Inside The DAW

Spitfire Audio added a new piano VST to their Labs catalogue. Labs is a series of completely free VST instruments. The Labs Soft Piano has long been a favorite of many composers for its beautiful, delicate tone. This time it's not a felt piano, but it's equally suited for softer music. Glass Piano is a VST version of famous composer Philip Glass's own piano that he used for over 30 years. All of his incredible music has been written on this piano. Spitfire visited him at his home in New York City to record the samples. It's a baby grand with lots of character and a sound that ranges from classic and beautiful to soft and atmospheric. I was really surprised that Spitfire decided to give this piano away for free, since it would be easy to market something with a name like Philip Glass attached to it. Glass Piano includes 6 articulations: Anthem, Floe, Glass Grand, Glass Grand Soft, Metamorphosis and North Star. Glass Grand and Glass Grand Soft are the most straightforward...

Spitfire Originals Intimate Strings is an ensemble strings VST for just 29$. Considering how expensive most of the bigger string libraries are, you might be skeptical about the quality of such an affordable package. To go straight to the point, Intimate Strings sounds incredibly beautiful. As the name suggests, you get a very delicate and detailed string sound that is perfect for softer compositions. The reason for this amazing sound is that Intimate Strings actually uses samples from an older Spitfire library called Albion Loegria, which was a full premium library at the time with lots of content. Albion Loegria is now retired and not available anymore, but many people really loved the beautiful sound of it, so I think it was a very smart move from Spitfire to release the string section of Loegria separately for a very affordable price. This gives upcoming composers the opportunity to use these stunning samples right at the beginning of their journey without spending all of their savi...

Cinematic Frozen Strings is a new sample library from Spitfire Audio. It is the newest addition to their ongoing Originals series. What is Spitfire Originals? Originals is a series of small sample libraries that give you lots of ingredients for your for cinematic compositions. Each of them sells for just 29$, which really is a great price for the excellent quality you get. It's also a nice place to start looking for more premium content after enjoying Spitfire's free Labs instruments. Cinematic Frozen Strings Cinematic Frozen Strings is a string library with, as the name suggests, a very cold and icy sound. It's a great addition to Albion Tundra because it uses a lot of the same techniques.  The big difference is that Albion Tundra was recorded with a big orchestra and Cinematic Frozen Strings has only 8 string players.  2,2,0,2,2 - This means 4 violins, 2 celli and 2 basses. Just like Tundra, there are no violas in this library. This was done on purpose to take away some o...

Spitfire Audio just added a new free VST instrument to their Labs collection called Ondes Musicales. Ondes Musicales is a very rare and expressive electronic instrument that has been used in many sci-fi scores, indie music and classical works. Nowadays it is not used that frequently but especially Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead has shown the beauty of this unique instrument to a lot of people and brought it back to attention. The Labs version was made in collaboration with professional ondist and composer Josh Semans and all of the samples were recorded with a custom-built Ondes Musicales. The sounds were then further processed with all kinds of effects like modular, granular synthesis and guitar pedals. There are 8 different patches available. Fragile Air, Granules, Metallique, Metallique Cries, Mobius Blips, Octave Echoes, Ribbon and Tape Swells. All of the presets sound very beautiful and ethereal and are perfect for creating interesting pads and textures. With the expression and dy...

Today I would to show you the best all-in-one orchestral VST libraries for beginners. There are so many options out there now that it can be quiet difficult to find the right library for your needs, especially when you are just starting out. I hope this selection will help you to make a good decision. All of these libraries cover the basic orchestral sections, strings, woodwinds and brass. Many of them also offer percussion and other extras. With this list I want to focus on the bigger, paid libraries that give you the most bang for your buck. If you are looking for completely free options, check out this list:   The Best Free VST Instruments So without further ado, here are the best all-in-one orchestral VST libraries: 1. Spitfire Audio BBC Symphony Orchestra Core While most of the other libraries on this list focus mostly on bigger ensemble patches, BBC Symphony Orchestra gives you all the main sections of a full orchestra. So instead of just one patch for strings, you are g...

London Contemporary Orchestra Strings is a collaboration project between Spitfire Audio and the London Contemporary Orchestra. One thing is certain, this is not your typical string library. While you will find some more straightforward long and short articulations here, the main purpose of this library is to give you access to very unusual playing techniques and sounds.  It includes 4 different instruments: Violins, Violas, Celli and Celli + Basses in octaves with over 100 unique articulations. The sections are very small with 6 Violins, 4 Violas, 3 Celli and 2 Basses. About the London Contemporary Orchestra The London Contemporary Orchestra was formed in 2008 and is an extremely innovative ensemble that has earned a lot of respect through their various collaborations and incredible live performances. They have worked together with Radiohead, Frank Ocean, Steve Reich, Foals, Beck, Arcade Fire, and many more.  The LCO is also featured on many soundtracks for world class film an...

Arkhis is a new collaboration project between Orchestral Tools and Native Instruments. The main theme of this library is modern cinematic scoring. The engine of Arkhis makes it incredibly easy to create complex cinematic atmospheres with orchestral samples. Some of the samples have been taken from various Orchestral Tools libraries and some have been curated specifically for Arkhis. Layers of sound The secret to the powerful sounds that can be achieved with this library lies in the clever layer engine. In the main interface of Arkhis you are presented with three different layers that can be individually filled with sounds. There are 90 source sounds to choose from that are organized into the following categories: String Orchestra, String Ensemble, Brass Orchestra, Brass Ensemble, Chamber Strings, Solo Strings, Woodwinds, Vox, Harps, Waterphone, Dulcimer, Orchestrations, Guitar Ensemble, Hang Drum, Mandolin Ensemble, Tonal Wood Ensemble Some of these do have more sounds than others. As ...

Albion Solstice from Spitfire Audio is a library I was particularly excited about. I've always loved this more experimental side of Spitfire. Some of my favorite libraries include Albion Tundra, London Contemporary Orchestra Textures, the British and Contemporary Drama Toolkits and all of the collaborations with Olafur Arnalds. Not to mention the huge selection of unique free instruments in Labs. It's clear that Albion Solstice is a real passion project for Christian Henson and it's contagious to see his excitement in the very entertaining walkthrough videos. I couldn't wait to dive into the world of Solstice myself and see what it's all about. Modern sounds inspired by the past The main theme of Albion Solstice is modern cinematic folk noir. So this is not really a library with all kinds of traditional solo instruments to recreate the music of the past. Instead you are getting carefully curated ensembles with all kinds of interesting textures and sounds that are in...

Contemporary Drama Toolkit is the next collaboration between Spitfire Audio and Samuel Sim after their very successful British Drama Toolkit. The main idea behind both of these projects is to give you the tools to sketch out emotional scores very quickly. Instead of having to combine all kinds of separate instruments and articulations you can play with both hands here and focus entirely on your composition. Layers upon Layers What's really interesting here is that each patch has several different velocity layers. Most of them are divided into Loud, Soft and Texture. So by playing softly you are only triggering the texture layers, which work like really amazing pads. If you play a bit louder you will trigger the soft layer, which gives you more delicate sounds and performances to sit on top of the texture bedding. To put some nice melodic line or main motif above everything, all you need to do is press harder on your keyboard to get into the louder and very emotional layer. What is ...