Michael Rubin (composer)
| Michael Rubin | |
|---|---|
 Michael Rubin, composer | |
| Background information | |
| Born |
September 24, 1963 New York City, New York |
| Genres | Songs and scores for television |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, producer, lyricist, singer |
| Instruments | Multi-instrumentalist |
| Website | www.Rhumba.pro |
Michael Rubin (born September 24, 1963) is an Emmy Award winning American music producer, composer, and lyricist best known for his work in children’s television. Rubin has created numerous iconic musical themes, scores, and songs for shows including Bubble Guppies, Blue’s Clues, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Jack's Big Music Show, among others. His songs have been performed by Ray Charles, Patti LaBelle, Macy Gray, Randy Travis, India.Arie, Nell Carter, Toni Braxton, Phoebe Snow, The Persuasions, and many others.
Professional Life
Rubin began his professional career making music for advertising. He founded the music production company Murmur Music Inc. in 1993. Murmur created music and sound design for commercials and promotional pieces for American Express, AMC, AT&T, Bell South, Citibank, Coca-Cola, Fisher Price, The Food Network, General Motors, Kraft, Maxwell House, Merck, Motorola, Nabisco, Paramount Pictures, Rockport, Samsung, UPS, VH1, Viacom, and Volvo and others.
In 1995, Rubin (with writing partner Nick Balaban,) created the music and sound design for the pilot episode of what would become the Peabody Award winning Nick Jr. classic Blue’s Clues, one of the most watched and influential preschool television shows of all time. Ultimately, Rubin and the crew at Murmur created the soundtrack for all six seasons of the show as well as music for the traveling theatrical production Blue’s Clues Live, a feature-length direct-to-video movie Blue’s Big Musical Movie, the spin-off Blue’s Room, and numerous records, toys, and video games.
In 2007, Murmur Music partnered with Dubway studios to form Rhumba Recorders, a full-service music and audio production company that provides original songs and scores, musical direction, music and voice recording, sound design, and audio post-production for children’s media. Rhumba has provided sound for Nickelodeon, Scholastic, Fisher Price, Gymboree, Viacom, and others.
Shortly after partnering with Dubway, Rubin began writing and producing the songs and score for the Nick Jr. hit Bubble Guppies. To date, he has written and produced music for four seasons (80 episodes) of the show.
Rubin, sometimes under the stage name Seth O’Hickory, sang and voiced several characters in shows featuring his music. He sang lead vocals as the evil crab henchman, alongside Wanda Sykes as the evil queen, in his song “She’s So Mean,” featured in the Bubble Guppies episode “Bubble Puppy’s Fin-Tastic Fairy Tale.” He is the voice of the sun in “The Planet Song,” originally created for Blue’s Clues and then featured in a NASA exhibit at The Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. He also originated and performed the voice of the Mailbox in 130 episodes of Blue’s Clues.
Awards and Nominations
- 2016 Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Original Song for “Little Froggie,” from the Bubble Guppies episode "The Running of the Bullfrogs"[1]
- 2014 Daytime Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for the Bubble Guppies episode “The Puppy and the Ring” (with collaborator John Angier)[2]
- 2012 Annie Award nomination for Outstanding Achievement: Music in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production for the Bubble Guppies episode "Bubble Puppy's Fin-tastic Fairy Tale"[3]
- 2008 Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Original Song - Children's & Animated for "Duck 4" on Jack’s Big Music Show[4]
- 2004 Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for Blue's Clues[5]
Personal life
Rubin lives in New York City with his wife, three sons, and a dog named Boo Radley.