News: EastWest

A world-class solo violin for the most demanding virtual orchestrations

Hollywood, CA  (February 2, 2012) – EASTWEST, the industry leader in virtual software instruments, continues their success in producing the most realistic and  critically acclaimed virtual orchestral instruments with the release of QUANTUM LEAP SOLO VIOLIN.

Produced by Nick Phoenix, Quantum Leap Solo Violin is a virtuoso solo violin recorded at Remote Control Productions, a film score facility in Santa Monica, California run by veteran film composer Hans Zimmer and home to the scores of many of today’s top films.

Quantum Leap Solo  Violin includes 5 passes of true legatos sampled intervals, Legato soft, legato forte, expressive legato, portamento and fast legato/ trill/ run.

Quantum Leap Solo Violin features round robin up and down bowing on most  articulations and is the first violin virtual instrument that can handle very  fast playing and live trill playing with ease.  All of the basic articulations  were sampled as well as various expressive articulations, vibrato styles, and  non vibrato.

Quantum Leap Solo Violin has a sound and character  ideally suited for film and classical work.

Quantum Leap Solo Violin includes the latest version of EastWest's PLAY software featuring 2 new solo violin reverb impulses designed to make Quantum Leap Solo Violin blend well with other EastWest/Quantum Leap collections. 

EASTWEST/QUANTUM LEAP Solo Violin is now available exclusively as a digital download for $99.00 USD from  http://www.soundsonline.com/QL-Solo-Violin for USA and the World excluding  Europe, and http://www.soundsonline-europe.com/QL-Solo-Violin for Europe.

Offers introductory price of $795 through  August 15, 2011

Hollywood, CA (July 25, 2011) –  EASTWEST, the industry leader in virtual software instruments, is now shipping  Hollywood Brass, a massive 150GB instrument that features unprecedented sound  quality and the brand new PLAY 3 playback engine for the very latest in  performance and control. As an introductory offer, customers can buy Hollywood  Brass for up to 20% off the MSRP through August 15, 2011.

Hollywood  Brass adds to EASTWEST’s multiple award-winning Hollywood Strings Virtual  Instrument as the second installment in the Hollywood series, once again  combining the talents of Doug Rogers, Nick Phoenix, Thomas Bergersen and Shawn  Murphy. Recorded in place at EastWest Studio 1, widely regarded as the "best  brass recording room in the entire world" with 5 user-controllable mic positions  (Diamond Edition), Hollywood Brass is designed to work seamlessly with Hollywood  Strings (and the upcoming Woodwinds and Percussion) for the ultimate in virtual  Hollywood scoring.

Hollywood Brass is approximately 150 gigabytes of  pure Hollywood magic and includes Solo Trumpet, 2 Trumpets, 3 Trumpets, Solo  French Horn, 2 French Horns, 6 French Horns, Solo Trombone, 2 Tenor + 1 Bass  Trombone, Solo Tuba, Solo Cimbasso, and a low brass section consisting of 2  Tenor Bones, 1 Bass Trombone, 1 Tuba and 1 Cimbasso. A world-class group of  brass artists was gathered for a sampling marathon that lasted for 21 straight  11-hour days followed by a year of post-production.

An exhaustive list  of articulations, techniques, and features make Hollywood Brass the most  expressive and realistic orchestral brass library on the market. Hollywood Brass  also includes new brass reverb impulses taken from the smash hit convolution  reverb Quantum Leap SPACES.

EASTWEST/QUANTUM LEAP Hollywood Brass  Diamond Edition is now available for $995 MSRP ($795 introductory offer through  August 15, 2011) and Hollywood Brass Gold Edition will be available for $595  MSRP ($495 introductory offer through August 15, 2011).  For complete product  information, demos, and ordering information, visit http://www.soundsonline.com/Hollywood-Brass or http://www.soundsonline-europe.com/Hollywood-Brass for European customers.

About EASTWEST
EASTWEST has been  dedicated to perpetual innovation and uncompromising quality of Sample Libraries  and Virtual Instruments for more than 23 years, setting the industry standard as  the most critically acclaimed soundware developer.

EASTWEST, the industry leader in virtual instruments, announces their distribution
of Best Service Modern Pop Multi-format Sound Library in the US market. Modern Pop 
is a passionate and inspiring sound journey that combines the distinctive style of 
modern electronic music with different types of pop music, lounge, chillout and 
new age. 

The defining characteristic of Modern Pop are its rhythmic elements, such as
percussion loops, drum loops and special grooves, as well as its harmonic elements,
such as melodies and chords, which are at times soft and gentle, at other times
dynamic and powerful.

In addition to the loops, percussion, brass, electric bass, guitar and piano sounds
from live recordings, this unique collection contains a great variety of
synthetically compiled loops, such as synth basses, moog sounds, synths, leads,
pads, bells, filtered sounds and modulated sounds. These were all created with the
most modern technology in a high quality studio setting. With a warm analog sound
and a diversity of loops and one-shots, Modern Pop can be used in a variety of music
productions, such as Pop, Electro, Multimedia, TV, Websites, Lounge, Chillout, New
Age, Alternative, Experimental and more.

Modern Pop is a fusion of all the elements that modern music producers need to stay
up to date with the newest trends. 

Modern Pop comes on a 2.2 GB DVD and features 24-Bit / 44.100 kHz content made up of
35 Construction Kits, 800 Wav / Acid Loops, 400 Rex2 Loops, and 1000 Wav One-Shots.

Modern Pop is available for order at http://www.soundsonline.com/Modern-Pop for
$89.95 MSRP.

A modern rock virtual sequel coming 1.11.11

EASTWEST, the industry leader in virtual software instruments, announces QUANTUM LEAP Ministry Of Rock 2, a modern rock toolkit produced by Nick Phoenix, will be released January 11, 2011.

Ministry Of Rock 2 was put together with one goal in mind: to create a virtual (software) instrument capable of producing sounds that could actually produce a hit record or film score without any live drum, bass, or guitar overdubs. The articulations and programming were all reverse engineered from actual performances. The 57 gigabyte collection features LIVE technology which makes multi-sampled drums sound like a live performance.

"Rock music is always in a state of evolution," said Phoenix. "Ministry Of Rock 2 will give users the latest software tools to produce finished tracks. Ministry Of Rock 2 takes the Ministry Of Rock concept to a whole new level of playability and impact."

Recorded at the Legendary EASTWEST Studios in Hollywood, CA, by Phoenix, Doug Rogers, and Rhys Moody, Ministry Of Rock 2 features some of the industries top players like Shane Gibson, guitarist with Stork/Schwarzenator/KoRn, Greg Suran, guitarist with Goo Goo Dolls/Avril Lavigne/Glee, Doug Rappaport, guitartist with Edgar Winter/Potent, and Tal Bergman, drummer with Billy Idol, LL Cool J, Rod Stewart, Terence Trent Darby, Joe Zawinul.

The drums for Ministry Of Rock 2 were recorded in East West Studio 1 on three large rock kits from DW, Gretsch, and Ludwig, along with 6 additional snares. Top vintage and modern gear from Neve, Neumann, Telefunken, AKG, Manley, Fairchild, Royer, Chandler and Meitner were employed for a legendary sound. Repetition samples were recorded for everything as well as extreme dynamics and three mic positions for drums (close + room, or close + compressed room) to dial in the desired sound and an ultra-realistic performance. Any drum from any kit can be selected to create a custom kit, plus there are 6 additional snare drums to choose from.

Ministry Of Rock 2 guitars were recorded on Fender Jaguar, Fender Telecaster Thinline, Carvin 7 String, Baritone, Gibson Les Paul, and Schecter 7 String through Fender, Divided By Thirteen, Marshall, Mesa Boogie, Bogner and Vox Amps. Samples feature round robin, hammer on and pull off legato, sliding legato and dozens of other techniques. Dual channel recordings let you pick a wicked real amp sound or use the direct signal with popular plug-ins.

Ministry Of Rock 2 includes all of the remastered content from Hardcore Bass and Hardcore Bass XP plus an all-new 5 string Musicman Stingray bass with 7000 samples and true legato. Fender, Hofner, Gibson, Silvertone, Rickenbacker, Musicman and Lakland basses were recorded through large bass rigs. No wimpy dry sounds.

QUANTUM LEAP Ministry Of Rock 2 will be available on 1.11.11 for $395 MSRP. A $295 upgrade price is available for Hardcore Bass and Hardcore Bass XP users. For more information, visit http://www.soundsonline.com/Ministry-of-Rock-2 or http://www.soundsonline-europe.com/Ministry-of-Rock-2 for European customers.

40 gig collection of virtual instruments, some dark and eerie, and many which have been purposely—and skillfully!—mangled, distorted, or effected out of all recognition.

EASTWEST has released THE DARK SIDE, created and produced by Doug Rogers and David Fridmann, THE DARK SIDE is the first of its kind: an unconventional, hip and exciting collection of virtual instruments, some dark and eerie, and some which have been purposely—and skillfully!—mangled, distorted, or effected out of all recognition.

THE DARK SIDE provides inspiration for all composers and artists that are looking for unique instruments, designed to work for everything from alternative to symphonic rock, and of course, film, TV, and game music production.

THE DARK SIDE includes a vast, 40 Gigabyte collection, including dark and eerie instruments, and highly processed drums and percussion, basses, guitars, ethnic, keyboard, strings, and effected instruments, all organized into instrumental groups so you can create complete tracks.

Creativity without limits!

"THE DARK SIDE idea came to me when I was mentoring a young alternative group about some demos they sent me. To my ears, the tracks didn't sound tough enough for their intended market, so I told them they needed to toughen up their sound," said Doug Rogers, Founder and Award-Winning Producer at EASTWEST. "I looked around for sounds that could accomplish this and found absolutely nothing, even in our own vast collection. I saw this huge, gaping hole in the market that needed to be filled. Then and there, I decided to make it my next project after my recent pristine orchestral productions, a complete aural turn-around."

Rogers partnered with Grammy Award-Winning record producer David Fridmann, who's unconventional (and successful) work with the likes of MGMT, The Flaming Lips, and Weezer to name a few he had admired. Fridmann's "no rules" style of production was exactly what Rogers was looking for to help produce THE DARK SIDE instruments.

Once they got started, they were like bulls in a china shop: mass aural destruction was the name of the game. They turned traditional instruments into highly processed drums, percussion, basses, guitars, ethnic, keyboards, strings, and FX, all organized into instrument groups for easy audition and recall.

Rogers and Fridmann not only tapped into a wealth of recording and producing experience for THE DARK SIDE, but had the gear to match. Many individual instruments were processed through 5 or 6 effects units, some of the vintage and esoteric tube variety owned by the pair.

THE DARK SIDE more distorted and mangled instruments are intended to be used with cleaner instruments to make them really stand out in a mix, or to disturb the senses. With today's brick-wall limiting, distorted instruments may be the only product trick left to make an instrument stand out in a mix, a successful production technique used often by Radiohead, Muse, Nine Inch Nails, etc.

As the project progressed, they realized the instruments would work for almost every style from alternative to symphonic rock, and THE DARK SIDE name was chosen as a play on words between both styles of music. However, these instruments would be equally at home in Dance, Electronica, and even Hip Hop.

THE DARK SIDE includes EASTWEST's PLAY 2 software, which can operate standalone or as a plug-in inside popular DAW hosts that support VST, Audio Units, and RTAS.

THE DARK SIDE is available for Mac and PC for $395 MSRP. Complete product information, demos, and ordering information is available at http://www.soundsonline.com/the-dark-side.

HOLLYWOOD STRINGS is an advanced collection of orchestral string instruments that offers unprecedented control over sound and performance while delivering extraordinary creative power to composers and content producers for film, video, web and music. Multiple finger positions for all sections, including open strings, are available for the first time in a virtual instrument collection.

HOLLYWOOD STRINGS, as the name implies, is a blockbuster virtual instrument that has many groundbreaking features not found in any other virtual strings collection. For instance, this collection was engineered to include multiple finger positions throughout the entire range of the fingerboard of each sampled instrument. This range of positions allows composers to realize the true voicing and emotional content of a string section. Vibrato intensity and extensive dynamics, including five dynamics of up- and down-bowed sustains and notes, are also controllable by the composer. Extensive multi-dynamic true legato has been sampled for all sections in three different categories: slurred, portamento and bow change. This results in unsurpassed legato performance that has never been available in the sample world. HOLLYWOOD STRINGS has five user-controllable microphone positions including main pickup (Decca tree), mid pickup, close pickup, surround pickup and an alternate vintage circa 1945 RCA ribbon room pickup, delivering the full range of the string experience.

"The intent with the HOLLYWOOD STRINGS collection was to produce an extensive and musical sonic pallet covering every nuance of string performance," says Doug Rogers, founder and producer for EASTWEST. "This collection is unrivaled in the industry on every level. We assembled a team to produce this collection that included QUANTUM LEAP producer Nick Phoenix, Thomas Bergersen, a highly respected composer and orchestrator in Hollywood, and the legendary sound engineer Shawn Murphy, who has worked on countless Hollywood mega-films from Titanic, Star Wars and Jurassic Park to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The ensemble of sterling sound recordings, engineered in our award-winning EASTWEST STUDIO 1 with the finest equipment available by the top "ears" in the industry, has produced a string collection worthy of the name Hollywood, a name synonymous with world-leading, high-end films."

HOLLYWOOD STRINGS comes supplied on a pre-configured hard drive. List price for HOLLYWOOD STRINGS is $1,695; an introductory price of $1,495 expires May 15, 2010

For more information and to order the collection, visit the EASTWEST Web site, http://www.soundsonline.com/hollywood-strings, or in Europe http://www.soundsonline-europe.com/hollywood-strings