QUANTUM LEAP PIANOS AND FAB FOUR

NEWS UPDATE – JANUARY 2007

January 18-21, 2007 –  NAMM Hall A, Booth 6630, Anaheim Convention Center – John Sawoski helped to introduce two special projects he worked on throughout 2006:

EastWest Quantum Leap Pianos  (see below) – John Sawoski is the pianist who played every note of the Bosendorfer, Steinway, and Bechstein piano samples included in this beautiful-sounding virtual instrument library.

EastWest Fab Four (see below) –  John Sawoski played every note of the harpisichord and Clavioline samples included in this wonderful virtual instrument library.  

Pictured below is John Sawoski at EastWest Studios in Hollywood, during Bechstein sampling sessions.

EASTWEST Announces QUANTUM LEAP PIANOS

January 18, 2007

EASTWEST RELEASES QUANTUM LEAP PIANOS VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT AT WINTER NAMM 2007

World’s Finest Grand Pianos Captured in Historic Recording Studio

ANAHEIM, CA, JANUARY 18, 2007—EASTWEST (www.soundsonline.com), the industry leader in soundware development and distribution, introduces QUANTUM LEAP PIANOShttp://www.soundsonline.com/Pianos, the most detailed collection of the world’s finest grand pianos. EASTWEST will exhibit QUANTUM LEAP PIANOShttp://www.soundsonline.com/Pianos at the Winter NAMM Show, January 18-21 (Hall A, booth #6630).

More than half a million dollars’ worth of pianos are included in this collection, all meticulously recorded. These include a $225,000 Bechstein D-280 Concert Grand, the same kind of piano engineer/producer Ken Scott used to record Elton John, David Bowie, and Supertramp. EASTWEST invited Scott to engineer the Bechstein’s close-mic’d recordings to provide users with a cutting, dynamic pop/rock piano sound, in addition to the variety of other piano sounds included in the collection.

Other pianos featured in the library include a Steinway D Concert Grand; a Bösendorfer 290 Concert Grand; and a Yamaha C7.

“Quantum Leap Pianos is an innovative collection featuring the finest pianos captured with state-of-the-art recording equipment in a world-class studio,” says Producers Doug Rogers and Nick Phoenix. “We personally own three of these pianos, and were able to match the sound of the Virtual Instruments to the sound of the actual pianos during production. We have developed a comprehensive set of fantastic piano sounds that will enable songwriters and composers to make recordings limited only by their creativity.”

The QUANTUM LEAP PIANOShttp://www.soundsonline.com/Pianos library is packed with 270 GB of content at 24-bit/44.1k resolution, the largest and most detailed piano collection ever created. Using lossless compression, the instruments, if all installed, use 140 GB of hard disk space. The sample management system offers 50% more efficiency compared to other piano collections.

Users can install one, two, three or all four pianos on their computer’s hard drive. Three microphone positions are included per piano for maximum flexibility. Ten to 16 velocities are offered per note (and again in soft pedal, sustain pedal, and soft sustain) and every piano offers 16 distinct staccato velocities.

Repetition samples are taken from 180 BPM performances for a true repetition sound and are not simply an alternate take. The software detects true repetitions. Pedal resonance was recorded for every note at multiple velocities, as well as with the soft pedal down. Proprietary resonance was captured on the Bösendorfer.

True multi-velocity soft pedal samples with and without sustain pedal are also included, as well as release samples with software envelope follower.

Articulations on each piano include:

• sustain
• sustain pedal
• soft pedal
• soft pedal with sustain pedal
• repetitions
• repetitions with sustain pedal
• staccato
• pedal resonance
• release trails.

Additional features include:

• Stereo swap possible in software
• Mic position mixing in software
• Lid position simulation
• Articulation matrix for quick and straightforward loading—no more loading headaches
• Most powerful streaming engine available with highest polyphony counts
• Superior reverb impulses recorded by Prof. Keith O. Johnson and Nick Phoenix.

The Quantum Leap Pianos library was recorded at EASTWEST Studios—formerly Cello Studios and site of the legendary United-Western Studios in Hollywood—with three user controllable microphone positions for each piano. Every sample was recorded in a proper piano environment with vintage Neumann microphones, a vintage Neve 8078 console, and Meitner analog-to-digital converters.

Quantum Leap Pianos carries a $549 MSRP.

EASTWEST DELIVERS SOUNDS INSPIRED BY THE BEATLES WITH “FAB FOUR VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS”

The same kind of Vintage Instruments and EMI/Abbey Road Recording Equipment as the Beatles used Recorded in EASTWEST’s Historic Hollywood Studios.

ANAHEIM, CA, January 18, 2007—EASTWEST (www.soundsonline.com), the industry leader in soundware development and distribution, proudly introduces Fab Four Virtual Instruments. The result of more than a year of research, equipment acquisition and recording, Fab Four Virtual Instruments — unaffiliated with or endorsed by Apple Corps. Ltd. — presents a faithfully executed, incredibly accurate and comprehensive collection featuring the same kind of instruments and recording equipment used by the Beatles. EASTWEST will exhibit Fab Four Virtual Instruments at the NAMM Show, January 18-21 (Hall A, booth #6630).

“The Beatles had a profound impact on me musically,” said EASTWEST founder and Fab Four producer Doug Rogers, “and were the influence for my fascination with sounds. They were musical geniuses that never rested on their laurels, always producing exciting new music and sounds with each new record, much of it groundbreaking!

“Putting this project together took well over a year of research, equipment procurement (much of it from collectors), and gathering a team that could pull off such a feat,” Rogers adds. “But it was a labor of love for us all, and the result is truly worth it.”

The FAB FOUR Virtual Instruments project involved several people intimately involved with the Beatles. Engineer Ken Scott, who worked on Beatles albums including A Hard Days Night, Help, Rubber Soul, Magical Mystery Tour, and The Beatles, engineered the recordings. Guitarist Laurence Juber and drummer Denny Seiwell, both of whom were members of Paul McCartney and Wings, played the same kind of instruments as those used by the Beatles.

No expense was spared in acquiring the equipment used to produce this collection. Much of that equipment, ironically, is now housed in EASTWEST Studio 3, where the Beach Boys’ legendary Pet Sounds—the inspiration for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, according to Paul McCartney—was recorded.

Well over one million dollars’ worth of rare period instruments — including authentic guitars, basses, drums, and keyboards — as well as amplifiers, microphones, recording consoles, outboard equipment and tape recorders were used in this production. Neumann, AKG, Cole and STC microphones as used at EMI/Abbey Road Studios were used to capture the sounds, while identical amplifiers, including a 1963 Voc AC30, 1967 Fender Showman and DeLuxe, 1963 Fender Bassman and Tan Showman, and 1966 Vox Defiant, 730 and 7120, were used with the electric guitars.

The same kind of recording desks and preamps, including a very rare EMI REDD tube desk, EMI TG12345 desk, and EMI REDD47 preamps, were used to record all instruments, through Fairchild limiters and rare EMI RS124 modified Altec compressors, used for dynamics control. As with many of the Beatles recording sessions, a Studer J-37 4-track tube tape machine was used to record everything.

Guitars (some costing over $200,000 each) played by Juber include a Gretsch Firebird (1959) and Tennessean (1963), Rickenbacker 360-12 (1965), Martin D-28 (1966), Fender Stratocaster (1956) and Telecaster (1951), Epiphone Casino (1965), and Gibson Les Paul Goldtop (1957), SG (1960) and J200 (1966). Juber also played Hofner (1963) and Rickenbacker (1964) basses, the same kind as Paul McCartney played on the Beatles’ recordings. Guitars were sampled with up and down strokes, multiple velocities and picking styles, some with chords and effects.

Drums played by Seiwell include a rare 1960 Ludwig downbeat kit with Zildjian cymbals (snare 5″ x 14″/toms 9″ x 13″ and 16″ x 16″/kick 22″ x 14″/Zildjian 20″ crash ride/18″ crash medium/14″ hi-hat). Additionally, drums are all multi-sampled with up to 16 velocity layers, left and right hand. The sounds were all matched to a particular style (e.g. “A Day in the Drums,” “Ticket to Drums,” “Yer Drums”). Even some heavily modulated cymbals, recorded through a Fairchild limiter for authenticity, were recorded as an alternative cymbal sound.

Keyboards include Baldwin Electric Harpsichord (“Because I’m a Harpsichord”), Clavioline (“Baby I’m a Clavioline”), “Birthday Piano” (through Vox Defiant guitar amp), “Lucy in the Lowery,” “Strawberry Flutes,” “We Can Work a Harmonium,” and other stringed instruments including “Swarmandel Forever.”

Most of the sounds would be impossible to create without all of the above equipment. For example, the “revostortion” guitar sound was created by feeding an Epiphone Casino into one EMI REDD 47 preamp, and the output into a second EMI REDD 47 preamp, exactly as originally created by the EMI/Abbey Road engineers.

FAB FOUR Virtual Instruments also includes a software version of ADT (artificial double tracking) with built-in tape simulator, created and programmed specially for this project. All instruments are newly recorded multi-samples for this collection; no sounds came from any Beatles recordings.

FAB FOUR Virtual Instruments carries a $549 MSRP.

Musicians, producers and film/TV/game composers looking for truly unique sounds with attitude to create with will find Fab Four Virtual Instruments the most innovative and inspiring collection ever produced.