He has composed and arranged music for many films, including North Country (2005), Brokeback Mountain (2005), August: Osage County (2013), Annie (2014), Foxcatcher (2014), Rock of Ages (2012), Dreamgirls (2006), and Joy (2015).

He has also worked on over 450 gold and platinum albums by artists of a wide range of genres, including The Rolling Stones, Neil Diamond, Metallica, Radiohead, Evanescence, Rush, Beyoncé, Muse, Michael Jackson, Aaliyah, Ariana Grande, Harry Styles, Aerosmith, Juanes, Garth Brooks, and various albums by his son Beck.

His father, D. Warren Campbell, was from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was attending seminary in Toronto in order to become a Presbyterian minister.

[3][5][6] Since then, he has gone on to arrange songs for such artists as Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Dream Theater, Metallica, Paul McCartney, Radiohead, Jessie J, Juanes, Tim McGraw, Adele, Ricky Martin, Barbra Streisand, and Miley Cyrus.

[1][3][5][7] As a composer, David has written music for many films including Joy, Paper Tigers and Colombia: magia salvaje.

He has also arranged and orchestrated music for over 80 films including Annie (2014), Foxcatcher (2014), August: Osage County (2013), Rock of Ages (2012), Dreamgirls (2007), North Country (2005), and Brokeback Mountain (2005).

[13] He conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as arranged and orchestrated the music for Beck's Song Reader concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, which featured many performers, including Childish Gambino, Juanes, Anne Hathaway, John C. Reilly, Jack Black, and Jarvis Cocker.