# Exploring The Sounds of Solar: Mercury by Spitfire Audio



## GeorgeThatMusicGuy (Sep 3, 2022)

In this video, I explore the sonic possibilities of Spitfire Audio's new sample library Solar: Mercury.


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## jcrosby (Sep 3, 2022)

It's nice to see some tonal pads in the beginning of your video, but I really haven't been able to get a feel for whether this library leans more toward atonal or tonal based on the small amount of content out there.... Would you say the majority of the instruments are atonal?


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## KEM (Sep 3, 2022)

jcrosby said:


> It's nice to see some tonal pads in the beginning of your video, but I really haven't been able to get a feel for whether this library leans more toward atonal or tonal based on the small amount of content out there.... Would you say the majority of the instruments are atonal?



It’s kind of a 50/50 split, it’s both tonal and atonal at the same time, it’s hard to describe but Charlie Clouser did his best to explain it in the main thread over in Sample Talk and he pretty much confirmed my observations about it. I’m in love with this library, one of my favorite purchases


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## GeorgeThatMusicGuy (Sep 3, 2022)

jcrosby said:


> It's nice to see some tonal pads in the beginning of your video, but I really haven't been able to get a feel for whether this library leans more toward atonal or tonal based on the small amount of content out there.... Would you say the majority of the instruments are atonal?


As KEM said, it’s sort of both. Most patches are tonal in nature but there are some more atonal ones, and you can make the tonal patches pretty atonal with the LFOs etc. I’d probably lean towards it being more tonal though.


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## jcrosby (Sep 3, 2022)

Awesome, thanks guys!!


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## PeterN (Sep 4, 2022)

jcrosby said:


> Awesome, thanks guys!!


Do you think we could cook up these sounds ourselves?

Dont want to spoil the party, but do people need Spitfire or how about a microphone, a metal tube and a copper nail - with a few plugins. Of course, it would require some creativity.

--

Im thinking about getting a 2 EUR metal tube - the new microphone is on the shelf. Handcrafted voodoo.


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## GeorgeThatMusicGuy (Sep 4, 2022)

PeterN said:


> Do you think we could cook up these sounds ourselves?
> 
> Dont want to spoil the party, but do people need Spitfire or how about a microphone, a metal tube and a copper nail - with a few plugins.
> 
> Is this encouraged - just asking.


You could probably make some of these sounds yourself if you had the exact same instruments used, however, it would take you hours to record, process and mix the sounds to sound the same as they do in this library. Libraries like this are fantastic due to the fact you don't have to spend hours upon hours creating these sounds yourself, you can just load up the library and find something that'll fit pretty easily. The amount of time this saves is crucial when working on stuff. 

When I'm scoring things I've almost always got a tight deadline, and it's so much more time efficient to have a library like this on hand over finding a bunch of things to record and sample myself.


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## PeterN (Sep 4, 2022)

GeorgeThatMusicGuy said:


> You could probably make some of these sounds yourself if you had the exact same instruments used, however, it would take you hours to record, process and mix the sounds to sound the same as they do in this library. Libraries like this are fantastic due to the fact you don't have to spend hours upon hours creating these sounds yourself, you can just load up the library and find something that'll fit pretty easily. The amount of time this saves is crucial when working on stuff.
> 
> When I'm scoring things I've almost always got a tight deadline, and it's so much more time efficient to have a library like this on hand over finding a bunch of things to record and sample myself.


fake


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## Loïc D (Sep 4, 2022)

PeterN said:


> Do you think we could cook up these sounds ourselves?
> 
> Dont want to spoil the party, but do people need Spitfire or how about a microphone, a metal tube and a copper nail - with a few plugins. Of course, it would require some creativity.
> 
> ...


I doubt about that…
I’ve got the library and each sound has a lot going on. 
One can really feel the hours of fine-tuning these instruments.
I like the Spitfire A/B approach for each patch : unprocessed vs processed.
This library is perfectly functional as it is but also a sandbox for experiments (layering, fx routing, etc.)
And some patches are just magical and a wonder to play.


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## PeterN (Sep 4, 2022)

Loïc D said:


> I doubt about that…
> I’ve got the library and each sound has a lot going on.
> One can really feel the hours of fine-tuning these instruments.
> I like the Spitfire A/B approach for each patch : unprocessed vs processed.
> ...


Okay then.

Each our own way.

As long as the English upper class won't come and confiscate my copper nail and metal pipe, all is okay. Or, tax the microphone.

They did put a tax on salt once.


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## gzapper (Sep 4, 2022)

jcrosby said:


> It's nice to see some tonal pads in the beginning of your video, but I really haven't been able to get a feel for whether this library leans more toward atonal or tonal based on the small amount of content out there.... Would you say the majority of the instruments are atonal?


I think the correct term is are the patches inharmonic, as in treading more towards lots of overtones that aren't on the harmonic series, like gongs. 

Most of the patches veer towards inharmonicity, lovely rich sounds, but you're not going to use them to comp in a rhythm changes or use them for Mozart like mockups. Some you can use as pads and melodic material, but in a standard setting you have to pick and choose.

But for stuff that isn't tonal/pitched/harmony based, its the bomb.


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## jcrosby (Sep 14, 2022)

gzapper said:


> I think the correct term is are the patches inharmonic, as in treading more towards lots of overtones that aren't on the harmonic series, like gongs.
> 
> Most of the patches veer towards inharmonicity, lovely rich sounds, but you're not going to use them to comp in a rhythm changes or use them for Mozart like mockups. Some you can use as pads and melodic material, but in a standard setting you have to pick and choose.
> 
> But for stuff that isn't tonal/pitched/harmony based, its the bomb.


Fair enough... I'm just thinking in terms of how things are framed in a brief, and how some of my own sound design is organized... It's definitely a no brainer for horror and tension, I hear a ton of potential there that's for sure...


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