- David Wise (composer)
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For other people named David Wise, see David Wise (disambiguation).
David Wise Also known as D. Wise, Dave Wise Born 1967 (age 43-44)[1] Origin Leicestershire, England[1] Genres Various Occupations Musician
ComposerInstruments Synthesizer
Personal computerYears active 1985–present Associated acts Robin Beanland
Eveline Fischer
Ben Cullum
Grant Kirkhope
Graeme Norgate
Steve BurkeWebsite http://davidwise.co.uk/ David Wise (often also credited as Dave Wise or D. Wise) is a British video game music composer. He was one of the in-house composers at Rare, and his music appears in many Rare-developed titles. He started his career there in 1985 and was the company's sole musician up until 1994. He is known for his atmospheric style of music, mixing natural environmental sounds with prominent melodic and percussive accompaniment.
His most famous work is that of the soundtracks for the Donkey Kong Country series of games, which are widely considered to be some of the best soundtracks to ever appear on the SNES. 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 traveling 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". More recently, he's done the soundtrack for the Game Boy Advance port of Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!.
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 working for 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."[2]
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.[3][4] On March 15, 2010, Serious Monkey Business was released and Dave Wise's track, 'Re-Skewed', is track #33 on the album.
Much like he contributed to Serious Monkey Business, Wise will be remixing his own composition, the GBA version of "Jungle Jitter", for an unofficial Donkey Kong Country 3 remix album titled Double the Trouble. The album is tackling both the SNES and GBA soundtracks of the game, the latter which Wise himself composed specifically for the GBA port.
On October 30, 2009, Wise announced his resignation from Rare. He will continue working as a freelance composer/sound designer.[5]
As of December 2010, Wise has a new personal studio called 'David Wise Sound Studio' which was mentioned by him in a recent interview.[6]
Contents
Video game credits
1987
- Slalom (NES)
- Wizards & Warriors (NES)
1988
- R.C. Pro-Am (NES)
- Wheel of Fortune (NES)
- Jeopardy! (NES)
- Anticipation (NES)
1989
- Marble Madness (NES)
- World Games (NES)
- WWF WrestleMania (NES)
- Sesame Street 123 (NES)
- John Elway's Quarterback (NES)
- California Games (NES)
- Taboo: The Sixth Sense (NES)
- Sesame Street ABC (NES)
- Hollywood Squares (NES)
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit (NES)
- Jordan Vs. Bird: One On One (NES)
- Cobra Triangle (NES)
- Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II (NES)
- Wheel of Fortune Junior Edition (NES)
- Jeopardy! Junior Edition (NES)
- Silent Service (NES)
1990
- Double Dare (NES)
- Wheel of Fortune Family Edition (NES)
- Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary Edition (NES)
- The Amazing Spider-Man (Game Boy)
- Captain Skyhawk (NES)
- Pin Bot (NES)
- Snake Rattle 'n' Roll (NES)
- Wizards & Warriors Chapter X: The Fortress of Fear (Game Boy)
- NARC (NES)
- A Nightmare on Elm Street (NES)
- Super Glove Ball (NES)
- Cabal (NES)
- Time Lord (NES)
- Arch Rivals (NES)
- WWF WrestleMania Challenge (NES)
- Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship (NES)
1991
- Digger T. Rock (NES)
- WWF Superstars (Game Boy)
- Battletoads (NES)
- Battletoads (Game Boy)
- Beetlejuice (NES)
- Super R.C. Pro-Am (Game Boy)
- High Speed (NES)
- Sneaky Snakes (Game Boy)
- Sesame Street ABC & 123 (NES)
1992
- Wizards & Warriors III (NES)
- Beetlejuice (Game Boy)
- Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat (NES)
- R.C. Pro-Am II (NES)
- Championship Pro-Am (Mega Drive)
1993
- Battletoads (Mega Drive, Game Gear)
- Battletoads & Double Dragon (NES, Mega Drive, SNES, Game Boy)
- Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (SNES)
- Battletoads in Ragnarok's World (Game Boy)
- X The Ball (Arcade)
- Snake Rattle 'n' Roll (Mega Drive)
1994
- Monster Max (Game Boy)
- Battletoads (Arcade)
- Donkey Kong Country (SNES) (with Robin Beanland and Eveline Fischer)[7]
1995
- Donkey Kong Land (Game Boy) (with Graeme Norgate)
- Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES)
1996
1997
- Diddy Kong Racing (N64)
2000
- Donkey Kong Country (GBC)
2002
- Star Fox Adventures (GCN)
2004
- It's Mr. Pants (GBA) (additional sound effects)
2005
- Donkey Kong Country 3 (GBA)
2007
- Diddy Kong Racing DS (DS)
2008
- Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise (DS)
- War World (Xbox 360)
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Based on information obtained from Find My Past UK.
- ^ Rare: The Tepid Seat - Rare Music Team (December 2004)
- ^ OverClocked ReMix Presents 'Serious Monkey Business' (March 2010)
- ^ ReMix: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest 'Re-Skewed' - OverClocked ReMix
- ^ MundoRare | David Wise, composer since 1985, leaves Rare (November 2009)
- ^ http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/davidwise.shtml
- ^ 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."
External links
- David Wise discography at MusicBrainz
- Profile at MobyGames
- David Wise at the Internet Movie Database
- Artist profile at OverClocked ReMix
- Artist profile at Last.fm with downloadable tracks
Categories:- Living people
- 1967 births
- People from Coalville
- English composers
- Rareware
- Video game composers
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