Toontrack has announced the release of The Eighties EBX - their latest, and 11th, expansion for the brilliant EZbass software which includes two instruments that perfectly encapsulate the era.

The Eighties EBX is a merge of electric and electronic (just like the eighties!) and is ideal for anything from vintage to modern-sounding pop, rock and electronic productions. There are two instruments - a high-end electric bass guitar (Wal bass), and one synth bass – sampled from a completely restored, recapped and calibrated Minimoog Model D Rev. 2 from 1976. Both instruments offer a range from A0 to E4.

According to Toontrack, the electric bass guitar was captured using both finger and pick articulations, allowing you to get a traditionally warm and round tone at the same time as you’ll have the option of more edge and bite using the pick.

When sampling the synthesizer, Toontrack chose nine different configurations of the physical knobs to best represent the role it played as a rhythmic bass instrument back in the ’80s. For every physical configuration of the synth, each of its three oscillators were sampled individually so that the Toontrack sound designers could build complex presets utilizing different effects on each. This gives you control and sound design possibilities beyond what is possible with the actual hardware instrument.

“This synth has played an immense role as a bass, which is exactly what we wanted to portray with our take on it. We ended up diving headfirst into the bottomless well of songs it was used in during the era and modeled our sounds after some of the most striking examples,” comments Ulf Edlund, EZbass lead sound designer.

In addition to the instruments themselves, The Eighties EBX also includes a wealth of presets for a wide range of tones as well as a custom library of MIDI, allowing you to start writing and producing from the get-go.

The Eighties EBX requires Toontrack’s EZbass software and is available to download now.