David Wise (composer)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David Wise
Also known as D. Wise, Dave Wise
Born September 13, 1967
Leicestershire
Origin Leicestershire, England
Genres Various
Occupations Musician
Composer
Instruments Synthesizer
Personal computer
Saxophone
Years active 1985–present
Associated acts Robin Beanland
Eveline Fischer
Ben Cullum
Grant Kirkhope
Graeme Norgate
Steve Burke
Website http://davidwise.co.uk/

David Wise (often also credited as Dave Wise or D. Wise) is a British video game music composer. He was a house 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. He is currently working with Retro Studios on the soundtrack for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

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 gaming franchise. 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". He has also done 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 March 15, 2010, Serious Monkey Business was released and Dave Wise's track, 'Re-Skewed', was featured as Track #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. The album tackled 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 and his intention to work as a freelance composer/sound designer.[4] In December 2010 Wise created a personal studio called the 'David Wise Sound Studio'.[5] 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.

Video game credits

1987

  • Slalom (NES)
  • Wizards & Warriors (NES)

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

2000

2002

2004

2005

2007

  • Diddy Kong Racing DS (DS)

2008

2013

2014

See also

  • DK Jamz

Notes

  1. ↑ Rare: The Tepid Seat - Rare Music Team (December 2004)
  2. ↑ OverClocked ReMix Presents 'Serious Monkey Business' (March 2010)
  3. ↑ ReMix: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest 'Re-Skewed' - OverClocked ReMix
  4. ↑ MundoRare | David Wise, composer since 1985, leaves Rare (November 2009)
  5. ↑ http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/davidwise.shtml
  6. ↑ 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."
  7. ↑ 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

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.