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Draft: Thriller

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Thriller memorialized

In 2015, Marinelli sat for an interview with the BBC, reflecting on his memories and contributions to Michael Jackson's Thriller.[1] Tom Baylor had introduced Marinelli to music producer Quincy Jones. Marinelli and partner, Brian Banks were hired as session musicians working at Westlake Studios in West Hollywood for the creation of Thriller. In addition to bringing in three truckloads of synthesizer gear, preliminary duties consisted of briefing Michael Jackson on the capabilities of the emerging technologies, sound creation and programming.[2]

The BBC "Witness" radio podcast was followed by three pilot vlogs for Marinelli's YouTube channel called How We Created It. In the first episode, Marinelli demonstrates how to recreate the falling star sound that opens the "Thriller" song.[3] The following two-part series is called "Studio Stories".[2] Quincy Jones' production assistant, Steven Ray,[4] joined Marinelli to reminisce in 2020.[5] Marinelli and Ray continued recording episodes and were approached by Audivita Studios for the creation of Stories In The Room: “Michael Jackson’s Thriller Album”, with 72 episodes posted as of February 2024. [6]

Stories in The Room guest appearances include:


Marinelli continues to talk shop about sound creation, musical gear and composing on his own Youtube channel. Episodes that have gained media attention include: "How I Programmed The Bass On Michael Jackson's PYT",[9][10] "MJ's Billie Jean Bass - It’s 4 Instruments!" featuring Paul Jackson Jr., [11][2] and "The Billie Jean Chord Stack - It’s 4 Sounds!".[12][13] Additional noteworthy topics include jams with Doctor Mix,[14] and a discussion of Giorgio Moroder's work process with engineer Ross Hogarth,[15]

Marinelli was interviewed in his studios appeared in the film Thriller 40 (2023) (Showtime - Paramount+).[16][17]

 
Photo of Thriller 40 (2023) Credit Roll

References

  1. ↑ "Witness History, Michael Jackson's Thriller". BBC. 2015-12-23. Archived from the original on 2024-02-02. Retrieved 2024-02-02. In 1982 the world's best selling album was released. Thriller included hits such as Beat It, Billie Jean and Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' as well as the title track. Witness speaks to Anthony Marinelli who worked on the seminal album.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Carr, Dan (2022-11-30). "The synth sounds of Michael Jackson's Thriller (and how to recreate them in your DAW)". MusicRadar. Archived from the original on 2024-01-17. Retrieved 2024-02-02. Looking for a more ‘cinematic’ sound, Quincy Jones enlisted synthesizer programmers Anthony Marinelli and Brian Banks, who bought every synth available at the time and turned up to Westlake Studios with three trucks full of instruments.
  3. ↑ Wyeth, Stefan (2023-10-31). "Darkness Falls: How To Sound Like Michael Jackson". gearnews.com. Archived from the original on 2024-02-10. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  4. ↑ Steven Ray Credits at AllMusic
  5. ↑ "Blog". (/\/\) Anthony Marinelli // Music Forever. 2020-10-13. Archived from the original on 2024-02-03. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  6. ↑ "Stories In The Room: Michael Jackson's Thriller Album". MJVibe. 2023-02-11. Archived from the original on 2024-02-03. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  7. ↑ "Original programmer who worked on Michael Jackson's Billie Jean reveals how he created its iconic four-chord stack". MusicTech. 2023-12-22. Archived from the original on 2024-01-06. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  8. ↑ "Monster budgets, visits from Jackie Onassis, and a very angry Vincent Price: how Michael Jackson made Thriller". The Telegraph. 2018-08-29. Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2024-02-04. This was before the internet, so I don't know how people found out. It was like dancing on stage, it was like doing a concert. We didn't start taping until the middle of the night. Every night it was like, he came out and people were screaming. It was like being in concert with Michael Jackson - it was very exciting.
  9. ↑ "How I Programmed The Bass On Michael Jackson's PYT". YouTube. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  10. ↑ Rogerson, Ben (2023-05-24). "Here's how the synth bass sound for Michael Jackson's PYT was programmed on an ARP 2600". Yahoo Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2024-02-10. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  11. ↑ "MJ's Billie Jean Bass". YouTube. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  12. ↑ "The Billie Jean Chord Stack". YouTube. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  13. ↑ Rogerson, Ben (2023-12-18). "It turns out that the Billie Jean chord stab sound is more complex than we thought: it needed 3 Yamaha CS-80 synth layers and vocal 'oohs' from Michael Jackson". MusicRadar. Archived from the original on 2024-02-11. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  14. ↑ "CS80, 73 Moog Modular, FVS, ARP 2600". MATRIXSYNTH: Anthony Marinelli Doctor Mix Synth Jam 1. 2004-02-26. Archived from the original on 2023-11-30. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  15. ↑ ""Don't think, just do": Former Giorgio Moroder collaborator says the godfather of disco was "all about the melody"". MusicTech. 2024-01-04. Archived from the original on 2024-02-05. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
  16. ↑ George, Nelson (2023-11-16). "THRILLER 40 AIRS ON PARAMOUNT+ DEC. 2". nelsongeorge.substack.com. Archived from the original on 2024-02-07. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  17. ↑ "Thriller 40: the documentary". BRICE NAJAR. 2023-12-10. Archived from the original on 2024-02-07. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
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