Wow. 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!
You go girl!
Awesome news, congrats! Got any samples of the new work you can share? :)
your the man now, dawg.
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.
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!
Holy monkey, that is amazing! I wish I had a DS!
I will love it so much if you help bring back the honor and glory of the original contra.
congrats man! you so deserve this!
congrats man! you so deserve this!
[reason for doublepost: i mistyped my url in the first post, if you can delete it ;) ]
Insane, you da man.
I will now be forced to purchase six or so copies of this game. Congratulations! I’ll bet that feels nice, huh? :)
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.
wow, this game just jumped up another few notches on my most wanted list.
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 :)
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?
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?
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.
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.
hey that’s my article :)
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!
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. :)
We got a post up about it too:
http://www.music4games.net/News_Display.aspx?id=649
Congrats, Jake!
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…
TROP !
Gameplay video with a little chunk of music!
http://gamevideos.com/video/id/12644
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.
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.
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 >_>;
yes
i hop eyou are able to make … graphical contribution as well
HOLY FUCKING SHIT JAKE YOU ARE THE FUCKING MAN~!!!!!!!!!!!!
Awesome! The original Contra music is awesome, and your interpretions of those and own work are good, if not, better. Rock their socks off!
Top-notch work there, as always.
There is no other person more qualified or befitting of this honor. Congratulations!
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!
*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…*
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~!
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.
Занятно, откедова это чудище вылезло?
Remix music are also very nice to listen to.-;:
Remix music are great because sometimes we get used to hearing the same thing over and over again. :;;
you will enjoy a lot by just listening to remix music’*;
i kinda like the original music compared to remixes but i just thought that remixes are cool too,’.
–. I am really thankful to this topic because it really gives useful information –`