# NEW Originals Library — Join the Premiere!



## Spitfire Team (Mar 25, 2021)

A brand new Originals library launches in just a few minutes!

Join the Premiere:


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## Stringtree (Mar 25, 2021)

I'm gobsmacked. This is history.


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## Virtuoso (Mar 25, 2021)




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## Geoff Grace (Mar 25, 2021)

I had hoped that Spitfire's partnership with Abbey Road would lead to mining Beatles territory. Nice start!

Best,

Geoff


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## LynxUK (Mar 25, 2021)

Just when you think you have enough Pianos.....


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## ALittleNightMusic (Mar 25, 2021)

Geoff Grace said:


> I had hoped that Spitfire's partnership with Abbey Road would lead to mining Beatles territory. Nice start!
> 
> Best,
> 
> Geoff


Amazing what they could do now with their partnership with AR. Mellotron Original up next?


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## sostenuto (Mar 25, 2021)

Easiest purchase decision yet !


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## Alex Fraser (Mar 25, 2021)

Huh. I’ve just spent a couple of hours trying to get THAT tone out of my existing collection.

I guess the answer is obvious really..


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## kelexys (Mar 25, 2021)

Do we really need another piano library?
....

Yes, yes we do, great stuff Spitfire!


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## Chamberfield (Mar 25, 2021)

Cinesamples already sampled the Mrs. Mills piano as part of their Classic Uprights release. I'd be curious to see how they compare.


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## CT (Mar 25, 2021)

Wow who is this Sir Paul McCartney? Seems like a Spitfire fanboy.


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## easyrider (Mar 25, 2021)

Chamberfield said:


> Cinesamples already sampled the Mrs. Mills piano as part of their Classic Uprights release. I'd be curious to see how they compare.


I have the cinesamples version.


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## SupremeFist (Mar 25, 2021)

Ok, I'm going to be the douchebag who asks how many velocity layers this thing has?


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## CT (Mar 25, 2021)

I believe I heard Homay say it's 8 in the walkthrough.


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## companyofquail (Mar 25, 2021)

SupremeFist said:


> Ok, I'm going to be the douchebag who asks how many velocity layers this thing has?


8! I actually had no interest in another spitfire piano for the past week. Then when they said 8 dynamic layers I perked up to the idea. With my educational discount it is a no brainer 21 dollar purchase


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## LynxUK (Mar 25, 2021)

companyofquail said:


> 8! I actually had no interest in another spitfire piano for the past week. Then when they said 8 dynamic layers I perked up to the idea. With my educational discount it is a no brainer 21 dollar purchase


Yeh, for 21 or 29 bucks its a no brainer.


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## Wally Garten (Mar 25, 2021)

Oh my gosh, this sounds so good! I was looking for exactly this. I love that "Vintage" setting.


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## PeterN (Mar 25, 2021)

Wonderful. Bought it bcs The Beatles, theres a track just waiting for this. What a great surprise.


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## MusiquedeReve (Mar 25, 2021)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> Amazing what they could do now with their partnership with AR. Mellotron Original up next?


YES!!!


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## borisb2 (Mar 25, 2021)

I do like the sound from lower to mid register - but upper register sound a bit thin to me .. might still buy it - iconic sound for sure.


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## icecoolpool (Mar 26, 2021)

Sounds great in the walkthrough, aside from using this for obvious applications, that distant preset sounds like it would be fantastic used in a gothic horror setting.


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## Rob (Mar 26, 2021)

wish I had this in my rack back in the day...
View attachment DeltaLady.mp3


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## TomislavEP (Mar 26, 2021)

A charming-sounding instrument with great character and a surprising level of detail. Definitely not something I would use regularly, but I might get it at some point in the future.


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## PeterN (Mar 26, 2021)

Tried to flip this piano in, on a bridge part, in a song Im working on. Thought it'd be cool to say "thats the Beatles piano coming in now". Impossible, it has such a distinctive sound. Like a harpsicord coming in, or something. Boosted low end, nope. Soothe, nope.  Anyway, maybe will come handy one day. Since McCartney has played it, and given marketing for the sample library too, its legendary.


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## PeterN (Mar 26, 2021)

borisb2 said:


> I do like the sound from lower to mid register - but upper register sound a bit thin to me .. might still buy it - iconic sound for sure.


I thought the other way, the lows were so thin, there was no point in low cut at all. The highs could break your mirror if smashed on full velocity.


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## LinusW (Mar 26, 2021)

Chamberfield said:


> Cinesamples already sampled the Mrs. Mills piano as part of their Classic Uprights release. I'd be curious to see how they compare.


So did Reason for their Abbey Road Keyboards, though it's no longer available due to Abbey Road licensing I guess.


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## SupremeFist (Mar 26, 2021)

Mike T said:


> I believe I heard Homay say it's 8 in the walkthrough.


Nice! I can't see myself ever wanting this sound but it seems like a lovely little instrument for those who do. I hope Spitfire do well out of it. (The difference in value for money between this and the ARO expansions has me scratching my head a little bit...)


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## filipjonathan (Mar 26, 2021)

Can someone who's got it tell how much space it takes?


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## jben (Mar 26, 2021)

filipjonathan said:


> Can someone who's got it tell how much space it takes?


4.6 GB


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## filipjonathan (Mar 26, 2021)

jben said:


> 4.6 GB


Thanks!


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## GingerMaestro (Mar 26, 2021)

Lovely as it is to listen to Homay from @Spitfire Team banging away on the Old Joanna in Abbey Road, she doesn't really capture the spirit of who Mrs Mills was...Let's not forget she was a bloody genius...


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## borisb2 (Mar 26, 2021)

LinusW said:


> So did Reason for their Abbey Road Keyboards, though it's no longer available due to Abbey Road licensing I guess.


same at cinesamples? cant find it on their website .. only a walkthrough from 2015 on youtube .. actually I did like that Challen piano even more


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## VSriHarsha (Mar 26, 2021)

I just don’t understand how many Piano libraries are they, rather any developer gonna make? Now this Piano is quite exceptional it’s Steinway Vertegrand & Sir McCartney had his say so am sure it’s not that damn old dumb Piano but the best of Spitfire’s.

Anybody had their hands on it, yet?


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## Double Helix (Mar 26, 2021)

Has a bit of the ol' "ob la di ob la da" to it.
As other posters have written, I am not sure I can imagine a specific track for it right now, but it is an artifact of the Sixties, so it has that going for it in spades.
I may be in the minority, but I think the high end is amazing--it sounds like another piano altogether.


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## icecoolpool (Mar 27, 2021)

borisb2 said:


> same at cinesamples? cant find it on their website .. only a walkthrough from 2015 on youtube .. actually I did like that Challen piano even more


I´m sure the Challen will be next. That, and a mellotron, should be easy enough to sample.


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## Alex Fraser (Mar 27, 2021)

I've used it already for a short film I was scoring. I was looking for a "slightly janky upright" sound and this fit the bill quite nicely. 

It's a bright sound, but there's enough low frequency info in the recording to boost a little should you feel the need. I think the dynamics could go a _little _quieter, but perhaps that's just how the piano sounds IRL. Anyway, £30 squid is an absolute bargain, considering the multiple mics.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Mar 27, 2021)




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## mallux (Mar 27, 2021)

Another good Mrs Mills documentary, featuring the piano throughout:


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## Simon Ravn (Mar 28, 2021)

Amazing! Instant buy, even though I can't see exactly how I would find a use for this, I just want to play it, listening to it!


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## Lode_Runner (Mar 28, 2021)

Chamberfield said:


> Cinesamples already sampled the Mrs. Mills piano as part of their Classic Uprights release. I'd be curious to see how they compare.





easyrider said:


> I have the cinesamples version.





LinusW said:


> So did Reason for their Abbey Road Keyboards, though it's no longer available due to Abbey Road licensing I guess.





borisb2 said:


> same at cinesamples? cant find it on their website .. only a walkthrough from 2015 on youtube .. actually I did like that Challen piano even more


Cinesamples discontinued their version early last year. https://vi-control.net/community/th...-upright-pianos-gone-forever-wednesday.92254/ There was comment in that thread that their licensing agreement with Abbey Road was expiring, so I suspect Linus you might be correct regarding Reason.


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## borisb2 (Mar 28, 2021)

Thats a shame.. do we alao have to delete any samples where licensing might have expired?? And give any money back we might have earned using those old samples? Transfer the money directly to SA?


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## Lode_Runner (Mar 28, 2021)

borisb2 said:


> Thats a shame.. do we alao have to delete any samples where licensing might have expired?? And give any money back we might have earned using those old samples? Transfer the money directly to SA?


I think it's just about the use of the Abbey Road name in marketing. I'm really not sure why Cinesamples discontinued the product rather than just rebranding it though. Whatever the case, the library is gone now. From the limited impression I got watching Homay play, I like the sound of the new library better anyway, and it's way more affordable than the older library as well.


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## borisb2 (Mar 28, 2021)

Lode_Runner said:


> I think it's just about the use of the Abbey Road name in marketing. I'm really not sure why Cinesamples discontinued the product rather than just rebranding it though. Whatever the case, the library is gone now. From the limited impression I got watching Homay play, I like the sound of the new library better anyway, and it's way more affordable than the older library as well.


Well, that Challen piano did sound wonderful.. wonder if that will come next at SA..


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## icecoolpool (Mar 28, 2021)

Lode_Runner said:


> I'm really not sure why Cinesamples discontinued the product rather than just rebranding it though.


Abbey Road provided Cinesamples with the samples for the old library so that could explain that one! This is an all new set of samples from SA.


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## Richard Wilkinson (Mar 29, 2021)

icecoolpool said:


> This is an all new set of samples from SA.


Do we know this for sure? Or is it the same samples rebranded?


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## icecoolpool (Mar 29, 2021)

Richard Wilkinson said:


> Do we know this for sure? Or is it the same samples rebranded?


I thought I read somewhere that this was a Spitfire product from the ground up. Unfortunately, the closet written statement I could find confiming this was from Paul McCartney´s quote who stated that this product is "Spitfire´s sampling of what we used to call the Mrs Mills piano". In addition, Homay did mention in the walkthrough video that "we recorded" the Mrs Mills piano.

That being far from conclusive, I decided to investigate further:

At first glance, by having a look at the cinesamples plugin, it seems they the three mic signals they provided (vintage, modern and room) tally with the ones on the SA plugin. Suspicious.

According to the Cinesamples manual, the initial sample recordings were done by the Abbey Road team but then these samples were mixed down to three mic options (Quote: "Once the recording process was complete, it fell to Cinesamples’ own Tim Starnes to provide the final mixes found in Abbey Road Classic Upright Pianos.")

My gut instinct told me that surely SA can´t have used the same mic mixes as Cinesamples even if the base samples are the same. And it turns out, the microphone mixes provided ARE different:

Close SA: A pair of Neumann U67s placed in front of the sound board.
Modern CS:A pair of Coles 4038 over the hammers and a pair of Neumann U87s placed in front of the sound board.

Vintage SA: AKG D19c placed above the strings in the middle of the piano and recorded through a J37 tape machine.
Vintage CS: AKG D19c through a REDD.47 valve pre-amp as well as a Neumann U67 and an AKG C12

Room SA: a spaced pair of omni mics (no brand mentioned as far I can find)
Room CS: a Decca Tree (three Neumann TLM50s) in addition to a pair of ambient mics (DPA 4006).

So it is certainly a different product to the one from Cinesamples - though there remains a possibility that Spitfire were working with the same sample set provided by Abbey Road.


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## Monkberry (Apr 1, 2021)

I have to say I was not expecting to like this as much as I do. I resisted, thinking I could certainly get close to this with one of the upright piano libraries I have already, but at $29 and so many praising it, I gave in. It's perfectly bright and perfectly (slightly) out of tune. I will surely find a place for this.


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## FlyingAndi (Apr 1, 2021)

Jordan Rudess! 😀😀😀🧙‍♂️


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## idematoa (Jun 2, 2021)




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## rottoy (Jun 2, 2021)

idematoa said:


>



I'm guessing... some... green.


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## propianist (Jun 2, 2021)

icecoolpool said:


> I thought I read somewhere that this was a Spitfire product from the ground up. Unfortunately, the closet written statement I could find confiming this was from Paul McCartney´s quote who stated that this product is "Spitfire´s sampling of what we used to call the Mrs Mills piano". In addition, Homay did mention in the walkthrough video that "we recorded" the Mrs Mills piano.
> 
> That being far from conclusive, I decided to investigate further:
> 
> ...



Regarding using / licensing of Abbey Road name in the marketing...

Wavesfactory have "The Tack Piano" upright currently retailing £64.99, which begins their webpage description intro with the wording, _"Everybody loves the sound of the good old Mrs Mills piano from Abbey Road Studios."_ ...as if to implant some confusion in your mind that's what they're actually selling, and then goes on to suggest their own tack piano comes very close to the same sound, backed up by user testimonials at the bottom mentioning "Mrs Mills" and "Abbey Road" yet again.

https://www.wavesfactory.com/kontakt-libraries/the-tack-piano/

However Wavesfactory is certainly not the same Abbey Road instrument - and for that matter, the real Mrs Mills Steinway in Abbey Road was never actually a "tack" piano anyway - certainly not having metal tacks embedded into the hammers - just simply very age-hardened lacquer on the antique Steinway felts that gave it the distinctive bright jangly sound. AR considered getting the felts re-done and decided not to, keeping its historical greatness intact.

Wavesfactory is just a generic fun honky-tonk tack piano upright which perfectly suits the cowboy wild west saloon style suggested in their plugin GUI graphic.
3 mic positions plus mix, round robins and one overall knob for sympathetic resonance - but at least it does have adjustable DSP resonance!!!

It's a pity that Spitfire Mrs Mills piano doesn't appear to have any sympathetic resonance control knobs at all, which implies strongly to me that it totally lacks any believable sustain pedal resonance DSP or harmonic-resonance-of-adjacent-strings-with-silent-keys-pressed type DSP either.
I don't own it, but if anyone does could they clarify this...?
I would assume if Spitfire had either of those important piano DSP effects, there would probably be some kind of control knob or switch for it, or Spitfire would at least mention something about those DSP features in the marketing, so I guess not. The cheap £29 price is an obvious hint as well.


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