mid 80s strings patch...

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florbo73
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mid 80s strings patch...

Post by florbo73 » Sat May 03, 2014 2:41 pm

Hi there,
I'm trying to know what is the synth from the 80's with a strings patch so present in many songs, especially in middle 80s, like in these tracks:

Simple Minds - Book of Brilliant Things (live intro)


Pat Metheny - Chris (intro)


Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls (same sound with slow attack)


and others... Thanks for your attention! :D
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synthroom
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Re: mid 80s strings patch...

Post by synthroom » Sat May 03, 2014 2:57 pm

The strings for West End Girls aren't from a synth, they're from the E-mu Emulator II sampler - it's the Marcato Strings sample.

Speaking of West End Girls parts - play on my Fairlight:
https://soundcloud.com/synthroom/west-e ... 0412-basic
https://soundcloud.com/synthroom/psb-we ... airlight-2
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Re: mid 80s strings patch...

Post by florbo73 » Sat May 03, 2014 9:07 pm

Wow, thank you so much for the reply, I heard this sound from a youtube video about E-mu Emulator II, it's the right sample that I needed :) do you know if exist a vst instrument with this sound?

Congrats for your tracks, very nice work!

Greetings! :)
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Re: mid 80s strings patch...

Post by commodorejohn » Sat May 03, 2014 9:29 pm

I don't know of a VST that emulates the Emulator (it's emulators all the way down!) But there's plenty of sample libraries out there derived from the E-II that you can use in any sample player.
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Re: mid 80s strings patch...

Post by synthroom » Sat May 03, 2014 11:09 pm

florbo73 wrote:Congrats for your tracks, very nice work!
That wasn't really any of my work - I got ahold of a disk that was being prepped (in 1986) for the Pet Shop Boys Tour that never happened.

Try this for a Emulator II softsynth:
http://www.uvi.net/en/vintage-corner/emulation-ii.html

I've not used it, but it sounds pretty good. I not sure if you can import sounds or sample with it but it seems to sound like the real thing.
Last edited by synthroom on Sun May 04, 2014 9:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: mid 80s strings patch...

Post by HideawayStudio » Sun May 04, 2014 11:21 am

Taken in context ie. the age and spec of this old beast and thus the limitations in available memory (1Mb!) - EII Marcato strings are truly wonderful with bags of character...

Here they are in isolation from my beloved EII (Even Mr Utley was impressed when he popped in the other day!)

A quick noodle on EII Marcato Strings...
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Re: mid 80s strings patch...

Post by commodorejohn » Sun May 04, 2014 3:05 pm

Yeah, the early samplers' libraries really had some great stuff - interesting and full of character. Seems like we lost that somewhere along the line - now everybody wants "workstation" stuff with samples that are bland enough to work equally well (read: equally poorly) in any mix so they don't have to actually stop and think about the arrangement...
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Re: mid 80s strings patch...

Post by Solderman » Sun May 04, 2014 8:20 pm

edit: see my next post
Last edited by Solderman on Sun May 04, 2014 11:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: mid 80s strings patch...

Post by synthroom » Sun May 04, 2014 9:29 pm

HideawayStudio wrote: A quick noodle on EII Marcato Strings...
That's beautiful! I'm going to fire up the old EII and play some!
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Re: mid 80s strings patch...

Post by Solderman » Sun May 04, 2014 11:55 pm

I uploaded 21 eII samples to my web host in 24 bit 44.1khz wav format. Loops are included for ones that had them.
I am no longer in pursuit of vintage synths. The generally absurd inflation from demand versus practical use and maintenance costs is no longer viable. The internet has suffocated and vanquished yet another wonderful hobby. Too bad.
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Re: mid 80s strings patch...

Post by HideawayStudio » Mon May 05, 2014 4:47 pm

Solderman wrote:I uploaded 21 eII samples to my web host in 24 bit 44.1khz wav format. Loops are included for ones that had them.
I multi-sampled some of the classic EII sounds in Kontakt a while back directly from the EII's audio out.

This includes Marcato strings.. just checked and the download links still work:

http://www.vintagesynth.com/forum/viewt ... to#p573686
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Re: mid 80s strings patch...

Post by florbo73 » Tue May 13, 2014 10:17 pm



These are two examples of use of the Marcato Strings sample from the E-mu Emulator II, 80s sampler.
The first part is an instrumental live intro of 'Book of Brilliant Things' by Simple Minds:


the other is 'The Sun Always Shines on TV' by a-ha...

Thanks so much to Dan of Hideaway Studio for sharing this cool sound! ;)
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