# Wondering what Spitfire BBCSO Sounds Like? [Corellia Chase] (Strings and Winds)



## Jack McKenzie (May 19, 2020)

For those of you still on the fence about Spitfire Audio BBCSO I recently created a transcription and mockup by ear of the Corellia Chase from Solo: A Star Wars Story by John Powell!

I used primarily the Spitfire Audio BBCSO apart from the brass which was entirely Cinesamples, purely because the original track was recorded in LA with very similar players.

Winds: BBCSO
Brass: CineBrass Core and Pro
Percussion: BBCSO/HZ Perc/Albion One
Strings: BBCSO/Chamber Strings 

[TOR 2] Solo: A Star Wars Story (John Powell)


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## Levon (May 19, 2020)

I was listening to the Solo soundtrack this morning. Both Corellia Chase and Reminiscence Therapy are standout tracks for me. Your mockup sounds great! I'm on the fence at the moment regarding whether or not to purchase BBCSO. Your mockup makes it harder to resist!


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## Jack McKenzie (May 19, 2020)

Reminiscence Therapy is one of my favourite tracks from a Star Wars film because it’s essentially a JW greatest hits mash up written by John Powell!

The library is a fantastic all in one orchestra! The core version is great value for money!

I’ve also done a BBCSO 6 Months on review if you’d like some more detail on the library! This is the Pro version.


1M4 - [Spitfire Audio] BBC Symphony Orchestra: 6 Months On...


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## reimerpdx (May 19, 2020)

What a great mock-up!
You wrote that you used CineBrass because of the room sound / players.
Can you speak to the difference in tone from BBC? (I use CineBrass and am on the fence for BBCSO as a solution for a homogenous sounding orchestra).


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## Jack McKenzie (May 19, 2020)

Thanks! BBCSO is great but lacks the brightness you get with Hollywood brass like you get in Cinebrass. Spitfire are great at a lot of things but their brass is often quite mellow. Which is great in some aspects but for this big stuff you need bright brass that will cut through the rest of the orchestra.


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## reimerpdx (May 19, 2020)

Jack McKenzie said:


> Thanks! BBCSO is great but lacks the brightness you get with Hollywood brass like you get in Cinebrass. Spitfire are great at a lot of things but their brass is often quite mellow. Which is great in some aspects but for this big stuff you need bright brass that will cut through the rest of the orchestra.


Perfect. I appreciate the succinct answer!


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## Levon (May 20, 2020)

Jack McKenzie said:


> Reminiscence Therapy is one of my favourite tracks from a Star Wars film because it’s essentially a JW greatest hits mash up written by John Powell!
> 
> The library is a fantastic all in one orchestra! The core version is great value for money!
> 
> ...



How do you find BBCSO compared to their Symphonic range? Their latest sale brings the Symphonic Strings/Brass/Winds down to almost BBCSO price level. (I have neither at the moment)


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## Jack McKenzie (May 20, 2020)

Levon said:


> How do you find BBCSO compared to their Symphonic range? Their latest sale brings the Symphonic Strings/Brass/Winds down to almost BBCSO price level. (I have neither at the moment)


I think with the BBCSO you’ve got a whole orchestra in one, recorded in one room. It’s one library and it all works great together. Their symphonic range is great and much more lush in the wetter AIR Lyndhurst hall compared to the smaller Maida Vale BBCSO is recorded in. I think for what you get, articulations, instruments, mic positions BBCSO takes top spot!


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## peladio (May 20, 2020)

Great mockups..I know you made it to showcase BBC but Cinebrass is really good here..so much better than Spitfire brass..


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## Jack McKenzie (May 20, 2020)

peladio said:


> Great mockups..I know you made it to showcase BBC but Cinebrass is really good here..so much better than Spitfire brass..


I think spitfire brass is generally great but sometimes lacks the power and brightness needed to cut through. Cinesamples are great at creating Hollywood style brass!


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## RogiervG (May 21, 2020)

please do one without the thirdparty libs added.


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## Jack McKenzie (May 21, 2020)

RogiervG said:


> please do one without the thirdparty libs added.


This was mainly to hear how the BBCSO could interact wiry other libraries. Here is an orchestration of Clean Bandit purely only BBCSO: 
Clean Bandit: Symphony - Spitfire Audio BBC Symphony Orchestra [DEMO]


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## pixelcrave (Dec 30, 2020)

Hi @Jack McKenzie — I realize this is an old thread, but I'm just curious how do you find mixing BBCSO and Cinebrass together for you with the different recording room? Any tips for making the adjustments to sound cohesive? I'm about to pull the trigger to grab Cinebrass bundle, but wanted to get a couple more thoughts from those who have the two.

Thanks so much,
Ivan


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## Jack McKenzie (Dec 31, 2020)

pixelcrave said:


> Hi @Jack McKenzie — I realize this is an old thread, but I'm just curious how do you find mixing BBCSO and Cinebrass together for you with the different recording room? Any tips for making the adjustments to sound cohesive? I'm about to pull the trigger to grab Cinebrass bundle, but wanted to get a couple more thoughts from those who have the two.
> 
> Thanks so much,
> Ivan


CineBrass have that great iconic 'Hollywood' sound, recorded on the Sony Scoring stage. It's not as wet as Air Lyndhurst (where Spitfire normally record) and actually matches quite well with Maida Vale (where BBCSO is recorded). Both rooms have a slightly darker sound and are a lot smaller than Abbey Road or Air. My only advice with both libraries are that they have a lot of low end room noise/build up (especially CineBrass) so make sure to filter that out (without changing the sound of the instrument) to avoid any unwanted mud in your low-mids.


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## pixelcrave (Dec 31, 2020)

Jack McKenzie said:


> CineBrass have that great iconic 'Hollywood' sound, recorded on the Sony Scoring stage. It's not as wet as Air Lyndhurst (where Spitfire normally record) and actually matches quite well with Maida Vale (where BBCSO is recorded). Both rooms have a slightly darker sound and are a lot smaller than Abbey Road or Air. My only advice with both libraries are that they have a lot of low end room noise/build up (especially CineBrass) so make sure to filter that out (without changing the sound of the instrument) to avoid any unwanted mud in your low-mids.



Thanks so much! This is very helpful! Hope you have a great New Year!


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## wst3 (Dec 31, 2020)

I must say I am quite impressed with how well you blended CineBrass (one of my favortes!) with BBSSO.

This makes my choice not to buy a library ever so much more difficult to maintain<G>!


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## Jack McKenzie (Dec 31, 2020)

wst3 said:


> I must say I am quite impressed with how well you blended CineBrass (one of my favortes!) with BBSSO.
> 
> This makes my choice not to buy a library ever so much more difficult to maintain<G>!


Thanks! The trombones blended especially well, I had some issues with the trumpets because I could not for the life of me get them as short as the actual track. I mean the trumpets in the original track are just insane!


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## ComedyDave1980 (Aug 7, 2021)

Hey! Appreciate this is an old post, but Google returned it in a search I did for BBCSO and Chamber Strings and thought you might be able to help! I'm looking to get a smaller, neater string sound, and have BBCSO Pro - and have been considering Chamber Strings. However, it (like the Symphonic suite) is wetter than BBCSO - do you find that they mix well together naturally, or do you find you are tweaking a lot to get them to 'match'?


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## Jack McKenzie (Aug 10, 2021)

ComedyDave1980 said:


> Hey! Appreciate this is an old post, but Google returned it in a search I did for BBCSO and Chamber Strings and thought you might be able to help! I'm looking to get a smaller, neater string sound, and have BBCSO Pro - and have been considering Chamber Strings. However, it (like the Symphonic suite) is wetter than BBCSO - do you find that they mix well together naturally, or do you find you are tweaking a lot to get them to 'match'?


When you say "neater" do you mean a more up front sound? In that case both chamber strings and BBCSO offer a wide range of different microphones and combinations. I suggest playing with the Close Mics first and start to dial in different signals, such as the tree, ambient or even the out riggers. With BBCSO Pro you also get "Spill" Microphones, mics that are sitting above certain sections (ie you could pick up the sound of the strings from the Woodwind Section). Hopefully this has answered your question. BBCSO and Chamber blend quite nicely so do CSS and Chamber. Both CSS and BBCSO are darker libraries and Chamber not only brings out the higher frequencies but the natural ambience of AIR is a fantastic sound on its own! JMC


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## ComedyDave1980 (Aug 11, 2021)

Jack McKenzie said:


> When you say "neater" do you mean a more up front sound? In that case both chamber strings and BBCSO offer a wide range of different microphones and combinations. I suggest playing with the Close Mics first and start to dial in different signals, such as the tree, ambient or even the out riggers. With BBCSO Pro you also get "Spill" Microphones, mics that are sitting above certain sections (ie you could pick up the sound of the strings from the Woodwind Section). Hopefully this has answered your question. BBCSO and Chamber blend quite nicely so do CSS and Chamber. Both CSS and BBCSO are darker libraries and Chamber not only brings out the higher frequencies but the natural ambience of AIR is a fantastic sound on its own! JMC


Hi - thanks for the response Jack. When I say "neater" - I'm trying to say a smaller yet still cohesive sound. I find with the close mics and judicious use of the section leaders you can nearly get there with BBCSO Pro (or at least *I* can nearly get there, no doubt an Andrew Blaney type - or indeed your good self going by that mock up above - could get closer!). But it still sounds to me like I'm trying to make a big section sound small - as opposed to starting with a small section. There's a feeling of "space". I will try fiddling with the close mics again and see what i can produce. But it's great to know that SCS and BBCSO do blend well - in particular complementing each other vis a vis the brightness of SCS and Air combined with BBCSO's Maida Vale "straight up" ambience.. 

Also, excellent demo above btw!! I'm a looooong way from having those skills


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