Spitfire Audio — Spitfire Chamber Strings Essentials

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.