David Wise

David Wise - video game composer

Person from United Kingdom

Genres: chiptune, video game music, Soundtrack, ambient, electronic, instrumental

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About David Wise

David Wise is a British video game music composer and musician. He worked as a composer at Rare from 1985 to 2009 and was the company's only dedicated musician until 1994. He is known for his work on various video games, particularly Nintendo's "Donkey Kong Country" series. His musical style is often described as atmospheric, combining environmental sound elements with melodic and percussive instrumentation. Wise has stated that he has had a wide range of musical influences. His first instrument was the piano, followed by the trumpet, and he later learned to play drums during his adolescence. He played in several bands during his youth and was still active in a band as of 2004. He joined Rare after meeting its founders while working in a music shop, where he demonstrated a Yamaha CX5 Music Computer and had programmed music for demonstration material. According to Wise, this led to him being offered a job. During his time at Rare, Wise became known for his work on the "Donkey Kong Country" series. The games feature a range of musical styles reflecting different in-game environments, alongside recurring jungle-themed percussion and ambient elements. In 1996, Wise stated that travel experiences influenced the sound and mood of the "Donkey Kong Country" soundtracks, and he described the composition period for "Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest" as his "experimental Paris phase". Rather than using standard MIDI instruments, he developed customised instruments for the soundtracks, and has been described by critics as an ambitious composer within the company. Influences on the music of "Donkey Kong Country" have been noted to include Koji Kondo's work on the "Super Mario" and "The Legend of Zelda" series, the game "Plok", composed by Tim Follin and Geoff Follin, and synthesized film scores as well as rock and dance music from the early 1980s. Wise also composed the soundtrack for the Game Boy Advance version of "Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!". In October 2009, it was announced by the OverClocked ReMix community that Wise was contributing a remix for "Serious Monkey Business", an unofficial "Donkey Kong Country 2" remix album. Grant Kirkhope and Robin Beanland also collaborated on the track, performing guitar and trumpet respectively. The album was released on 15 March 2010, and Wise's contribution, titled "Re-Skewed", appeared as track 33. He later remixed his own composition "Jungle Jitter" from the Game Boy Advance version of "Donkey Kong Country 3" for another unofficial remix album, "Double the Trouble!", released on 1 December 2012. He also provided a saxophone solo for another remix and contributed to mixing and mastering. On 14 November 2009, Wise announced his resignation from Rare, stating that the company had "changed a great deal" and that there was no longer an opportunity to create the type of music for which Rare was known. In December 2010, he established a personal studio called the "David Wise Sound Studio". In June 2013, it was announced that he would compose music for "Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze" after being contacted by Retro Studios president Michael Kelbaugh, who had previously worked at Rare. Wise also composed music for "Yooka-Laylee" alongside Grant Kirkhope and Steve Burke. Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wise_(composer) Video game soundtracks Slalom (1987) Wizards & Warriors (1987) R.C. Pro-Am (1988) Wheel of Fortune (1988) Jeopardy! (1988) Anticipation (1988) Marble Madness (1989) World Games (1989) WWF WrestleMania (1989) John Elway's Quarterback (1989) California Games (1989) Taboo: The Sixth Sense (1989) Sesame Street ABC (1989) Hollywood Squares (1989) Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1989) Jordan vs. Bird: One on One (1989) Cobra Triangle (1989) Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II (1989) Wheel of Fortune Junior Edition (1989) Jeopardy! Junior Edition (1989) Silent Service (1989) Double Dare (1989) Wheel of Fortune Family Edition (1989) Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary Edition (1989) Captain Skyhawk (1990) Pin*Bot (1990) Snake Rattle 'n' Roll (1990) NARC (1990) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1990) Super Glove Ball (1990) Cabal (1990) Time Lord (1990) Arch Rivals (1990) WWF WrestleMania Challenge (1990) Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warship (1990) The Amazing Spider-Man (1990) Wizards & Warriors Chapter X: The Fortress of Fear (1990) Super Off Road (1990) Sesame Street ABC & 123 (1991) Battletoads (Game Boy) (1991) Super R.C. Pro-Am (1991) Sneaky Snakes (1991) WWF Superstars (1991) Battletoads (1991) Beetlejuice (1991) High Speed (1991) Wizards & Warriors III (1992) Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat (1992) R.C. Pro-Am II (1992) Championship Pro-Am (1992) Battletoads & Double Dragon (1993) Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (1993) X the Ball (1993) Battletoads Arcade (1994) Monster Max (1994) Donkey Kong Country (1994, With Robin Beanland and Eveline Fischer) Donkey Kong Land (1995, With Graeme Norgate) Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995) Donkey Kong Land 2 (1996, DKC 2 soundtrack converted to the Game Boy by Grant Kirkhope) Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (1996, With Fischer; Wrote new soundtrack for 2005 GBA port) Diddy Kong Racing (1997) Mickey's Racing Adventure (1999) Donkey Kong Country (GBC version) (2000, With Beanland and Fischer) Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001, Original Game Staff) Star Fox Adventures (2002, With Ben Cullum) It's Mr. Pants (2004, With Beanland and Fischer ("Squeaky Pants")) Donkey Kong Country 3 GBA (2005) Diddy Kong Racing DS (2007) Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise (2008) War World (2008, Xbox 360 version) Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (2008, The Rare Family) Sorcery! (2013) Tengami (2014) Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014, With Kenji Yamamoto) Rare Replay (2015, Special thanks) Star Drift (2015) Star Ghost (2016) Snake Pass (2017, With Grant Kirkhope and Steve Burke) Yooka-Laylee (2017, With Grant Kirkhope, Dan Murdoch and Matt Griffin) Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (2019) Battletoads (2020, Original themes, special thanks) Tamarin (2020, With Graeme Norgate) Everhood: Eternity Edition (2023) Ratatan (2024) Nikodenko: The Magical World (2024) Gimmick! 2 (2024) Lucid (2025) 99 Fails (2025, With Pawel Pachniewski)

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