“Greta Gerwig was in love with the sound of ‘70s and ‘80s analogue synthesisers”: How Mark Ronson took to Reverb to track down a Yamaha CS-80 for the Barbie soundtrackMark Ronson soundtracked the 2023 Barbie movie with a little help from Reverb, having tracked down a Yamaha CS-80 from the site that he managed to pick up within an hour and a half.
The synth went on to become a core part of the film’s score, with Ronson originally tracking it down due to director Greta Gerwig’s love of classic analogue synth sounds. Ronson’s anecdote was originally shared at an Industry Insights talk at NAMM last year, but has resurfaced as Reverb has relaunched in the UK.

READ MORE: Best synthesisers to buy in 2025: 18 of our favourite budget synths

Reverb UK’s relaunch is being celebrated with lower seller fees – an “all-in” five percent on every sale, down three percent from before – and new tools for sellers. The platform is the largest online marketplace dedicated to music gear; in addition to private sellers, many UK-based music shops and businesses also utilise the platform to sell stock.
As well as the fee drop, sellers will now also have access to UK-specific market trend data, which they can use to price their gear more effectively, as well as discounted postage labels via popular couriers.
Ronson said at the 2024 panel, “We were working on the score for Barbie, and we realised that Director Greta Gerwig was in love with the sound of ‘70s and ‘80s analogue synthesisers. I looked on Reverb for a Yamaha CS-80, and I saw that there was one about an hour and a half away, so we drove out to get it and its sound became a key part of the movie’s soundtrack.”

The soundtrack, which featured Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and many more, made UK chart history as the first soundtrack to have three songs all feature in the Top Five, as well as breaking the record for most songs (six in total) in the Top 40.
Following the film’s release in 2023, Ronson told NME, “I wanted to get the job, but I also didn’t want to just give them some generic dance shit. I wanted to do something I’ve never done before… The thing I learned very quickly doing the score for Barbie is that you’re always serving the picture. You’re always serving the emotion.
“You have to turn off all the things you know about making pop and rock and soul music for the last 30 years. Yes, it needs to be beautiful, but sometimes you just need to get the fuck out the way,” he explained.
Barbie: The Album is out now, and the film is also available to buy or stream. If you fancy bagging a bargain synth, head over to the newly relaunched Reverb UK. 
The post “Greta Gerwig was in love with the sound of ‘70s and ‘80s analogue synthesisers”: How Mark Ronson took to Reverb to track down a Yamaha CS-80 for the Barbie soundtrack appeared first on MusicTech.