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Spitfire Audio Abbey Road One: Orchestral Foundations

I'm excited about this, and ordered it.

But I just realized ... the sound of the room is iconic and great ... but if you mix in other instruments, you end up losing that.
 
It should probably be called Abbey Road O.1
This seems very incomplete IMO for USD$450
I can't see how anyone could construct any realistic passage of orchestral music with this number of articulations. And without any sought of roadmap provided by Spitfire, it's a gamble.

High Strings
  • Long
  • Long Con Sord
  • Tremolo
  • Short Spiccato
  • Short Pizzicatto
What about these? Are they going to be in the next 9 $50 add on's?
Or can't they say?

Staccato short and regular, bold and agile
Staccato short and regular, fortissimo and harsh
Détaché

Sustained, regular vibrato, molto vibrato, senza vibrato
Espressivo piano
Very soft (pianissimo and flautando)

Legato, regular vibrato, molto vibrato, senza vibrato
Espressivo piano
Very soft (pianissimo and flautando)
Legato agile with attack and release variants
Auto-speed option with regular legato

Portamento with attack and release variants

Sforzato
Soft swell with normal and soft release
Crescendo short and long
Diminuendo short and long

Tremolo sustained, marcato option and regular sustains crossfading option
Measured tremolo, 120/130/140/160 BPM, normal and cut release

Half tone trills
Whole tone trills

Regular pizzicato
Snap (Bartók) pizzicato
Col legno

Harmonics Sustained
Tremolo sustained

Ponti cello Short notes, bold and agile
Sustained
Legato
Tremolo sustained, with marcato
 
It should probably be called Abbey Road O.1
This seems very incomplete IMO for USD$450
I can't see how anyone could construct any realistic passage of orchestral music with this number of articulations. And without any sought of roadmap provided by Spitfire, it's a gamble.

High Strings
  • Long
  • Long Con Sord
  • Tremolo
  • Short Spiccato
  • Short Pizzicatto
What about these? Are they going to be in the next 9 $50 add on's?
Or can't they say?

Staccato short and regular, bold and agile
Staccato short and regular, fortissimo and harsh
Détaché

Sustained, regular vibrato, molto vibrato, senza vibrato
Espressivo piano
Very soft (pianissimo and flautando)

Legato, regular vibrato, molto vibrato, senza vibrato
Espressivo piano
Very soft (pianissimo and flautando)
Legato agile with attack and release variants
Auto-speed option with regular legato

Portamento with attack and release variants

Sforzato
Soft swell with normal and soft release
Crescendo short and long
Diminuendo short and long

Tremolo sustained, marcato option and regular sustains crossfading option
Measured tremolo, 120/130/140/160 BPM, normal and cut release

Half tone trills
Whole tone trills

Regular pizzicato
Snap (Bartók) pizzicato
Col legno

Harmonics Sustained
Tremolo sustained

Ponti cello Short notes, bold and agile
Sustained
Legato
Tremolo sustained, with marcato
Is this a joke? Literally no string library has this many articulations. And if there is, its definitely not $450
 
Is this a joke? Literally no string library has this many articulations. And if there is, its definitely not $450
That seems to be the articulation list for VSL's Synchron Strings Pro:
 
Just found this really interesting and perhaps relevant to all the trending Spitfire Audio AR1 threads now. Including those who try to predict the future or become pseudo product experts.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/imperi...hen-youre-more-likely-to-buy-it/#518c171b3f94

I guess many of us are really keen on potentially getting our hands on AR1! ;) (me included) No harm intended here, this was just really amusing to me as I read through the article today and found a real-life context to apply it to.
 
It should probably be called Abbey Road O.1
This seems very incomplete IMO for USD$450
I can't see how anyone could construct any realistic passage of orchestral music with this number of articulations. And without any sought of roadmap provided by Spitfire, it's a gamble.

High Strings
  • Long
  • Long Con Sord
  • Tremolo
  • Short Spiccato
  • Short Pizzicatto
What about these? Are they going to be in the next 9 $50 add on's?
Or can't they say?

Staccato short and regular, bold and agile
Staccato short and regular, fortissimo and harsh
Détaché

Sustained, regular vibrato, molto vibrato, senza vibrato
Espressivo piano
Very soft (pianissimo and flautando)

Legato, regular vibrato, molto vibrato, senza vibrato
Espressivo piano
Very soft (pianissimo and flautando)
Legato agile with attack and release variants
Auto-speed option with regular legato

Portamento with attack and release variants

Sforzato
Soft swell with normal and soft release
Crescendo short and long
Diminuendo short and long

Tremolo sustained, marcato option and regular sustains crossfading option
Measured tremolo, 120/130/140/160 BPM, normal and cut release

Half tone trills
Whole tone trills

Regular pizzicato
Snap (Bartók) pizzicato
Col legno

Harmonics Sustained
Tremolo sustained

Ponti cello Short notes, bold and agile
Sustained
Legato
Tremolo sustained, with marcato
With respect JTB, I think there's a fundamental mismatch between what AB01 is designed to be and what you want from it.

Sounds like you'd be happier with the modular library coming next year. Why not wait for that instead?
Best - A
 
I walk into a café, on the board there is a sandwich special for $25.
I ask the guy at the counter "what's in it"
he says "bread and butter" then pauses
I ask "what else?"
he says "I can't tell you anything other than it is part of our marketing strategy"
I ask "how do you expect to sell any sandwiches?"
he says "there are a lot of stupid people out there"

This is insane. Here's the more appropriate analogy:

You walk into a café, on the board there is a sandwich special for $25.
you ask the guy at the counter "what's in it"
he says "artisan home made bread and butter with oven baked honeyed ham and Irish Cheddar cheese"
You scream "THAT'S ALL!!! THATS NOT A SANDWICH!! NO SELF-RESPECTING SANDWICH EATER WOULD EVER EAT A SANDWICH WITH ONLY HAM AND CHEESE!!! WHERES THE RELISH AND THE MAYO AND THE TOMATOES AND THE ONIONS AND THE BEEF. I NEED MOOOOOOOOORE!!!"
he says "well, there are more sandwiches coming, they're just not ready yet. They have more gourmet options and you may like them more if you're still hungry. But this sandwich just has ham and cheese."
You ask "how do you expect to sell any sandwiches?"
he says "I've been selling sandwiches successfully for 10 years"

TL;DR They're telling you whats in the sandwich, you just don't like it.
 
From their site it seems the future releases are like smaller BHCT style, at least how I read it?
I'd be up for those as I love BHCT! I'm not sure they are add-ons to make this more complete if you know what I mean.

"The next titles in this symphonic series will arrive early 2021. These will be smaller, more focused libraries inspired by classic films – offering pre-orchestrated instrument themes. Each Selections library is focussed on accomplishing certain performance elements of orchestral movie music brilliantly..."
 
So pre recorded riffs are on the menu but no portamento or glissandi?
Mmmm sounds delicious, albeit pre digested.
 
Has anyone ever wondered why Andy Blaney didn't write any demos for Spitfire Audio Abbey Road One: Orchestral Foundations? I just hope that he didn't leave and stayed in their team.
 
I’m willing to bet money that it’s option A and Spitfire won’t go back to fixing anything from ANY previous program. That’s not how they function. Their MO is to just keep churning out new libraries and marketing the hell out of them, rather than make past libraries more stable.

They have updated BBCSO several times since its launch. I've also seen updates on several products I own of their's, like Bernard Herrmann, BDTK, etc.
This is insane. Here's the more appropriate analogy:

You walk into a café, on the board there is a sandwich special for $25.
you ask the guy at the counter "what's in it"
he says "artisan home made bread and butter with oven baked honeyed ham and Irish Cheddar cheese"
You scream "THAT'S ALL!!! THATS NOT A SANDWICH!! NO SELF-RESPECTING SANDWICH EATER WOULD EVER EAT A SANDWICH WITH ONLY HAM AND CHEESE!!! WHERES THE RELISH AND THE MAYO AND THE TOMATOES AND THE ONIONS AND THE BEEF. I NEED MOOOOOOOOORE!!!"
he says "well, there are more sandwiches coming, they're just not ready yet. They have more gourmet options and you may like them more if you're still hungry. But this sandwich just has ham and cheese."
You ask "how do you expect to sell any sandwiches?"
he says "I've been selling sandwiches successfully for 10 years"

TL;DR They're telling you whats in the sandwich, you just don't like it.
best analogy ever.
 
I agree there could have been more instruments in the library, and creating scarcity to make us buy expansions, feels like being taken hostage. Especially not knowing whats coming. Allthough I do like the idea that the expansions will be themed after famous scores. I just hope there is a Christmas classic in there, because this is that sound!

However, getting all of those mic options is great for the price. It seems like an orchestral library that can be tweaked to fit into a lot of use cases. That appeals to me for sure. Its more about the sound than the 1000 articulations. I think it will be my first Spitfire library.

Anyone knows how Spitfire’s holiday offers works? The intro offer on this ends Dec 1st - so will it be cheaper to wait until Christmas? I have a truckload of cash to spend on software, after the travelling restraints lately.
 
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That seems to be the articulation list for VSL's Synchron Strings Pro:
I’m pretty sure VSL’s library doesn’t have winds, brass and percussion, and isn't recorded at Abbey Road ;)
 
My current thoughts are that we should wait for the promised extra information on the upcoming releases. I think they said they would make that available BEFORE Nov 5th, when the deal ends, so I'm looking forward to that.

The problem without the extra information is that for many of us it is not possible to determine if this is going to be very useful, which creates anxiety, because almost all of us like what is in it a LOT and we don't want to miss out, especially because it seems the deal in itself is VERY good. It seems to me that for many it's not that there's not enough content for the price, but rather whether or not after getting the upcoming releases there will be enough BASIC articulations to make it more usefull than it is now. Let's say 5 more per instrument, e.g.: legato, staccato, half tone and whole tone trills and a marcato attack for high strings. If not, then maybe it's better to sit this one out and wait for the modular orchestra. Those special themed releases will also work great with the modular orchestra.

Although I'm into section based orchestras, I still might choose this one, because I do not want to miss out on the sound and that modular orchestra might end up too expensive. Especially considering I own so many already... But what if those missing articulations are only coming mixed with extra instruments that are only fitting that themed approach?

On the other hand how bad would it be if it's not going to work out? I could still use this one for layering... So I keep going between "Maybe I will buy this" and "NEVER, I'm not up for a gamble on this one!"

Anyhow, for now let's just wait for the much coveted extra info!
 
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The problem without the extra information is that for many of us it is not possible to determine if this is going to be very useful, which creates anxiety, because almost all of us like what is in it a LOT and we don't want to miss out, especially because it seems the deal in itself is VERY good.

I don't intend to gatekeep the emotions you can feel, but I believe you are a hobbyist like me, right? So, I'm curious... from where does this anxiety come? There's not really anything "riding" on this release, yeah? Our livelihoods are not at stake in any way, so my personal feelings are vacillating between excitement (at the potential) and hesitation.

Sure, I'm still waffling on whether to save that $149 (intro price plus pre-order "voucher" for the next purchase), but on my part, anxiety isn't really a factor here.

Again, I'm not trying to tell you how to feel, but if there's room to reset our barometers a bit, then perhaps we can make some logical decisions sans anxiety.
 
I don't intend to gatekeep the emotions you can feel, but I believe you are a hobbyist like me, right? So, I'm curious... from where does this anxiety come? There's not really anything "riding" on this release, yeah? Our livelihoods are not at stake in any way, so my personal feelings are vacillating between excitement (at the potential) and hesitation.

Sure, I'm still waffling on whether to save that $149 (intro price plus pre-order "voucher" for the next purchase), but on my part, anxiety isn't really a factor here.

Again, I'm not trying to tell you how to feel, but if there's room to reset our barometers a bit, then perhaps we can make some logical decisions sans anxiety.

You are absolutely right! Anxiety should not be taken seriously, beyond what people are expressing in threads like these. I'm not loosing any sleep over this. It's just that if I don't buy it, and it turns out I should have, that it would be annoying. Would have to wait for an opportunity to buy it at the same price in the more long term. A Luxery problem, nothing more.

Still, the emotion is there if only on a small scale...

Edit: And how about this? Losing thousands of dollars in the stock market on a bad day is no problem. It's all part of the game. Other days will be better. But paying 10 bucks for something that's for sale at the same moment somewhere else for 5 is annoying as hell!
 
This is insane. Here's the more appropriate analogy:

You walk into a café, on the board there is a sandwich special for $25.
you ask the guy at the counter "what's in it"
he says "artisan home made bread and butter with oven baked honeyed ham and Irish Cheddar cheese"
You scream "THAT'S ALL!!! THATS NOT A SANDWICH!! NO SELF-RESPECTING SANDWICH EATER WOULD EVER EAT A SANDWICH WITH ONLY HAM AND CHEESE!!! WHERES THE RELISH AND THE MAYO AND THE TOMATOES AND THE ONIONS AND THE BEEF. I NEED MOOOOOOOOORE!!!"
he says "well, there are more sandwiches coming, they're just not ready yet. They have more gourmet options and you may like them more if you're still hungry. But this sandwich just has ham and cheese."
You ask "how do you expect to sell any sandwiches?"
he says "I've been selling sandwiches successfully for 10 years"

TL;DR They're telling you whats in the sandwich, you just don't like it.


“This is insane. Here's the more appropriate analogy:”

You’re not the sandwich buyer but the sandwich maker…you need utensils to make sandwiches to sell to your clients…X brand says YOO we made the best ever sandwich utensil product line like no one else before with a material no one else had access before and obviously our product line is complimentary (cuz thats the whole point of a recording and selling a SPACE/ROOM). And you’re like like great, i’d love that…then X brand goes ohhh but we only made the 1st few utensils which makes about 50% of the sandwich, buy them now and then you’ll get to purchase the rest afterwards…so normally you say but can i know what other utensils you plan on providing as part of that product line?? you know cuz i need to know if what i’m investing into will fit with the sandwiches i sell to my clients…and they say don’t worry its gonna be what you need but we can’t give you any specifics yet…

Now out of the analogy but let’s be honest we wouldn’t accept that kind of strategy from our landlords, banks, car manufacturers or universities…”take this Music course with us and we’ll let you know along the way what subjects we’re gonna cover”

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s their right to do so and one can simply wait till everything is out to know if the product fits their needs or not but for some ppl with lower income OR ppl living in countries with very weak currencies - it would be nice to know whats the plan beforehand cuz that price can be expensive when you’re paid in rupees and not USD, EUR or BP…being able to plan your expenditures is essential.

and finally : “I've been selling sandwiches successfully for 10 years” - sure mate but your shitty marketing strategy started about 2/3 years ago and the 7 years prior, you were you being honest and more down to earth…so let’s see where you are 10years from now keeping the same attitude…Yeah ppl like spitfire but one has to be deaf not to see the negative comments getting louder.

Again, it’s their right and i respect it but don’t blame ppl for reacting they way they do either…

All that being said as an owner of SSS, SCS, HZS, Apperture Strings, SStS, SStW, BBCSO Pro, Symphonic Motions and a few others…so yeah like i said i like Spitfire products..It’s just that my trust in them keeps going down as the years go on.
 
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