Christopher Hülsbeck (born 2 March 1968), known internationally as Chris Huelsbeck, is a German

video game music Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led t ...

composer. He gained popularity for his work on game soundtracks for ''

The Great Giana Sisters ''The Great Giana Sisters'' is a 1987 platform game developed by German studio Time Warp Productions and published by Rainbow Arts. The scroll screen melody of the game was composed by Chris Huelsbeck and is a popular Commodore 64 soundtrack. Th ...

'' and the ''

Turrican ''Turrican'' is a 1990 video game developed by Manfred Trenz. It was developed for the Commodore 64 by Rainbow Arts, and was ported to other systems later. In addition to concept design and character creation, Trenz programmed ''Turrican'' on th ...

'' series.

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". He took a job in music production with the company

Rainbow Arts Rainbow Arts Software GmbH was a German video game publisher based in Gütersloh. The company was founded in 1984 by Marc Ullrich and Thomas Meiertoberens and acquired by Rushware in 1986. The company's decline began in the early 1990s: The dist ...

. 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 to have a significant influence on Karsten Obarski's

Ultimate Soundtracker The Ultimate Soundtracker, or Soundtracker for short, is a music tracker program for the Commodore Amiga. It is the creation of Karsten Obarski, a German software developer and composer at a game development company EAS. The Ultimate Soundtracke ...

(1987) which was a starting point for the still continuing tradition of tracker music programs. 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 Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, 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. 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. The WDR Radio Orchestra and a choir performed classics such as ''The Great Giana Sisters'', ''Turrican'', ''

R-Type is a horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and released by Irem in 1987 and the first game in the ''R-Type'' series. The player controls a star ship, the R-9 "Arrowhead", in its efforts to destroy the Bydo, a powerful ...

'' and others in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, Germany under the direction of

Arnie Roth Arnold Roth (born April 28, 1953) is an American conductor, composer, and record producer. His work includes conducting concerts for video game music. He is also a classically trained violinist and a member of the Grammy Award-winning music g ...

. 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 Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra ( sv, Kungliga Filharmonikerna or , literal translations, "Royal Philharmonic" or "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra") is a Swedish orchestra based in Stockholm. Its principal venue is the Konserthuset. His ...

. The event took place on 4 August 2009 and combined performances of Huelsbeck's ''Symphonic Shades'' with excerpts from ''

Drammatica Square Enix is a Japanese video game developer and publisher formed from the merger on April 1, 2003 of video game developer Square and publisher Enix. The company is best known for its role-playing video game franchises, which include the ''Final ...

'' by

Yoko Shimomura is a Japanese composer and pianist primarily known for her work in video games. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working in the video game industry by joining Capcom the same year. She wrote music for several game ...

Discography

* 1991 ''Shades'' * 1992 ''To be on Top'' * 1992 ''Apidya'' * 1993 ''

Soundtrack'' * 1994 ''Native Vision - Easy life'' (single) * 1994 ''Rainbows'' * 1995 ''Super Turrican 2'' * 1995 ''Sound Factory'' * 1997 ''

Tunnel B1 ''Tunnel B1'' is a first-person shooter developed by NEON Software and published by Ocean Software in 1996. The soundtrack is by Chris Huelsbeck who also scored '' Turrican''. The PlayStation and Sega Saturn ports were released in Japan as . Gam ...

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 ''Merregnon'' is a series of works that blend orchestral music with fantasy fiction. Since its inception in 1999, the project has produced several albums and live concert performances. The third part is ''Merregnon: Land of Silence'', which premiere ...

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 ''

Soundtrack Anthology (Volumes 1-4)'' * 2015 ''The Piano Collection'' * 2017 ''25 Years - Turrican II The Orchestral Album by Chris Huelsbeck'' * 2017 ''Turrican - Orchestral Selections''

Games

* Active Soccer (iOS, PC, MacOS) * ''Adrift in a Cobalt Eternity'' (PC) * '' The Adventures of Quik & Silva'' (Amiga, Atari ST) * '' Apidya'' (Amiga) * ''Apprentice'' (Amiga) * ''Bad Cat'' (C64) * ''

Battle Isle ''Battle Isle'' is a series of turn-based tactics video games developed in the 1990s by Blue Byte and released for Amiga and MS-DOS and later for Microsoft Windows. The settings are wars on a fictional planet, Chromos. Plot The ''Battle Isle'' ...

'' (Amiga, PC) (main title music) * ''The Baby of Can Guru'' (C64) * '' Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back'' (PC, PS4) * ''Bundesliga Manager: Hattrick'' (Amiga, PC) * ''Caribbean Disaster'' (Amiga, PC) * ''The Carl Lewis Challenge'' (Amiga, Atari ST, PC) * ''Circus Attractions'' (Amiga) * ''Cristoph Kolumbus'' (PC) * ''Danger Freak'' (Amiga, C64) * ''Denny'' (Amiga) (unreleased) * ''Down at the trolls'' (C64) * '' Doctor Who: Legacy'' (Android, Browser, iOS) * ''Dulcedo Cogitationis'' (C64) * ''Eddy & Co: Das Eismann-Spiel (PC) * '' Extreme Assault'' (PC) * '' Gem'X'' (Amiga, Atari ST, C64) * ''Super Gem'X'' (Amiga, PC) (unreleased) * ''GeoDrop'' (iOS) * ''Grand Monster Slam'' (Amiga) * ''

'' (C64) * '' Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams'' (PC, PS3, PS4, X360, XBOne, WiiU, Switch) * ''Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - Rise of the Owlverlord'' (iOS, PC, PS3, PS4, X360, XBOne, WiiU, Switch) * ''Hard 'n' Heavy'' (C64) * '' Hexuma'' (Amiga) * ''Hollywood Poker Pro'' (Amiga, C64) * ''

Jim Power in Mutant Planet ''Jim Power in Mutant Planet'' is a platform video game developed by Digital Concept and published by Loriciel for the Amiga, Atari ST and Amstrad CPC in 1992. It was also released by Micro World for the TurboGrafx-CD in 1993 exclusively in Japan ...

'' (Amiga, Atari ST, PCE CD) * '' Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3-D'' (PC, MD/Gen, SNES) * ''Jinks'' (C64) * '' Katakis/Denaris'' (Amiga, C64) * ''Kubrik'' (iOS, Wii) * ''Leona's Tricky Adventures'' (AmigaOS, DC, PC) * ''L&M Adventure: Sunny shine on the funny side of life'' (Amiga) * ''Madness'' (C64) * ''Mad News'' (Amiga, PC) * ''Master Blazer'' (Amiga) * ''MenaTeus'' (PC) * ''M.U.D.S. – Mean Ugly Dirty Sport'' (Amiga, PC) * ''NUREN: The New Reinassance'' (Oculus, PC) * ''Oxxonian'' (Amiga, C64) * ''Planet of War'' (C64) * ''P.T.C.'' (Amiga) * ''Quik and Silva'' (Amiga) * ''

'' (Amiga, C64, iOS) (intro music) * ''Rock 'n Roll'' (Amiga) * ''Runsters on the run!'' (Android, Browser, iOS) * ''Seawasp'' (Android) * ''Sky Fighter'' (Amiga, Atari ST) * ''StarBall'' (Amiga, C64) (intro music) * '' Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo'' (N64, PC) * '' Star Wars: Rogue Squadron'' (N64, PC) * '' Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader'' (GC) * '' Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike'' (GC) * ''Shades'' (C64 demo) * ''Space Rat Xplode!'' (MacOS, PC) * ''Star Trek: Infinite Space'' (Browser) (unreleased) * ''Story Hour: Adventures'' (Wii) * ''Story Hour: Fairy Tales'' (Wii) * ''SubSolar'' (iOS) * ''Tiny Thor'' (PC) * ''To be on top'' (C64) * ''

'' (PC, PS1, Saturn) * ''

'' (Amiga) * '' Turrican II: The Final Fight'' (Amiga) * '' Mega Turrican/Turrican 3: Payment Day'' (Amiga, MD/Gen) * '' Super Turrican'' (SNES) * ''

Super Turrican 2 ''Super Turrican 2'' is a 16-bit shooter game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, developed by Factor 5 and marketed by Ocean Software in 1995. Part of the '' Turrican'' series, it is the sequel to '' Super Turrican'' for the same platfor ...

'' (SNES) * ''Typherra: Colonial Patrol'' (PC) (unreleased) * ''The War of the Worlds'' (PC, PS3, X360) * ''X: Beyond the Frontier'' (PC) * '' X-Out'' (Amiga) * '' Z-Out'' (Amiga) * ''ZombieSmash!'' (iOS) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000S55Y1M/

Additional work

* '' Ball Blazer Champions'' (PS1) (SFX) * '' B.C. Kid'' (Amiga) (Sound Support) * ''DeathTrap'' (Amiga) (SFX) * ''Emergency: Fighters for Life'' (PC) (SFX) * ''HB Race Game'' (Amiga) (Music conversion) * '' Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures'' (MD/Gen) (unreleased) (Additional conversions) * ''

Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine ''Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine'' is an action-adventure video game by LucasArts released in 1999. The first 3D installment in the series, its gameplay focuses on solving puzzles, fighting enemies, and completing various platforming sec ...

'' (N64) (Music conversion) * ''

International Superstar Soccer Deluxe ''International Superstar Soccer Deluxe'', known as ''Jikkyou World Soccer 2: Fighting Eleven'' in Japan and also known as ''ISS Deluxe'', is a Association football, football video game and the sequel to ''International Superstar Soccer'' develop ...

'' (MD/Gen) (Music / SFX conversion) * ''

Jaguar XJ220 The Jaguar XJ220 is a two-seat sports car produced by British luxury car manufacturer Jaguar from 1992 until 1994, in collaboration with the specialist automotive and race engineering company Tom Walkinshaw Racing. The XJ220 recorded a top s ...

'' (SNES) (unreleased) (Music conversion) * ''Journey to the center of the earth'' (C64) (SFX) * '' Lair'' (PS3) (Music editing / Voice line editing / Implementation) * ''Perry Rhodan: Operation Eastside'' (PC) (SFX) * ''

Resident Evil 2 ''Resident Evil 2'' is a 1998 survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation. The player controls Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, who must escape Raccoon City after its citizens a ...

'' (N64) (Music conversion) * ''Targa'' (SNES) (unreleased) (Additional Sounds) * '' The Secret of Monkey Island'' (Music conversion)

References

External links

*
Artist profile
at

OverClocked ReMix OverClocked ReMix, also known as OC ReMix and OCR, is a non-commercial organization dedicated to preserving and paying tribute to video game music through arranging and re-interpreting the songs, both with new technology and software and by vari ...

ElectronicScene.com profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Huelsbeck, Chris 1968 births German composers German male composers Living people Commodore 64 music Amiga people Tracker musicians Musicians from Kassel Video game composers