The 10 Best Spitfire Labs VST Instruments

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Spitfire Labs is my favorite source of free VST instruments. Even though I'm using a lot of the bigger paid libraries now, there are a lot of sounds in Labs that I still regularly come back to because they're just that good and add a nice unique flavor to my compositions.

Today I would like to share with you my personal top 5 Spitfire Labs instruments. These are the ones that I tend to use the most, but there are much more awesome sounds in this collection and new ones are added all the time. 

The main reason I love Labs so much is because of all of the interesting sounds you can't really get from standard orchestral libraries. But there are a lot of great more straight forward instruments as well. For example, I'm not going to include the Labs Ensemble Strings here because I already use Chamber Strings as my main string library. It is a fantastic free set of strings though and might be really useful to you, so make sure to check out the full Labs collection too and see which ones you need the most.


Soft Piano

This one should come as no surprise, everybody seems to love the Labs Soft Piano, and for good reason.

There is just something instantly emotional and inspiring about playing with this felt piano. It's one of those tools that is just really great for composing.

Whenever I want to write something intimate and emotional, I like to start with this piano to get into the right mood.

Just be aware that it is not a standard piano for every situation. It was recorded very softly and will have a hard time to cut through a busier mix. But for softer tracks it works incredibly well, there is just something magical about it. 


Dulcimer

The Dulcimer seems to be getting a lot of love as well from many composers. I don't really know any other Dulcimer plugin out there, but this one just sounds amazing.

Every time I want to add something a bit different than a standard guitar to my tracks, I like to take out this Dulcimer and it immediately adds some nice color to my music. 


Arctic Swells

This is one of my absolute favorites. Arctic Swells is a combination of a violin and a handmade native american flute.

You can choose either Arctic Swells or Arctic Decays, which both have a different kind of ADSR curve. With both of them you are getting these waves of beautiful textures, which can add a lot of character and emotion to your music. 

I certainly like to use them, whenever I feel like they fit into the piece.


Tape Orchestra

The Tape Orchestra is another highlight for me. Spitfire took some orchestral recordings and fed them through pre-distressed cassettes and tape loops. I feel like most of the recordings probably are from Albion Tundra, which is one of the most beautiful libraries out there, but that is just my guess because of the similar articulations.

Again, this is definitely not a standard orchestra library, it is very ambient, soft and moody. I think there is something very emotional about it and it feels very nostalgic and distant. This is further enhanced by the crinkled patches, which feel especially fragile. And just like with Tundra, the Hollow articulations are absolutely stunning, I could listen to these for hours.


Textural Pads

These pads were made from a bowed and scratched cello, bass guitar, kalimba and vocals. All of these sounds were then processed with all kinds of granular effects to create some ethereal textures.

I personally can never have enough pads, especially if they sound as great as these ones, so what is not to like?


Modular Piano

This is a collection of 12 unique sounds that Christian Henson, from Spitfire Audio, made with his upright Schimmel felt piano and all kinds of reverbs, delays and other effects.

If you are looking for some unusual piano sounds, take a look at Modular Piano. There is a lot of good stuff in here, I especially like the tape piano.


Choir

It's always good to have some nice choir sounds to add a human touch to your music. This choir plugin is rather soft and not so much in your face. It's really more like a pad in that way. So if you are looking for more of an upfront choir plugin, where you can hear the individual voices, this one might not be the right choice for you. 

It's really beautiful though and I like to use it in the background to build up some emotional atmosphere and for that usage it works great.


Granular Whalesong

Granular Whalesong is probably one of the most unique plugins I have ever heard. Real recordings of whalesong were transformed with granular synthesis into a stunning collection of haunting sounds.

There is just something really otherworldly about this, which makes it fit nicely into more ambient pieces, but also science fiction soundtracks. I just have to applaud Spitfire for giving us access to such cool and unique textures for free.


Pipe Organ

The normal pipe organ sounds here are great already and can be perfectly used as a regular organ, but I especially love the requiem pad from this collection, which is, as you might guess, very gloomy.

It's perfect for quickly creating this type of atmosphere. Also don't forget to play around with the variation slider for some additional sounds.


Lap Steel

Okay, the last one on my list for today is Lap Steel. By the way, there is no particular order here, I love all of these instruments.

At the core of this sound palette is a vintage lap steel guitar. Just like most of the instruments on this list, this guitar was processed with all kinds of effects to create some very inspiring sounds.

I love to use the single plucks with a lot of reverb, it just sounds fantastic. Also the fast and slow trems are amazing to get some interesting movement into your composition.


But now I'm curious, what is your personal favorite Labs instrument? And if you are new to Labs, you will absolutely love these sounds. You can find all of the instruments here: https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/#type=&search=&new=true


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