// ENGAGE

You were probably sent here—a name passed along, attached to a problem that would not die. Well, you found me. What follows is short on adjectives and long on dates.

Point me at the target — a build, a system, a show, a date that cannot move — and it ships. Most services pages sell a menu. This one sells me: one person, at stated prices, on a stated clock.

“Outright Mental” is my artist moniker — the manifesto has the origin story — and my practice is built in collaboration with other artists. The studio is also the entity you contract: Outright Mental Inc, with the dossier procurement needs and published arithmetic for bringing in more hands on pre-agreed terms when the target requires them. Prices are stated below because you shouldn’t have to get on a call to learn them.

Operator, not founder

Around here the title is operator. Founder is a claim about the past — who got there first — and the past is not for sale. Operator is a claim that has to keep being true: point me at a target and it ships. The studio is the side effect; the record below is the argument.

The record

• U.S. Patent 10,446,126 — generative music composition. Granted 2019; assignee Outright Mental Inc; active to 2038.
• David Blaine, Drowned Alive — built and ran davidblaine.com; during the stunt the site drew over a million unique visitors a day.
• U.S. Department of Justice PSA — co-directed the “Know Where They Go” spot, aired nationally on NBC, CBS, Fox, and Oxygen.
• Stetson “Made of America” — designed the brand platform.
• XJ music — designed and built the patented adaptive-music platform; open source, 94★.
• Enterprise — incident-response lead for the FIFA World Cup 2026 premium-hospitality program, and event apps serving 6M users in live entertainment. Here’s my résumé, and the full dated record runs back to 2001.

Three ways to engage

The Read — $4,500 · one week

The smallest unit of certainty you can buy. One question, one week, one written go / no-go.

• The one question blocking your go decision, answered in writing inside a week
• The technical risks, the open unknowns, and what would have to be true to proceed — my reasoning shown, not a verdict on faith
• A “go” scopes straight into a Build, whatever the target class

Commission a Read ›

A Build — $6,500–$25,000 · fixed price, fixed window

One target, shipped — priced by its class before work starts.

• A playable prototype, one workflow automated and measured, a scenario pack your institution owns, or a piece built for your campaign window
• Scope, price, and window agreed before I start — with a printed change-order policy
• One Build at a time — the slot is either open or it isn’t

Start a Build ›

The Retainer — $6,000/month floor · about two days a month

The continuity layer after a Build ships.

• Standing technical leadership, about two days a month
• Architecture, hiring, vendor calls, and the honest “stop doing that” — in your corner, on the record
• Month to month; the floor is the price; I carry at most two retainers at once

Ask about the Retainer ›

What you can point me at

Six classes of target, each with its full dossier on my studio’s site — the offers with their prices, the proof, and who it isn’t for, because a page that qualifies you saves us both a month.

• Adaptive music — a score that adapts to the player, with provenance a lawyer can sign; patented, composer-authored, locally running.
• Conversation systems — rehearsal for the conversations you can’t send to a server; a scenario pack your institution owns, or a measured pilot.
• Playable prototypes — a concept that must become playable proof on a deadline; time-boxed, with a findings memo and a build map.
• Branded play — a moment that must land on an immovable night; playable brand pieces with real authorship.
• Original games — my studio’s own slate, and the produced tournament night with its real arcade table.
• Research & IP — a question that needs sourced, checkable answers, behind a published methodology firewall.

The five questions you’re actually asking

A referred buyer runs the same checklist every time. Here it is, answered in the open.

Hand it over

You have the problem in one hand. The precise way to hand it over:

The fast way. Twenty minutes, this week, no deck required: book a 20-minute fit call.

The plain way. Email works too — hi@nickcharneykaye.com reaches me directly, answered within one business day. For anything sensitive, my public key is published — encrypted mail reaches me the same as plain.

Off the shelf

Not every purchase needs my weeks. Things you can buy today:

• An XJ embed license — ship music made with XJ: xjmusic.com/license
• A patent license — U.S. Patent 10,446,126 is a licensable track: open an inquiry ›
• Conversation Simulator — the simulator itself, on Steam
• Fever Tilt — my studio’s own arcade sport
• Commissioned games-market briefs — sourced, checkable answers on a stated methodology
• Speaking — the patent, the systems, and the record, told from the inside

Looking for the work itself rather than the working relationship? It lives at outrightmental.com.