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[jamesprimate]

Salutations TIG Friends! ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪

My name is James, and I am a VGM composer. If you are a chiptune enthusiast, you may know me as half of chip-pop duo br1ght pr1mate and I have recently been working pretty much full-time writing retro game soundtracks and SFX. I use classic hardware and from-the-ground-up synthesis methods, so music and sounds are 100% original to your project, with that rich hardware and 8bit sound that only comes from original sound chips!

LINKZ:
Here is a link to my VGM bandcamp page with a number of full OSTs and various things for your perusal: http://jamesprimate.bandcamp.com

And my game music soundcloud, where I post WIP stuff and odds n ends:
http://soundcloud.com/james_primate

DEMO REELZ:
Check out my chiptune/VGM specific demo reel here:
http://soundcloud.com/james_primate/james-primate-demo-reel-v2

While you're listening, care to peruse some of my most recent projects?

REVIEWZ:

* Junk Jack X, 5-Stars on Touch Arcade, AppShopper, 148Apps, etc.,  this blockbuster mining adventure game by PixBits hit #5 on the app store, and the expansive intergalactic soundtrack is some of my best work yet: http://jamesprimate.bandcamp.com/album/the-music-of-junk-jack-x

* LiquidSketch was just nominated as an IGF finalist!

* Gnomoria, still in alpha, already has a bustling world-wide player community is currently rated 9.6 on Desura. IndieGameMag has called the soundtrack "Fantastic": http://www.indiegamemag.com/gnome-sweet-gnome-gnomoria-demo-released-alpha-build-upon-pre-order/#.UDaEddZlTz8

* Junk Jack, which reached #2 on the App Store for Adventure Games. Touch Arcade called the soundtrack "Excellent": http://toucharcade.com/2011/11/09/junk-jack-review/

* Icarus, an artsy pixel adventure game which was named top indie game" in September by IndieCade: http://www.joystiq.com/2011/09/23/the-joystiq-indie-pitch-icarus/

* Hyperactive Ninja, a cute platformer for Android which grabbed a 10/10 for music in reviews: http://acesplacebyaddman.blogspot.com/2010/12/hyperactive-ninja-review.html

* We've just had some music featured on Rockband:



and if you google "br1ght pr1mate" you'll find all sorts of other crazy stuff we've done

CONTACTZ:
Anyway, I am available for projects of any size and budget, I just love making game music and seeing awesome new games come to life. I am easy to deal with, reliable and have a lightning quick turn-around time. Lets talk!

Hit up my email: [email protected]

[jamesprimate]

Hey dudes! Thanks for checking these out, I've had some awesome gigs from this post

I have a few music credit additions since the last post:

* Junk Jack OST

Soundtrack to the highly successful iOS pixel mining adventure game (#2 on the iOS game charts baby!) by PixBits. Soundtrack available here! 

Also, I did a quick Demo Reel of some recent game stuff, which might make things easier Check it out on SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/james_primate/yo-james-primate-game-demo 

Oh, and I have tracks coming out on Rock Band!!!

 

Im switching my email around a bit just to keep my band/game stuff separate, so get at me: [email protected]

Thanks dudes!
--James

[email protected]

[jamesprimate]

hey guys! its been a busy month! I have a bunch of new material to show, most of them in a much less "chiptune" style...

Tangled OST



LISTEN! -> http://brightprimate.bandcamp.com/album/tangled-ost

Smooth and meditative, this is the soundtrack to Billie Lavoie's classic iOS puzzle game "Tangled". With over 2 million downloads since its initial release, "Tangled" deserved a graphical overhaul and some meditative zen music to set the mood. This contemplative soundtrack by Br1ght Pr1mate composer James Primate and new art by designer Ryan Brock ensures its place in iOS gaming classics.

also i just finished some music and SFX for Franklin's Ghost's "Hiko Run", which I think came out really well:

http://soundcloud.com/james_primate/hiko-run-first-level-loopd

More to come soon...

[MisfitChris]

James is a good friend of mine. I've had the honor of playing several live shows with him. He's a talented musician and a professional one at that. He'd make the perfect addition to any game team and I'm sure would provide nothing but the highest of quality music. If you need a musician for your project I recommend hiring this fine gentleman.

[jamesprimate]

awww thanks chris ;] <3

[jamesprimate]

Some updates!

I'm finishing up work on the soundtrack and sfx for Robotronic Games's fantastic game Gnomoria, and although the whole soundtrack wont be available for a little while, I figured I'd share some tracks

Village Groove:
http://soundcloud.com/james_primate/villiage-groove-gnomoria

Sound of the Underground:
http://soundcloud.com/james_primate/sound-of-the-underground

and check out gnomoria in all its pixely glory: http://gnomoria.com/

[jamesprimate]

Oh man, I have TONS of new music out to show you guys, but a few OSTs are coming out on various netlabels, and one BIG soundtrack (gnomoria) is waiting for the steam launch so i have to wait COMING SOOON THOUGH

until then, in preparation for all this cool stuff i set up a bandcamp page specifically for game music (probably should have done that a while ago, huh?): http://jamesprimate.bandcamp.com

CHECK IT, and so much new stuff is coming out soon I cant wait :D

[rekcah]

HAHA. Glad to see you posting your stuff on here James! Good stuff man!

[jamesprimate]

Roger!! Long time man ;] Pulseboy is looking great! You need to port that to iOS so I can slay with it 


oh, and just so this isnt a TOTALLY needless "wassup" bump, I've added links to my game music tumblr where I talk about projects in development, techniques and business and feelings and stuff: http://jamesprimate.tumblr.com/

[jamesprimate]

New soundtrack out!

LiquidSketch OST



Listen! --> http://jamesprimate.bandcamp.com/album/liquidsketch-ost

A meditative, aquatic soundtrack to Tobias Neukom's fantastic liquid physics iPad game "LiquidSketch", out on the app store now!

Check it in the app store here: itunes.apple.com/us/app/liquidsketch/id544717096?l=de&ls=1&mt=8

And visit the official site for more details: www.liquidsketch.com

[ScottGraves]

Some great work here.
Can I ask, what are you using for your chiptune/8bit sounds?  It sounds great!

[jamesprimate]

why thank you!

for chiptune i generally do all hardware stuff so i'd be using an actual gameboy, NES or Atari ST (depending on the style) with cartridge tracker programs (like LSDJ, nanoloop, famitracker, etc.), to write the songs, then record the audio output from the console and modernize it a bit in post-production. for non-"pure" chiptune, sometimes I'll use samples for certain static things like drum loops or whatever, just to make it easier to modify on the fly.

Hope that answers your questions and totally let me know if you want more info! 

[jamesprimate]

Hey! Cool news (well, i think at least!): The game music label GameChops just released...
the JAMES PRIMATE MEGA QUAD VIDEOGAME MUSIC BUNDLE XL,

which you might be able to discern from the name, is a 4 soundtrack bundle from some recent larger projects: 'Junk Jack', 'LiquidSketch', 'Tangled', and the previously unreleased 'Abrickadabra!', which im really excited to show you guys. Ill post a separate link and write-up to Abrickadabra later, but for now heres the 32-track MEGA BUNDLE in all its glory:



Streaming / Free download:
http://music.gamechops.com/album/mega-quad-videogame-music-bundle

I would include the liner notes and stuff, but man is that a wall of text!!!

[jamesprimate]

Abrickadabra! OST



A cute, groovy chiptune soundtrack to a cute, fun pixel game!

Listen / Download here: http://jamesprimate.bandcamp.com/album/abrickadabra-ost

[jamesprimate]

 ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠

did this soundtrack to a cool android game called ARENA OF DEATH

i wanted to make over-the-top micheal bay movie soundtrack style platformer chiptune and it was really damn fun to do... straight hardware, zero post-production, etc etc


LISTEN ~~~> http://jamesprimate.bandcamp.com/album/arena-of-death

pls enjoy DEATH TUNES, i personally think the track Arena City is quite boss.

 ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠

[jamesprimate]

Yessss, I'm excited to finally say that the Gnomoria OST is out today! Since people seem to have strong opinions about which style they prefer, I put it out in two parts:


Gnomoria OST - Modern



Listen! ~~~> http://jamesprimate.bandcamp.com/album/gnomoria-ost-modern

Part 2 of the original soundtrack to Gnomoria, by Robotronic Games.

"Modern" features 13 songs of Gnome life and times in a contemporary orchestral vgm style.
credits

Cover art by Castor.Pollux, with thanks to Robert West


AND


Gnomoria OST - Classic



Listen! ~~~> http://jamesprimate.bandcamp.com/album/gnomoria-ost-classic

Part 1 of the original soundtrack to Gnomoria, by Robotronic Games.

"Classic" features 13 songs of Gnome life and times in a vintage hardware chiptune style.

Cover art by Castor.Pollux, with thanks to Chris Dozier

[jamesprimate]

The Music of Junk Jack X - James Primate



LISTEN HERE ~~> http://jamesprimate.bandcamp.com/album/the-music-of-junk-jack-x

Music from The PixBits blockbuster mining adventure game Junk Jack X! This Vol. 1 of the complete soundtrack contains 27 tracks from the original 5 launch worlds: Terra, Alba, Seth, Xeno, and Magmar, and will be available on Bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify and most places mp3s are found.

The Bandcamp version also contains a booklet of art from some the many talented Junk Jack X fans from forum.pixbits.com, twitter and beyond!

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??
GO CHECK IT OUT ~~> http://jamesprimate.bandcamp.com/album/the-music-of-junk-jack-x

[jamesprimate]

Once Upon An Apocalypse



The funky horror chiptune soundtrack to TELLES0808's zombie apocalypse adventure game, available for Android on the Google Play Store: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apoc.zombie or in the stand-alone web version: zombie-apoc.com

LISTEN HERE ~~~> http://jamesprimate.bandcamp.com/album/once-upon-an-apocalypse

[rocknlouie]

The Gnomoria classic soundtrack is one of the most true to old school chiptune OSTs I have heard in a long time. Awesome retro arrangements, solid song structures and composition, and addictive gnomish melodies that actually dance with the changing harmony like they used to. Track 8, Big Boss Evil, blew me away in game, and I had to alt+tab to hunt your webpage down. I listened to that track at least 200 times by now.

Gnomoria doesn't even have sound, but the music is what really makes it feel like my gnomes are actually doing work. Did you think about what it might sound like for gnomes to work when you wrote the tracks? It really does sound like that.

I was wondering how you got those classic tones, and how you developed your composition skills.

[jamesprimate]

aw thank you, that means a lot! Gnomoria was really fun to do. I had been wanting to do some sort of homage to classic RPG style music for a while, so when Robotronic games was talking to me about their kooky, cute/brutal/industrious little pixel world everything seemed to fit just right. Gnomes and chiptune seem to fit really well together for some reason haha. And yes totally, I envisioned this as the music of gnomes dancing and singing and playing instruments as they worked, cuz that's what gnomes do of course!

I have a background in classical music, went to a conservatory and all that, so i suppose that informs my music a bit, but honestly I'd say development was just writing lots of music and exploring lots of new techniques. chiptune was something that I randomly picked up just for fun that pretty much turned into a career.

as for the sound, it's very specific because it was actually written on classic hardware, so it is exactly the tones and limitations that composers writing for the NES/gameboy/commodore64 would have had to deal with. to get a little technical, all of the "instruments" here are purpose built for each song using PWM  / 4 bit wave table  / white noise synthesis, which has a limited palette by todays standards, but is still quite capable of adding individual character to the songs. one of the reasons why a lot of "modern" chiptune inspired music sounds flat by comparison is that most modern composers are using a set of samples or limited VSTs rather than actual synthesis, which is capable of a much higher level of detail.

I hope that answers some questions and im glad you enjoy!