At age 23, Campbell played on his first major album,
Tapestry, by
Carole King. This led to his first arranger role, for King's
Rhymes and Reasons album. Campbell also played viola on recording sessions such as
Marvin Gaye's "
Let's Get It On" and
Bill Withers' "
Lean on Me". 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. 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). In 2010 he worked with
Nigel Godrich on the score for
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. In 2016, he co-composed the 40-minute ballet
Rules of the Game with
Pharrell Williams. David has guest-conducted the
Los Angeles Philharmonic and the
Hollywood Bowl Orchestra at the
Hollywood Bowl for
Faith Hill,
Death Cab for Cutie,
Ray LaMontagne,
Beck,
Sheryl Crow,
Willie Nelson, and
The xx. He collaborated with
Muse for the performance of "
Survival", the official song of the
London Olympics. He also collaborated with Beck for the
Lincoln Motor Company ad campaign, "Hello, Again", which featured a live performance of Beck's "
Sound and Vision" cover and included 167 live musicians playing simultaneously. In February 2009 Campbell arranged
Radiohead's "
15 Step" for the band's collaboration with the USC Marching Band at the 2009 Grammy Awards. 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. He arranged and orchestrated for the
Seattle Symphony and
Pickwick's Sonic Evolution show on 6 June 2014. In 2003, he served as conductor of the
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra during their one-night performance with
Kiss, which was released on the album
Kiss Symphony: Alive IV. During the concert, Campbell and the members of the orchestra wore the iconic Kiss makeup along with the members of the band. In 2018, for the LA Phil's 100th anniversary celebrations, David wrote arrangements for
Chris Martin's and
Corinne Bailey Rae's performances at Disney Hall, as well as
Katy Perry's and
Kali Uchis' performances at the Hollywood Bowl, all of which were conducted by
Gustavo Dudamel. In 2019, he wrote arrangements for and conducted the LA Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Orchestra for
Iron & Wine's 15th anniversary of
Our Endless Numbered Days. He created the song arrangements, dance arrangements, underscoring and orchestrations for the
Broadway musical
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. ==List of album arrangements and singles==