People just thought it was an odd job – making the bleeps and boops that went along with video games. I wasn’t aware of any other video game composers when I started at Rare. RH: When you were transitioning into becoming a video game composer, starting at RARE, did you take any musical cues from other composers or artists at the time? Or were your just making it up as you went? I feel like you guys composing for the early systems like NES really had such a blank canvas to work with, no?ĭW: My main inspiration was either chart music or film music. I prefer films, which are more of a collaboration of ideas. RH: Your career has been one surrounded by monkeys, foxes, toads, and all sorts of creatures having extravagant adventures… Have you always had a playful side to you that enjoys these stories? Were there books or movies growing up that really gave you an interest in fantasy?ĭW: I loved a film called Doctor Doolittle when I was a child, along with many Disney films. I could hook the CX5 sequencer up to Roland and Korg synths, and have them all play back at the same time.
No one at the shop had a clue how this CX5 worked, so I borrowed it for a few weekends, read the manual many, many times, and eventually saw the potential. But at the music shop where I sold drums, Yamaha had introduced their first Music computer called the CX5 – and that had MIDI – which could talk to other keyboards and synths that also had MIDI. My Dad taught computers at the local polytechnic, and my brother also had a strong interest in computers, and being the rebellious musician, I had no interest until that time in computers at all. However, my interest in computer generated music didn’t happen until I started to sell drums in a music shop after leaving school. And then when I could play the trumpet – I then wanted to learn to play the drums. And whilst I did go on to have piano lessons, I later joined a brass band in my teens because I also wanted to play the trumpet. That’s when I realized I could listen to music, and work things out by ear anyway. And whilst I desperately wanted piano lessons too – I was going to have to wait a couple of years until I was 11, before I could start my piano lessons. RH: You began on piano first, and then picked up the trumpet, correct? I think this makes complete sense when listening to your compositions, but I’m curious where did your real interest and motivation to produce music electronically come from?ĭW: I was about nine when my brother started having piano lessons – he was eleven. Ryan Hemsworth: Thanks so much for your time David, means a lot to me.ĭavid Wise: You’re welcome, thank you for your interest. That being so, Hemworth embarked on a special labour of love for us: interviewing seasoned video game composer David Wise, whose extensive resumé includes the Donkey Kong Country series, Battletoads, WWF WrestleMania, and stacks more.
On the second episode for "Soundtracks on the Sticks," hosts Chris Damasceno and Jordan Young go back in time to 1995 to talk about the Donkey Kong Country 2 soundtrack - from its time of release amongst some other juggernauts, the composition work done by David Wise that seems to go in many different directions rather than following a set formula, the impact that one game's soundtrack had on the landscape of future games of its series and beyond and as this is Jordan's favorite game, "Stickerbrush Symphony" is discussed and gushed about properly.Ryan Hemsworth has never hid his ardour for vintage video game music.įrom the Squaresoft-meets-Jeremih bootlegs (see Hemsworth’s classic 2012 FACT mix) to his Yasunori Mitsuda tribute tracks, Hemsworth’s always been quick to tip a hit to the great video game soundtracks of yore.