music, they realised that Gustavo Santaolalla composed many of their compiled tracks. Straley described Santaolalla's music as "organic instrumentation, minimalist, dissonance and resonance with the sounds".[1] The composer agreed to work on the game's soundtrack when contacted by Sony.[1] After hearing the game's pitch, Santaolalla was excited to work on the game; he had previously wanted to compose for video games, but refused to work on those without a focus on story and characters.[2]

Argentinian musician Gustavo Santaolalla composed the score for The Last of Us.

Santaolalla began work on The Last of Us early in its development. Druckmann did not give him specific directions but offered him the game's stories and themes. Santaolalla appreciated this freedom and felt it assisted his process. He felt the need to "go into some more dark place, more textural and not necessarily melodic", when composing.[3] The composer prefers to compose as he records, as he has little knowledge of reading and writing sheet music. To challenge himself, Santaolalla used a variety of unique instruments that were new to him, giving "an element of danger and innocence".[3] For some tracks, he used a detuned guitar, producing deep noise. To produce unique sounds, Santaolalla recorded in various rooms, including a bathroom and kitchen.[3] The title track was composed on a variety of charango called a ronroco.[4] The team wanted the game's AI to affect the music. They also tried to make the music evoke a reaction from the player, as their familiarization with the sounds would trigger a previous emotion that they felt. Music manager Jonathan Mayer felt that the game's action music was atypical for video game action music, stating that it is "relatively low-key", and that taking it out of context changes the immediate reaction to it.[5] The game's theme, "The Last of Us", was the first piece of music that the team received, and they were very impressed.[5] With the music, the team aimed to "get emotion", as opposed to "horror".[6] Inspired by the sparing use of music in the film No Country for Old Men (2007), the team used music judiciously and tried to find other ways to "make your palms sweaty".[7] The orchestral portions of the score were recorded at Ocean Way Studios in Nashville by the Nashville Scoring Orchestra.[8]

Aside from the official soundtracks, licensed tracks also appear in the game. In the main game, during the section titled "Alone and Forsaken", Joel and Ellie listen to the songs "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" and "Alone and Forsaken", both by Hank Williams.[9] In the downloadable expansion pack The Last of Us: Left Behind, Ellie and Riley dance to the Etta James cover of the song "I Got You Babe". In addition, "String Quartet No. 3 in E-Flat Minor, Op. 30" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and "String Quartet No. 4 in E-Minor (B.19)" by Antonín Dvořák are also present in Left Behind.[10]

The Last of Us won Excellence in Musical Score at the 2014 SXSW Gaming Awards,[24] and the soundtrack received nominations at the 10th British Academy Video Games Awards[25] and Spike VGX 2013,[26] and from Hardcore Gamer,[27] IGN[28] and GameTrailers.[29] The game's main theme was performed live at the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards in Culver City, California on December 7, 2012.[30] Music from The Last of Us was also performed live at The Last of Us: One Night Live in Santa Monica, California on July 28, 2014. The event featured scenes from the game performed live by the actors, accompanied by the game's score, performed by Santaolalla and his band.[31] The popularity of the game has led to numerous cover versions of the music being released by various artists, such as violinist Taylor Davis,[32] guitarist Igor Presnyakov[33] and musician Ben "Squid Physics" Morfitt.[34]

• The Last of Us official website