Spitfire Audio say that their Abbey Road Orchestra series represents the most detailed sample library ever recorded, and so far comprises three percussion releases (Metal, Low and High) along with First Violins and Cellos instalments. The latest addition to the range has just been announced, and rounds off the string section with new Second Violins, Violas and Basses libraries, as well as combining the entire section into a single bundle in the form of Abbey Road Symphonic Strings.
The five libraries combined offer a 60-piece string section made up of some of the world’s top players, captured in the iconic Studio One of Abbey Road Studios. Along with meticulous attention to detail at the recording stage — Symphonic Strings contains over 950,000 samples captured over 285 hours of playing — the company have implemented new programming techniques and development tools to create their most advanced legato patches to date. The libraries utilise a new additional layer of legato intervals that are triggered by playing speed and velocity, an approach that’s said to vastly improve playability and responsiveness when playing mid- to up-tempo phrases.
As with previous releases, each library is available in two versions: Core and Professional. The former offers a pair of multi-functional legato patches along with long flautando, tremolo, harmonics, trills, staccatissimo, spiccato, staccato, marcato, pizzicato and col legno articulations, and provides a single pre-mixed signal created by Grammy-winning Abbey Road engineer Simon Rhodes. The latter then adds additional articulations including portamento and detache legatos along with separate legato techniques for keyswitching, and packs in 16 mic signals that include two Simon Rhodes mixes.
SOS Feature Videos
We’ve been behind the scenes with the Spitfire and Abbey Road Studios teams to find out what goes into such an ambitious project, take a look at the first two instalments in our four-part video series to check it out!
Compatibility
The libraries run in Spitfire Audio’s own plug-in, which is supported on PCs running Windows 10 or 11, and Macs running macOS 10.15 and above. VST2, VST3, AU and AAX versions are available.
Pricing & Availability
All of the libraries are available now, with pricing as follows:
Core
- Individual: $209£179 / €209
- Symphonic Strings bundle: $699£699 / €699
Professional
- Individual: $349£299 / €349
- Symphonic Strings bundle: $1179£999 / €1179
GBP prices include VAT.
