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Spitfire Bespoke private range libraries

valexnerfarious

Active Member
Prior to the commercial success of the Percussion and Albion there was a lot of demos of the strings,brass and woodwinds on their site.I think without question those libraries are the best sounding samples Spitfire have made to date.I remember the price of each library being thousands of dollars.Those samples were so full of life and energy that I feel Spitfire has not been able to come close to reproducing anything to that quality since.I myself would for them to consider making those available top the public because those will out sale anything they have out right now.Am I alone in this?
 
I think those are just nostalgia goggles, samplers have come a long way since then, so did scripting and sample recording expertise the idea that those libraries are superior just because they were private doesn't make any sense from a product development standpoint
 
I was looking into what demos this referred to. Here's one of them by Colin O'Malley. Sounds simply masterfully crafted in composition and programming:


Mentioned elsewhere by Paul:
The Brass is mainly Spitfire, there are a couple of new short articulations that we are in the process of recording and editing at the moment - for a few of these Colin substituted a few patches from his private collection.

You can hear the new Derek Watkins trumpet in there though - fantastic tight staccatos and great legato long notes! Thats currently in beta.

In fact everything else is Spitfire apart from the Wind runs, Harp and the Choir. I need to double check what the choir is before I credit it so I don't embarrass myself.. :D

I think what's important though, is not always just the samples. People like Andy Blaney do complete magic with the exact same samples as mine (), there's always so much you can do with your current samples: no matter if they're expensive 'bespoke' libraries, or the ones you picked up on sale a year ago.
 
I think those are just nostalgia goggles, samplers have come a long way since then, so did scripting and sample recording expertise the idea that those libraries are superior just because they were private doesn't make any sense from a product development standpoint

This is key, those were produced in 2011(?) - 8 years since, they've made and learnt much more since.

In fact, I think the demos sound better because of the limitations of the samples that we don't have - as well as there being far fewer tools, you had to write well with what you had. It builds innovation to restrict oneself sometimes.
 
This is key, those were produced in 2011(?) - 8 years since, they've made and learnt much more since.

In fact, I think the demos sound better because of the limitations of the samples that we don't have - as well as there being far fewer tools, you had to write well with what you had. It builds innovation to restrict oneself sometimes.
I would save up and buy all of those Bespoke samples in a heart beat and I known of others that would as well.I think it bring Spitfire a ton of new revenue.
 
My understanding is that the bespoke samples were rolled into the current products (eg: Sable = Chamber Strings)

The demos above were created by masters at the top of their game. That counts for so much more than any perceived sample or programming limitations. To my mind, no-one makes the Spitfire libraries sing like Andy Blaney and he's peerless in making the samples sound like an orchestra.

Finally, I assume that the bespoke stuff was priced so highly as they were only sold to a select few. More modern SF libraries are sold at much lower costs to the masses, which perhaps can give the (inaccurate) impression that they're lesser products.

My 2c anyhow.
 
My understanding is that the bespoke samples were rolled into the current products (eg: Sable = Chamber Strings)

The demos above were created by masters at the top of their game. That counts for so much more than any perceived sample or programming limitations. To my mind, no-one makes the Spitfire libraries sing like Andy Blaney and he's peerless in making the samples sound like an orchestra.

Finally, I assume that the bespoke stuff was priced so highly as they were only sold to a select few. More modern SF libraries are sold at much lower costs to the masses, which perhaps can give the (inaccurate) impression that they're lesser products.

My 2c anyhow.
I have heard one thing that made the samples sound so full of life was the there was zero noise reduction
 
I have heard one thing that made the samples sound so full of life was the there was zero noise reduction

Basically this.

There is much less editing in general what other these earlier libraries which,
in my opinion, is a huge plus. While there may be more flaws or discrepancies, I find the more human approach always sounds great and better than the overall processed stuff.

It's for the same reason I love a lot of these 'indie' developers or smaller libraries with their unique, raw musicianship baked-in and left as in. E.g. 'Scary Strings' is one of my favourite libs from Spitfire and it is essentially left unedited.
 
To my mind, no-one makes the Spitfire libraries sing like Andy Blaney and he's peerless in making the samples sound like an orchestra.

Andy is incredible because I think he's the ultimate litmus test for virtual instruments. I've heard some of his demos for other developers. For all his skill, even he can only do as much as the tools allow him to do, and the difference between what he does for Spitfire and some of those other examples is pretty telling.
 
I believe in some way if there was enough attention and requests that they might make it happen. They are tough to beat with all that we have now.
 
Any more to add, or do I have to stroke your ego a little more to get an answer? ;)
His answer is pretty much just that. Sable, Chamber Strings, Mural, Symphonic Strings, etc. Are all completely different recordings. The Bespoke stuff were a private venture that were available to a select few composers. There are other forums with more details about those libraries, the biggest being the major issues with the original Bespoke line that were never addressed or fixed. The patches were also locked too.

The biggest issue I heard with the bespoke strings were the Cello Spiccato samples. Lots of pops and clicks from poorly edited samples. With all that said, at the time, the Bespoke line of instruments were *THE* creme de la creme of samples that a composer could get their hands on. It's what ultimately lead to the commercial development of Spitfire's libraries like Solo Strings, Albion 1 (Legacy) and their Percussion library.
 
His answer is pretty much just that. Sable, Chamber Strings, Mural, Symphonic Strings, etc. Are all completely different recordings. The Bespoke stuff were a private venture that were available to a select few composers. There are other forums with more details about those libraries, the biggest being the major issues with the original Bespoke line that were never addressed or fixed. The patches were also locked too.

The biggest issue I heard with the bespoke strings were the Cello Spiccato samples. Lots of pops and clicks from poorly edited samples. With all that said, at the time, the Bespoke line of instruments were *THE* creme de la creme of samples that a composer could get their hands on. It's what ultimately lead to the commercial development of Spitfire's libraries like Solo Strings, Albion 1 (Legacy) and their Percussion library.
Could you direct me with the links to those forums?
 
His answer is pretty much just that. Sable, Chamber Strings, Mural, Symphonic Strings, etc. Are all completely different recordings. The Bespoke stuff were a private venture that were available to a select few composers. There are other forums with more details about those libraries, the biggest being the major issues with the original Bespoke line that were never addressed or fixed. The patches were also locked too.

The biggest issue I heard with the bespoke strings were the Cello Spiccato samples. Lots of pops and clicks from poorly edited samples. With all that said, at the time, the Bespoke line of instruments were *THE* creme de la creme of samples that a composer could get their hands on. It's what ultimately lead to the commercial development of Spitfire's libraries like Solo Strings, Albion 1 (Legacy) and their Percussion library.
Interesting, thanks. I had no idea there were earlier samples. They must have spent a fortune at Air over the years!
 
His answer is pretty much just that. Sable, Chamber Strings, Mural, Symphonic Strings, etc. Are all completely different recordings. The Bespoke stuff were a private venture that were available to a select few composers. There are other forums with more details about those libraries, the biggest being the major issues with the original Bespoke line that were never addressed or fixed. The patches were also locked too.

The biggest issue I heard with the bespoke strings were the Cello Spiccato samples. Lots of pops and clicks from poorly edited samples. With all that said, at the time, the Bespoke line of instruments were *THE* creme de la creme of samples that a composer could get their hands on. It's what ultimately lead to the commercial development of Spitfire's libraries like Solo Strings, Albion 1 (Legacy) and their Percussion library.
Sable and Chamber are the same are Mural and Symphonic are the same.
 
Any more to add, or do I have to stroke your ego a little more to get an answer? ;)

I can tell you that the bespoke Chamber Strings sound nothing like Sable/Chamber Strings. Also the sections are bigger in bespoke - I think 6 or 7 1st violins vs. 4 in Sable. Also the bespoke collection was not recorded with a flexible mic setup like the commercial libraries, so you only have one (in some cases two) ambient settings to choose, and nothing as close as Sable. Sound like it was recorded in a bigger space too, not sure about that, could just be the mixing/mics though.
 
Spitfire's Bespoke Strings is not "the mythical, super-deluxe elite library that sounds better than, or is superior to everything else". It is pretty good, unquestionably, and some of it is timbrally still more to my liking than what came later, but if they were to release these strings today — which would require quite a bit of extra work because development of the library was abandonned long before it was finished — I'm pretty sure that most people would be rather underwhelmed. As in: "Is that all it is?".

The Bespokes, when looked at today, are more of a portfolio of first, second and third drafts for greater things to come. A sort of laboratory if you like, which allowed the Spitfire team to fine-tune their craft, and experiment with various techniques regarding recording, editing, implementing legato and crossfading and such. Which is why, like Chris already mentioned, these strings do indeed have their share of little annoyances and crudité. (And yes, the fact that the patches are locked is a bit of a downer as well, especially given the fact that most of the roughness would be very easy to correct if only one had access to the patches’ insides.)

But the library also has that invaluable vibe of passion, vision and complete dedication on the part of its makers, which is something I don’t hear at all in, say, the recent Studio Series. Makes a big difference when it comes to making music with samples.

As I said, it's a pretty good library — not the final word in string libraries, definitely not, but pretty good —, containing plenty of great timbres and some truly excellent ones (still the best pizzicati in existence by some serious distance, as far as I'm concerned, and the Chamber Strings will forever remain a fixture in my mock-orchestrations as well), but if released today, even if it were finished, no one in his/her right mind would consider these strings the equal of, let alone superior to the benchmark libraries of today.

And to confirm: Sable (which was turned into SCS) doesn’t share a single sample with the Bespoke Chamber Strings. To-tal-ly different sound. And neither does Mural (which became SSS) have anything in common, sample-wise, with the Bespoke Symphonic Strings.
(Why they ever went from the poetically beautiful and musically very aptly chosen ‘Sable’ and ‘Mural’ names to the uninspired and accountant-esque SCS and SSS, is beyond my understanding.)

_
 
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