David Whittaker

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David Whittaker
David Whittaker - 05.jpg
Born April 24, 1957 (Age 55)
Birth Place Bury, England
Nationality British   UK.svg
Aliases
  • D. Whittaker
  • Dave Whittaker
  • David Whitaker
  • Dave Whitaker
  • D. Whitaker
  • DialogueGuru
  • David Whittaker Using Quartet
Website youtube.com/user/dialogueguru

David Whittaker is a British musician who was born on April 24, 1957 in Bury, England. He is one of the most popular video game musicians in the world. He is known for composing such gems as Lazy Jones and Shadow of the Beast, which are the top soundtracks that made him popular. Glider Rider is also another one of his popular works. Also, he has probably done more game soundtracks than any other video game musician. Sometimes he was offered so many jobs to do music for games, he would sometimes have to decline and have the jobs given to other composers. David started to compose game music at age 24. According to Whittaker, he claims to have done about 100 game soundtracks for just about every computer and over 400 Commodore 64 soundtracks. He started out playing in a band called Beu Leisure, which he says got quite well known around Altricham. After he bought a Commodore VIC-20, he started to program on it, which he said led him to Mr. Micro and music programming. After some time, it became a full time job for him because he excelled at game music more than other programmers at the time. He was the main composer and sound designer for various developers such as Audiogenic and B.I.T.S.

While Whittaker no longer composes or programs, he still works on video games, doing speech dialogue editing/recording formerly with Electronic Arts and currently with Traveller's Tales. He got the job at E.A. from a call from Rob Hubbard telling him they needed a sound designer, so David lived in the US at that time and got a mansion there. David eventually moved back to the UK since he wasn't pleased with the U.S. economy and he was a little homesick. While some fans call him the best SID composer, Whittaker claims that Rob Hubbard is truly the best, and he's just the most peripheral audio designer in the industry. His favorite computers that he liked to compose on were the Commodore 64 and the Commodore Amiga, with the Commodore VIC-20 being his least favorite. Whittaker says he appreciates the fans' support over the years.

Whittaker was usually good about lending his music engines to other companies. When Manfred Trenz was developing the NES version of Turrican, Whittaker let him use his music engine, which was then modified by Trenz himself. In the SNES era, he lent his sound driver to the Japanese developer Imagineer.

When Dark Technologies developed the NES and Game Boy versions of The Lion King, they used David's sound engine without his permission.

In 1999, ZombieNation, a video game music remix group, stole David Whittaker's Lazy Jones tune for the Kernkraft 400. This got David's attention and he didn't approve, so when he called them up, they apologized about it and paid him 9000 GBP to use his song, which he claims he was paid more by ZombieNation than he got paid for the game.

Whittaker also composed the music for some unreleased games including NES ports of Populous and Tip-Off, a basketball game.


Music Composition

Whittaker has been notorious for copying and pasting his music and transposing it to a different key. This is especially true in his NES soundtracks.

Amiga

He wrote his own audio driver which used a form of Music Macro Language. Whittaker said his instrument samples were taken from his Korg M1, a popular keyboard at the time, and also programmed some waveforms of his own.

Atari ST

The Atari ST version of Loopz says Whittaker used Quartet, a popular music program for the Atari ST. Whittaker probably used this method for all (if not some) of his games, though he also probably coded his own sound engine.

Commodore 64

In an interview, David Whittaker said he used a Yamaha CX5 and Jupiter 6. He then wrote his own audio driver in assembly and programmed his music.

Game Boy

Whittaker converted his NES music to the Game Boy using his own audio driver. The music was written in assembly.

Game Gear/Sega Master System

David created a sound engine and wrote the music in assembly. Because David Whittaker did not know FM synthesis programming, he never made a sound engine for the Genesis/Mega Drive.

NES

Whittaker converted his Commodore 64 sound driver to work on the NES. Not too difficult since they both used the same assembly language, but he had to account for the difference between the Commodore's SID chip, and the NES chip. Whittaker arranged Neuromantic Productions music in many ports of Krusty's Fun House. David was known for lending out his driver to companies that needed it. Whittaker licensed his audio driver to Manfred Trenz for him to use in his Super Turrican NES game. The sound driver was later modified and used by Manfred to compose music. David also lent his driver out to Virgin Interactive for use in their Lion King game for the NES and Gam eBoy.

SNES

David wrote his own audio driver in assembly. His instruments were sampled from his Amiga samples from the Korg M1.


Gameography

Released

Title

Sample

Unreleased 007: License to Kill (NES)
Unreleased Batman: Revenge of the Joker (SNES)
Unreleased Infection (CPC)
Unreleased Infection (ZXS)
Unreleased Populous (NES)
Unreleased Tip-Off (NES)
1983-??-?? Star Wars (C64)
1985-??-?? Tetris (AST)
198?-??-?? Tetris (AMI)
1985-??-?? Tetris (BBC)
1986-??-?? 180 (C64)
1986-??-?? 180 (ZXS)
1986-??-?? Defcom (CPC)
1986-??-?? Defcom (ZXS)
1986-??-?? Ghosts'N Goblins (CPC)
1986-??-?? Glider Rider (CPC)
1986-??-?? Glider Rider (ZXS)
1986-??-?? Hyperbowl (CPC)
1986-??-?? Jail Break (CPC)
1986-??-?? Max Headroom (ZXS)
1986-??-?? Sanxion (C64)
1986-??-?? Split Personalities (C64)
1986-??-?? Split Personalities (ZXS)
1986-??-?? Splittling Images (ZXS)
1986-??-?? Storm (C64)
1986-??-?? Storm (CPC)
1986-??-?? Storm (MSX)
1986-??-?? Street Surfer (C64)
1986-??-?? Terra Cognita (CPC)
1986-??-?? Zub (CPC)
1986-??-?? Zub (C64)
1986-??-?? Zub (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Amaurote (CPC)
1987-??-?? Amaurote (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Armageddon (C64)
1987-??-?? ATV Simulator (ZXS)
1987-??-?? BMX Simulator (CPC)
1987-??-?? BraveStarr (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Championship Jet Ski Simulator (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Combat School (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Elevator Action (CPC)
1987-??-?? Elevator Action (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Fued (CPC)
1987-??-?? Fruit Machine Simulator (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Ghost Hunters (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Grand Prix Simulator (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Grange Hill (CPC)
1987-??-?? Grange Hill (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Hades Nebula (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Leviathan (CPC)
1987-??-?? Leviathan (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Milk Race (CPC)
1987-??-?? Milk Race (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Platoon (CPC)
1987-??-?? Quartet (C64)
1987-??-?? Rygar (C64)
1987-??-?? Solomon's Key (AST)
1987-??-?? Solomon's Key (C64)
1987-??-?? Solomon's Key (CPC)
1987-??-?? Spore (C64)
1987-??-?? Star Trek: The Rebel Universe (AST)
1987-??-?? Star Wars (CPC)
1987-??-?? Star Wars (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Stormbringer (C64)
1987-??-?? Stormbringer (CPC)
1987-??-?? Stormbringer (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Super G-Man (C64)
1987-??-?? Super G-Man (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Super Robin Hood (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Super Stuntman (CPC)
1987-??-?? Terra Cognita (C64)
1987-??-?? Tetris (CPC)
1987-??-?? The Island of Dr. Destructo (C64)
1987-??-?? The Living Daylights (C64)
1987-??-?? The Living Daylights (CPC)
1987-??-?? The Living Daylights (ZXS)
1987-??-?? The Sentinel (AMI)
1987-??-?? The Tube (C64)
1987-??-?? The Tube (ZXS)
1987-??-?? The Wizard's Pet (C64)
1987-??-?? Transmuter (CPC)
1987-??-?? Transmuter (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Trantor: The Last Storm Trooper (C64)
1987-??-?? Trantor: The Last Storm Trooper (CPC)
1987-??-?? Trantor: The Last Storm Trooper (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Treasure Island Dizzy (ZXS)
1987-??-?? Vampire (C64)
1988-??-?? Advanced Pinball Simulator (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Alien Syndrome (AMI)
1988-??-?? ATV Simulator (CPC)
1988-??-?? Beyond The Ice Palace (CPC)
1988-??-?? Beyond The Ice Palace (ZXS)
1988-??-?? BMX Simulator 2 (CPC)
1988-??-?? Circus Games (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Dynamic Duo (CPC)
1988-??-?? Garfield: Big, Fat, Hairy Deal (AMI)
1988-??-?? Garfield: Big, Fat, Hairy Deal (CPC)
1988-??-?? Garfield: Big, Fat, Hairy Deal (AST)
1988-??-?? International Rugby Simulator (CPC)
1988-??-?? International Rugby Simulator (ZXS)
1988-??-?? International Speedway (CPC)
1988-??-?? International Speedway (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Jet Ski Simulator (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Quadralien (AMI)
1988-??-?? Platoon (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Professional BMX Simulator (ZXS)
1989-??-?? SAS Combat Simulator (CPC)
1988-??-?? Shadow Skimmer (CPC)
1988-??-?? Spitting Image (C64)
1988-??-?? Spitting Image (CPC)
1988-??-?? Spitting Image (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Spore (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Star Trek: The Rebel Universe (C64)
1988-??-?? Star Trek: The Rebel Universe (DOS)
1988-??-?? Star Wars Droids (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (C64)
1988-??-?? Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (CPC)
1988-??-?? Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Super Stuntman (C64)
1988-??-?? Super Stuntman (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Tetris (ZXS)
1988-??-?? The Race Against Time (CPC)
1988-??-?? The Race Against Time (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Treasure Island Dizzy (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Wonder Boy in Monster Land (SMS)
1988-??-?? Xenon (CPC)
1988-??-?? Xenon (ZXS)
1988-??-?? War Cars Construction Kit (C64)
1988-01-01 Fright Night (AMI)
1989-??-?? 4 Soccer Simulators (C64)
1989-??-?? 4 Soccer Simulators (CPC)
1989-??-?? 4 Soccer Simulators (ZXS)
1989-??-?? A.P.B. - All Points Bulletin (AMI)
1989-??-?? A.P.B. - All Points Bulletin (CPC)
1989-??-?? A.P.B. - All Points Bulletin (DOS)
1989-??-?? A.P.B. - All Points Bulletin (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Arcade Flight Simulator (CPC)
1989-??-?? Arcade Flight Simulator (ZXS)
1989-??-?? BMX Freestyle Simulator (CPC)
1989-??-?? BMX Freestyle Simulator (ZXS)
1989-??-?? BMX Simulator 2 (CPC)
1989-??-?? BMX Simulator 2 (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Bronx Street Cop (CPC)
1989-??-?? Bronx Street Cop (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Captain Fizz (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Circus Games (CPC)
1989-??-?? Death Stalker (CPC)
1989-??-?? Death Stalker (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Fantasy World Dizzy (CPC)
1989-??-?? Fantasy World Dizzy (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Fast Food (ZXS)
1989-??-?? First Person Pinball (AMI)
1989-??-?? First Person Pinball (AST)
1989-??-?? Ghostbusters II (CPC)
1989-??-?? Ghostbusters II (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Gilbert: Escape from Drill (CPC)
1989-??-?? Gilbert: Escape from Drill (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Grand Prix Simulator 2 (CPC)
1989-??-?? Grand Prix Simulator 2 (ZXS)
1989-??-?? High Steel (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Jaws (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Jungle Warfare (ZXS)
1989-??-?? KGB Superspy (ZXS)
1989-??-?? 007: License to Kill (AMI)
1989-??-?? 007: License to Kill (AST)
1989-??-?? 007: License to Kill (BBC)
1989-??-?? 007: License to Kill (C64)
1989-??-?? 007: License to Kill (CPC)
1989-??-?? 007: License to Kill (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Monte Carlo Casino (CPC)
1989-??-?? Monte Carlo Casino (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Moto Cross Simulator (CPC)
1989-??-?? Moto Cross Simulator (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Mr. Heli (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Ninja Massacre (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Operation Gunship (CPC)
1989-??-?? Operation Gunship (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Pro Skateboard Simulator (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Pub Trivia (CPC)
1989-??-?? SAS Combat Simulator (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Shadow of the Beast (AMI)
1989-??-?? Snoopy and Peanuts (AMI)
1989-??-?? Snoopy and Peanuts (DOS)
1989-??-?? Sporting Triangles (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Street Gang Football (CPC)
1989-??-?? Super Car Trans Am (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Superman - Man of Steel (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Super Wonderboy In Monster Land (CPC)
1989-??-?? The Real Ghostbusters (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Treasure Island Dizzy (ZXS)
1989-??-?? Turbo Chopper Simulator (CPC)
1989-??-?? Weird Dreams (AMI)
1989-??-?? Weird Dreams (AST)
1989-??-?? Weird Dreams (DOS) PC Speaker Music
1989-??-?? Xenon 2: Megablast (AMI)
1989-04-20 007: License to Kill (DOS)
1990-??-?? Australian Games (CPC)
1990-??-?? Australian Games (ZXS)
1990-??-?? Back to the Future Part II (AST)
1990-??-?? Back to the Future Part II (C64)
1990-??-?? Back to the Future Part II (CPC)
1990-??-?? Back to the Future Part II (DOS)
1990-??-?? Back to the Future Part II (SMS)
1990-??-?? Back to the Future Part II (ZXS)
1990-??-?? Beverly Hills Cop (CPC)
1990-??-?? Beverly Hills Cop (ZXS)
1990-??-?? Chip's Challenge (CPC)
1990-??-?? Chip's Challenge (ZXS)
1990-??-?? Dan Dare III: The Escape (ZXS)
1990-??-?? Emlyn Hughes Arcade Quiz (CPC)
1990-??-?? Emlyn Hughes Arcade Quiz (ZXS)
1990-??-?? Fruit Machine Simulator 2 (CPC)
1990-??-?? Fruit Machine Simulator 2 (ZXS)
1990-??-?? Gazza II (CPC)
1990-??-?? Gazza II (ZXS)
1990-??-?? Loopz (AMI)
1990-??-?? Loopz (AST)
1990-??-?? Loopz (DOS)
1990-??-?? Rad Ramp Racer (ZXS)
1990-??-?? Pub Trivia (ZXS)
1990-??-?? Snowstrike (CPC)
1990-??-?? Snowstrike (ZXS)
1990-??-?? Speedball (SMS)
1990-??-?? Total Recall (AST)
1990-10-?? Loopz (NES)
1990-12-?? Chase H.Q. (GB)
1991-??-?? 10 Great Games (AMI)
1991-??-?? Elite (NES)
1991-??-?? Exterminator (CPC)
1991-??-?? Exterminator (ZXS)
1991-??-?? Extreme (ZXS)
1991-??-?? Helter Skelter (ZXS)
1991-??-?? Lone Wolf - The Mirror of Death (ZXS)
1991-??-?? Loopz (C64)
1991-??-?? Loopz (CPC)
1991-??-?? Loopz (ZXS)
1991-??-?? Sky High Stuntman (ZXS)
1991-??-?? Soccer Pinball (CPC)
1991-??-?? World Class Rugby (AMI)
1991-??-?? World Class Rugby (CPC)
1991-??-?? World Class Rugby (ZXS)
1991-??-?? Wrath of the Demon (C64)
1991-??-?? Wrath of the Demon (AMI)
1991-??-?? Xenon 2: Megablast (SMS)
1991-03-?? Loopz (GB)
1991-05-?? Castelian (GB) (キョロちゃん ランド)
1991-05-?? R-Type (GB)
1991-06-?? Castelian (NES)
1991-12-?? Faceball 2000 (GB)
1992-??-?? Krusty's Fun House (GG) Music Programming
1992-??-?? Krusty's Fun House (SMS) Music Programming
1992-??-?? R-Type II (GB)
1992-??-?? Shadow of the Beast (SMS)
1992-??-?? Soccer Pinball (ZXS)
1992-??-?? Speedball (SMS)
1992-??-?? Speedball 2 (SMS)
1992-??-?? Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six (SMS)
1992-01-?? Terminator 2: Judgement Day (GB)
1992-02-?? Days of Thunder (GB)
1992-06-?? Krusty's Super Fun House (SNES) (クリスティーワールド) Music Programming
1992-08-?? The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (GB)
1992-09-?? Krusty's Fun House (NES) Music Programming
1992-10-?? Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six (NES)
1992-10-?? Xenon 2: Megablast (GB)
1992-11-?? Firepower 2000 (SNES) (スーパー SWIV)
1992-12-?? Gods (SNES)
1992-12-25 Kick Off (SNES) (スーパーキックオフ)
1993-??-?? Alfred Chicken (AMI)
1993-??-?? Alfred Chicken (CD32)
1993-??-?? Alfred Chicken (GB)
1993-??-?? Alfred Chicken (NES)
1993-??-?? Camp California (TCD)
1993-??-?? F-117 Night Storm (GEN)
1993-??-?? GB Basketball (GB)
1993-??-?? Krusty's Super Fun House (AMI)
1993-??-?? Krusty's Super Fun House (DOS)
1993-??-?? Populous Gaiden (GB)
1993-??-?? Riddick Bowe's Boxing (GG) (リディック・ボウ ボクシング)
1993-??-?? Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six (GG)
1993-??-?? Splitz (GB) (スプリッツ 似顔絵15ゲーム)
1993-??-?? Tip-Off (GB) (GBバスケットボール)
1993-01-?? Alien³ (GB)
1993-01-?? Krusty's Fun House (GB) Music Programming
1993-01-?? Race Drivin' (GB)
1993-01-29 World Class Rugby (SNES) (ワールドクラスラグビー)
1993-05-19 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (GB)
1993-05-28 Populous (GB)
1993-06-?? B.O.B. (SNES) (スペースファンキー:ビー・オー・ビー) Sound Driver
1993-07-22 Super Turrican (NES) Sound Driver
1993-12-?? Battle Cars (SNES)
1993-12-17 Faceball 2000 (GG)
1994-??-?? The Flintstones (GB)
1994-??-?? Riddick Bowe's Boxing (GB) Composer
1994-01-?? Riddick Bowe's Boxing (SNES)
1994-??-?? Sesame Street Counting Cafe (GEN) Sound Effects Design
1994-??-?? Shaq Fu (SNES) Sound Driver
1994-02-?? Super Alfred Chicken (SNES)
1994-04-?? Dream TV (SNES)
1994-05-25 The Lion King (NES) Sound Driver
1994-09-?? Alien Olympics 2044 AD (GB) Sound Driver
1994-11-?? Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City (SNES)
1994-12-08 The Lion King (GB) Sound Driver
1996-01-04 Road Rash (SS)
1996-03-?? Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger (PSX)
1999-06-?? R-Type DX (GBC)
2000-05-03 Chase H.Q.: Secret Police (GBC)
2000-11-01 007: The World is Not Enough (N64)
2005-11-14 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (PS2)

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