EastWest has released Iconic, a synth collection that features "the sounds of the world's best-selling songs, played by the original players, and programmed by the original programmers".
EastWest teamed up with Anthony Marinelli, synth mastermind behind Michael Jackson's Thriller. Sampling rare vintage synthesizers like the ARP 2600, Minimoog Model D, Oberheim OB-X, Sequential Prophet 5, Yamaha CS-80 and the Synclavier II, EastWest say they have "recreated some of the most iconic sounds in music history and turned them into modern virtual instruments".
Iconic's user interface centers around an FX Pad with 4 selectable Macro Effects that modulate multiple parameters simultaneously. Blending a vintage knob-per-function design, with sleek modern styling, all of Iconic's controls are easily accessible in a single page. Shape these Iconic synth sounds from the dual filters that can be modulated, an advanced 16-step arpeggiator, multi-mode portamento (glide), and a bevy of effects to widen, pulse, distort, delay, and spatialize the final sound.
We realized that you can't recreate many of these sounds today because there is very limited access to all of the original equipment used back then to create each sound. Lucky for us, Anthony has a museum-worthy collection of these keyboards, and he was able to recreate the exact sounds as only he knew the original programming and keyboard combinations used. Our team then added incredible new recording techniques and software features that will allow you to transform these historic sounds into modern masterpieces. I hope our users have as much fun using these Iconic sounds as we had making them.
Producer Doug Rogers
While Iconic features synths and sounds used in classic songs that have sold hundreds of millions of copies, it's not stuck in any one time period. After recording these rare synthesizers in EastWest Studio 1, the producers also sent the sounds to analog tape machines (including a tube Studer J37) and pushed them to levels to create tape saturation and harmonic distortion for an alternative modern sound. The instruments were also re-amped in EastWest Studio 2, using multiple mic positions so the studio sound could be added to the direct sounds, a technique that was often used by Thriller recording and mixing engineer Bruce Swedien.
Synth programmer Anthony Marinelli is a musician, composer, and programmer, best known for his work on Michael Jackson's iconic album Thriller. He has also recorded albums with Lionel Richie, Van Halen, Supertramp, James Brown, The Crystal Method, Elvis Costello, Giorgio Moroder and Quincy Jones.
The base Iconic release includes 138GB of rare and vintage synths and keys plus more than 500 presets inspired by some of the biggest hits in music history.
Pricing & Availability
If you buy Iconic in the first month of release or subscribe to ComposerCloud+, you will also get the Beyond Iconic expansion pack, which includes hundreds of presets geared towards contemporary pop, hip hop and EDM.
Both Iconic and the Beyond Iconic expansion pack are available for purchase together for $299 and both are also immediately available for all EastWest ComposerCloud+ subscribers.
