David Wise | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Dave Wise |
| Born | 13 September 1967 |
| Origin | Leicestershire, England |
| Genres | Various |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, musician |
| Instrument(s) | Synthesizer, piano, saxophone |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Website | davidwise |
David Wise is an English video game music composer and musician. He was a composer at Rare from 1985 to 2009, and was the company's sole musician up until 1994. He has gained a cult following for his work on various games, particularly Nintendo's Donkey Kong Country series. Wise is known for his atmospheric style of music, mixing natural environmental sounds with prominent melodic and percussive accompaniment.
Career and influences[]
Wise has said that he has had a wide range of musical influences, though the first instrument he learned to play was the piano, before later learning the trumpet, and then learning to play drums during adolescence. He played in a few bands during his youth, and was still active in a band as of 2004. His career at Rare began when he happened to meet its two founders, as he explained in response to a question posted on its company website: "I was working in a music shop demonstrating a Yamaha CX5 Music Computer to a couple of people, Tim & Chris Stamper. I'd written and programmed the music for the demonstration material. They offered me a job."[1]
While working at Rare, Wise soon gained wide attention and acclaim for his work on the Donkey Kong Country game series. In addition to the percussive and ambient 'jungle' influences that serve as a thematic undercurrent for much of the series, the games feature a wide variety of different musical styles that are reflective of the various areas and environments they appear in. In the January 1996 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Wise stated that his travelling experiences largely shaped the sound and mood of each Donkey Kong soundtrack, further saying that the music for Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest was composed during what he called his "experimental Paris phase". He has also composed the soundtrack for the Game Boy Advance port of Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!.
In late October 2009, it was announced by the OverClocked ReMix community that Wise was remixing a track for Serious Monkey Business, an unofficial Donkey Kong Country 2 remix album. Grant Kirkhope and Robin Beanland also collaborated on this track, playing guitar and trumpet respectively.[2][3] On 15 March 2010, Serious Monkey Business was released and Dave Wise's track, 'Re-Skewed', was featured as Track No. 33. Much like his contribution to Serious Monkey Business, Wise later remixed his own composition, the GBA version of "Jungle Jitter", for an unofficial Donkey Kong Country 3 remix album titled Double the Trouble!, which was released on 1 December 2012.[4] Wise also provided a saxophone solo for another remix, in addition to mixing and mastering the track.
On 30 October 2009, Wise announced his resignation from Rare and his intention to work as a freelance composer/sound designer.[5] In December 2010 Wise created a personal studio called the 'David Wise Sound Studio'.[6] In June 2013 it was announced that after eleven years without composing for a major console title, Wise would be returning to the series that made him famous with Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.
For the game company Playtonic Games, Wise's name is listed under the staff members list as a "Music Man" and is composing for their game, Yooka-Laylee.[7]
Works[]
| Title | Year | System | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slalom | 1987 | NES[8] | |
| Wizards & Warriors | 1987 | NES | |
| R.C. Pro-Am | 1988 | NES | |
| Wheel of Fortune | 1988 | NES | |
| Jeopardy! | 1988 | NES | |
| Anticipation | 1988 | NES | |
| Marble Madness | 1989 | NES | |
| World Games | 1989 | NES | |
| WWF WrestleMania | 1989 | NES | |
| Sesame Street 123 | 1989 | NES | |
| John Elway's Quarterback | 1989 | NES | |
| California Games | 1989 | NES | |
| Taboo: The Sixth Sense | 1989 | NES | |
| Sesame Street ABC | 1989 | NES | |
| Hollywood Squares | 1989 | NES | |
| Who Framed Roger Rabbit | 1989 | NES | |
| Jordan vs. Bird: One on One | 1989 | NES | |
| Cobra Triangle | 1989 | NES | |
| Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II | 1989 | NES | |
| Wheel of Fortune Junior Edition | 1989 | NES | |
| Jeopardy! Junior Edition | 1989 | NES | |
| Silent Service | 1989 | NES | |
| Double Dare | 1990 | NES | |
| Wheel of Fortune Family Edition | 1990 | NES | |
| Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary Edition | 1990 | NES | |
| The Amazing Spider-Man | 1990 | Game Boy | |
| Captain Skyhawk | 1990 | NES | |
| Digger T. Rock | 1990 | NES | |
| Pin*Bot | 1990 | NES | |
| Snake Rattle 'n' Roll | 1990 | NES | |
| Wizards & Warriors Chapter X: The Fortress of Fear | 1990 | Game Boy | |
| NARC | 1990 | NES | |
| A Nightmare on Elm Street | 1990 | NES | |
| Super Glove Ball | 1990 | NES | |
| Cabal | 1990 | NES | |
| Time Lord | 1990 | NES | |
| Arch Rivals | 1990 | NES | |
| WWF WrestleMania Challenge | 1990 | NES | |
| Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship | 1990 | NES | |
| WWF Superstars | 1991 | Game Boy | |
| Battletoads | 1991 | NES | |
| Battletoads | 1991 | Game Boy | |
| Beetlejuice | 1991 | NES | |
| Super R.C. Pro-Am | 1991 | Game Boy | |
| High Speed | 1991 | NES | |
| Sneaky Snakes | 1991 | Game Boy | |
| Sesame Street ABC & 123 | 1991 | NES | |
| Wizards & Warriors III | 1992 | NES | |
| Beetlejuice | 1992 | Game Boy | |
| Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat | 1992 | NES | |
| R.C. Pro-Am II | 1992 | NES | |
| Championship Pro-Am | 1992 | Sega Genesis | |
| Battletoads | 1993 | Sega Genesis, Game Gear | |
| Battletoads & Double Dragon | 1993 | NES, Sega Genesis, SNES, Game Boy | |
| Battletoads in Battlemaniacs | 1993 | SNES | |
| Battletoads in Ragnarok's World | 1993 | Game Boy | |
| X The Ball | 1993 | Arcade | |
| Snake Rattle 'n' Roll | 1993 | Sega Genesis | |
| Monster Max | 1994 | Game Boy | |
| Battletoads | 1994 | Arcade | |
| Donkey Kong Country | 1994 | SNES | with Robin Beanland and Eveline Fischer[9] |
| Donkey Kong Land | 1995 | Game Boy | with Graeme Norgate |
| Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest | 1995 | SNES | |
| Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! | 1996 | SNES | with Fischer[10] |
| Diddy Kong Racing | 1997 | N64 | |
| Donkey Kong Country | 2000 | GBC | |
| Star Fox Adventures | 2002 | GCN | |
| It's Mr. Pants | 2004 | GBA | with Beanland and Fischer |
| Donkey Kong Country 3 | 2005 | GBA | New soundtrack made for port. |
| Diddy Kong Racing DS | 2007 | Nintendo DS | |
| Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise | 2008 | Nintendo DS | |
| War World | 2008 | Xbox 360 | |
| Sorcery! | 2013 | iOS | |
| Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze | 2014 | Wii U | with various others |
| Tengami[11] | 2014 | iOS, Wii U, PC, Mac | |
| Star Drift[12] | 2015 | iOS | |
| Star Ghost | 2016 | Wii U, Nintendo Switch | |
| Snake Pass[13] | 2017 | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch | |
| Yooka-Laylee | 2017 | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, Nintendo Switch | with Grant Kirkhope and Steve Burke |
References[]
- ↑ Rare: The Tepid Seat – Rare Music Team (December 2004) Archived 6 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ OverClocked ReMix Presents 'Serious Monkey Business' (March 2010)
- ↑ ReMix: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest 'Re-Skewed' – OverClocked ReMix
- ↑ Donkey Kong Country 3: Double the Trouble! | OC ReMix
- ↑ MundoRare | David Wise, composer since 1985, leaves Rare (November 2009)
- ↑ http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/davidwise.shtml
- ↑ The Team So Far...
- ↑ Greening, Chris. "David Wise Interview: Revisiting Donkey Kong Country". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Rare: Scribes (December 21, 2005) at Internet Archive "Robin did Funky's Fugue, Eveline did Simian Segue, Candy's Love Song, Voices of the Temple, Forest Frenzy, Tree Top Rock, Northern Hemispheres and Ice Cave Chant, and the rest was the doing of Mr. Wise."
- ↑ Rare: Scribes (February 9, 2006) at Internet Archive "…everything is by Eveline except for Dixie Beat, Crazy Calypso, Wrinkly's Save Cave, Get Fit A-Go-Go, Wrinkly 64, Brothers Bear and Bonus Time (along with Bonus Win and Bonus Lose), which were by Dave."
- ↑ "Tengami Soundtrack". nyamyam. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ "Former Retro Studios Developer Opens Squarehead Studios". IGN. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Wise, David (16 February 2017). "Music of Snake Pass with David Wise". Twitch.tv. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
{{cite web}}:
External links[]
- Official website
- David Wise discography at MusicBrainz
- Profile at MobyGames
- David Wise at the Internet Movie Database