Rob Hubbard - Golden Days of Computer Game Music (Part 1)

[krbosak]

2:38

LET A=A+B?

Easy. B=0

[jasonnapalm]

Rob deserves industry recognition, no doubt about it.

[wecontinue]

If Rob Hubbard hasn't got a lifetime achievement award in the Golden Joystick awards by now he deserves recognition.

[wecontinue]

I have fond memories of playing Commando and Skate or Die on my older brother's Commodore 64 to those bleeps and tweets that have become sort of retro chic. Back then gaming mags used to print lines of code or 'pokes' in Basic for level skips and cheats because there was no such thing as GameFAQs or strategy guides.

[INoodleClock]

And err..

[taffelost]

Absolute legend. His tunes has become an important part of my childhood. When I hear those old c64 tunes I immediately transport back to the eary 80's.

[TeamRocketReviews]

I have most of his music on my iPod.

[figaro589]

that Hull accent is so blatant lol! that's where I'm from XD

[DerSniffer]

Commando forever!

[spongemagnet]

fantastic

[mptrax]

this man is a modern GENIUS !

[tubeMonger]

He exemplifies greatness.

[curritmotrance]

This living Legend is a coeval of us, that makes me smile ;-)

Great!

[mystrdat]

I shit on the "public speaking" comments. You people have no clue. Thank you Rob for even allowing these kids to listen to your awesomeness.

[basraw]

@mystrdat

Yep, he didn't have a teleprompter! :(

[rnrbishop]

@mystrdat He spent his time learning to be a computer GENIUS, not talking to nerdtards.

[TheIrishbod]

2 or 3 slap heads in the audience, by the by, downloaded SID on android with all Mr. Hubbards Cooool muzak, yesss, great stuff!!

[nostalgiacreep]

why are people moaning about public speaking? he is an interesting man with stories to tell, i dont need him to pump his fists and shout like a motivational speaker

[TheIrishbod]

Where is the legend now?

[builditkeepit]

Rob Hubbard and the Fat Man were two of the best game music composers, in my opinion.

[MrMarkGH]

The person you are watching is one of the very very best in his field...Not the best speaker, But damn his music was good!

[oOANKHOo]

Does Rob Hubbard have his own youtube channel? And I do mean the c64 musician ofc and none else :P

[sonnytiger]

definitley not a good public speaker >_<

but an amazing composer

[robhubbard1]

This is hilarious. My name is Rob Hubbard and i got linked this. Wow.

[xargos]

Rob Hubbard is indeed a legend, and this is interesting, but he doesn't seem to be a master at public speaking.

[frigginjoe]

The 4 who disliked this need to hang themselves to the latest EA regurgitations of music made without a thought of actual games.

[johanflod]

it is almost unreal to see a legend like him on stage ...

[Gasher100]

Oh my.... Is this taped during the Game Developer Conference in San José California back in 2000?! The T-shirt Rob is wearing is making me think it is... If so... I missed a lecture with one my favourite C64 composers... :/

[MichealLitteris]

Robs accent is a bit of a mix, can definately hear the twinge of "Hull'ian" in it.. especially in the later parts "inner'ups" :) wonder where exactly in Hull he was from!?? Im a local see..

[TinyLittleJames]

My evil girlfriend came up with a drinking game based on every time Rob says 'you know', it's not good. It really is not.

[Jeffbaynard]

The one and only... Cheers!

[zyxlamonde]

if a crap game is worth buying it´s because Rob Hubbard´s Music.

[RomeoKGT]

Rob Hubbard and Galway really deserve to be millionaires for what they gave us.

[zyxlamonde]

@RomeoKGT you are damm right, sometimes I loaded C64 games only to listen the Hubbard´s or galway´´s soundtrack... :D

[jackcarterful]

@zyxlamonde Your'e not on your own there there mate, I did too. i feel so nostalgic reading these posts.

Incidently, what happened to Martin Galway?

[zyxlamonde]

@jackcarterful I read in Wiki that he is working as operations/production manager and audio director of Certain Affinity, an Austin, Texas based software company.-....snif... no SID chip tunes anymore... :-(

[TitanFind]

@zyxlamonde

I definitely bought One Man And His Droid just for Hubbard's theme. The game itself was only so-so.

[slashatd]

Rob Hubbard - the best composer in computer reality

[UsagiSawyer]

Rob Hubbard is amazing! The other commenters here are right though, the audience is pretty dead and have no idea who this guy is :/

I love the way he says BASIC! ^_^

[SquareWaveHeaven]

Where's the audience love? o_O

[Hertje73]

@SquareWaveHeaven They're europeans.. they dont shout and woot and pump their fists all the time... it's called character..

[SquareWaveHeaven]

@Hertje73 there is a halfway point between stone cold silence and the audience of Jerry Springer, you know.

[MobyGamer]

@Hertje73 You've obviously never been to a demoparty :-)

[kingrommelkingrommel]

This guy made a quantum leap in C64 music - his legendry status is lost on the gits who take games tunes for granted. Compaired to a lot of the shite on 8 bits in the 80's - this guy (amongst some others) sticks out a mile.

Hope this guy is remembered in 300 years - some masters are appreciated well after their active period.

[OnlyGoodCommie]

Anybody interested in some new Commodore samples?

Click my name to view COMMODORE 64 SAMPLES PACK: SFX SOUND EXPANDER IN 'C'. If you click the link below it you are also taken to a special selection of SID sounds and effects taken from famous games and applications.

[dud0r]

Rob rulez.

[ematech]

this is GOD

[IPAndrews]

You know....

[philcypher]

They don't do these type of kits these days, so young ones can;t get a full feel for how the sound is created and where its coming from. They just want some1 to just give it to em

[rheinrich73]

This guy is a legend! But I guess, if you didn´t experience these golden days yourself (I did), then you cannot really acknowledge what he achieved.

[heirihunziker]

i love his dry humor! judging from the audience reaction (or lack thereof) they obviously aren`t getting any of it.

[AlanDee]

"There has to be an opening for someone who can at least get the notes right". Rob was the pinnacle of 80s computer music imo. He was pushing a tiny chip with less memory than a GIF image to its limit where other music programmers were still putting in simple beeps, and he was getting whole symphonies out. I would buy a game back in the 80s if his name was on it. I still can't believe what he was able to get out of the C64.

[bigcretin]

Rob Hubbard is an utter legend. My memories of my C64 mean so much more with his soundtracks. He's obviously not an experienced public speaker but I think he is allowed to um and ahh as much as he likes.

[loudenvier]

Genious!

[wisemanxxx]

Rob Hubbard! You're a great musician .. Even with 3 channels of synthetic sound and no polyphony ;)

[RustyKeys72]

I made my own mix tape of Rob's tunes when I was a youngster. My friends thought I was wierd for listening to computer generated music. How the times have changed.

[IdioticTendencies]

What a great great man, one of his kind! =)

[tausendstein]

Where is he speaking ?

[brewt1mer]

robs music was a huge part of my very early life...i bought some games just so i could hear the latest score from him even though the games were crap!!

[dontasciime]

Thanks for all your effort and the many hours of listening pleasure I got from every c64 title I purchased simply co's it had your music in it. I would then take this music and write a few machine code routines to demo the c64 around it.

[jeremyliu122]

He's so charismatic.

[1971abynx]

God Hubbard indeed.... He really is the Beatles moment of chip music.

[Hobox72]

accidentally typed Ron Hubbard when I searched for my favorite computer game composer ;)

[DrHock]

God Hubbard.

[DCHurlford1]

What a music maestro. I had a C64 back in the 80s and he always delivered the goods. I used to buy ZZAP! 64 and I rem one issue, from '87 i think, came with a free Hubbard music cassette which sounded great. It was actual music he had composed on the keyboard/synth etc. Cheers for posting.

[vanhasmatti]

Wow, he doesn't understand that he is a God. I remember C64 games sao well and he is the only composer I remember. Everyone knew his name and now I just had the idea of searching with his name. Very interesting... He could just present the topic by saying: I was the best, I'm God. That would be accurate.

[MichealLitteris]

Talking about accents.. Ive loved hubbards works since their original releases in the 80's! and only recently found out he was born in the same town as I grew up in! thought that twang sounded familiar!!.

Does anyone know what part of Hull Rob was born in?

[ramejkisp]

I saw a monty on the run longplay the other day. brought back fond memories

[ramejkisp]

Legend. His music inspired me to make my own music. Check it out if you get a chance

[A1260T]

very interesting.

[Sadukar7thLegion]

Idols don't realise they are till they move on. Will we wait till he passes on till we actually acknowledge this guy was thee first, the one that made C64 games so unforgettable! Name a game that you remember more than the music he made? He needs more recognition! xxx

[banasrab]

...and you need better grammar.

[illtapes]

El Robb!!!

[parkeyx]

i used to make up tapes up with c 64 tunes when i was a kid.

some of them was like proper early rave tunes.proper rocking!

[Tim733733]

This guy was a God during the Commodore days.

[bald33sh]

He seems nervous and almost as though he's not worthy to talk, i wish he could understand just how many people still have his music in their heads after so many years !! I have so much respect for him, truly one of the masters of the 6581 sid.

[FTS2009]

Even Rob Hubbard says the SID tune "Lightforce" is not one of his best tunes, it´s maybe the most loved tune from the C64 freaks. Great that you did post this video´s. 5*

[MrMiister]

crazy, maybe he put the least amount of work into it?

i played the game for 2 mins when i first got it.. listned to the game tune for years

rob talks a bit slow and "untrendy" but listen to what he has to say..

[mariodivine]

ROB... The GOD!

[tuhind]

The Best composer for the C64!!!! Rob Hubbard Rules!!!!

[IPAndrews]

It's a Hull thing. You know.

[cyberMARKIZ]

THE BEST COMPUTER MUSIC COMPOSER EVER!

Mkz/Tcom

[Evilmonkey66699]

I'm surprised that no one picked up the pot shot he took at Maniac Miner with that bit about the badly done version of Blue Danub(I know it's misspelled so so me)

[shairaptor]

There are more AAHHS (eerrss.. ehmms) than YOU KNOW's :)))

[tidus0086]

OMFG

This guy said very often " YOU KNOW " its crazy i counted it :P ,

PART 1 he said it 32 times (looser ) :'(

PART 2 he said it 59 times ( winner ) :)

PART 3 he said it 43 times ( second ) :|

PART 4 he said it 32 times ( looser ) :'(

PART 5 he said it 38 times (second last) :(

altogether he said it 204 times X'D

HOLY SHIT ITS CRAZY!!!

greets from Germany TIDUS

[AlsatianCousin]

Shows how little you listened to what he actually said, young punk :) I bet you were not even born when all this took place and if so, you grew up to be the idiot you are letting us all know now :)

[mrblonde2]

LOL - well, he could use a presentation training, but it was still interesting to me

[benebrius]

i think it's a wee bit crazy of you to count it.

[Slurfs]

Next time maybe you should count the number of yeah's in a song ;)

[tahoomie]

Holly crap, how can you have a video of the man himself chatting endlessly, with nothing to hear. No-one cares about the ins and outs of the C64 sound chip (be honest) We want to here those nostalgic tunes!!!

[Phacioco89]

I played 100s of tames in the last few years, lol, and I do not remember a single game music... I played 100s of games in the 80s on the C64 and the Amiga 500 and I think, I remember every single game music... What does this tell you about modern games? Yes: THEY SUCK!

[Abrimaal]

This is true. In new games you hear either beat&bass or boring ambient.

[Corbon440]

@Phacioco89

You're right. The last soundtrack of a modern game I fondly remember is God Hand on PS2. Nowadays there are so many average tunes in games. 20 years ago there were 1-2 tunes in a game but they kicked ass. And 10-15 year old PSX tunes still kick the the shit out of PS3 music. Innovative and memorable compositions are worth much more than technical capability.

[nerothos]

Perhaps you should check out the Bayonetta soundtrack then :)

Too bad most of today's game music is trying to copy hollywood movies with huge orchestral scores.

[shuhelali]

wow wow wow wow.

Nostalgia overload. Gonna have to fave this and watch this while I'm less inclined to go all sentimental

[grajsor]

hilarious with a bunch of young clueless noobs who has no idea what an incredible legend is standing in-front of them :)

[akkie999]

@grajsor you are so right......

[OnlyGoodCommie]

@grajsor Anybody interested in some new Commodore samples?

Click my name to view COMMODORE 64 SAMPLES PACK: SFX SOUND EXPANDER IN 'C'. If you click the link below it you are also taken to a special selection of SID sounds and effects taken from famous games and applications.

[CigarettesAreGood]

@grajsor young? Most of em looked like they were balding.

[maccagrabme]

@CigarettesAreGood Well only one looks like he could be slightly balding which could be anyone from 18 onwards and I see no grey but then I've seen 18 yr olds with grey nowadays (stressful world) so yes they appear fairly young, no older than mid to late 20s.

[WhoStoleMyGimmick]

@grajsor four noobs disliked this video

[mividacotidiana]

can u use a gr 20 to make music for games.

[jaktrip]

I think most people won't understand what Rob is talking about... the C64 manual bugs, the first steps in BASIC, Music was being programmed by coders, getting to know assembly language and interrupts... you must have lived through all of this to understand...

all I can say is that this is exactly my own experience. I got to know the C64 the same way, and fell in love with it, of course also in Rob's Music.

[commanderkruge]

Of course every electronic musician likes to claim thanks to people like Kraftwerk (Hi Karl&Wolfgang!), Jarre, Tangerine Dream etc. And to some degree that's of course true for me as well.

But the gentleman in the clip above definitely is my *very* first influence for my own music, which I started making on the C64 as well. :)

[frostwow]

Rob Hubbard, your music is great, it will never be forgotten, thank you, god bless you

[Ph0rte]

commando highscore theme FTMFW!!!!!!

[eszettfromhell]

For some reason his boring voice makes his music even better XDDD

[Oxy151268]

Rob Hubbard's music is AMAZING!!!

[inphanta]

My interest in electronic music began when I first heard the music for Thrust on the C64 as a kid. It changed me forever, and it's all thanks to this man here. It's a big part of why I make music today. ;)

[ramraider2k6]

I had most of the games he composed music for on the c64. He was an insperation to me when I started with computer music.

Still play C64 games today. Why? the games are well made and have something I think kids of today just fail to apreciate.

SYS64738 :)

[armalyte]

lol...i like the sys. there was also SYS64760. the cheapest way of forcing a temp mem reset was shoritng one of the pins on the cassette port at the back with a paperclip, typing in the pokes and THEN the sys command would take you back into the game.

[Theweregrape]

Cheap unless you accidentally fried your c64 lol

[armalyte]

which i never did :-D

[marcusnns]

nice accent!

[matjohnroe]

Rob Hubbard = where my love of music start

Good job Rob!

[carpii]

I love Rob Hubbard

(But god hes boring)

But I love Rob Hubbard !!!

[bpb235]

Rob is a C64 GOD !

[levansRS]

Ocean Loaders FTW!

[steakmonster]

It was Rob Hubbard's game music along with the music for Space Quest and Kings Quest that made me want to compose music back when I was in my early teens :-)

Finally (after years of doing it part time) its starting to become something like a full time occupation :-)

[ssdivizion]

Rob Hubbard rocks-he is the best c64 composer,masterpiece like ACE2 prove that.BRAVO maestro!

[witchy2k1]

Thanks for sharing this.

Superb.

[tnd64]

He's a legend :)

[zarjesve2]

I love this video!! Rob Hubbard 4 ever! :)

[Darkimager]

I had alot more to say that that..but it doesnt work

[Darkimager]

Rob Hubbard was a HUGE inspiration to me.

[Darkimager]

I tried THREE times to post a comment about the great Rob Hubbard,but all i get is the darkened "post comment" rubbish..this one WILL post though..bizarrre...

[BertisEvil66]

Great ! GREAT !!!!!!

super !!!

[popalazarou]

the man, the legend.  He was the BEST. Always remember this master music creator

[matjohnroe]

Rob Hubbard is the BEST!

[thedddemon]

wtf is up with the stupid crowd. not even a courtesy laugh??? morons

[magnusofdemand]

I think the thing is that he's wearing a tie mic and there's no way the crowd's gonna leak into that. You can actually see some heads bobbing up and down when he's firing his lines.

[bodge123]

ha ha ha ha

[ogdroadsong]

good to finally put a face to a name we all know from childhood c64 games - funny to hear him talk about "LET A = A + B"!

[RedMist1972]

Rob is a LEGEND, Martin Galway gave it a good go (WizBall & Parallax spring to mind - awesome) but The Hubbard owns SID.

[1986uno45s]

Don't forget the Mighty Bogg who did excellent freeware renditions of famous pop tunes (never used in games though) and Benn Daglish (Suicide Express, Loco) also did some good tracks. Rob Hubbard was everywhere at one point though!

[blade004]

Let's not forget Matt Gray either, especially for his epic Driller tune :) Maniacs of Noise were also a favourite, but who were they exactly?

[abaddon75]

Rob Hubbard gets the number one spot for producing LightForce in my book. I would like to put Reyn Ouwehand (Last Ninja 3, Flimbo's quest and many remixes) up there with this elite group as well.

[VideoDotGoogleDotCom]

"Rob Hubbard gets the number one spot for producing LightForce in my book."

Another Light Force (Lightforce? LightForce?) fan, then. I happen to regard it as the number one original C64 song. A beautiful piece.

[abaddon75]

I feel exactly the same, I have about 4 or 5 different remixes all packed on a CD that I play in the car during traffic Jams.

[VideoDotGoogleDotCom]

With my 5-minute (max) drive to work, I'd hardly have enough time for one Hubbard song :)

[cosine303]

Tim Follin , Jeron Tel... there are many.. the mighty bogg made a re-appearance after many years.. people are trying to get him to do new tunes =)

[KaitainCPS]

Hubbard's compositions were amazing for the time. His showcasing of the SID chip made all Spectrum owners grimace at how lousy their sound was by comparison.

[profethan]

haha so freaking panicking :D

this man is a live legend!

think SID, live SID

[fuqnbastard]

This comment was removed due to a request of the Church of Scientology.

[marvincandal]

Thats the past Eric Mason Oxidized is the future. Anyone else think so?

[niansenx]

It's astonishing how 64k of memory was once considered HUGE! It's equivalent to 3 empty Word documents! We are now on the verge of talking about a terabyte as the standard memory size.

[kotarotakashiro]

one day we'll be using zetabytes as standard saying "wow do you remember the days when we thought 500 terabytes was enough?!"

hhehe. very weird thought XD

[VoidKeeper]

and we'll be drooling then xD (or maybe not)

[karatebankrobber]

Or gugelbytes... that fit inside the leg hair of a dust mite!

[niansenx]

Aw, he's so nervous. His music on the C64 was my main awakening to music, he's my hero!

[inphanta]

I met Rob Hubbard at Back in Time in 2001. He has a very dry, very northern sense of humour. :)

He was also genuinely shocked by all the adulation he received because of his computer music.

[ulmeulme]

thanks for the upload :)

[montydj]

Legend!

[AlanSessler]

Chimera baby! The greatest game bassline ever! Masters of Magic-The Last V8- He had a melody, bassline, drums, and special sfx all going with 3 channels! Genius!

[mrkallen]

This guys proper genius, i can make music using computers now because i can use a sequencer, sampler etc. but this dude made music from scratch using proper mind boggling programming. games like the human race on c64 funky beats and basslines galore.

[hornylink]

He's not smarter, we're dumber

[madmomentsgo]

i always remember skate or die sountrack,great track.

[BustyGretchen]

*bows for Rob*

[sirludvig]

I remember Rob from Atari 800. What a great music...

[Renegade466]

if im not mistaken didnt this guy do the music to Road Rash on the megadrive?

[Ayhanbeboman]

Yes he did.

[freejaytea]

Rob Hubbard used to be my hero before I even composed my first game-music back in 1987... I've had the pleasure of meeting him a couple of times regarding the C64 Orchestra project and he's the most humble -but deep and hilariously sarcastic- person I've ever met. Great to hear these stories! (Jeroen Tel/Maniacs of Noise)

[krautl]

kinetix man! thank you for the music! your generation's/scene's spirit is definitely not only inspiring but also being the water for all the people out there in the desert. it's so great to have rob hubbard speak on youtube on their/your behalf (thanks to the poster as well!!). (austrian from the 16 bit generation)

[zampe1]

U are legend also, i remember urs stuffs from Myth. Excellent work for only four channel sound system :)

[cosine303]

JT your as well known, turbo outrun etc.. BUT as much as you and Rob are well known, I do rate Tim Follin / Martin Galway and a few just as highly =) . Can't get you out of c64 retirement to do some new c64 tunes with digi's ,can I ? hehe

[AnalogX]

Thanks for sharing these set of videos.. this is awesome.

[grazeyphf]

So nice to hear the Hull accent ;) You're a legend Rob. Grazey/PHF

[maxhall1]

absoulute legend, love all robs toons.... big fan of the c64 game music! still listen to it all to this day.

Hes boring though! and err, like err, the err hehe

[madderscientist23]

Hear hear! This is fantastic. When was it, do you have a date?