Rob Hubbard
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
- Rob Hubbard at MobyGames (English)
- Interview with Rob Hubbard in Commodore Horizons 1986 (English)
- Interview with Rob Hubbard in Personal Computer Weekly 1985 (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ ZZAP! 64, October 1985
- ↑ Happy Computer 7/86
- ↑ Interview on C64.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015 .
- ↑ https://www.abertay.ac.uk/life/alumni-and-supporters/honorary-graduates/rob-hubbard/
- ↑ a b Interview with Rob Hubbard . Retrieved September 15, 2019.
- ↑ a b For the best in C64 nostalgia . Retrieved September 15, 2019.
- ↑ http://www.the-commodore-zone.com/articlelive/articles/19/3/Rob-Hubbard/Page3.html
- ↑ http://www.the-commodore-zone.com/articlelive/articles/19/4/Rob-Hubbard/Page4.html
- ↑ http://www.the-commodore-zone.com/articlelive/articles/19/2/Rob-Hubbard/Page2.html
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Hubbard, Rob |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British computer game musician |
DATE OF BIRTH | 1955 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Kingston upon Hull , England |