Composer David Wise Dissects Donkey Kong Country's Best Music
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2024
- In this excerpt from The Game Informer Show podcast, Rare's original composer David Wise walks us through the creation of some of the best music from Donkey Kong Country like Gangplank Galleon, Stickerbush Symphony, and the title theme for Diddy's Kong Quest. He also talks about his work on the upcoming game Tamarin. Subscribe to Game Informer's podcast here - bit.ly/2iN5T5i
The GOAT. David Wise is a massive reason why the DKC trilogy is so special
Don't forget Tropical Freeze, he did a great job there too.
yeah. the soundtrack fit sso well and you can hear that someone with passion and talent and know how did it.
yeah dude, at this point it's like I couldn't even imagine DKC without david wise's music, man's just legendary. just legendary.
Tim Follin is the goat. I'd say David Wise is a close second. But yeah the stuff Follin managed to get even the most primitive of sound chips to do is just insane. He was a brilliant songwriter _AND_ a brilliant sound engineer, he programmed the chips to do just spectacular things. Listen to the music from the beach level of the game Plok for SNES, you would never for s second believe that the SNES is producing these sounds, it's insane, it's like a modern day electronic track made in 2020, it still sounds that good. Although it's way more like a song that Yes would write, rather than the actual chords and melody of it sounding like a modern EDM song. But yeah it's just the SNES sound chip producing it: th-cam.com/video/Gz0fAz9n_Os/w-d-xo.html
I think that's the difference. Not trying to knock David Wise at all, he's one of the best songwriters ever. But for a video game you need songwriters end chiptune programmers, and Follin was both, in one. The stuff he made is still stunning to this day, and sometimes it's just impressive for the hardware pushing aspect and less about the songwriting, but most of the time he was great at both
Again not trying to knock David Wise, this is more that if there's fans of chiptune music out there, they _NEED_ to hear Tim Follin music. They probably already have heard it, and didn't realise. Like the NES Silver Surfer music is used all the time in TH-cam videos and that's a Tim Follin track.
The most linked to song Follin ever did is probably Solstice for the NES. There was absolutely nothing else on the NES or Famicom that sounded anywhere near as good and complex as the title screen track for Solstice, here: th-cam.com/video/4_gObHt1uZA/w-d-xo.html
The first 8 seconds of that are deliberately simple, to trick you, and then on the 9th second it just explodes. How the hell is a NES soundchip creating that
He was also instrumental (no pun intended) in getting music from a ZX Spectrum, a computer that literally wasn't designed to have sound at all. Somehow Follin and others managed to get the thing to create whole songs by basically breaking the chips with code. It's really an insane feat.
you are absolutely, truly correct. in my opinion.
This man is one of the greatest video game composers of all time. Aquatic Ambience is maybe the greatest piece of music in a video game ever.
This or Stickerbrush Symphony
Top 5 most definitely
Don't forget Forest interlude
Forest Interlude and Waterfall (GBA).
DoN't fOrGeT AbOuT mEgAloVaNia
12:06 - Title Theme
18:12 - Aquatic Ambience
22:14 - Gangplank Galleon
29:08 - Lockjaw's Saga
43:12 - Seashore War
god
Thanks man!
Mmm. Tasty rhythms.
Should have asked him questions about DK 2
Wow the fact the actual TH-camr didn’t do this.
The only man that is hated by no one
Lol yeah he's just so polite
12 people :(
@@geokorf those 12 people didn't get a PS5 this Xmas ;)
@@geokorf those 12 dislikes could be from anything. maybe they didn’t like the interviewer, were frustrated with the quality, were mad to see their favorite track wasn’t covered, or just misclicked. im maintaining that it’s impossible to hate david wise lol
@@ARMTOAST Hi
Now imagine if David Wise and Koji Kondo collaborated together. Every SNES sound chip would spontaneously self combust.
Their styles are wildly different but both are geniuses when it comes to melody crafting.
@@theedwardian For sure!
Best comment ever
Mr. Wise, your music was groundbreaking and forever changed the way the world views the music of video games. I'll never forget the day my dad came in on me and my older brother playing DKC1 in our room for the first time and immediately moving our SNES to the living room where the better sound system was. "You're supposed to listen to music like this through good speakers. I want you guys to keep the new nintendo out here." That moment has always stayed with me. You broke the mold of what was once just seen as "video game music." Great interview Ben.
Why does your profile picture look as if the hulk turned into Bruce banner instead of the other way around
That’s a fantastic memory
thank you
@@somaricraftbros6283 bruh
Sounds like an awesome pops!
Any chance you recall which track won him over?
Cheers, mate.
41:48 You hear that Nintendo, the soundtrack Wise is most proud of is DKC Tropical Freeze... and what do you know, its soundtrack has never been officially released, digitally or physically. STEP UP AND RELEASE IT ALREADY!!!
Yeah it's really easy to download the soundtrack to it. If you haven't found it yet, then that's your own fault. It's not hard to find.
Is that an official release tho?
So fucking beautiful♥️
You can download the soundtrack in khinsider.com
@@duffman18 You're missing point entirely. Smh
DKC2, and specifically the song "Forest Interlude" (the song on Web Woods and other spooky swamp levels), really influenced me at a young age. It's so emotional, almost ethereal, and it has this beautiful crescendo near the end. I will never forget what that felt like as a child and appreciate so much the nostalgia it gives me as an adult. Thank you, David Wise. Great interview, Ben Hanson!
I have the exact same feelings you do, but about Stickerbush symphony.
I feel all that. This dude really got me to think about music as a kid. And all i wanted to do was score music
Same, but for me was bayou boogie.
Forest Interlude is my favorite!
Forest interlude is the best music in the whole series, yet for some reason, all anyone talks about is stickerbrush Symphony (witch is also amazing) but Forest interlude is some of the best music of all of the DK games yet goes kind of under the radar..
I want to point out that I'm 36 and my son is 6. I randomly just picked a random song from DK2 and asked "Do you know what this is?" Immediately, his eyes lit up and said " That's Donkey Kong!" This just shows you how memorable Mr. Wise's pieces are. I played Lockjaw's Saga btw.
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AFTER THE RELEASE OF DKC...and I am STILL IN LOVE WITH THIS MAN'S GENIUS.
Particularly DKC and DKQ.
Lavender Jack...Swooping On Down.
DKQ?
@@drdoom1756 , Diddy's Kong Quest.
Lavender Jack...Swooping On Down.
what the hell is lavendar jack?
David Wise is a genius. Donkey Kong Country 2 OST alone is enough to cement this man as one of the greatest composers ever. Every song on that soundtrack just captures the mood so perfectly. A truly perfect soundtrack.
Aquatic ambiance, Stickerbrush Symphony, Forest interlude, Hot head hop, some of the best video game music ever..
I can't express with words how much I love the Donkey Kong Country series and it's music. Absolutely made my childhood.
Same dude, these games and song just hit me like nothing else. Some times bringing tears to my eyes.
PLEASE if anybody has never heard Tropical Freeze's soundtrack, do yourself a favor and listen to the whole thing. David really outdid himself on that one and composed songs that are EVEN BETTER than his all-time classics.
Harvest Hazards, Fruity Factory and Seashore War are amazing tunes.
@@BDaMonkey Windmill hills, wing ding, forest Folly, jammin jams... So many great music.
@@legrandliseurtri7495 Windmill Hills and Forest Folly are awesome. Can't even remember Wing Ding.
@@BDaMonkeyprobably because there’s many different versions of that song (wing ding). The zipline variant is the best.
100% Completed tropical freeze twice love the african theme in Bright Savannah
20:10 David Wise inspirations
1. Vangelis - Blade Runner, Chariots Of Fire
2. Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene Part 4 (Adventure Call theme from Tim & Eric Awesome Show) (Song was in GTA V)
3. Gary Numan - Cars, M.E, Are Friends Electric; The Pleasure Principle
Thanks!
Oxygene is in GTA V??
Vangelis's Antarctica as well.
pleasure principle is such a good album. so many classics
To me, Hot-Head-Bop is the ultimate track of DKC2. I love everything about this song. It is so upbeat, smooth, and crescendos into a somber and emotional climax. I don't think there is a time when I listen to it and don't get emotional. To this day, I look for recreations of the song through covers just to get my fix of everything I love about the song. It is a really important song to my life that I know will be relevant for the rest of it. Thanks, David Wise.
Yes, “Hot Head Bop” is my jam. It deserves a bit more love.
It is almost beyond belief the music the snes was capable of producing.
It's amazing now what people are doing with the sound files from these game engines. Admittedly some have flaws and sour notes due to limitations but all in all most of the music created with them are really good.
I like hearing covers of one game's tracks in another game engine. Just when you think you've played out a track, suddenly you hear a new version and it rocks again.
@hexed777 still does
@@GTA2SWcity Nowaday alot of people are restoring or remaking them as an uncompressed version and it sound so good...
Thanks to Sony's sound chip.
With DKC2, I'm still amazed that David Wise composed one of the greatest video game soundtracks of all time... BY HIMSELF!
Hot Head Bop, Primal Rave, Bayou Boogie, Krook's March, Forest Interlude, Sticker Bush Symphony, and Crocodile Cacophony...
All these iconic pieces done by one brilliant man!
Wise is such a musical prodigy, and he seriously needs more love in this day and age!
Mining Melancholy, Forest Interlude, Aquatic Ambience, Stickerbrush Symphony among others, they are a beauty for the ear. It is incredible that David Wise himself said that his favorite of all is Seashore War. Spectacular creation!
In my opinion, the Donkey Kong Country trilogy is one of the greatest achievements in video game history. The soundtracks are just superb! Also, his work on Star Fox Adventures was excellent. Truly a great composer in Video Games.
My dream is for David Wise to one day get to compose a big rpg where he can really go bonkers and wild with the styles.
Imagine David doing a Zelda game
@@jonathanc2959 sounds strange but I think it would work ❤
Stop!!
I can only get so erect...
This was an INSANELY good interview. So many questions that were exactly things I always wanted to ask him myself, that doesn't happen everyday.
21:10 It's fascinating how many preferences and passions are developed at an early age. I was about 8 years old when I played DKC and I am 100% sure that my love for percussion instruments is all thanks to this man. In fact I am such a huge fan of the old DKC 1 and 2 soundtracks that I still keep shedding tears of joy and nostalgia when I listen to them, now in my mid-30s.
Wow, this was an incredible interview! I just wish that you had played Stickerbush Symphony, I would have loved to hear David Wise talk about his inspirations for that piece.
saaaame it is a deceptively simple piece, but it works too well
Literally timeless soundtracks, I've been listening to them for 25+ years now
The GOD himself! Favorite composer! My personal favorite soundtracks are tropical Freeze and DKC 2! The Legend Continues!
Favorite composer of all time. I know folks adore the SNES trilogy OST, and I do as well, but if you have not listened to Tropical Freeze yet do so right away. Even as someone who grew up with the original DKC and listen to it religiously, I think TF is his greatest album yet. Deep Keep, Seashore War, Windmill Hills, Busted Bayou, Funky Waters, Irate Eight - just brilliant. Also his songs on Yooka Laylee, especially Jungle Challenge and Minecart Theme are outstanding. Snake Pass and Tengami also will make you very happy. Thank you David Wise for making pure joy and magic.
Yooka Laylee
Getting goosebumps hearing David talk about Aquatic Ambiance with while listening to it. My favorite DKC track!
43:20 I'm glad Wise thinks Seashore War is his best piece, because so do I!
My fave is actually Homecoming Hijinx
LoaMcLoa Not even close. His best work is on dkc 2.
@@jmiami89 You haven't heard Harvest Hazard, I can tell.
@@jmiami89 he literally said it's his favorite piece tho
@@jmiami89 you haven’t heard funky waters, or frosty fruits
23:20 I love how he just blurted out the direct inspiration and now I’ll always listen to this differently. He also admitted on Twitter that Bayou Boogie was a direct rip of In The Air Tonight. Imitation is the best form of flattery and David Wise does it with class and makes the DKC games amazing to play at the same time.
Dave is awesome. I am a fan due to the ost DK, but his personality makes us even more fan..
Greetings from Brazil..
His music don't need visuals, he is a musical genius
Nice that his favorite is Seashore War, that's easily his best work.
Aquatic Ambiance is a very close second, or maybe they're tied I'm not sure.
I would add stickerbush symphony in there to be a top 3 but i don't know the order
DKC is my favorite game series and I wasn’t born early enough to experience it on release but it’s still magical even playing it today. David Wise made it so amazing that 30 years later you can still feel the magic
That word magic is applied mostly to super Nintendo
I feel like super Nintendo was magic at the time and still is lol
Thanks for all the beautiful memories, David Wise.
Great to find out that he's such a modest, unassuming person. Thank you for all the memories, David!
hearing my favourite donkey kong soundtracks and hearing his opinion to it. This is emotional to me as this is one of my favourite games next to super mario as it was one of my first snes games. So good.
This man is a legend that will live on for decades to come
Favorite VG composer by far. He's a musical genius.
I'll enjoy everything David Wise ever does. Including this interview!
He did the soundtrack for DKR on the N64 as well. A lot of people don't realise that.
His music has been so amazing to me since day one. When I got DK2 when I was 11, I recorded all the songs onto a cassette from the TV speakers so I would have them for life. When I was 11, first of all I didn’t think the game or system would still be working so I would have lost those songs forever, plus, I could never have predicted the internet would make it so easy to hear them whenever I wanted. I’m still glad I made that tape though, there’s a little bit of talking on it if me and my brother while making it. He played the game and I ran the tape deck lol. It’s pretty amusing now, almost 30 years later.
Its been so great to be able to know a bit more from the composer itself, what a beautiful work he’s made. Videogames music is such a special genre.
I prefer vg music over mainstream music.
Dave Wise is my personal hero, forget the majesty of DKC hes done great work everywhere hes worked, iron sword, that tarot game, even how he got discovered, it's all so magic. I was never a fan of kirkhope and miss having Daves melancholy genius color in the games I love. I used to hum kannons klaim to myself as a kid when i was sleepy, i didnt have a snes, and hadnt played dck2 yet. But I had heard it once in passing at someones house, and remembered it for years, his work has always stood out to me. Iron sword twos shop theme, i still tear up when i hear it, guys an absolute beast, and my favorite composer, i put him before kondo.
Thank you for the many great memories, and getting me into music through trying to learn how to play your pieces, you're the best there ever was Dave.
The creator of the best videogame score
Together with Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
Zelda3 on SNES is best!
Thank you David. Grown up with your music and still go back for inspiration.
I remember renting DKC and really digging the music and I thought I was the only one. The fear factory and forest frenzy music were my absolute favorites hands down!
I hope david wise never retires. I love his music!
I read in an interview a few years back that Seashore War was Wise's favorite track.
I never really liked it before, but then after hearing that, I decided... maybe I should listen to it again.
And it's been one of my favorite songs of all time since then. Outstanding.
Fruity Factory is probably my favourite from Tropical Freeze. Seashore War is gorgeous though.
@@BDaMonkey Hey, someone else thinks that! Besides maybe Deep keep and amiss abyss, no track can compete in my opinion.
@@legrandliseurtri7495 Another man with exceptional taste in music 😂👍
This is a SUPER interview - & I've seen a lot!
This man is a legend. His musics helped me a lot during some times were i was in troubles.
This guy gave me some of the most memorable moments of my childhood . When i hear he’s music on dkc it takes me back to a magical time of my life
The songs of DKC will always be some of my favorites to cover! David Wise's music is so ingrained in me from childhood!
I always thought the tropical freeze had the best soundtrack and I am even happier that David Wise agrees.
Love this music glad this interview was done. He needs his flowers. being a 90’s baby going on 32 now &!going through so much in life but for me having my snes and playing this is like a time machine takes me back to good times as a kid 😢
Nobody has ever gotten close to the magic that David Wise or Koji Kondo have been able to create for games. Enough to make a grown man emotional!
Dope interview. I always wondered what happened to this guy. Dude is truly a legend.
I never noticed the Iron Maiden inspiration for Gangplank Galleon, but now I can't help but hear the trooper or aces high.
Aquatic Ambience is the most beautiful composition in video game history. I was a kid playing DKC, and I'm now 45 and still listen to that composition.
Listening to Gangplank Galleon with David at 23:20 and saying to myself "man, this sounds an awful lot like power metal!" and him saying Iron Maiden inspired the tune got me super excited
Phenomenal interview. David provided some excellent insights, and it was really fun to hear him talk about a handful of classic tracks from the DKC series. As an added bonus, I hadn't heard of Tamarin before today, so this prompted me to check out the trailer, which prompted me to immediately preorder it as a fan of Jet Force Gemini and David's music. This is one of my favorite interviews from the GI show. Great job all around!
The DKC soundtrack inspires me a lot, actually I listen to it more than any other game series (it never gets old). I loved the interview and am thankful for it, but would have liked to see a sticker bush symphony dissection :P as well.
I'm referencing interviews with David Wise for my senior project that focuses on music composition for video games. Aside from how much incredible music Wise has provided us with, I find this interview really insightful to his mentality and work ethic while working on his various games. I really like that despite refraining from listening to his old music for subsequent titles in the same series, he can stay consistent just by gathering inspiration from what's around him at the current time. That shows real expertise in his craft and keeping his personal style dialed in.
David Wise is such a nice guy, actually will like if you tweet to him.
I am playing through Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair and that game wouldn't be amazing without his music putting personality and ambience in every level
David Wise, thank you very much, from your fan from Brazil, here you are a legend, and I think for the rest of the world too
Thanks for this great interview. Wise is one of my favorite composers and such a great guy. You should do one with Kirkhope next!
Love the DKC soundtracks. I regularly play the full soundtracks from DKC1 to 3. I was secretly hoping you would play stickerbush symphony. Also was hoping that there was a soundtrack CD that I could've bought. Looking forward to 2020 project.
Me too I was also hoping for stickerbush! But that's okay, I loved hearing him chat about aquatic ambiance.
check out the overclocked remixes
a splendid lovely down to earth sort is David Wise. Obviously incredibly talented but also very modest which is probably why he's done so well
I love all music from DCK 1, 2 and some from 3. Master Wise is a real genius of our time.
Note to Leo and Ben:
When David's voice got cut off when you were playing music that was because the music went to him, he listened to you loud and the music got back into his microphone feed so it caused some disturbance I think. Skype sometimes does that when the microphone picks up on one side, mutes the other to not have crosstalk or something. In short, David's voice got cut off because of the music and not because of network issues I think.
if only they had a musician interview him because there's a lot of questions he ends up raising in the interview combined with the ones we all already have
Diddy Kong Racing has one of the most memorable soundtracks I know
Great interview. I wish I had known this was uploaded years ago. I hold David Wise on the same level as other legendary video game composers: Grant Kirkhope, Koji Kondo, Tim Follin, Yoko Shimomura, Jeremy Soule, Yasunori Mitsuda, Kenta Nagata, Harry Gregson-Williams, Akira Yamaoka, Marty O'Donnell, Kinuyo Yamashita and Nobuo Uematsu.
Great interview! Excellent questions and David Wise is a true gent.
Every single song is such a banger. Wonderful work. Amazing video. Incredible man David.
that man is hella talented much respect he made my child hood what that donky kong game music and stuff
Fear factory and Disco train is one of his best sad they were not mentioned here
One year on...
You really should reconsider calling your album 2020 D=
What an awesome interview! Love the explanation of the Korg wave and synthesizer inspiration to make the amazing samples!
Thank you sir for the timeless music. The three Donkey Kong games are my childhood and your songs are part of my soul.
This is the single best interview with a video game composer of all time
The Donkey Kong games are my favorite games of all time and is also why I play guitar, violin, piano, bass and trumpet
So nice, i impressed that David's actual inspiration for most brutal music is old Russian composers haha, now i see why it's sounds motherland so much and march'y.
The Diddy Kong Racing soundtrack is kickass too.
Greatest video game composer of all-time and it isn't close.
Great interviewer btw.
The first 13 seconds of Gangplank Galleon are off the charts!
David wise has all my respect! He can compose a soundtrack to my life 🔥
I actually really loved this interview! Thanks!
Top 10 greatest DK songs of all time:
#10 Fear Factory
#9 Rockface Rumble
#8 Life in the Mines
#7 Krook’s March
#6 Mining Melancholy
#5 Aquatic Ambience
#4 Forest Interlude
#3 Stickerbush Symphony
#2 Homecoming Hijinx
#1 Amiss Abyss
Honorable mention:
In a Snow-Bound Land
THANK YOU DAVID WISE!!! 🎶 🐒
My heart went off when he said he wanted to work on Zelda and MGS
Great interview, Ben! I like the format.
Amazing interview. Great questions. This guy is a legend. Loved this.
This was classic. Amazing interview.
So funny to see them sitting completely still to such catchy songs
David Wise is probably the GOAT of video game music!
🐬🐟🦈🐒
Some of my favorite soundtracks on the NES are by this guy.
Thank you for inspiring me to write music again!
Thanks man dk trilogy growing up was amazing much love from texas
I think music was (and still is to a degree) generally underappreciated in games, and I think Wise increased the general appreciation of it.
This man is an absolute genius. A sorcerer of sound.
David Wise is a master of his craft. A true hero.