Jake Kaufman

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.

"FX3" redirects here. For the virtual pinball video game, see Pinball FX 3.
"FX 2.0" redirects here. For other uses, see FX2 (disambiguation).
This article is about the American musician. For the Canadian manufacturer and industrialist, see Jacob Kaufman.

Jake Kaufman
Kaufman in 2009
Background information
Also known asvirt
virtjk
GenresVideo game music, chiptune
Occupation(s)Composer, sound designer
Years active2000–present
LabelsBig Lion Music
Mint Potion

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."[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]

Kaufman at Notacon 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.[4] 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".[5] Kaufman contributed a track to the official arranged album of music from Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi.[6] 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.[7] For WayForward he first composed the soundtrack to Shantae: Risky's Revenge, the sequel to the game he worked on ten years prior.[8] 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.[9] Kaufman lives with his puggle Nugget in northern Los Angeles.[5][7]

Jake Kaufman performing at MAGFest 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.[10] 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 2022 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.[11] 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
Year Game Role(s) Notes
2000 Q*bert[12] Composer
Drymouth[13]
M&M's Minis Madness[14]
2001 Tennis Masters Series
David Beckham Soccer[15]
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Game Boy Color version of the 2nd Edition; with Paul Bragiel; arrangements of Keith and Matthew Strachan's soundtrack
Atlantis: The Lost Empire[16]
X-Bladez: Inline Skater[17]
2002 The Scorpion King: Sword of Osiris[18]
Karnaaj Rally[19] Composer, sound effects
Godzilla: Domination[20] Composer
Shantae[21]
Micro Machines[22]
Hardcore Pinball[23]
Rugrats: I Gotta Go Party[24]
2004 Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper Additional music
2005 Spy Hunter / Super Sprint Composer
Legend of Kay
Rebelstar: Tactical Command
Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree
Juka and the Monophonic Menace Sound designer
2006 Platinum Mahjong
Scurge: Hive
The OC
Lumines Mobile
Uno 52 Music engineer
Lionel Trains: On Track
Brain Challenge Lead sound designer
Miami Nights: Singles in the City Composer, sound designer
Ibiza Beach Party
2007 Shrek: Ogres & Dronkeys
Contra 4[25]
Petz: Catz 2
CSI: Dark Motives Sound engineer
Brothers in Arms DS Sound designer
Uno / Skip-Bo / Uno Freefall Music engineer
Balls of Fury
Elements of Destruction Composer, music engineer With Chad Seiter
TMNT Composer Nintendo DS version.
Surf's Up Nintendo DS and GBA versions.
Cranium Kabookii
2008 Imagine: My Secret World
Winx Club: Mission Enchantix Composer, sound designer
Pokermillion 2009: The Bluff
Ben 10: All Out Attack!
2009 Mighty Flip Champs!
Red Faction: Guerilla[26] With Timothy Michael Wynn, George Oldziey, Dan Wentz and Raison Varner
Barbie and the Three Musketeers Composer DS, Wii and PC versions
Virtual Villagers: Erschaffe dein Paradies!
Where the Wild Things Are Sound designer
2010 Despicable Me: The Game - Minion Mayhem Composer, sound designer
Shantae: Risky's Revenge[27]
Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame[28] With Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion and Lolita Ritmanis
2011 Thor: God of Thunder Nintendo DS version.
SpongeBob SquigglePants
Mighty Milky Way
BloodRayne: Betrayal
Mighty Switch Force![29]
Happy Feet Two: The Video Game Sound designer Nintendo DS and 3DS versions
Saints Row: The Third Additional audio
Centipede: Infestation Composer
Otomedius Excellent[30][31] DLC BGM Pack
DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu[32][33] Black Label Arrange version
2012 Retro City Rampage With Leonard J. Paul and Matthew Creamer
Darkstalkers Resurrection[34]
Hotel Transylvania
Double Dragon Neon[35]
Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!!
Silent Hill: Book of Memories Sound designer
2013 Mighty Switch Force! 2[36] Composer
Regular Show: Mordecai and Rigby in 8-Bit Land
Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge[37]
Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I Don't Know! With Ian Stocker
DuckTales: Remastered[38] Arrangements of Hiroshige Tonomura's soundtrack along with original material.
2014 Shovel Knight With Manami Matsumae, also scored the game's DLC
Wonder Momo: Typhoon Booster With Alex Culang
Boot Hill Heroes[39]
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse[40]
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze
2015 Adventures of Pip[41]
Supreme League of Patriots[42] Composer, sound design, bass, guitar
Mighty Switch Force! Hose It Down! Composer
Legend of Kay Anniversary
Vanguard V[43] Main theme
2016 Crypt of the Necrodancer Alternate soundtrack
Pulsar Arena[44]
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche[45]
2020 Ray’s the Dead With various others.
Boot Hill Bounties[39]
Vitamin Connection Composer, music producer
2021 Cyber Shadow[46] Music producer
Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Composer
2022 Shovel Knight Dig
2023 Mina the Hollower With Yuzo Koshiro
TBA [NUREN] The New Renaissance

Film
Year Title Director Notes
2007Press StartEd Glaser
2009RampageÇetin InançEnglish dub

Television
Year Title Notes
2017-2019OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroesas Mint Potion Studios
2019–2020Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart

Other work
Year Title Notes
2001urbanismas virt
FX[47]
2002FX 2.0[48][49]
2005Debut
Bound Together - An EarthBound Remix Project
2006Bound Together: ReBound - An EarthBound Remix Project
2007FX3[50]
Uptime
2008SPLUNK!
Child's Play CD 2008Performer
2009Kwakfest[51]
Bacon EP.as virt
Tracked in Time
KE-TSU-I kizunajigokutachi [ARRANGE ALBUM]
Kind of Bloop: An 8-Bit Tribute to Miles Davis[52]
A Chip off the Shizz Block, Volume One
Chiptuned Rockman
Autumntunes
2010Donkey Kong Country 2 ~Diddy's Kong Quest~ Serious Monkey Business
Up
Contra 4: Rocked 'n' Loaded
2011SOUNDSHOCK: FM FUNK MADDNESS!!as virt
Songs for the Cure '11: Remedy
2012FX4[53]
SOUNDSHOCK 2: FM FUNK TERRROR!!
2013FX3 Remastered[54]
Noisechan & Nugget: Adventures in Chiptunes
Balance and RuinOC ReMix Final Fantasy VI cover compilation album [55]
Choice Nuggets: A Dog's Favorite Virt Songs[56]
2014Just Fun
2015Power Overwhelming[57]
2016I'm The Boss (Big Bad Bosses) Dj CUTMAN Remix

References
  1. Kaufman, Jake. "Big Lion Music – Stuff I've Done". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
  2. Kaufman, Jake. "Big Lion Music – Q*Bert (GBC)". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on August 2, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
  3. Mieszkowski, Katharine (March 18, 2002). "Hot Salsa Tetris". Salon.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
  4. Kaufman, Jake. "Big Lion Music – Game Soundtracks". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on August 22, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
  5. Kaufman, Jake. "Big Lion Music – About". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on August 7, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
  6. Carl, Larson (October 6, 2009). "CAVE Music Interview With KETSUI Arrangers". Original Sound Version. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
  7. Kaufman, Jake (November 20, 2009). "Big Lion Music – Wessiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on June 2, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
  8. Greening, Chris (September 28, 2010). "Jake Kaufman Releases Shantae: Risky's Revenge Album". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  9. Napolitano, Jayson (February 23, 2012). "OSV Composer of the Year Award 2011: Jake Kaufman". Original Sound Version. Archived from the original on August 12, 2013. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  10. Greening, Chris (November 1, 2014). "Jake Kaufman becomes freelance composer and game designer". Game Music Online. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  11. "ABOUT US - mintpotion". Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  12. Kaufman, Jake. "Q*Bert (GBC)". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  13. Kaufman, Jake. "Drymouth (GBC)". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  14. Kaufman, Jake. "M&Ms Minis Madness (GBC)". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  15. Kaufman, Jake. "David Beckham Soccer (GBA)". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  16. Kaufman, Jake. "Atlantis – The Lost Empire (GBA)". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  17. Kaufman, Jake. "X-Blade Inline Skater (GBA)". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  18. Kaufman, Jake. "The Scorpion King – Sword of Osiris (GBA)". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  19. Kaufman, Jake. "Karnaaj Rally (GBA)". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  20. Kaufman, Jake. "Godzilla: Domination (GBA)". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  21. Kaufman, Jake. "Shantae (GBC)". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  22. Kaufman, Jake. "Micro Machines (GBA)". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  23. kaufman, Jake. "Soccer Table Track (GBA)". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on July 21, 2010.
  24. Kaufman, Jake. "Rugrats: Gotta Go Party (GBA)". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  25. Kaufman, Jake (June 29, 2007). "d:\virt\work\contra\ds\". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  26. Kaufman, Jake (June 21, 2009). "Happy Father's Day!". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on August 24, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  27. Kaufman, Jake (September 27, 2010). "Shantae: Risky's Revenge Original Soundtrack". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  28. Kaufman, Jake (September 15, 2010). "Batman: The Brave and the Bold: The Videogame: The Release!". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  29. Kaufman, Jake (December 22, 2011). "Mighty Switch Force OST". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  30. "Otomedius X's soundtrack features 28 artists, 120+ tracks – Destructoid". February 25, 2011. Archived from the original on March 14, 2011. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  31. "- YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  32. "DoDonPachi Resurrection BLACK LABEL Arrange Mode Album on Steam". Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  33. "DO-DON-PACHI DAI-FUKKATSU BLACK LABEL Arrange Mode Album | CVAS-007 - VGMdb". Archived from the original on April 30, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  34. Jimenez, Rey (March 23, 2013). "DuckTales Interview: How Do You Improve Perfection? – PAX East 2013". IGN. 3:40. Archived from the original on April 9, 2017. Retrieved April 9, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  35. Kaufman, Jake (September 11, 2012). "Double Dragon Neon". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  36. Kaufman, Jake (June 14, 2013). "Mighty Switch Force 2 OST". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  37. Rasa, Chris (October 12, 2015). "Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  38. Sarkar, Samit (March 22, 2013). "DuckTales Remastered announced by Capcom, launching this summer on XBLA, PSN, Wii U eShop for $15". Polygon. Archived from the original on January 2, 2017. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  39. Kaufman, Jake (April 11, 2014). "Boot Hill Heroes OST". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  40. Kaufman, Jake (October 24, 2014). "Shantae and the Pirate's Curse OST". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  41. Kaufman, Jake (June 11, 2015). "Adventures of Pip OST". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  42. Kaufman, Jake (March 16, 2016). "Supreme League of Patriots". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on March 18, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
  43. Moravetz, Justin (October 8, 2014). "Jake Kaufman creates another musical track for Vanguard V". Archived from the original on May 17, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  44. Kaufman, Jake (May 14, 2015). "PULSAR ARENA OST". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  45. Kaufman, Jake (June 5, 2016). "Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche – Extra Crispy or Original Soundtrack". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  46. Doolan, Liam (March 28, 2019). "Yacht Club Games Reveals Cyber Shadow, A Thrilling New 8-Bit Ninja Platformer". Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. Archived from the original on May 1, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  47. "Virt – FX EP {mtk060} Netlabel Archive". Monotonik. August 14, 2001. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  48. "FX 2.0". Monotonik. Archived from the original on July 16, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  49. Kaufman, Jake. "FX 2.0". Big Lion Music. Archived from the original on July 9, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  50. "Virt: FX3". 8bitpeoples. 2006. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  51. Kaufman, Jake (November 16, 2008). "Kwakfest". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  52. Baio, Andy. "Kind of Bloop: An 8-Bit Tribute to Miles Davis' Kind of Blue". Wayback Machine archive of KindOfBloop.com. Archived from the original on August 28, 2009. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  53. Kaufman, Jake (March 1, 2012). "FX4". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  54. Kaufman, Jake (June 4, 2013). "FX3 Remastered". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  55. Hamilton, Kirk. "Hell Yes, It's OC Remix's Mondo Musical Tribute To Final Fantasy VI". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  56. Kaufman, Jake (August 28, 2013). "Choice Nuggets". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  57. "Big Bad Bosses: About". Big Bad Bosses. Archived from the original on January 24, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
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