EASTWEST (www.soundsonline.com), the industry leader in soundware development and distribution, is putting its users‘ creativity to the test while offering a chance to win all seven PLAY products with its “Score This Movie” contest.

From now until June 30, 2008 users can create their own score for an original short movie created by Zennor Alexander and posted on the EASTWEST forum at (http://www.soundsonline-forums.com/showthread.php?t=12974). The concept of the piece is:

“This is a story about the circularity of life - Out of the void comes a seed which sprouts into a plant. The leaves of the plant mature which ends the growth phase. As the leaves fly off in all directions, we follow one on its journey into the unknown. The leaf meets another and the two fly around in a mating dance, eventually merging. The merged leaves become mature wings, and fly off through this new world to find the original void from which they came. The wings finally dissolve and compact to become a new seed, completing the cycle.”

The score should have a wide variety of pace, mood and style and must be composed solely with sounds from libraries distributed by EASTWEST, with an emphasis on EASTWEST PLAY-powered virtual instruments.

Entrants are free to show their creativity and originality in the selection of instruments and the juxtaposition of their composition with the film‘s imagery. Once users have completed their piece, they need to post a link to it on the EASTWEST forum here (http://www.soundsonline-forums.com/showthread.php?t=12974) for it to be considered. Compositions entered in previous EASTWEST contests, posted on EASTWEST forums, or containing third party copyrighted material or software, are not eligible. From entries posted on the forum, Zennor Alexander and the EASTWEST staff will select a winner.

“EASTWEST is always striving to develop innovative projects to challenge our users,” says EASTWEST‘s Founder and Producer Doug Rogers. “Last year‘s contest was so successful that we decided to stay with a similar format this year to gauge the usage of our PLAY products. We also feel that this contest gives our users the opportunity to showcase their work using a visual medium, something they would be required to do for any film, game or television production, in return for the chance to be well rewarded for their efforts.”

The winner, who will be announced on July 15th, 2008, will receive all seven PLAY products which include:

• Fab Four - A virtual instrument inspired by the sounds of the Beatles, using the same kind of instruments and recording equipment the Beatles used to create their signature sound.

• Quantum Leap Pianos - The most detailed collection of the world’s finest grand pianos.

• Quantum Leap Gypsy - A collection of detailed Gypsy-style virtual instruments capable of playing completely realistic performances.

• Quantum Leap Ministry Of Rock - Rock is a huge collection of rock drums, basses and guitars recorded in the world-famous EASTWEST. A modern-day rock toolkit that covers a myriad of styles, Ministry of Rock provides a true all-in-one solution for rock productions and a sound quality superior to anything else available.

• Quantum Leap Voices of Passion - Passion is a virtual instrument of ethereal, passionate, flowing, mysterious, wailing and whispering alto and soprano voices of female vocalists from Wales, Syria, India, Bulgaria and America.

• Quantum Leap SD2 - The Next Generation - The sequel to Stormdrum, SD2 is a stunning collection of exceptional acoustic percussion instruments.

• Quantum Leap Goliath - Quantum Leap Goliath, the Sequel to Colossus, includes the entire 32 Gigabytes of content from COLOSSUS, plus an additional 8 Gigabytes of new content from the latest collections. Goliath covers all musical genres, providing users with a comprehensive collection of sounds that will fit into any type of project they are working on.

For additional rules and download instructions, please visit the contest forum on the EASTWEST website: http://www.soundsonline-forums.com/showthread.php?t=12974.

Writer/Producer Steven Greenberg Digitizes Disco Classic

Pictured at Cups ‘N Strings (L-R) are owner/engineer Bruce Maddocks and “Funkytown” writer/producer Steven Greenberg. Photo by David Goggin.

“Funkytown,” perhaps the last big hit of the Disco era, has been restored and transferred to digital from fragile 24-track 2-inch tape masters. Engineer Bruce Maddocks handled archiving at his Cups ‘N Strings studios with the song’s writer/producer Steven Greenberg on hand to supervise the project.

“Funkytown” was a #1 record in over 40 countries,” says Greenberg, “and 28 years later, not a day goes by that I don’t get a request to license the tracks for some sort of use somewhere around the world.”

With deceptively simple hooks and instrumentation, “Funkytown” merged the sounds of disco, new-wave pop and R&B to create a major crossover phenomenon. The enduring hit was recorded by the group Lipps, Inc. in Minneapolis at the famed Sound 80 Studios, where artists such as Prince, Cat Stevens, and Bob Dylan had worked. The song featured a Moog Vocoder effect that became the hit’s signature sound.

“Funkytown” can be heard in more than 20 films, including Mel Brooks’ “History of the World,” “Contact,” “Shrek 2,” and in the recent feature “Alvin and the Chipmunks.” The film’s soundtrack CD is currently hovering at the top of the Billboard album charts. “Funkytown” has been used in more than 100 TV shows, in sporting events such as the Opening Ceremonies for the 2006 Winter Olympics, and in a number of video games.

“The tapes were very finicky,” explains Greenberg. “But Bruce works with just about every tape configuration ever made. He’s got all the different analog head stacks, speed controls, and the means to bake the tapes before archiving and preserving to hi-res digital. We’ve been re-naming and organizing the individual elements so that re-mixers and soundtrack producers can easily work with the material for their own projects.”

To learn more about “Funkytown,” visit: http://www.funkytown.com

For info about Cups ‘N Strings, visit: http://www.cupsnstrings.com