Created and produced by Doug Rogers (EastWest) and David Fridmann (MGMT, The Flaming Lips etc.), THE DARK SIDE is the first of its kind: an unconventional, 40 Gigabyte, 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 looking for something unique and different, and of course, if you work in film, TV, and game music production, this will give you an edge to separate you from your competitors.

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.

To produce THE DARK SIDE, Rogers partnered with Grammy Award-Winning record producer David Fridmann, whose unconventional (and successful) work with the likes of MGMT, The Flaming Lips, Weezer, Mercury Rev, Saxon Shore, Ammonia, Ed Harcourt, Sparklehorse, Café Tacuba, Elf Power, Mogwai, Thursday, The Delgados, Low, Phantom Planet, Gemma Hayes, Goldrush, Tapes 'n Tapes, Hopewell, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Number Girl, Zazen Boys, Sleater-Kinney, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, OK Go, and Tame Impala etc. he had long admired.

Producer DOUG ROGERS was awarded the 2011 MIPA Award for THE DARK SIDE at the Frankfurt Musikmesse. Over 100 international magazines selected the winner. This is the second MIPA Award for Rogers in the last 4 years, having won it for FAB FOUR in 2008. The MIPA has become the "Grammy" of the Musical Instrument industry.

"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, 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."

THE DARK SIDE user interface combines intuitive handling and functions as a plug-in instrument, without the need for a sampler. (Click to enlarge)

Rogers partnered with Grammy Award-Winning record producer David Fridmann. 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 distorted and mangled instruments are designed to stand out in a mix, or to disturb the senses. With today's brick-wall limiting, distorted instruments may be the only production trick left to highlight instruments, a successful technique used often by Radiohead, Muse, Nine Inch Nails, etc.

Features

• Produced by multiple Award-Winning producer DOUG ROGERS and Grammy Award-Winning producer DAVID FRIDMANN (MGMT, Flaming Lips etc.)
• Many instruments have been purposely—and skillfully!—mangled, distorted, or effected out of all recognition (plus a selection of dark and eerie instruments).
• Easy to use browser displays all of your instruments. Interface automatically changes to display current instrument.
• Included are 40GBs of highly processed drums and percussion, basses, guitars, ethnic, keyboard, strings, and FX instruments and sounds, all organized into instrumental groups

Tutorials

An in-depth look at the creation of the "Ex Vita Morte" demo for EastWest's "The Dark Side" virtual instrument produced by Zennor Alexander.

Ex Vita Morte Video Tutorial part 1

Ex Vita Morte Video Tutorial part 2

Ex Vita Morte Video Tutorial part 3

Manual

The Dark Side Manual

Reviews

Instruments and Articulations

System Requirements

• 40 GB Free Hard Disc Space

MAC MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.1GHz or higher (PPC not supported) 8GB RAM Mac OSX 10.7 or later 7200 RPM or faster (non energy saving) hard drive for sample streaming	PC MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS Intel Core 2 Duo, or AMD Dual Core 2.1GHz or higher 8GB RAM Windows 7 or later Sound card with ASIO drivers 7200 RPM or faster (non energy saving) hard drive for sample streaming
MAC RECOMMENDED SYSTEM Mac Pro Late 2013 edition (current model with round enclosure) or above 16GB RAM or more Mac OSX 10.7 or later SSD (Solid State Drive) for sample streaming	PC RECOMMENDED SYSTEM Intel Core 2 Quad, or AMD Quad Core 2.66GHz or higher 16GB RAM or more Windows 7 or later (64-bit Windows/Host Sequencer) Sound card with ASIO drivers SSD (Solid State Drive) for sample streaming

All Systems

• iLok account required for machine (electronic) license placed on your computer or use optional iLok Key; internet connection required for one-time product activation

Included for both PC and Mac:

• 32-bit standalone and plug-in versions included.
• 64-bit standalone and plug-in versions included.
• Check the compatibility chart for supported hosts.

EASTWEST PLAY Host/Sequencer Compatibility Matrix

Supported Host	Mac OS 10.9, 10.10, 10.11	WIN XP (32-bit)	WIN XP (64-bit)	WIN 10, 8, 7, Vista (32-bit)	WIN 10 8, 7, Vista (64-bit)	Required Version
Standalone	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Ableton Live	YES	YES		YES	YES1	6.07 or higher
Cubase/Nuendo	YES2	YES	YES3	YES	YES3	6 or higher
FL Studio		YES	YES4	YES	YES4	7 or higher
GarageBand	YES					3 or higher
Logic	YES5					7.2 or higher
Digital Performer	YES5			YES	YES	6.02 or higher
Pro Tools6	YES	YES		YES		7.4 to 10
Pro Tools 116	YES		YES		YES7	11
Sibelius	YES8	YES		YES		6.0 or higher9
Sonar		YES	YES	YES	YES	6.2 or higher
VE Pro	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	4.0.54 or higher
Studio One	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	2.0 or higher
Reaper	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	3.0 or higher

1: Ableton Live 7 and 8 are only 32bit, so users will have to set their VST folder to the 32bit version of the installed Play VST (even on a 64bit operating system).

2: Mac OS 10.7 or newer is required.

3: Cubase/Nuendo 4.1 or later are required as 64-bit hosts. Steinberg fixed the issue in Cubase 7 if you wish to use PLAY 4.

4: FL Studio is only supported while in 32-bit operation currently.

5: WordBuilder is not supported in Logic 7 or lower, and DAE (RTAS in Digital Performer and Logic) is not supported at this time.

6: Ethernet control surfaces are not officially supported (ex: C24).

7: Windows 7 or 8 Home Premium Supported. Pro Tools HD 11 does not support Windows 8.

8: Sibelius 6.0.3 or higher is required to run in Snow Leopard.

9: Sibelius 6.2 is required to run in Mac OS 10.9 (Mavericks).

Play is compatible with all DAWs that use VST, AU, or AAX plugins.

Purchase

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