Difference between revisions of "Bobby Prince"

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(He even was able to sue Gearbox in 2019 for the usage of his music, I assume he's OK now.)
m (Gameography)
 
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Prince worked with id Software from 1991 to 1994 composing music for games like [[Wolfenstein 3D]] and [[Doom]]. Also, during this time, he composed music for several other companies that whose games were published by Apogee like the [[Blake Stone]] and [[Duke Nukem]] series. He sequenced his music with an Ensoniq EPS keyboard. After his time with id Software he worked for a large number of gaming companies composing music for a wide range of titles. He currently keeps himself busy composing his own music with help from his brother David in Georgia. He also plays the saxophone in a band.
 
Prince worked with id Software from 1991 to 1994 composing music for games like [[Wolfenstein 3D]] and [[Doom]]. Also, during this time, he composed music for several other companies that whose games were published by Apogee like the [[Blake Stone]] and [[Duke Nukem]] series. He sequenced his music with an Ensoniq EPS keyboard. After his time with id Software he worked for a large number of gaming companies composing music for a wide range of titles. He currently keeps himself busy composing his own music with help from his brother David in Georgia. He also plays the saxophone in a band.
  
Around November 2016, Bobby [https://www.gofundme.com/bobby-prince-medical-fund-2vs94pgwas diagnosed with colon cancer, but fortunately was cured.
+
Around November 2016, Bobby was diagnosed with colon cancer. He underwent grueling treatments for years, had various surgeries, had a recurrence, and went through more treatment. He still isn't fully healthy, but is doing much better. You can help contribute to his medical bills on his [https://www.gofundme.com/f/bobby-prince-medical-fund?viewupdates=1&rcid=r01-160982850205-c0f418dd42ac40f5 GoFundMe Page].
  
 
==Music Development==
 
==Music Development==
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===SNES===
 
===SNES===
Prince's music was used in the SNES versions of Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. However, it is most likely he was not involved with the games personally, especially since the SNES version of Doom was handled by an [[Sculptured Software|outside developer]]. For Wolfenstein 3D, it is most likely id Software simply took his MIDI files from the DOS version and Spear of Destiny and converted them to Rebecca Heineman's sound driver, possibly stripping the 16-track MIDI files down to 8 tracks to accommodate the SNES. For the SNES version of Doom, it is most likely [[Paul Webb]] arranged the original 16-track MIDI files to also accommodate the SNES's 8-channel limitations.
+
====Wolfenstein 3D====
 +
Bobby had to rearrange his music from the DOS version's [[YM3812]] (9-11 channels) to the eight sound channels of the SNES. However, since the SNES utilized digitized instrument samples, the music is in slightly better fidelity. His MIDI files were converted to [[Rebecca Heineman]]'s [[SuperFamicom Low Level Sound Driver|sound driver]]. According to Rebecca, the instruments heard in the SNES version were taken from an [[Ensoniq SQ-1]]; interesting since Prince used an [[Ensoniq EPS]] in his work. However, the music plays slightly faster in the SNES version.
 +
 
 +
====Doom====
 +
The SNES conversion of Doom was handled by [[Sculptured Software]]. Though Paul Webb and Bob Dayley are both credited, it is most likely Paul handled all the music arrangements while Bob did sound effects, based on their credits in other games. The audio team most likely received Prince's MIDI files.
 +
 
 +
According to Paul Webb, he made SNES music in [[Wolfgang]], which was converted to his [[BMus (SNES Driver)|BMus]] sound driver. Paul also used the Ensoniq EPS like Prince did, as well as its upgraded version, the EPS16, and sourced samples from it for his SNES music.
  
 
==Gameography==
 
==Gameography==
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| 1992-??-??
 
| 1992-??-??
 
| [[Night Raid (DOS)]]
 
| [[Night Raid (DOS)]]
|
+
| {{Song-Box|02 - Night Raid - DOS - Title, Level 9.ogg}}
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
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| 1993-??-??
 
| 1993-??-??
 
| Argo Checkers (DOS)
 
| Argo Checkers (DOS)
| In-Game Sounds
+
|  
|
+
| Sound effects.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1993-??-??
 
| 1993-??-??
 
| Hexxagon (DOS)
 
| Hexxagon (DOS)
| In-Game Sounds
+
|  
|
+
| Sound effects.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1993-??-??
 
| 1993-??-??
 
| Hexxagon 2 (DOS)
 
| Hexxagon 2 (DOS)
| In-Game Sounds
+
|  
|
+
| Sound effects.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1994-02-10
 
| 1994-02-10
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| 1994-04-01
 
| 1994-04-01
 
| [[Raptor: Call of the Shadows (DOS)]]
 
| [[Raptor: Call of the Shadows (DOS)]]
|  
+
| {{Song-Box|101 - Raptor - DOS - Fanfare for Duke II.ogg}}
 
| [[Apogee Fanfare]]
 
| [[Apogee Fanfare]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1994-06-01
 
| 1994-06-01
 
| [[Hocus Pocus (DOS)]]
 
| [[Hocus Pocus (DOS)]]
|  
+
| {{Song-Box|102 - Hocus Pocus - DOS - Hocus Pocus Theme.ogg}}
 
| [[Apogee Fanfare]]
 
| [[Apogee Fanfare]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1994-06-15
 
| 1994-06-15
 
| [[Mystic Towers (DOS)]]
 
| [[Mystic Towers (DOS)]]
|  
+
| {{Song-Box|01 - Mystic Towers - DOS - Apogee Theme.ogg}}
 
| [[Apogee Fanfare]]
 
| [[Apogee Fanfare]]
 
|-
 
|-
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| 1994-10-14
 
| 1994-10-14
 
| [[Wacky Wheels (DOS)]]
 
| [[Wacky Wheels (DOS)]]
|  
+
| {{Song-Box|01 - Wacky Wheels - DOS - Apogee Fanfare.ogg}}
 
| [[Apogee Fanfare]]
 
| [[Apogee Fanfare]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1994-11-15
 
| 1994-11-15
 
| [[Boppin' (DOS)]]
 
| [[Boppin' (DOS)]]
|
+
| {{Song-Box|101 - Boppin' - DOS - Apogee Fanfare.ogg}}
 
| [[Apogee Fanfare]]
 
| [[Apogee Fanfare]]
 
|-
 
|-
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|-
 
|-
 
| 1994-??-??
 
| 1994-??-??
| [[Doom (32X)]] (ドゥーム)
+
| [[Doom (32X)]]
|
+
| {{Song-Box|01 - Doom - 32X - At Doom's Gate.ogg}}
|  
+
| Arranged by [[Brian Coburn]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1994-??-??
 
| 1994-??-??
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| [[Rallo Gump (DOS)]]
 
| [[Rallo Gump (DOS)]]
 
| {{Song-Box|101 - Rallo Gump - DOS - Title.ogg}}
 
| {{Song-Box|101 - Rallo Gump - DOS - Title.ogg}}
 +
|
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1994-??-??
 
| 1994-??-??
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| 1995-09-??
 
| 1995-09-??
 
| [[Doom (SNES)]]
 
| [[Doom (SNES)]]
|  
+
| {{Song-Box|02 - Doom - SNES - At Doom's Gate.ogg}}
 
| Arranged by [[Paul Webb]]
 
| Arranged by [[Paul Webb]]
 
|-
 
|-
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| [[Zorro (DOS)]]
 
| [[Zorro (DOS)]]
 
| {{Song-Box|102 - Zorro - DOS - Music 2.ogg}}
 
| {{Song-Box|102 - Zorro - DOS - Music 2.ogg}}
 +
|
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1996-01-29
 
| 1996-01-29
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| 1996-02-29
 
| 1996-02-29
 
| [[Abuse (DOS)]]
 
| [[Abuse (DOS)]]
| Sound Effects
+
| {{Song-Box|101 - Abuse - DOS - Introduction.ogg}}
|
+
| Sound effects.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1996-05-31
 
| 1996-05-31
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|-
 
|-
 
| 1998-09-30
 
| 1998-09-30
| [[Axis and Allies (W32)]]
+
| [[Axis & Allies: Meyer Glass Interactive (W32)]]
 
|  
 
|  
 
|
 
|
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| [[Wolfenstein 3D (GBA)]]
 
| [[Wolfenstein 3D (GBA)]]
 
| {{Song-Box|10 - Wolfenstein 3D - GBA - Going After Hitler.ogg}}
 
| {{Song-Box|10 - Wolfenstein 3D - GBA - Going After Hitler.ogg}}
| Credited as composer, but it was arranged by GBA port programmists
+
| Credited as composer, but arranged by GBA port programmers.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2002-08-12
 
| 2002-08-12

Latest revision as of 15:43, 8 September 2022

Robert Caskin Prince, III
Bobby Prince.jpg
Born March 15, 1940?
Birth Place Athens, Georgia
Nationality American   USA.svg
Aliases Robert Prince, Bobby Prince
Website bpmusic.com

Robert Caskin Prince, III (he goes by Bobby) is a 1966 graduate of the University of Georgia with a bachelor's degree in psychology. He also attended Emory University for graduate school, but left early to join the army. In 1972, after his time in the military, he returned to school and got a masters of education in Counseling. With his new degree he studied law enforcement. This piqued his interest in law and he earned a Juris Doctor at law school and passed the bar. His career in law lasted several years, but around 1991 he switched over to music composition.

Prince saw a messageboard on Prodigy asking for people interested in music composition for computer games. After responding to the message, he was contacted by Scott Miller of Apogee Software. This led him to a talk with John Romero of id Software, where he started work composing music for the second series of Commander Keen.

Prince worked with id Software from 1991 to 1994 composing music for games like Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. Also, during this time, he composed music for several other companies that whose games were published by Apogee like the Blake Stone and Duke Nukem series. He sequenced his music with an Ensoniq EPS keyboard. After his time with id Software he worked for a large number of gaming companies composing music for a wide range of titles. He currently keeps himself busy composing his own music with help from his brother David in Georgia. He also plays the saxophone in a band.

Around November 2016, Bobby was diagnosed with colon cancer. He underwent grueling treatments for years, had various surgeries, had a recurrence, and went through more treatment. He still isn't fully healthy, but is doing much better. You can help contribute to his medical bills on his GoFundMe Page.

Music Development

DOS

Bobby created music for all of his DOS games by creating MIDI files in Voyetra's Sequencer Plus Gold with the help of his Ensoniq EPS. The MIDI files were later converted into the games' formats such as MUS.

Though Prince used the EPS in most of his work, he also acknowledges the problems known with the keyboard;

Those things had major manufacturing problems and I learned later that they had almost 50% failures in the things. I had a problem with it where a wire kept coming loose, but was able to fix it. Then it just gave up the ghost completely and it wasn't worth the cost of a repair. I used it to record all the effects for Wolfenstein, though. I don't remember what I did with it. I think I took it to a recycle center. Guess it might have made a good museum piece, but hind sight's 20-20 as they say 🙂

SNES

Wolfenstein 3D

Bobby had to rearrange his music from the DOS version's YM3812 (9-11 channels) to the eight sound channels of the SNES. However, since the SNES utilized digitized instrument samples, the music is in slightly better fidelity. His MIDI files were converted to Rebecca Heineman's sound driver. According to Rebecca, the instruments heard in the SNES version were taken from an Ensoniq SQ-1; interesting since Prince used an Ensoniq EPS in his work. However, the music plays slightly faster in the SNES version.

Doom

The SNES conversion of Doom was handled by Sculptured Software. Though Paul Webb and Bob Dayley are both credited, it is most likely Paul handled all the music arrangements while Bob did sound effects, based on their credits in other games. The audio team most likely received Prince's MIDI files.

According to Paul Webb, he made SNES music in Wolfgang, which was converted to his BMus sound driver. Paul also used the Ensoniq EPS like Prince did, as well as its upgraded version, the EPS16, and sourced samples from it for his SNES music.

Gameography

Released Title Sample Notes
1991-11-?? Catacomb 3-D (DOS)
1991-12-15 Commander Keen IV: Secret of the Oracle (DOS)
1991-12-15 Commander Keen V: The Armageddon Machine (DOS)
1991-12-15 Commander Keen VI: Aliens Ate My Babysitter! (DOS)
1992-03-?? Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure (DOS)
1992-03-?? Word Rescue (DOS)
Songs in the "plus" episode.
1992-05-05 Wolfenstein 3D (DOS)
1992-09-18 Spear of Destiny (DOS)
1992-??-?? Night Raid (DOS)
1993-01-?? Major Stryker (DOS)
1993-08-03 Bio Menace (DOS)
1993-12-03 Duke Nukem II (DOS)
1993-12-05 Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold (DOS)
1993-12-10 Doom (DOS)
1993-??-?? Argo Checkers (DOS) Sound effects.
1993-??-?? Hexxagon (DOS) Sound effects.
1993-??-?? Hexxagon 2 (DOS) Sound effects.
1994-02-10 Wolfenstein 3D (SNES)
1994-04-01 Raptor: Call of the Shadows (DOS)
Apogee Fanfare
1994-06-01 Hocus Pocus (DOS)
Apogee Fanfare
1994-06-15 Mystic Towers (DOS)
Apogee Fanfare
1994-10-10 Doom II: Hell On Earth (DOS)
1994-10-28 Blake Stone: Planet Strike (DOS)
1994-10-?? Wolfenstein 3D (ARCH) Music from DOS version, but with different sound driver
1994-10-14 Wacky Wheels (DOS)
Apogee Fanfare
1994-11-15 Boppin' (DOS)
Apogee Fanfare
1994-12-21 Rise of the Triad: Dark War (DOS)
Also reused Apogee Fanfare
1994-??-?? Alien Carnage (DOS) Apogee Fanfare
1994-??-?? Doom (32X)
Arranged by Brian Coburn
1994-??-?? Pickle Wars (DOS)
1994-??-?? Rallo Gump (DOS)
1994-??-?? Terrace (W16)
1994-??-?? Wolfenstein 3D (JAG)
1995-09-?? Doom (SNES)
Arranged by Paul Webb
1995-11-01 Realms of Chaos (DOS)
1995-12-29 Xenophage: Alien Bloodsport (DOS)
1995-??-?? Black Knight: Marine Strike Fighter (DOS)
1995-??-?? Zorro (DOS)
1996-01-29 Duke Nukem 3D (DOS)
1996-02-29 Abuse (DOS)
Sound effects.
1996-05-31 Final Doom - TNT: Evilution (DOS)
Reused from the original game
1996-05-31 Final Doom - The Plutonia Experiment (DOS)
Reused from the original game
1996-11-19 Stargunner (DOS) Apogee Fanfare
1996-12-04 Final Doom (MAC)
1997-11-14 Duke Nukem 64 (N64)
1997-12-12 Balls of Steel (W32)
1997-12-31 Demonstar (W32)
1998-09-30 Axis & Allies: Meyer Glass Interactive (W32)
2002-04-02 Wolfenstein 3D (GBA)
Credited as composer, but arranged by GBA port programmers.
2002-08-12 Duke Nukem Advance (GBA)
2008-04-19 Voxelstein 3D (W32)
Reused from Wolfenstein 3D (DOS)

Picture Gallery

Links