Spitfire Chamber Strings Essentials KONTAKT

Spitfire Chamber Strings Essentials KONTAKTThis new streamlined edition of a Spitfire classic offers instant access to world-class scoring sound quality to enhance your film, TV and game scores and pop records. Discover a range of 53 essential techniques performed by 16 of the world’s best string players, featuring both Section and Ensemble patches for instant playability and inspiration. Expertly recorded at London’s AIR Studios, the home of countless blockbuster scores including Harry Potter, The Dark Knight and Dunkirk, this smaller section offers more detail and focus than our Symphonic ranges, featuring both Close and Tree mic signals — while still capturing the unique resonance of the hall.

Key features

53 techniques: 18 Shorts, 12 Longs, 18 Trills & Trems, 5 Legatos
Close & Tree mic signals
16 world-class London string players
Recorded in situ using priceless valve and ribbon mics
Neve Montserrat Pre-amps into a Neve 88R desk
Recorded digitally at 96k via 2″ Studer tape
Multiple dynamic layers and round robins
Diverse and detailed, with all essential techniques
Legatos designed by Andrew Blaney
Individual sections and ensembles
28GB

Intimacy & detail

The word ‘chamber’ describes any ensemble smaller than a symphony orchestra — anything from a quartet to 40 players. Our aim was to create the definitive chamber strings project, giving you that highly sought-after widescreen blockbuster sound, with detail, intimacy and focus — hard to achieve with larger-sized string sample libraries.

We give you 16 world-class players: four 1st violins, three 2nd violins, three violas, three cellos & three basses, expertly sampled at AIR Studios. Choose from over 35 techniques, including Longs, Shorts, Trills & Trems, and expertly crafted Legato patches, as well as versatile Close and Tree mic signals and up to four dynamic layers. Create realistic split section arrangements, building parts by section, or use the Ensemble patches to get your ideas down quickly for an instantly fuller sound. This library also blends perfectly with larger ensemble orchestral libraries. These performances are expressive, realistic and musical, offering an incredibly satisfying composition, arrangement and production process.

Behind the samples

Spitfire was built on this chamber strings project. In our early years, many A-list composers agreed that sampled strings were unwieldy, ill-defined and too epic. Our first iteration of Chamber Strings was released as a private project, and became hugely popular amongst our peers.

Some, however, felt it still sounded ‘kind of big’. So we returned to the chamber challenge with a question: How small can we go before it no longer sounds like a section? The answer was 4,3,3,3,3. A uniquely intimate group of extraordinary players in one of the best recording spaces in the world. It is still the Spitfire team’s favourite string range, admired for its beauty, versatility and totally unique sonic character.

What’s included

Sections (4,3,3,3,3)
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Double Bass
Ensemble
Techniques
Legato (Slurred) – [N/A in Ensemble] (Not the total performance Leg)
Long
Spiccato
Staccato
Pizzicato
Long Harmonics
Unmeasured Tremolo
Trill (Minor 2nd)
Trill (Major 2nd)
Mics
Close
Tree