Rob Hubbard

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Rob Hubbard (* 1955 in Kingston upon Hull , England ) is one of the most famous computer game musicians.

Hubbard started playing an instrument when he was seven. After finishing school, during which he played in various bands, he attended a music college. In the 1970s he was a studio musician. In self-study he acquired knowledge of the BASIC programming language and of machine code programming . Hubbard developed music learning software and wrote the first music for computer games for Gremlin Graphics . From 1984 to 1988 he was a freelance computer musician, and from 1988 to 2001 he was the Audio Technical Director at Electronic Arts .

Hubbard became known through the production of computer game soundtracks (" Chiptunes ") for the Commodore 64 sound chip SID . Some pieces were also made for CPC , Atari ST and Amiga . According to his own statements, he needed about a week for the background music for a game, and in some cases only 1–2 days if the deadline is tight.

Sometimes Rob Hubbard still performs live, for example in 2003 in Brighton at an event from the " Back in Time " series in front of around 500 retro fans. In 2005 his music from International Karate was performed at the third game music concert in Leipzig.

Hubbard received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Abertay University, Dundee, Scotland in 2016.

Games with music by Rob Hubbard (selection)

game year Publisher genre Systems comment
19 Part One: Boot Camp 1988 Cascade Action C64 An interpretation of Paul Hardcastle's " 19 "
688 Attack Sub 1989 Electronic Arts Submarine simulation Commodore Amiga , DOS
ACE 2 1987 Cascade Games Flight simulator Commodore 64
Action biker 1985 Mastertronic skill Commodore 64
Goodbye, Monty 1987 Gremlin Graphics Jump 'n' run Commodore 64 , Schneider CPC , MSX Together with Ben Daglish
Bangkok Knights 1987 System 3 Sports game Commodore 64
Battle of Britain 1985 PSS strategy Commodore 64
BMX Kidz 1987 Firebird Racing game Commodore 64 The digitized voice ("Go!") Is from Rob Hubbard.
Budokan 1989 Electronic Arts Sports game Commodore Amiga , DOS
Bump, set, spike! 1986 Mastertronic Sports game Commodore 64
Commando 1985 Capcom Shoot 'em up Commodore 64 Originally by Tamayo Kawamoto for the arcade version of Commando
Crazy Comets 1985 Martech Shoot 'em up Commodore 64
delta 1987 Thalamus Shoot 'em up Commodore 64 The theme music is inspired by the theme music from the film Koyaanisqatsi ( Philip Glass ), other pieces by Pink Floyd .
Dragon's Lair Part II: Escape from Singe's Castle 1987 Software projects Action Commodore 64 , Schneider CPC , Sinclair ZX Spectrum
Captain Zapp 1986 Mastertronic Action Commodore 64
Formula 1 simulator 1985 Mastertronic Racing game Commodore 64 Interpretation of "Hard Times" by Human League
Gold runner 1987 Microdeal Vertical shooter Atari ST , Commodore Amiga Composition was originally used in Human Race in Section 4.
Hard nova 1990 Electronic Arts Action RPG Commodore Amiga , DOS
Human race 1986 Mastertronic skill Commodore 64
I-ball 1987 Silverbird Shoot 'em up Commodore 64
International Karate Plus 1987 System 3 Beat 'em up Commodore 64 , Sinclair ZX Spectrum
International karate 1986 System 3 Beat 'em up Atari ST , Atari XL / XE , Commodore 264 series , Commodore 64 , DOS , MSX , Schneider CPC , Sinclair ZX Spectrum Parts are based on Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Forbidden Colors" from " Furyo - Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence ".
Jupiter sample 1987 Microdeal Vertical shooter Atari ST , Commodore Amiga
Knucklebusters 1986 Melbourne House Action Commodore 64 Hubbard's longest track at over 17 minutes.
The Last V8 1985 Commodore 64
Lightforce 1986 Commodore 64
Master of Magic 1985 Commodore 64 Based in part on “Shibolet” and “An End to History” from Larry Fast's “Audion” album .
Mega Apocalypse 1987 Martech Commodore 64 New interpretation of Crazy Comets.
Monty on the Run 1985 Commodore 64 Based in part on Devil's Galop by Charles Williams
Nemesis the Warlock 1986 Commodore 64
One Man and His Droid 1985 Commodore 64
Thing on a Spring 1985 Microprojects for Gremlin Graphics Platform / puzzle Commodore 64 , Schneider CPC
Samantha Fox Strip Poker 1986 Commodore 64 As John York, his comment on this: "[It] was such a cheesy title and they wanted that cheesy lame music along with it - I didn't want to admit that I did it just for the money". Includes The Entertainer by Scott Joplin .
Skate or Die! 1987 Electronic Arts Sports simulation Apple IIGS , Game Boy , Commodore 64 , Nintendo Entertainment System , Nintendo Wii , Schneider CPC , Sinclair ZX Spectrum
Spellbound 1986 Mastertronic Atari XL / XE , Commodore 64 , Schneider CPC
Thrust 1986 Firebird Space shooter Acorn Electron , Atari ST , Atari XL / XE , BBC Micro , Commodore 16 , Commodore 64 , Schneider CPC , Sinclair ZX Spectrum
Thundercats 1987 Elite Systems Platform / action Atari ST , Commodore Amiga , Commodore 64 , Schneider CPC , Sinclair ZX Spectrum
Warhawk 1986 Firebird Vertical shooter Atari ST , Atari XL / XE , Commodore 64 , Schneider CPC
Zoids 1986 Commodore 64 A cover version of the track "Ancestors" from 1981 by Larry Fast

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ZZAP! 64, October 1985
  2. Happy Computer 7/86
  3. Interview on C64.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015 .
  4. https://www.abertay.ac.uk/life/alumni-and-supporters/honorary-graduates/rob-hubbard/
  5. a b Interview with Rob Hubbard . Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  6. a b For the best in C64 nostalgia . Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  7. http://www.the-commodore-zone.com/articlelive/articles/19/3/Rob-Hubbard/Page3.html
  8. http://www.the-commodore-zone.com/articlelive/articles/19/4/Rob-Hubbard/Page4.html
  9. http://www.the-commodore-zone.com/articlelive/articles/19/2/Rob-Hubbard/Page2.html