MNTRA Instruments is the audio-tools division of La Hacienda Creative — Brian D'Oliveira's studio behind scores for Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, and Tearaway. We built these tools for ourselves first. Now 100,000+ creators use them every day.
THE ORIGIN
We founded MNTRA Instruments at La Hacienda Creative with multi-award-winning composer and sound designer Brian D'Oliveira. We craft scores, spatial audio, and live spatial installations for film, television, VR, and games. We kept hitting the same wall: existing tools couldn't capture or express what we heard. So we built our own. That impulse became MNTRA — instruments and effects born from real production needs, now used by 100,000+ creators worldwide. This is what we do.
WHERE YOU'VE HEARD US
Since 2007, we have crafted award-winning music and sound for AAA games, film, television, VR, and immersive installations. We work in spatial audio, interactive in-engine systems, and experimental recording — building custom tools and processes when existing ones can't do what we hear.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider · Resident Evil Village · Resident Evil 7 · The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (Netflix) · Tearaway / Tearaway Unfolded · Sackboy: A Big Adventure · Papo & Yo · Far Cry Primal · League of Legends: Kin of the Stained Blade · Gannibal · Gentefied
Plus VR installations, spatial audio works, and real-life installations.
Clients: Netflix · Capcom · Riot Games · Ubisoft · PlayStation · Eidos-Montréal
IN THE FIELD
We record everywhere — remote temples, forests, coastlines — capturing sounds that don't exist in any other library.
AWARD HIGHLIGHTS
The Game Awards
Best Audio Design — Resident Evil Village (2021)
Golden Joystick
Best Audio — Resident Evil Village (2021)
G.A.N.G. Awards
Best Interactive Score — Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2019)
G.A.N.G. Awards
Best Original Soundtrack — Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2019)
G.A.N.G. Awards
Best VR Audio — Resident Evil 7 (2018)
BAFTA Games Awards
Nominee, Best Music — Tearaway (2014), Sackboy (2021)
Natural world
We are inspired by the natural world, animism, and ancient knowledge from around the globe. We embrace the expressive imperfections that arise in the process. We perform and record instruments using experimental methods. We strive to capture sounds and craft effects that defy convention and evoke a sense of the unknown.
The world as an instrument
We view the world itself as an instrument, brimming with magic and sonic potential. In our own way, we strive to capture this magic and infuse it into our creations. We want our instruments and effects to resonate with a sense of life and spirit.
Live human performance
In our sampling process, we celebrate the subtleties and imperfections of live human performance. We may enhance a sound subtly or transform it beyond recognition. We always keep the soul and character of the performance intact. The result is expressive, playable instruments and effects that embody our collective creative vision.
Interactive soundworlds
Our aim is not just the development of virtual instruments and effects. We create interactive soundworlds that serve as conduits for your creative inspiration and your workflow. These tools are crafted to empower you, our fellow creators, to push your boundaries and explore new sonic realms together with us.
ERA
Our Extreme-Resolution recording techniques often use ultrasonics and extreme spatial-resolution captures, as well as custom mic arrays and extreme high-order ambisonics. We record everything at 32-bit float / 384 kHz, so those captures preserve harmonics far beyond human hearing. That work is the foundation of ERA (Extended Range Audio). Combined with constant experimentation in workflows and sound sources, they result in instruments and effects that are living manifestations of our shared exploratory journey. Each release is its own sound world, created to inspire and challenge our fellow musicians and sound designers. This is why we built MNDALA: to make sounds that move under your hands, not just sit in a sampler. The tools we built to score Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Resident Evil are the same tools now in the studios of 100,000+ creators.
Updates, release notes, and first access to MNTRA offers.
