Vocal harmonies were provided by New York-based singer Loire, who provided the war chants.

In addition, he also used various percussion instruments such as, skin drums, hand drums and rattles, a rarity in western music. He used a Balinese jaw harp called genggong for the prologue theme. Howard also expressed about the difficulties he had on creating the 5-minute prologue as it was not only conveying the main themes, but also setting the tone. The first theme he wrote for the film, was the main theme 'Running on Raindrops'. The score has a 'non-specific South Asian feel, while also having a touch of Indonesian gamelan' as well as 'instruments originated from China to Vietnam, though many of them sound similar'. Don Hall presented him storyboards, rough animation and character sketches, prior to his inclusion and Howard felt that 'Somehow or another, you get used to it and you find yourself becoming moved by a couple of static drawings of the characters if the music is working'. James Newton Howard signed the project in November 2019, while he was also scoring for Paul Greengrass' News of the World (2020). James Newton Howard, on scoring Raya and the Last Dragon. It’s at least 50% electronics, with lots of exotic sounds in there, and I think it’s really fun. I think the movie is great, and I think the score is very different for me. You really feel part of a team, and I had a blast. I don’t feel like a composer, off in an ivory tower. You feel like you’re sitting around a real round table. You can really write the craziest, most fun, silly, exciting music that you can think of, and collaborating with these filmmakers, Don Hall, was just so great. I think in animation, the great thing about it-and somebody else said this, not me-is that as a composer, you can do anything you want.

Raya and the last dragon movie guide