David Whittaker

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David Whittaker
David Whittaker.jpg
Born 1957-04-24
Birth Place Bury, Lancashire, England
Nationality British   UK.svg
Aliases D. Whittaker
Dave Whittaker
David Whitaker
Dave Whitaker
D. Whitaker
DialogueGuru
David Whittaker Using Quartet
Enigma Variations
Dark Techs
Website youtube.com/user/dialogueguru

David Whittaker is a British video game musician. He is one of the most popular video game musicians in the world. He is known for composing such gems as Lazy Jones, Shadow of the Beast and Glider Rider, which are the top soundtracks that made him popular. Whittaker has scored around 100 video games on many platforms each, probably more than any other video game musician.

Whittaker attended local Derby Grammar School. His favorite subjects were French and geography, but not music because there was much more history than theory and practice. After leaving school, he had 14 full-time jobs, including electronics assembly, office work, forklift driving, cloth dyeing, and making cardboard tubes. Musically, he started out performing on keyboard and vocals full-time in Clive Farrington's New Romantic band Beau Leisure, which got quite well-known around Altrincham, Greater Manchester, but never made money. Whittaker also plays a Strat, an Ovation, has been a DJ and met Kraftwerk in Liverpool, Merseyside, in 1981.

In February 1982, aged 24, he read about the Sinclair ZX81, but could not afford £80. Instead, he bought a Commodore VIC-20 and paid in installments, starting with £10-£20. He learned BASIC programming from the manual and started programming games for Mr. Micro using a machine code monitor. As his game music was better than that by other programmers, music became a full-time job. He bought a Commodore 64 from Mr. Micro, went to Terminal Software, then freelance, then Terminal's successor Binary Design full-time, and then founded Musicon Design. From that point on, he was sometimes offered so many game music jobs that he had to decline and have given to Rob Hubbard and other composers.

He was the main composer and sound designer for various developers such as Audiogenic and Bits Stuios, the former in which he was on great terms with. According to Whittaker, he was always asked by companies to produce music, as he never contacted them about doing music for a game. Whittaker also said he could do an entire soundtrack, sound effects included, in less than a day. He also considers his ability of doing music for many platforms at the time his reason for being hired for many projects. Whittaker was usually good about lending his sound drivers to other companies, but some also used them without permission. In 1999, Zombie Nation, a techno group, stole David Whittaker's Lazy Jones tune for their single Kernkraft 400. When Whittaker called them up, they apologized and paid him £9000 to use his song, which he claims was more than he got paid for the game.

In January 1993, Hubbard worked for Electronic Arts in the USA and phoned Whittaker. EA desperately needed a Genesis and SNES sound designer. In March, Whittaker went to an interview, and on June 29, his wife and he moved to the USA and got a mansion. Around March 1997, he switched to dialog scripting, directing, recording and editing which he currently does with Traveller's Tales. All the time, though, his wife and he were homesick, and when EA laid off a third in February 2001, Whittaker decided they move back to his hometown, which they did in July.

While some fans call him the best SID composer, Whittaker has only claimed to be the most "prolific", having scored more games than any other video game musician at the time, and believes that Rob Hubbard is truly the best. 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. When asked in 1986, he said he is the nephew of Roger Whittaker.

When asked if he would return to video game music, Whittaker said he would not, as he no longer writes music.

Music Development

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. This was probably because of the difficulty of having to write most of his music in machine code.

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

Whittaker coded his own sound driver and wrote the music in assembly.

For Loopz, he used Quartet, which utilized digitized instruments, resulting in the music sounding identical to the Amiga version.

Commodore 64

Whittaker composed on a Yamaha CX5M, a Casio CZ-230S, and a Roland 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. When Dark Technologies developed The Lion King (GB), they used Whittaker's sound engine without his permission.

Game Gear/Sega Master System

Whittaker 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.

Genesis

Because David Whittaker wasn't familiar with FM synthesis, he used Don Veca's sound driver. He created MIDI files in an unknown sequencer which were converted into Veca's driver.

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. Whittaker licensed his audio driver to Manfred Trenz for him to use in his Super Turrican (NES). The sound driver was later modified and used by Trenz to compose music. Whittaker's driver was also used by Dark Technologies for their only NES title The Lion King. However, Whittaker says that he didn't give them permission to use their driver and that he didn't lend it to them.

SNES

Whittaker wrote his own audio driver in 65C816 assembly. His instruments were sampled from his Amiga samples from the Korg M1. He would sell his sound driver to companies like Psygnosis for £5000. He lent his sound driver to the Japanese developer Imagineer.

Gameography

Released Title Sample Notes
1983-??-?? Humphrey (C64)
1983-??-?? Star Wars (C64)
1985-??-?? Tetris (AST)
198?-??-?? Tetris (AMI)
1985-??-?? Tetris (BBC)
1986-1?-?? 180 (C64)
Composer?
1986-1?-?? Xeno (C64) Sound Effect Driver.
1986-??-?? 180 (A8)
Composer?
1986-??-?? 180 (CPC) Composer? Arranged by Jason Brooke
1986-??-?? 180 (ZXS)
Composer? Arranger?
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) Sound Effects.
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)
1987-07-?? Cosmonut (C64)
1987-0?-?? Shadow Skimmer (C64)
Sound Effects and unused early version of Cosmonut (C64).
1987-??-?? 180 (MSX) Composer? Arranger?
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-??-?? Feud (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) Composed by Jonathan Dunn
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)
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)
1988-0?-?? World Darts (AMI) Composer? Arranged by Jason Brooke
1988-0?-?? World Darts (AST) Composer? Arranged by Jason Brooke
1988-??-?? Advanced Pinball Simulator (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Alien Syndrome (AMI)
1988-??-?? ATV Simulator (CPC)
1988-??-?? Beyond the Ice Palace (AMI)
1988-??-?? Beyond the Ice Palace (CPC)
1988-??-?? Beyond the Ice Palace (ZXS)
1988-??-?? BMX Simulator 2 (CPC)
1988-??-?? Circus Games (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-??-?? Pandora (AMI)
1988-??-?? Platoon (ZXS)
1988-??-?? Professional BMX Simulator (ZXS)
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 (CPC)
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-??-?? Beverly Hills Cop (C64)
Arranged Harold Faltermeyer's Alex F.
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)
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 (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-??-?? Wonder Boy in Monster Land (AMI)
1989-??-?? Wonder Boy 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)
198?-??-?? World Darts (ARC) Composer? Arranged by Jason Brooke
198?-??-?? World Darts (DOS) Composer? Arranger?
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 (AST)
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-??-?? Golden Axe (AMI)
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)
Arranged Aidan Bell and Johann Strauss II's music. Composed Game Theme.
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-??-?? Supaplex (AMI)
1991-??-?? Supaplex (DOS)
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) (キョロちゃん ランド)
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 (TGCD)
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-??-?? The Lawnmower Man (SNES) Music Software
1993-??-?? Populous Gaiden (GB)
1993-??-?? Riddick Bowe's Boxing (GG) (リディック・ボウ ボクシング) Music arranged by Shaka.
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) Arranged Paul Webb's music from the NES version
1993-05-28 Populous (GB)
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. Music arranged by Amy Bamberger.
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) Music arranged by Mark Knight.
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
1995-??-?? NHL 96 (GEN)
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) Audio Director
2005-11-14 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (PS2)
2009-05-07 Infection (C64)
Unreleased 007: License to Kill (NES)
Unreleased Batman: Revenge of the Joker (SNES)
Unreleased Ferrari Grand Prix (NES)
Unreleased Infection (CPC)
Unreleased Infection (ZXS)
Unreleased Populous (NES)
Unreleased Tip-Off (NES)
Unreleased Yogi Bear's Goldrush (GG) Sound Driver

Aliases

In The Flintstones (GB), he is credited under his employer "Enigma Variations".

Picture Gallery

Links