Artist Feature #16: David Wise

[@PandaPotPies]

you know how much he enjoys this imagine you just put this on the tv at a family party and just impressing everyone

[@dannyfratina3901]

His work on Diddy Kong Racing belongs in textbooks. He took the ideas developed by LucasArts and Clint Bajakian and co. and went all out, basically building an entirely modular/adaptive soundtrack *for a racing game where you can play as a rooster*.

[@Nikos8BitStereo]

Without a doubt one of my most looked forward to Artist Features when doing my exploration of the channel, the legendary status of David Wise truly cannot be said enough, this man has crafted some of the greatest video game music tunes and for me, he's one of my childhood heroes for all the games he's scored that I played, even when discovering his NES works in my teens I was so impressed and he's still giving me great memories then and even now, I love the Wise man. The beginning of this mix is most excellent and the choices from his NES catalog are brilliant, as I'm sure it was tough leaving out some of his big highlights like Time Lord, Wizards & Warriors 2 and 3, Snake Rattle 'n' Roll, Super Off Road and Solar Jetman. The dude was insane but that is chalked up to Rare's crazy output, and pretty much similar to legendary C64 composer status with producing so many soundtracks in that era and pretty much all being phenomenal. I approve of all that were highlighted, and through my 8BitStereo series I've come to appreciate so much of his NES soundtracks and that fact he did most of them in just one week, big props as well to Chris Stamper for the first version of the Rare Sound Driver he used, and the updated Driver by Mark Betteridge is some of my favorite sounds from the console. Loved the layer of Battletoads NES & GEN, of course gotta highlight the toads! I find it so odd though Wise didn't do the GEN version (and of course the GG version), maybe was busy at the time, but Hikoshi Hashimoto did great on the arrangements, it was nice to see Wise still do some compositions on the Mega Drive even if it was only three games (Snake Rattle n Roll GEN is definitely his best). Also fantastic mixing in the beginning of both SNES & GEN Battletoads/Double Dragon "Title Theme", was almost hoping Battletoads Arcade would made it in, some of the best Arcade tunes out there, and cool hearing basically what Wise worked with instrument and sound wise before most of those would go compressed onto the SNES. Also glad some of his Game Boy work was highlighted, he did just as incredible on that soundchip as with the NES. And now we get to the big one, Donkey Kong Country laid the ground for so much in the gaming world, and Wise created a tune that is as memorable as the SMB and LoZ themes, in fact at times I think its the superior Theme of all NIntendo IP's. Aquatic Ambiance of course needs nothing more, the song speaks for itself, and what Wise did to squeeze the song he did and how he composed it speaks volumes to his talent. Also the DKL OST's need more love, the mix with DKL1 was emotionally swaying. And DKC2's OST, I mean, come on what else to say, probably his magnum opus to most, and Diddy Kong Racing is one of many childhood favorites, the music is so damn fun! I also amazingly grew up with Star Fox Adventures, loved the game, and only until when the credits hit was I so surprised he did the OST for it, it's probably one of his most underrated. BUT, I will have to take the statement I just made and say DKC3 GBA is without a doubt his most underrated, and probably my favorite OST by him, and Top 10 time of all time. I shouted a "Hell Yeah!" and felt the tingles in my spine when the transition happened into "Waterfall", one of the most beautiful tracks I've heard by Wise and on the GBA, and I cannot stress how amazing that OST is and that he did it in 6 WEEKS. A handheld/soundchip he barely worked on yet crafted one of the greatest GBA OST's alongside Rhythm Tengoku and Mother 3. It's great he was aware of how much fans loved his work on OCReMix, he deserves that love , but as his worked slowed into the 2000's I always kept up with what I could of his work, but obviously once he left Rare/Nintendo I was always saddened we'd never see him cross old IP's again. Until 2014 when hearing the news Wise was returning and on the new DKC game, I couldn't have been more excited, yet scared if my expectations were going to be too high. But dear lord I have never been as moved and loved a soundtrack more than Tropical Freeze, it's easily in my Top 5 OST's of all time, once "Seashore War" my emotions couldn't contain themselves, I just had to cry from all the great memories he was able to give me again just like from when I was a kid and the original DKC games, just pure happiness. And as Wise strikes back in his freelancing, he still knows how to make amazing VGM, Tengami is beautiful, the STar Ghost tracks feels like a Tropical Freeze 2.0 song (as I'm sure he used the same sound design for it), Snake Pass and Yooka-Laylee are a joy, and Tamarin just keeps showing how skilled Wise is and his brilliance of making atmospheric landscapes sound so majestic. Anyway, again, sorry for another essay comment, but with Wise I absolutely couldn't hold back, this man has joyed so many peoples lives with his music, as mine, and no doubt inspired so many people, his legacy will most certainly live on and be remembered for the greatness he gave to VGM and the music world in general. And of course thank you anosci for putting together one of the greatest Artist Feature's you've done, phenomenal mixing, stunning transitions, and all the great facts, history and information about Wise and what he's done, you've a gift, much love and be very proud of what you're doing here! ❤🧡💛💚💙💜🤍

[@rjmario2234]

Your transitions into tracks are insane!

[@57Rye]

One of the most admired composers in the industy IMHO

[@supermakermatic2111]

David Wise is a very mainstream composer, but he deserves every bit of acclaim he gets. Mining Melancholy and Jib Jig are some of my favourite game songs of all time.

[@TrueNeutralEvGenius]

Hats off to David Wise. Literally musical genius. Aquatic Ambiece always will be one of the greatest VGM compositions of all time. And many of his other works are outstanding.

[@mads_in_zero]

I'd love to see a feature on Yoko Shimomura. I think her early stuff is often overlooked, and her later love for violins would make the mix you do for the videos have a nice cohesive theme, ahah. Also, I just need someone else to talk about how similar Xenoblade Chronicles' _Time to Fight_ and Radiant Historia's _Blue Radiance_ are.

[@Piesonscreations]

Ah, David the Wise, master of monkey games. Loved the mix, could've been 2 hours long and i would've been all for it. Also, the credits track for DKR is probably on like, my top 5 game songs.

[@chikish]

Wise's main theme for "Nightmare On Elm Street" is one of my favorite NES themes ever. It's very brief but so iconic.

[@FoxerTails]

He certainly knows how to make beautiful, ambient textures in music.

[@ashthedragon]

This mix is absolutely wonderful. I feel so proud of this video being the first Ive patreon'd. First of many! David Wise is such a genius

[@benjaminzuniga5750]

ash, deberias hacer algunos videos de musica de varios sistemas de tus compositores favoritos, si es que te agrada la idea

[@ashthedragon]

@@benjaminzuniga5750 Me encantaría! Pero requiere mucho tiempo, a ver si puedo hacerlo algún día.

[@sguinn91]

This guy was the reason I loved video game music to begin with, especially considering that my first video game console I owned was the Super Nintendo around Christmas of 95 and it came with Donkey Kong Country, the first game I ever played! The music has not aged a day for me even 27 years later! Thanks for the mix! It sounds awesome!

[@Nekuvsnoise]

really grateful that you include the history of the artist. great vid!

[@djnekroman]

So glad I found this channel. As a longtime lover of VGM, it's really great to get a peek into the composer's history and evolution with these videos. (I like these best, but all your content is great!)

[@ChaunceyGardener]

Wise ruined a lot of games because you just want to stop playing to enjoy the music.

[@GSTChannelVEVO]

I'm amused at the implication of the reverse: terrible music making a game more intense because you focus on the gameplay. Crazy Bus was well designed after all

[@LongSinceDead1]

Goddamn those are some killer transitions, especially the one leading into DK Island Swing. Another great video and mix

[@uncannyremixes8958]

David Wise is such an inspiration

[@AWISECROW]

Awesomeness

[@BBWahoo]

This is seamless, you are just the little enthusiast, aren't you? You get a DK/10!

[@RyuFalchionX]

4:42 I lied it is Girls on Film by Duran Duran. I will definitely look for the Wise track i was talking about though.

[@SamM_Scot]

David Wise & Koji Kondo are my all-time favourite video game composers :-)

[@EberFilipeSunlight91]

Thank you for that great work bro, I'm a big fan of David's works! I'm a composer for videos games today because of DK Country rsrs

[@nessx007]

Such a trip, these videos are incredible thank you!

[@superneat12345]

These are all very excellent!!! Thanks!!!

[@flesym8088]

GST, I love you !!!

[@therealjasonpark]

Wow this is a great video man!

[@malikmartin]

was watching a video about him last night.

[@malikmartin]

AAAAAH He's the genius behind captain skyhawk!!

[@Nathan-rb3qp]

Battletoads Arcade looks awesome.

[@Valientlink]

A nightmare on Elm Street (Boo Haunted House) gets an honorable mention from me. Absolutely love the spooky surreal theme of the songs in this game.

[@DukenukemX]

At least now I have a name to go with some of the best gaming music from the 80's and 90's. Also shows how Rare kinda died after Microsoft bought them. Good to see he's still making gaming music today.

[@KTJohnsonkidThunder]

David Wise is definitely a genius!!

[@Rapidkirby3k]

Always liked David Wise's music since DKC and DKQ!

[@jarrellfamily1422]

After you did your video david wise did the music for gimmick 2

[@Camgato88]

Ahhh... this makes the "Microsoft buying Rare" deal hurt even more. Excellent mix as always

[@JoeyTABoy-k9l]

nice video gotta love David Wise. you should also make a video about Kiyohiro Sada (Konami & Natsume) Tom Sato (Altron) or Hirofumi Sano (Mobile21) that's my request

[@sabo-vf3xj]

Will you do a showcase of Hitoshi Sakimoto?

[@AWISECROW]

11:07 nice.

[@dontdithishome]

Well researched video as always! I need to know, do you have a full version of the Water World DMG song, or source to the orchestral rendition? It sounds amazing!

[@GSTChannelVEVO]

oh, I forgot to link to that! it's from "Game Music Concert 5", a 1996 album. I added it to the description, next to DKC1 the DMG song was already in the description (under Donkey Kong Land DMG)

[@dontdithishome]

@@GSTChannelVEVO Oh it is that one! I had a feeling it was that one but was unsure! I love it, it sounds almost like a James Bond movie! Thank you so much!

[@Dlf212]

Wonder how Davids boss felt upon hearing that he had been hired by the Stamper brothers. ....

[@ImperatorGrausam]

A feature on Alexander Brandon, I beg of you GST-sama!!!

[@gustavingnr]

Has anyone noticed how "Waterfall" from DKC3 (13:50) is VERY similar to the opening theme from TopGear (SNES)???

[@chriswoods7774]

Not as Wonderful or should I say Fantastic as Koji Kondo who did more Mario/Zelda games, but he still holds a place of the Musician podiums in gaming that's the legend David Wise. Actually come to think of it, to be honest I'm sure David did more than Koji, might have to count up in total of games David Wise did and Koji Kondo did too. Don't care who has the least both gaming musician legends to this very day.

[@ostradiemgi5469]

You should remix/arrange some tracks. I love these crossovers you are doing, like Aquatic Ambience! Not a fan of his 8-bit work, too simple, but DKC is insane!

[@GSTChannelVEVO]

This is something I've thought about! However, I have an incredibly bad habit of never finishing any remixes/arrangements I start...

[@channel_shi]

just curious, has wise said if rare was the dev behind the genesis port of battletoads? i keep hearing it was arc system works and i somewhat believe it cuz the game and sound design is pretty divorced from the rest of rare's genesis output, despite coming out around the same time as BTDD and snake rattle n roll md ports

[@GSTChannelVEVO]

I couldn't find any source where he commented on that game in particular. Most of the interviews with him were focused on the big name games (which is to say... DKC) he did say that he's worked with the genesis though

[@channel_shi]

@@GSTChannelVEVO oh yeah full aware of that but his genesis stuff sounds very dkc-ish imo

[@matthewrease2376]

You're just gonna skip over Anticipation? Smh. Marble Madness also slaps.

[@BuzzaB77]

Did Nes and Gameboy have Pulse Width Modulation???? I can hear pwm here. Also I forgot how bad the aliasing on GBA was! my goodness

[@GSTChannelVEVO]

neither system had PWM, though they did have a few options for how much pulse width you wanted on each channel. but only a few options (12.5%, 25%, and 50% if I remember correctly)

[@mish1195]

Actually, the NES didn't have 2 pulse channels, one triangle and one noise, it actually had only one pulse channel and a DPCM channel that allowed for sample playback, mostly used for percussion, although some games used it as a bass channel.

[@GSTChannelVEVO]

I did skip over the DPCM channel, as Dave seldom used it. (Even the battletoads pause tune was by someon else) (Mark Betteridge) However, the NES does have 2 pulse channels... I'm not sure where you got the idea of only one pulse ch.

[@mish1195]

@@GSTChannelVEVO From my experience in Famitracker the 2A03 has only one pulse channel, could be wrong though EDIT: I was wrong, the 2A03 has 2 pulse channels, I was wrong, sorry.

[@RetroGamingWithEdgarRivera]

Oh yes the mighty Dave Wise one of the most famous composers. He's well known from games like Battletoads,DKC,DKC2 and so many others.

[@lukamagicc]

7:05 SNES?

[@GSTChannelVEVO]

yes well, to clarify, the percussion that I introduced at 6:56 is from DKC (for the SNES). I thought that the rhythm from the Monster Max matched these drums really nicely, so I had both the Gameboy and SNES sounds playing at the same time for a few bars. I could probably have waited til 7:17 to mark the beginning of "DK Island Swing", but I had a lot to say about it! lol

[@lukamagicc]

@@GSTChannelVEVO Hey man your videos are great! clearly you put a lot of effort into the editing. Any chance you do voice overs instead of text boxes? Your writing is very smooth as well it'd sound really professional spoken aloud

[@GSTChannelVEVO]

@@lukamagicc I've done a handful of these, but generally prefer to let the music shine. check out this playlist for my narrated videos: kzbin.info/aero/PL5drWs8U-49shquv_8rRugSGggaI3T9SL

[@joeltaylor3189]

Grant Kirkhope next?

[@nitendler]

dope