Spitfire Audio has announced availability of SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC STRINGS, a massic “encyclopaedic compendium of symphonic strings sampling,” with blockbuster content recorded at Lyndhurst Hall within London’s legendary Air Studios. The Kontakt-powered library comprises the same 60 star string players performing on the same instruments featured on numerous famous film scores.

Spitfire Audio was built upon a very simple core concept: the best way to create samples that enable some of the most successful, award-winning recordings of recent times to be successfully recreated is not to imitate but rather simply replicate where and how they were recorded. Results dictate, therefore, that if there was ever a single product that should surely sum up the foundations of Spitfire Audio’s affluent approach to sampling then it would, without doubt, be SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC STRINGS.

Boasting no fewer than 60 star string players: 16 1st VIOLINS; 14 2nd VIOLINS; 12 VIOLAS; 10 CELLOS; and eight BASSES, beautifully recorded in-situ (in the positions that they occupy in a scoring session) at Air Studios to two-inch Studer tape using a stunning selection of vintage valve and ribbon microphones via Neve ‘AIR Montserrat’ preamps and a Neve 88R large-scale console before being digitally stored at 96k is only the start of that admirable approach to this latest long and winding road to sampling glory.

Watch Spitfire Audio co-founder and Director Paul Thomson’s ‘traditional’ SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC STRINGS video walkthrough here:

According to the company, “SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC STRINGS is actually a consolidation of almost a decade’s worth of sampling experience, befriending London’s finest string players and through a process of kaizen — that can be tracked through over 20 unique strings libraries that Spitfire Audio has created during that time, perfecting the ideal balance of life, realism, and soul with the accuracy, playability, and scripting innovations.”

Previously provided across four separate volumes, SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC STRINGS is now an “encyclopaedic compendium of symphonic strings sampling” — hence its appropriate appellation that leaves little doubt as to its raison d’être. Every articulation for every section (plus ensembles) formerly featured in the ‘tongue-twisting’ BML308 MURAL – SYMPHONIC STRINGS VOL. 1, BML309 MURAL – SYMPHONIC STRINGS VOL. 2, BML310 MURAL – SYMPHONIC STRINGS VOL. 3, and BML311 MURAL – SYMPHONIC STRINGS – ENSEMBLES are all present and accounted for in SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC STRINGS — that’s those 16 1st VIOLINS; 14 2nd VIOLINS; 12 VIOLAS; 10 CELLOS; and eight BASSES, super-deep sampled with over 175 articulations, including 59 shorts, 94 longs, and five phenomenal legato patches programmed by UK composer Andrew Blaney.

Also included in addition to each individual string section is a comprehensive selection of articulations and techniques presented in an ENSEMBLES format for sketching and composing with ‘out of the box’ satisfaction guaranteed. Go as detailed as musically desired with each section individually or dive in with those carefully curated ENSEMBLES tools to allow for broad brush strokes. The choice is in there, that’s for sure!

SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC STRINGS is Spitfire Audio’s shot at creating the definitive compendium of symphonic strings sampling, recorded with a no-holds-barred approach. All and everything from classic, elegant vibrato, and expression-controlled ‘dolce’ samples (allowing music to be performed gently and sweetly) to the company’s own up-to-the-minute techniques duly designed by its award-winning team of composers and producers — highlights of which include the hugely popular Long Flautando (directive to create a flute-like sound with a bowed stringed instrument) and Long Super Sul Tasto (directive to keep the bow over the fingerboard so as to produce a soft thin tone with a stringed instrument) articulations — are available for all to access and use via a new and intuitive GUI (Graphical User Interface) with an accompanying inline help system that’s as easy on the eye as it is easy to use. Users can choose from the three essential, diverse, and most favoured mic positions — namely, C(lose), T(ree), and A(mbient).

Owners of Native Instruments’ industry-standard KONTAKT PLAYER platform — included for free with SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC STRINGS — seeking to join A- list composers and producers around the world who are already accessing Spitfire Audio’s affluent approach to symphonic strings sampling surely owe it to themselves and their musical endeavours to embrace the company’s latest and greatest sample-based virtual instrument library to offer full compatibility with NKS® (NATIVE KONTROL STANDARD), an extended plug-in format allowing advanced integration with NI’s KONTROL keyboard controllers.

Cross-grading or buying into this core set of samples also affords an opportunity to purchase expansion packs with more mic positions and stereo mixes — namely, SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC STRINGS (EXPANSION PACK), as well as additional add-ons like the exclusive SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC STRINGS EVOLUTIONS (EXPANSION PACK II).

SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC STRINGS can be purchased and digitally downloaded (as 147.6 GB of uncompressed .WAV files, featuring 89,365 samples) from Spitfire Audio for a time-limited introductory promo price of £525.00 GBP (inc. VAT)/$589.00 USD/ €599.00 EUR (inc. VAT) until 08:00 GMT on November 30, 2016 — rising thereafter to an RRP of £699.00 GBP (inc. VAT)/ $789.00 USD/€799.00 EUR (inc. VAT) — from here: https://www.spitfireaudio.com//shop/a-z/spitfire-symphonic-strings/ (Past purchasers of BML MURAL libraries are all entitled to a discounted upgrade path to SPITFIRE CHAMBER STRINGS.)

Note that Native Instruments’ free KONTAKT PLAYER is included with SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC STRINGS, while Spitfire Audio’s free Download Manager application for Mac or PC allows anyone to buy now and download anytime.

For more in-depth information, including several superb-sounding audio demos, please visit the dedicated SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC STRINGS webpage here: https://www.spitfireaudio.com//shop/a-z/spitfire-symphonic-strings/

Watch Spitfire Audio’s newly-initiated In Action presentation feature for SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC STRINGS here:

For information on the complete symphonic suite, see: https://musewire.com/break-out-the-british-blockbuster-symphonics-with-spitfire-symphony-orchestra/.