David Wise (composer)

Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:BLP sources Template:Infobox musical artist David Wise is a British video game music composer and musician. He was a composer at Rare from 1985 to 2009, and he was the company's sole musician up until 1994. He has gained a dedicated 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. The first instrument he learned to play was the piano, before later learning the trumpet, and learning to play the drums during adolescence. He played in a few bands during his youth, and he was 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."<ref>Rare: The Tepid Seat – Rare Music Team (December 2004) Template:Webarchive</ref>

While working at Rare, Wise gained attention and acclaim for his work on the Donkey Kong Country 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". In the book Playing With Super Power, some influences for the music of Donkey Kong Country were mentioned. Specifically, Koji Kondo's work on the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda series; the Super Nintendo Entertainment System game Plok, composed by Tim Follin and Geoff Follin; and synthesized film scores and rock and dance music from the early 1980s. He has composed the soundtrack for the Game Boy Advance port of Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!.Template:Fact

In 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 collaborated on this track, playing guitar and trumpet respectively.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On 15 March 2010, Serious Monkey Business was released and 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Wise also provided a saxophone solo for another remix, in addition to mixing and mastering the track.Template:Fact

On 14 November 2009, Wise announced his resignation from Rare, feeling that the company had "changed a great deal" and there was no longer an opportunity to create music tracks that Rare is most known for.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In December 2010 Wise created a personal studio called the "David Wise Sound Studio".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In June 2013, it was announced that he would be composing for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, after receiving a call from Retro Studios president Michael Kelbaugh, who previously worked at Rare.<ref name="David Wise composing Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="David Wise Explains How He Got His Job on Tropical Freeze">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Wise composed for Yooka-Laylee along with Kirkhope and Steve Burke.<ref name="The Team So Far...">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Works

Year	Title	Notes
1987	Slalom
	Wizards & Warriors
1988	R.C. Pro-Am
	Wheel of Fortune
	Jeopardy!
	Anticipation
1989	Marble Madness
	World Games
	WWF WrestleMania
	John Elway's Quarterback
	California Games
	Taboo: The Sixth Sense
	Sesame Street ABC
	Hollywood Squares
	Who Framed Roger Rabbit
	Jordan vs. Bird: One on One
	Cobra Triangle
	Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II
	Wheel of Fortune Junior Edition
	Jeopardy! Junior Edition
	Silent Service
1990	Double Dare
	Wheel of Fortune Family Edition
	Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary Edition
	Captain Skyhawk
	Digger T. Rock
	Pin*Bot
	Snake Rattle 'n' Roll
	NARC
	A Nightmare on Elm Street
	Super Glove Ball
	Cabal
	Time Lord
	Arch Rivals
	WWF WrestleMania Challenge
	Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship
	The Amazing Spider-Man
	Wizards & Warriors Chapter X: The Fortress of Fear
	Super Off Road
1991	Sesame Street ABC & 123
	Battletoads (Game Boy)
	Super R.C. Pro-Am
	Sneaky Snakes
	WWF Superstars
	Battletoads
	Beetlejuice
	High Speed
1992	Wizards & Warriors III
	Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat
	R.C. Pro-Am II
	Championship Pro-Am
1993	Battletoads & Double Dragon
	Battletoads in Battlemaniacs
	X The Ball
1994	Battletoads Arcade
	Monster Max
	Donkey Kong Country	With Robin Beanland and Eveline Fischer<ref>Rare: Scribes (21 December 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."</ref>
1995	Donkey Kong Land	With Graeme Norgate
	Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
1996	Donkey Kong Land 2	DKC 2 soundtrack converted to the Game Boy by Grant Kirkhope.
	Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!	With Fischer.<ref>Rare: Scribes (9 February 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."</ref> Wrote new soundtrack for 2005 GBA port.
1997	Diddy Kong Racing
1999	Mickey's Racing Adventure
2000	Donkey Kong Country (GBC version)	With Beanland and FischerTemplate:Check quotation
2001	Super Smash Bros. Melee	Original Game Staff
2002	Star Fox Adventures	With Ben Cullum.
2004	It's Mr. Pants	With Beanland and Fischer ("Squeaky Pants")
2005	Donkey Kong Country 3 GBA
2007	Diddy Kong Racing DS
2008	Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise
	War World	Xbox 360 version
	Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts	The Rare Family
2010	Donkey Kong Country Returns
2013	Sorcery!
2014	Tengami<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze	With Kenji Yamamoto
2015	Rare Replay	Special thanks
	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>||rowspan="3"|
2016	Star Ghost
2017	Snake Pass<ref name="Music of Snake Pass with David Wise">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Yooka-Laylee	With Grant Kirkhope and Steve Burke<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2019	Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2020	Battletoads	Original themes, special thanks
	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>||With Graeme Norgate
2023	Everhood: Eternity Edition<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref>
	Ratatan<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref>
2024	Nikoderiko: The Magical World<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Gimmick! 2<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref>
2025	citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	99 Fails	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Cancelled

Title	Publisher	Platform
Harmony	Nintendo/ Retro Studios	Nintendo Switch

External links

• Template:Official website
• Template:Musicbrainz artist
• Profile at MobyGames
• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0936336

 | name/{{#if:{{#invoke:ustring|match|1=0936336|2=^nm}}
   | Template:Trim/
   | nm0936336/
   }}
 | {{#if: {{#property:P345}}
   | name/Template:First word/
   | find?q=%7B%7B%23if%3A+David+Wise%0A++++++%7C+David+Wise%0A++++++%7C+%5B%5B%3ATemplate%3APAGENAMEBASE%5D%5D%0A++++++%7D%7D&s=nm
   }}
 }}{{#if:  0936336 {{#property:P345}} | {{#switch: 
 | award | awards = awards Awards for | biography | bio = bio Biography for
 }}}} {{#if: David Wise
 | David Wise
 | Template:PAGENAMEBASE
 }}] at IMDb{{#if: 0936336{{#property:P345}}
 | Template:EditAtWikidata
 | Template:Main other

}}{{#switch:{{#invoke:string2|matchAny|^nm.........|^nm.......|nm|.........|source=0936336|plain=false}}

 | 1 | 3 =  Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning
 | 4 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning

}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb name with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | id | name | section }}

• Template:Commons-cat-inline