Peter Freeman (May 29, 1965 – March 16, 2021) was an American bassist, composer, and record producer. Based in his studio in Los Angeles, he worked on records, live performance, and film and television soundtracks. He was primarily known for his association with avant-garde composer and trumpet-player Jon Hassell. He was also a regular contributor to Electronic Musician during the 80s and 90s.
Biography
Freeman began his professional musical career in 1983 as a bassist with Indian electric violinist L. Shankar. From there, he became involved with mainstream musicians, touring with Seal and Pierce Turner, playing with John Cale, Alanis Morissette, Nile Rodgers, Shawn Colvin, Sussan Deyhim, Elliott Sharp. He was a close musical collaborator with Jon Hassell for over 25 years.
He moved to Los Angeles in 2002, where he branched out into film and television as a musician and musical sound designer working with composers such as Thomas Newman, Cliff Martinez, Anton Sanko, Charlie Clouser, Jeff Rona and others.
He, along with David Zicarelli, had been the driving force behind the iPad music sampling and looping application, Looperverse.
Freeman was a licensed amateur radio operator for over 40 years, and held an Extra Class license. He died on March 16, 2021, after a year-long battle with stomach cancer.
In March 2022, two of Freeman's solo albums were announced by Elliott Sharp and posthumously released on zOaR Records as a digital download and a limited edition double-CD. This was released as a double album, titled K3CS.
Discography
Solo works
Mercurial (zOaR Records, 2022) - originally recorded in 2000
Sinistar (zOaR Records, 2022)
Collaborations
The Vertical Collection (Earshot Records, 1997)
As contributor
With Alanis Morissette
Flavors of Entanglement (Maverick Records, 2008) – bass
With D-Train
In Your Eyes (Columbia / EMI, 1989) – additional samples
With Hipsway
Scratch the Surface (Phonogram, 1989) – bass
With Jan Bang
…And Poppies From Kandahar (Samadhi Sound, 2010) – bass, electronics
With Jimmy Mbaye
Dakar Heart (Shanachie, 1994) – bass
With Jon Hassell
Dressing for Pleasure (Warner Bros., 1994) – bass
Maarifa Street: Magic Realism Volume Two (Nyen, 2005) – co-producer, bass, percussion, programming, mixing Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street (ECM Records, 2009) – co-producer, bass, guitar, samples, percussion, mixing Listening to Pictures (Pentimento Volume One) (Ndeya, 2018) – bass Seeing Through Sound (Pentimento Volume Two) (Ndeya, 2020) – bass
With Phoebe Legere
Phoebe Legere (Dead Dog Records, 1993) – bass
With Richard Horowitz and Sussan Deyhim
Majoun (Sony Classical, 2005) – overtone bass
With Richard Shindell
Blue Divide (Shanachie, 1994) – synthesizer
With Rick Cox
Fade (Cold Blue Music, 2005) – co-producer, mixing
With Seal
Newborn Friend (ZTT, 1994) – bass & appears in the official video
I'm Alive (ZTT, 1994) – bass
With Shawn Colvin
Cover Girl (Columbia, 1994) – digital editing
As mixing engineer
With Erik Sanko
Past Imperfect, Present Tense (Jetset Records, 2001)
With Veruca Salt
Lords of Sounds and Lesser Things (Velveteen, 2005)
Filmography
Collaborations
The Deep and Dreamless Sleep (2006) – with Lee Curreri and Jeff Rona
As contributor
The Million Dollar Hotel : "Amsterdam Blue (Cortège)" (2000) Saw (2004) – bass scrapes Traffic (2004) – bass Saw II (2005) – musician Saw III (2006) – additional score performer / musical sound designer (uncredited) Dead Silence (2007) – additional score sound design Death Sentence (2007) – musical sound design Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) – processed guitars Saw IV (2007) – original score performer Saw V (2008) – guitar Severe Clear (2009) – music programmer Saw VI (2009) – guitars Saw: The Final Chapter (2010) – guitars The Lincoln Lawyer (2011) – guitar The Company You Keep (2012) – title sequence drum Jessabelle (2014) – additional electronic textures Visions (2015) – score mixing The Neighbor (2016) – additional music The Drowning (2016) – score mixing Jigsaw (2017) – weird guitar samples Fractured (2019) – processed bass and additional textures Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) – additional musical sound design