d:\virt\work\contra\ds\
Posted by virt on June 29th, 2007 filed in GeneralWow. NOTHING escapes the internet, huh? I still can’t talk about it, save for what’s now public knowledge: That I’m responsible for audio in Contra 4. I’m surprised by how positive the response has been, given that I’m so early in my career, and the difficulty of living up to such brilliant past soundtracks. For what it’s worth, I’ve studied Konami music obsessively for most of my life, and have approached this with the utmost love and respect.
To anyone coming here from gaming news sites or blog links: Welcome! The Contra arrangement that everyone’s linking to is 8 years old! You can imagine that I’ve grown and changed a lot since I was 18. So enjoy it for what it is, but expect something that reflects a more well-rounded musician than the high-strung kid who wrote that. Okay, I’m still a kid, but at least now I can write for guitar, not just overblown melismatic wankery. There’s a time and a place, you know?
Feel free to browse around here, check out my freelancing demo site, and my latest chiptune work! Send me an email or comment to say hi, if you have a free moment!
June 29th, 2007 at 7:29 am
You go girl!
June 29th, 2007 at 8:00 am
Awesome news, congrats! Got any samples of the new work you can share? :)
June 29th, 2007 at 8:40 am
your the man now, dawg.
June 29th, 2007 at 10:05 am
This is awesome news. I’m happy for you and I’m as excited to hear the music in the game as I am to play it, if not more.
June 29th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Congrats on Contra 4!
I just stumbled here after someone mentioned VG remix music, to see what you’d been up to lately. Glad to hear you’re still doing cool stuff!
June 29th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Holy monkey, that is amazing! I wish I had a DS!
June 30th, 2007 at 12:53 am
I will love it so much if you help bring back the honor and glory of the original contra.
June 30th, 2007 at 6:46 am
congrats man! you so deserve this!
June 30th, 2007 at 6:47 am
congrats man! you so deserve this!
[reason for doublepost: i mistyped my url in the first post, if you can delete it ;) ]
June 30th, 2007 at 11:35 am
Insane, you da man.
June 30th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
I will now be forced to purchase six or so copies of this game. Congratulations! I’ll bet that feels nice, huh? :)
July 1st, 2007 at 2:45 am
Congrats Virt. I’ve been listening to your music for a long time and am really glad that it’s getting noticed by the right people.
May you have a long and productive career.
July 1st, 2007 at 12:42 pm
wow, this game just jumped up another few notches on my most wanted list.
July 2nd, 2007 at 1:32 am
Congratulation man ! my english is not enough good to read the full article.. so i will try to find french information about : if the game is allready out ? and may be try to find your songs somewhere to listen to your jobs :)
July 2nd, 2007 at 8:11 pm
I just opened my Nintendo Power for this month, and that poster ROCKS! If I were to mail it to you with some stamps for return postage, would you sign it for me?
July 2nd, 2007 at 9:08 pm
BTW, the poster I’m referring to can be found here:
http://www.destructoid.com/new-np-contra-4-poster-will-melt-your-face-off-34197.phtml
Can you tell me if this is going to be the box art? If not, can you tell me if it’s going to be in the same art style?
July 3rd, 2007 at 9:34 am
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=13742
Sub-header: “The American developed sequel will feature music by an up and coming American composer.”
My thoughts: “Hahaha, virt.”
My thoughts after reading the article: “Holy shit, it’s virt!”
Congratulations, man, I know your music will do the game justice, and I am very much looking forward to playing it.
July 4th, 2007 at 6:16 am
Hey Congratulations. :) Contra is my favorite game on Nes i played this game a lot when I was a kid. My dream was to work in game development since i have 12 years old now Im 23 and Im working in game development in europe this is like dreams come true but i never work on sequel of famous game. It must be something amazing to make Contra 4.
July 4th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
hey that’s my article :)
July 5th, 2007 at 1:05 am
Virt, I just wanted to say congrats, and please keep up the great work. I’ve been following your stuff for nearly a year now, and you’ve totally reinvigorated my love for guitar, and music in general. I do art full time(see site) professionally, so it’s great to be able to get that musical energy from somewhere. Please tell me that fake RPG you did is still uploaded somehwere. I have a new laptop, and wanted to download those tracks. Your stuff is on a playlist with the rest of my prog metal, between Dream Theater and Symphony X. Keep it up, man!
July 5th, 2007 at 10:53 am
I wasn’t a big Contra fan, but I’ll definitely get this game and enjoy every second of its…music. Congratulations! Hope you get less work and more time for remixes soon. :)
July 5th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
We got a post up about it too:
http://www.music4games.net/News_Display.aspx?id=649
Congrats, Jake!
July 6th, 2007 at 1:13 am
I have to say, I’ve been a fan of your work for a few years now, so congratulations! I might have to get a DS just for this game now. It’s been so long since I’ve played the original Contra…
July 6th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
TROP !
July 8th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Gameplay video with a little chunk of music!
http://gamevideos.com/video/id/12644
July 9th, 2007 at 1:17 am
Wow. I’m very jealous and very impressed… dunno what else to say :-P I can’t wait to play it and hear it for myself.
July 9th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
The music is so incredibly catchy, I can’t get the water stage’s tune out of my head! Contra 4 is looking really amazing so far. My only problem is with the weak ass sounding weapons, like the M and C, but there were a lot of missing sounds on those videos so hopefully they’re not final. I’d be really disappointed if they were.
July 10th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Here’s a full gameplay video of the water level, with music. Awesome stuff.
http://gamevideos.com/video/id/12692
Also interesting to see how often the guy dies >_>;
July 16th, 2007 at 3:15 am
yes
i hop eyou are able to make … graphical contribution as well
July 21st, 2007 at 12:29 pm
HOLY FUCKING SHIT JAKE YOU ARE THE FUCKING MAN~!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 23rd, 2007 at 4:44 am
Awesome! The original Contra music is awesome, and your interpretions of those and own work are good, if not, better. Rock their socks off!
August 1st, 2007 at 7:57 pm
[...] just found this blog of a guy (by Googling the author and title of a file I nabbed from my brother; a chiptunes version [...]
August 4th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Top-notch work there, as always.
August 24th, 2007 at 10:25 am
There is no other person more qualified or befitting of this honor. Congratulations!
November 17th, 2007 at 3:17 am
Right when I heard the BG score in the preview video, I knew it was you, bro! I’m your biggest fan, so your style is unmistakable to me. I honestly couldn’t think of a more appropriate candidate for the Contra 4 composer position, so I’m immeasurably happy that you were chosen. There is no doubt that this is a dream come true for you. I wonder if you have fully digested the fact that you scored a Contra installment – another part of the franchise known, loved, and cherished by millions of gamers from around the world! Do you realize the magnitude of what you have achieved and the honor of it? Awesome! I’m speechless! Congrads and thanks for your wonderful work! Love you!
November 17th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
*Saviour-V teleports in…*
One of (hopefully) many Malaysian fans. Call me Riz or Saviour-V.
Heard your Super Metroid Medley ages ago, and still wishing you made Part 2. That was a sweet medley.
That aside, I’ve heard your “Contravirt”, just after reading the news that you provided the music for Contra 4, on a DSFanboy URL that popped up from a Google search.
Up to now, I’m just speechless. I mean, to be a freelance game music remixer is one thing, but to provide the remixes for one of history’s oldest classics – Contra – is an honour beyond compare.
And as much as I hate to admit it, your “Contravirt” is giving me unholy shivers – more than Vomitron’s rendition of the very first Contra. I mean, while that remix had lots of electric guitar, yours has a certain….environment….to it. You could almost make a Contra movie with every last note of it. Notably from minutes 5:00 – 6:15, which would be the Hangar area.
I really do hope you manage to get an official soundtrack out – and, if possible, get a few hundred thousand copies out to us here in Malaysia. We could sure use good music like yours around here.
Also, on a side-note, since I also do online reviewing work, I could review that OST for a small fee, if only to gather enough funds to purchase that OST before it hits our shores.
*Saviour-V salutes Baron Jake “virt” Kaufman, before teleporting out…*
November 20th, 2007 at 6:21 am
Hey dude! love the soundtrack, please release the it as I would love to pop it in and listen to it all day. 80’s nostalgia HELL YEAH~!
December 12th, 2007 at 3:48 am
compare life insurance costs
guttered?dishearten sand,endears!explicit:feebler!
January 5th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I went to hell and back finishing ALL challenges in Contra 4 JUST to unlock music mode. It was all worth while. thanks jake, for sealing all the 80s memories into one kick ass game. Now we just need that dragon spirit remake.
March 31st, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Занятно, откедова это чудище вылезло?
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Remix music are also very nice to listen to.-;:
July 28th, 2010 at 12:09 am
Remix music are great because sometimes we get used to hearing the same thing over and over again. :;;