Photo: Lee Kirby Photography
Spitfire consolidate seven symphonic products into one bumper package.
Does anyone out there need a sampled orchestra? Spitfire Audio has them in all shapes and sizes, from the slimmed‑down Originals to the gargantuan Colossus. Then there’s Albion One, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Abbey Road One Orchestral Foundations, the Abbey Road Orchestra project, etc. Faced with this ever‑growing product list it would be easy to overlook Spitfire Symphony Orchestra, a major enterprise which once occupied pride of place in Spitfire’s catalogue. The library has now been relaunched as a revamped all‑in‑one 345GB collection that brings together several of the company’s cornerstone libraries in a kind of symphonic homecoming.
At the heart of the collection (which we’ll call SSO) is Spitfire’s Symphonic Strings/Brass/Woodwinds trilogy, each of which was compiled from the earlier British Modular Library series (see ‘Product History’ box for details). Also included are Spitfire Percussion, Spitfire Harp, Orchestral Grand and Masse, the latter formerly a free product for owners of the symphonic trio. All six libraries were recorded in AIR Lyndhurst Hall from Close, Decca Tree and Ambient mic positions; the strings, brass, woodwinds and piano have an additional Outriggers position, while the strings also feature a Leader spot mic trained on each section’s principal player.
Though this 2024 relaunch contains no new recordings, all of its sample content has been reviewed, composer Andrew Blaney programmed new Performance Legato patches, and all libraries sport a redesigned interface. The whole shebang runs in both Kontakt full and the free Kontakt Player v7.5.2 or higher — a surprising decision given Spitfire’s attachment to their proprietary Spitfire Player, but personally I don’t mourn its absence. Here follows a run‑down of the new SSO’s musical contents.
Symphonic Strings
Originally released as Mural Symphonic Strings, this 60‑piece ensemble features different players for its first and second violins, a huge‑sounding low strings battalion and an extensive articulation menu. The samples (all played in unison) were performed by top London session musicians recorded in situ via an analogue tape path. There’s also a set of blended six‑octave Ensemble patches, a great asset for two‑handed keyboard players.
You can read my in‑depth review of these strings at www.soundonsound.com/reviews/spitfire-audio-mural-symphonic-strings, or I can save you time by pulling out a few soundbites: “Luxuriant and expansive three‑dynamic sustains”, “gorgeous breathy flautandos”, “classic cinematic spiccatos”, “inspirational pizzicatos”, “wild, screeching glissando effects” and “awesome AIR Lyndhurst Hall ambience”.
Simplicity is the order of the day for the instrument interfaces.
The articulations were later expanded with marcato attacks, passionate ‘molto vibrato’ deliveries, major third trills, an ultra‑soft ghostly ‘super sul tasto’ style and the lovely ‘Long CS Blend’ mix of con sordino and unmuted sustains. I was impressed by the fingered legato and bowed legato samples, and the legato portamentos are among the best I’ve heard for exuberant Bollywood‑style pitch slides and octave leaps.
New in SSO 2024 are Performance Legato patches, which react to your playing. Low velocities trigger a regular note attack, medium velocity selects a staccato attack and high velocity produces a strong marcato note start. When you play overlapping notes, low, medium and high velocities respectively trigger a portamento pitch slide, a normal fingered legato and bow change legato intervals. You can pre‑determine specific attacks and legato styles by clicking on small lock icons on the interface. In conjunction with controls for dynamics, expression and vibrato intensity, this feature adds a new level of playability to these excellent string samples.
Symphonic Brass
Spitfire Symphonic Brass contains eight solo instruments, five a2 (duo) sections and three six‑player sections. Formerly known as the BML ‘Phalanx’ modules, the latter are ideal for epic, trailer‑style orchestrations: the six trumpets’ legatos work wonderfully well for soaring melodic themes and fanfares, the six French horns’ rich sustains can be crossfaded from a warm, quiet chord pad to a blaring sforzando, while the trombone ensemble (one contrabass, two bass and three tenor instruments) boasts a low end of Jurassic proportions. If you want more bass, SSB’s solo tuba and contrabass tuba provide a great, solid foundation.
The a2 sections and solo instruments cover an extensive array of articulations: the solo trumpet’s sustains, marcatos, staccatos, tenuto short notes and falls all have a muted variant, with multi‑tongue repeated grace notes, rips, comedy glissando effects and braying Mexican ‘Mariachi’ style deliveries adding animation and colour. An all‑in‑one Total Performance solo trumpet patch combines legato sustains with velocity‑controlled note attacks, a vibrato control and optional flutter tongue — a highly expressive performance tool.
Other highlights include the French horn duo’s regal ‘bells up’ performances, a great set of trombone falls and rips and the bass trombone’s crazed‑elephant flutter tongues. More details here.
Symphonic Woodwinds
These woodwinds first emerged in Spitfire’s BML series, reviewed at great length by your humble scribe. All of the 11 solo instruments now have a Performance Legato patch, as do the flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon a2 duos. The solo flute alone has a dedicated Total Performance Legato patch, and it’s a winner: eminently playable, lyrical, fluid and expressive, an inspiration for melodic writing. I also loved the alto flute, clarinet and bassoon legatos, which sound absolutely beautiful in the big hall.
You can use SSW’s bass flute to add a breathy, velvety lower octave to flute parts, or introduce the piccolo to add high‑register brilliance to your top lines. The solo clarinet’s pure, sweet tone is a delight, the tuning issues mentioned in my review now happily resolved. I also enjoyed the plaintive, somewhat exotic‑sounding cor anglais, a nice alternative to the higher‑pitched oboe.
Accompanying these instruments is a fine supporting cast of low woodwinds. The star turn is the bass clarinet, which turns in some fine staccatos and fabulous legato sustains. But for explosive low‑end action, the stentorian, practically subsonic bass notes of the contrabassoon and contrabass clarinet are an unbeatable sonority.
The Ostinatum step sequencer is a great way of generating pulsing ostinato rhythm patterns.
Spitfire Percussion & Extras
First released in 2010, Spitfire Percussion has remained in my favourites folder ever since. It features nine tuned percussion instruments, 10 types of drum, cymbals, gongs, unpitched woods and metals, trash metals and a large miscellany of hand percussion (I refuse to call them ‘toys’), all wallowing in the amazing reverb of the galleried Lyndhurst Hall.
Personal highlights include the thunderous timpani (recorded at seven dynamic levels), slamming low drums and an exquisite marimba. I also enjoyed the celeste and soft, mournful‑sounding tubular bells — the vibraphone still needs work though! For more detailed comments, check out my Spitfire Percussion review.
Three highly serviceable extras round off the library: Masse (now renamed Curated Ensembles) blends the symphonic trilogy sections into brilliant pre‑orchestrated sustains, shorts and stabs patches — instant orchestral drama. Veteran of innumerable movie soundtracks, harpist Skaila Kanga performs straight plucks, glissandi, harmonics and ‘bisbigliando’ tremolos, while the unapologetically loud and grandiose Orchestral Grand Piano exploits the forte dynamic of AIR’s Steinway Model D.
NB: with the exception of Spitfire Harp, all of SSO’s component products have been discontinued. Legacy patches of all the libraries are included in SSO’s Instruments folder, but since the samples have been overhauled, I’d advise owners of the earlier products to keep the original versions installed.
Performed by world‑class session players and steeped in Air Lyndhurst’s sumptuous reverb, SSO was and is a classic symphonic sample collection of great depth and quality.
Conclusion
Is this merely a case of old wine in new bottles? In a sense yes, but I would remind Sound On Sound’s teetotal readers (there must be one or two) that old wine can be a valuable commodity. Performed by world‑class session players and steeped in AIR Lyndhurst’s sumptuous reverb, SSO was and is a classic symphonic sample collection of great depth and quality, and its revamped 2024 edition holds its status as a top orchestral library.
Product History & Future
As the old song goes, ‘The road is long, with many a winding turn’. In the beginning there was Spitfire Percussion (2010), Spitfire’s first fully commercial product. Spitfire Harp (aka Skaila Kanga Harp) followed in March 2011, and having kickstarted their cinematic Albion series in July 2011, Spitfire threw Orchestral Grand Piano into the ring in April 2012.
2013 saw the birth of two important new product ranges: in January, the estimable Sable Strings, a five‑volume chamber strings set, which was later amalgamated and renamed Spitfire Chamber Strings (being of sub‑symphonic section sizes, these samples are not included in SSO). Around Christmas time, Spitfire’s gift to the nation was the British Modular Library (BML) series, a symphonic collection that eventually spawned over 20 titles covering strings, brass and woodwinds.
Following the success of Sable, Spitfire went big in January 2014 with the 60‑piece Mural Symphonic Strings. The Sable and Mural volumes were the final entries in the BML series, though the 2015 performance‑based Mural Symphonic Evolutions was (and still is) a standalone product.
By the end of 2016 Spitfire had ‘rationalised’ the BML titles into three products, Spitfire Symphonic Strings, Brass and Woodwinds. The Outriggers mic position was omitted and only available to buyers of Spitfire’s expensive, hard‑drive‑filling Additional Mics & Mixes expansion packs. In April 2021 SSS, SSB and SSW were updated and re‑released in Core and Professional editions, with the latter incorporating the expansions.
Three years later, the revamped SSO offers a simple, unified resolution to this meandering chronicle. The story is not quite over: Spitfire’s Paul Thompson has confirmed, “We have more material recorded that we’ve never edited. That is in the queue for development and will be added to the library in due course as a free update — but no dates yet for this.”
Pros
- Contains a full complement of symphonic sections performed by 118 top session players.
- Features a great‑sounding 60‑piece string orchestra.
- Recorded from multiple mic positions in the unique acoustic of AIR Lyndhurst Hall.
- Andy Blaney’s Performance Legato patches are superbly playable.
Cons
- Some users may miss the inclusion of solo strings.
Summary
The 2024 relaunch of Spitfire Symphony Orchestra offers buyers an all‑in‑one orchestral solution for both cinematic and traditional composition. Comprising strings, brass, woodwinds, orchestral percussion, harp, piano and blended ensembles recorded from multiple mic positions in a great hall acoustic, the library has been extensively overhauled and now includes a set of excellent Performance Legato patches.