Chris Huelsbeck

Christopher Hülsbeck (born 2 March 1968), known internationally as Chris Huelsbeck, is a German video game music composer.[1][2] He gained popularity for his work on game soundtracks for The Great Giana Sisters and the Turrican series.

Chris Huelsbeck
Background information
Birth nameChristopher Hülsbeck
Born (1968-03-02) 2 March 1968
OriginKassel, West Germany
GenresElectronica, video game music
Occupation(s)Composer
Years active1986–present
WebsiteOfficial website

Career

Huelsbeck's music career started at age 17, when he entered a music competition in the German 64'er magazine, taking first prize with his composition "Shades".[3][4] He took a job in music production with the company Rainbow Arts.[4]

In 1986, Huelsbeck released the SoundMonitor program for Commodore 64 computer. The program was released as a type-in listing in the German computer magazine 64'er. This program, featuring the idea of notation data rolling from down to up, is assumed[5] to have a significant influence on Karsten Obarski's Ultimate Soundtracker (1987) which was a starting point for the still continuing tradition of tracker music programs.[6]

Huelsbeck has written soundtracks for more than 70 titles, the latest being Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams. Many of his scores for the Commodore 64 are regarded as classics among enthusiasts today, most notably The Great Giana Sisters. He is best known for the soundtracks to the Turrican series of games.

He also created a music replay routine for the Amiga called TFMX — "The Final Musicsystem eXtended", which features more musically-oriented features than rival Soundtracker, such as logarithmic pitch-bends, sound macros and individual tempos for each track.

Orchestra performances

His music from Apidya, Turrican II, Turrican 3 and The Great Giana Sisters was performed live at the Symphonic Game Music Concert series in Leipzig, Germany between 2003 and 2007, conducted by Andy Brick. Huelsbeck's music from Apidya was thus part of the first game concert outside Japan in 2003.[7]

On 23 August 2008, his music was performed at Symphonic Shades, a concert devoted exclusively to his work. For the first time ever in Europe, an orchestral concert was dedicated to a game composer and broadcast live on the radio.[8] The WDR Radio Orchestra and a choir performed classics such as The Great Giana Sisters, Turrican, R-Type and others in Cologne, Germany under the direction of Arnie Roth.[9] On 19 March 2009, the concert Sinfonia Drammatica at the Konserthuset in Stockholm, Sweden was announced, with Arnie Roth conducting the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. The event took place on 4 August 2009 and combined performances of Huelsbeck's Symphonic Shades with excerpts from Drammatica by Yoko Shimomura.[10]

Discography
  • 1991 Shades[11]
  • 1992 To be on Top[12]
  • 1992 Apidya
  • 1993 Turrican Soundtrack
  • 1994 Native Vision - Easy life (single)
  • 1994 Rainbows
  • 1995 Super Turrican 2
  • 1995 Sound Factory
  • 1997 Tunnel B1 Soundtrack
  • 1997 Extreme Assault soundtrack
  • 1998 Peanuts feat. Doc. Schneider - Leben betrügt (single)
  • 2000 Bridge from the past to the future (released at MP3.com)
  • 2000 Collage (released at MP3.com)
  • 2000 Merregnon Soundtrack, Volume 1
  • 2001 Chris Hülsbeck in the Mix (released by ZYX Music)
  • 2004 Merregnon Soundtrack, Volume 2 (English and Japanese edition)
  • 2007 Number Nine
  • 2008 Symphonic Shades
  • 2013 Turrican Soundtrack Anthology (Volumes 1-4)[13]
  • 2015 The Piano Collection
  • 2017 25 Years - Turrican II The Orchestral Album by Chris Huelsbeck[14]
  • 2017 Turrican - Orchestral Selections[15]

Games

[16] [17] [18][19]

Additional work

[16]

References
  1. "Chris Huelsbeck | Composer, Sound Department, Music Department". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  2. Chris Huelsbeck, retrieved 2023-10-24
  3. 64'er 6/86, p. 173
  4. "Chris Hülsbeck". Next Generation. Imagine Media (3): 53. March 1995.
  5. "Soundtracker origins, part 1: Where in the World is Karsten Obarski? – I Know You…" (in French). Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  6. Droege, Joerg. "Video Interview with Chris Huelsbeck". Scene World Magazine. Retrieved 2015-04-26.
  7. "The Concert Programs :: Symphonic Game Music Concerts". 2007-02-16. Archived from the original on 16 February 2007. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  8. "Latest :: Symphonic Game Music Concerts". 2007-12-11. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  9. "HCD10 | Symphonic Shades - Hülsbeck in Concert - VGMdb". vgmdb.net. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  10. "Sinfonia Drammatica: Stockholm, August 2009". VGMO -Video Game Music Online-. 2009-08-04. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  11. "Shades, by Chris Huelsbeck".
  12. Weitz, Volker (October 1992). "Preview - Ohren Schmaus". Power Play (in German). Markt&Technik. p. 36. ISSN 0937-9754.
  13. "Turrican Soundtrack Anthology seeks Kickstarter funding". 16 April 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  14. "25 Years - Turrican II The Orchestral Album". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  15. "Turrican - Orchestral Selections, by Chris Huelsbeck". Chris Huelsbeck Productions. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  16. "Credits & Awards".
  17. "Theme from Battle Isle, by Chris Huelsbeck".
  18. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000S55Y1M/
  19. "Chris Huelsbeck Productions". Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
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