Jake Kaufman
{{short description|American video game music composer (born 1981)}}
{{Redirect|FX3|the virtual pinball video game|Pinball FX 3}}
{{redirect|FX 2.0|other uses|FX2 (disambiguation)}}
{{about|the American musician|the Canadian manufacturer and industrialist|Jacob Kaufman}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Jake Kaufman
| background = non_performing_personnel
| image = JakeKaufman.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Kaufman in 2009
| birth_name =
| alias = virt
virtjk
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| origin =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| genre = Video game music, chiptune
| occupation = Composer, sound designer
| instrument =
| years_active = 2000–present
| label = Big Lion Music
Mint Potion
| associated_acts = Dale North
| website =
}}
Jake Kaufman (born 1981; also known as virt or virtjk) is an American video game music composer. After starting out creating arrangements and remixes of video game soundtracks, he began his commercial composing career in 2000 with the score to the Game Boy Color port of Q*bert. He continued to compose music for games for the next couple of years, working primarily with handheld video games. In 2002, he set up the website VGMix, which hosts video game music remixes, and continues to administrate it. His career began to take off over the next few years, resulting in him transitioning jobs into a full-time freelance composer by 2005. Since then he has worked on several big-name projects such as the Shantae series, Contra 4, Red Faction: Guerrilla, DuckTales: Remastered, Shovel Knight, and Crypt of the Necrodancer.
Biography
Kaufman dropped out of high school with what he describes as "a total lack of work ethic and no concept of timeliness or organization."{{cite web|url=http://www.biglionmusic.com/about/stuff-ive-done|title=Big Lion Music – Stuff I've Done|last=Kaufman|first=Jake|publisher=Big Lion Music|access-date=December 27, 2009|archive-date=August 1, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120801205458/http://www.biglionmusic.com/about_old/stuff-ive-done|url-status=live}} He spent the next few years composing arrangements and remixes of video game music under the alias "virt". In 2000, Kaufman broke into the video game industry as a composer, with his first work being the Game Boy Color port of Q*bert.{{cite web|url=http://www.biglionmusic.com/category/music/game-soundtracks/handheld-soundtracks/qbert|title=Big Lion Music – Q*Bert (GBC)|last=Kaufman|first=Jake|publisher=Big Lion Music|access-date=December 27, 2009|archive-date=August 2, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802055230/http://www.biglionmusic.com/category/music/game-soundtracks/handheld-soundtracks/qbert|url-status=live}} Over the next few years, he composed the music to several Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games. In 2002, Kaufman was one of the co-founders of the website VGMix, which hosted video game music remixes.{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/03/18/videogame_music/index.html|title=Hot Salsa Tetris|last=Mieszkowski|first=Katharine|date=March 18, 2002|work=Salon.com|access-date=December 27, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025041125/http://www.salon.com/2002/03/18/videogame_music/|archive-date=October 25, 2012}}
File:Jake Kaufman at Notacon 6 (17724209324).jpg in 2009]]
During 2002–2005, Kaufman's career as a video game music composer began to take off. By 2005, he was a full-time freelance video game composer.{{cite web|url=http://www.biglionmusic.com/category/music/game-soundtracks|title=Big Lion Music – Game Soundtracks|last=Kaufman|first=Jake|publisher=Big Lion Music|access-date=December 27, 2009|archive-date=August 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822204646/http://www.biglionmusic.com/category/music/game-soundtracks|url-status=live}} He continued to compose music to increasingly big-name projects, such as Contra 4 and TMNT in 2007 and Red Faction: Guerrilla in 2009; he described composing the soundtrack to a Contra game and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game as his "lifelong dream".{{cite web|url=http://www.biglionmusic.com/about|title=Big Lion Music – About|last=Kaufman|first=Jake|publisher=Big Lion Music|access-date=December 27, 2009|archive-date=August 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807224506/http://www.biglionmusic.com/about/|url-status=live}} Kaufman contributed a track to the official arranged album of music from Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi.{{cite web|last=Carl|first=Larson|title=CAVE Music Interview With KETSUI Arrangers|url=http://www.originalsoundversion.com/cave-music-interview-with-ketsui-arrangers/|publisher=Original Sound Version|access-date=December 11, 2010|date=October 6, 2009|archive-date=October 4, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004151625/http://www.originalsoundversion.com/cave-music-interview-with-ketsui-arrangers/|url-status=live}} He was a full-time employee of Volition while working on Red Faction, but in January 2010, he left the company to become the "lead audio guy" for WayForward, for which he had already composed several soundtracks such as those of Shantae and Contra 4.{{cite web|url=http://www.biglionmusic.com/general/wessiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide|title=Big Lion Music – Wessiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide|last=Kaufman|first=Jake|publisher=Big Lion Music|date=November 20, 2009|access-date=December 27, 2009|archive-date=June 2, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120602044448/http://www.biglionmusic.com/general/wessiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide/|url-status=live}} For WayForward he first composed the soundtrack to Shantae: Risky's Revenge, the sequel to the game he worked on ten years prior.{{cite web|url=http://squareenixmusic.com/musicnews2.php?subaction=showfull&id=1285650993&archive=&start_from=&ucat=7&|title=Jake Kaufman Releases Shantae: Risky's Revenge Album|author=Greening, Chris|publisher=Square Enix Music Online|date=September 28, 2010|access-date=September 28, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303064818/http://squareenixmusic.com/musicnews2.php?subaction=showfull&id=1285650993&archive=&start_from=&ucat=7&|archive-date=March 3, 2012}} Original Sound Version named Kaufman their Composer of the Year for 2011, based on his work on BloodRayne: Betrayal and Mighty Switch Force, as well as several other soundtracks and arranged albums.{{cite web|last=Napolitano|first=Jayson|title=OSV Composer of the Year Award 2011: Jake Kaufman|url=http://www.originalsoundversion.com/osv-composer-of-the-year-award-2011-jake-kaufman/|publisher=Original Sound Version|access-date=February 23, 2012|date=February 23, 2012|archive-date=August 12, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130812192848/http://www.originalsoundversion.com/osv-composer-of-the-year-award-2011-jake-kaufman/|url-status=live}} Kaufman lives with his puggle Nugget in northern Los Angeles.
File:Jake Kaufman on stage at MAGFEST X.jpg 10 in 2012]]
While working at WayForward, Kaufman composed music for the Shantae series, the BloodRayne series, and nearly a dozen other games. During this time he also composed music for independent games such as Shovel Knight. On November 1, 2014, Kaufman announced that he was leaving WayForward on mutual terms to work as a freelance composer and sound designer from his own studio, in order to be able to set his own schedule and choose his own projects.{{cite web|url=http://www.vgmonline.net/jake-kaufman-becomes-freelance-composer-game-designer/|title=Jake Kaufman becomes freelance composer and game designer|publisher=Game Music Online|last=Greening|first=Chris|date=November 1, 2014|access-date=November 15, 2014|archive-date=November 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102115024/http://www.vgmonline.net/jake-kaufman-becomes-freelance-composer-game-designer/|url-status=live}} The last games which he worked full-time for the company were Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze and Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, the latter being composed between 2013 and 2015 but only released in late 2016.
In February 2015, Kaufman collaborated with Jessie Seely, a video game vocalist and professional artist, to launch the Kickstarter campaign of [NUREN] The New Renaissance. [NUREN] was self-described as "the world's first virtual reality rock opera." The project was planned to be a full-length music album, accompanied by music videos that users would experience using a head-mounted display such as the Oculus Rift. The proposed music and videos were set in a post-war future society where androids cater to humanity's needs; two prototype androids named QGK and RIX were planned as the main subjects of the project. In March 2015, the project was successfully funded with $76,950 raised. The project was slated to arrive to Kickstarter backers in February 2016. In August 2016, Kaufman cited "contracting work" and a "ridiculous client workload" as obstacles to completing [NUREN], and as of 2024 it has yet to be released.
In March 2016, Kaufman and recording engineer Robert Altschuler founded their own music label called Mint Potion, based in Santa Clarita, California. It provides music and audio services for a variety of productions, most notably the background music and theme songs for the TV shows OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes and Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart.{{cite web|url=https://www.mintpotion.com/aboutus|title=ABOUT US - mintpotion|access-date=January 1, 2020|archive-date=August 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812000414/https://www.mintpotion.com/aboutus|url-status=live}} Through Mint Potion, Kaufman briefly worked again with WayForward as a freelance composer on the games Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche and Vitamin Connection, as well as continued composing for the various Shovel Knight DLCs. Other composers such as Chiyoko Yamasato and Tommy Pedrini have since joined the label.
Works
= Video games =
= Film =
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year
!Title !Director !Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Press Start | Ed Glaser | |
| 2009 | Rampage | Çetin Inanç | English dub |
= Television =
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||
| Year
!Title !Notes | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2017-2019 | OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes | rowspan="2"|as Mint Potion Studios |
| 2019–2020 | Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart |
= Other work =
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Bandcamp|virt}}
- {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20140208060218/http://www.biglionmusic.com/|Archive of Big Lion Music official website}}
- {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20161130145819/http://virt.rocks:80/|Archive of Virt Rocks official website}}
{{Shantae series}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaufman, Jake}}
Category:21st-century American composers
Category:21st-century American male musicians
Category:American male composers
Category:Chiptune and tracker musicians
Category:American sound designers