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Spitfire Appreciation Thread

MaschineMind

Pro Crastinator
With all of the drama around here recently regarding a well known British company, I thought it would be a good idea to spread some positivity to counteract the negative energy. So please, in this thread describe your favourite Spitfire libraries, any secret treasures and share any sounds. Let's hear your positive experiences with these libraries.

No hateful comments or negativity in this thread, just love :inlove:

If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything. Peace
 
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I give it a page or two before it goes south... :rofl:

In the spirit of the thread: I remember when I first heard the original Albion I demos. It was the first time I'd heard a wet sample library recorded in a hall. It floored me as I'd never heard a mockup that sounded "3D" with such a sense of space. That, and the idea I could get a great sound by moving a couple of faders instead of getting busy with reverb massively appealed to the lazy drifter in me.

That I never brought Albion I will haunt me for all time, but I use it's successor most days.
 
My favourite things about Spitfire are the LABS range and the educational videos - both very much in the spirit of generosity.

I actually owned most of the LABS libraries from back when they used to charge £3 and donate a portion to charity, but now they've decided to rework them and give them out for free. The quality of some of these rivals paid-for libraries and I particularly like the Peel Guitar, Frozen Strings and Ollie Waton Drums.

Regarding the educational videos, these are an invaluable tool for someone such as myself that receives most of my education from YouTube videos. I saw that Mr Henson posted a livestream yesterday, I'm definitely going to have to check that out as I find seeing how professionals work quite eye-opening.

Looking to pick up Tundra and the Studio Orchestra series in the near future.
 
My favourite Spitfire libraries is the Symphonic Orchestra range so far, and I like the old Albion a lot. The brass sounds so nice and british oldschool there. I wish sometimes that they would record with the same setup a more in depth library for that Albion brass sound what they had there. Job Percussion is also great, the celesta is very nice there. Hm let me think..Bernard Herman toolkit..I like it too.
 
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I bought Studio Orchestra Core in the spring sale and am really enjoying my first steps in orchestral composition! For the price and small HD size it’s an amazing package and, even if I don’t get into the full orchestral side, they will be very useful for the other writing that I do.

I also have BDT, OACE, Tundra, EDNA and LCO Textures and they are all simply wonderful libraries that provide quality and inspiration in equal measure.

Just as important though, is the giving back that they do with LABS and Youtube, where Christian, Paul and the others so generously share their knowledge and experience.

Top company! :)
 
They really are a great sample library making company & a very approachable one too! Active in the community etc (even though most on here seem to have something against them)

I'm hoping that they'll experiment with libraries more this year & do some more unique ones as opposed to more string / brass etc libraries!
 
It was the first time I'd heard a wet sample library recorded in a hall. It floored me as I'd never heard a mockup that sounded "3D" with such a sense of space. That, and the idea I could get a great sound by moving a couple of faders instead of getting busy with reverb massively appealed to the lazy drifter in me.

100%

My first "ah ha" moment was when I was writing a generic string part that sounded very "un-pro"...
I was EQing stuff like a mad man, but nothing really worked.
Somehow, I (randomly) pushed the far mics, and the mix opened up like magic.

Really happy with Albion 3 and HZ Perc Pro.

Also, Scary Strings allowed me to score a 1 min scene holding 1 note. Best $3 ever spent!
 
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The Spitfire Symphonic Orchestra has always been my favorite orchestral library, the lush almost ethereal sound of Air along with the reel to reel tape is special and can't be replaced for me.
 
Out of 25 threads on the front page of Sampletalk at the moment, 12 are about Spitfire. I'm not making any point, just noticed it and wondered what is going on. I'm guessing it must be the Spring sale generating a bit of interest.

Anyway on topic - I love Tundra!
 
Someone criticized my team. I need to defend my team.

If anything I'm team Orchestral Tools since I've always picked them when faced with a choice (for example Albion One or Metropolis Ark 1), however the founders of Spitfire frequent the forums as well as their customer services account so I thought it'd be nice to have a thread devoted to highlighting only the positives for a change.
 
Spitfire has made some terrific products in the past that I've found a use for. (Albion Legacy, Andy Findon's Kit Bag Vol 1 & 2)
My opinion regarding the management of the company has soured a bit, in the wake of the HZ Strings debacle last year.
 
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As far as making my all time favorite library (BHOT) as well as some other well-used-by-me libs, and showcasing practically perfect customer support, Spitfire is one of the elite imo.

Legacy, Iceni, Evos 2 and 4, and Uist got used so much by me I kind of wore them out lol!

I too am an OT convert, but will never count out SA.
 
I've recently decided that the low G on the Spitfire solo strings cello is absolutely my favourite sampled G, ever. Seriously, you put on the close with a bit of tree and start with a slight downward crescendo to give it a bit of attack that kind of blooms in the tree mic, let the lowest dynamic layer resonant a bit then follow with a slight crescendo, invoke the vibrato, nudge into the next dynamic layer, which gives you this incredibly satisfying crunchiness ... I could go on.

I think this may be as close to the spiritual experience of playing the cello in AIR you can get without actually playing the cello in AIR. Wow do I envy the musician who played this G.

This effect is surprising sensitive to the mix, so its taken me a while to get it. But man this is one of the truly great Gs.

I have lots of good things to say about the other notes as well, but the G is bringing me particular joy this week.
 
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