Spitfire Audio ABBEY ROAD ORCHESTRA Additions
Sounds and sample libraries creator Spitfire Audio adds …LOW PERCUSSION CORE, …HIGH PERCUSSION CORE, and …METAL PERCUSSION CORE (collectively also available as the ABBEY ROAD ORCHESTRA: PERCUSSION CORE bundle) to its critically acclaimed ABBEY ROAD ORCHESTRA… series of sample libraries carefully crafted for discerning musicians and composers seeking deep control, dynamic responsiveness, and an expansive sonic palette performed and recorded in the timeless acoustics of Abbey Road Studios’ celebrated Studio One - including identicalfeature sets to the already available …LOW PERCUSSION PROFESSIONAL, …HIGH PERCUSSION PROFESSIONAL, and …METAL PERCUSSION PROFESSIONAL products (featuring suites of instruments in their namesake percussion ranges that are highly ranked amongst the world’s most detailed percussion libraries), albeit focusing users with an essential microphone mix and attractively priced accordingly at £99.00 GBP/$99.00 USD/€99.00 EUR each - as of April 10…
Thanks to its attractive pricing, experiencing the ground-shaking power of orchestral low percussion with the …CORE edition of Spitfire Audio’s acclaimed ABBEY ROAD ORCHESTRA: LOW PERCUSSION PROFESSIONAL library is now within reach of even more musicians and composers. Indeed, it features the same comprehensive suite of 20 thunderous bass drums all performed by one of Britain’s most diverse percussionists in Joby Burgess (Black Panther, Mission Impossible) - including Bass Drum, Giant Taiko, and Toms, to name but a varied few facilitating that seismic orchestral low end - and all carefully captured in the timeless acoustics of Abbey Road Studios’ celebrated Studio One by GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer extraordinaire Simon Rhodes (Avatar, The Banshees of Inisherin) with over 25 microphones per drum. But beyond that, …LOW PERCUSSION CORE also offers identical detail to …LOW PERCUSSION PROFESSIONAL in its selection of (323) articulations, beaters, and techniques - think (up to) 12 ROUND ROBINS, (up to) 10 dynamic layers, RIGHT/LEFT MAPPING (recalls left and right hand performances on adjacent keys for playing and programming true-to-life rudiments), and multiple techniques and striking positions per drum, including (up to) seven beater options, all adding up to performing hits, rolls, swirls, and sweeps sampled in incredible detail… albeit it focuses users with an essential microphone mix by Simon Rhodes formed from the Tree 1, Overheads, and Outriggers 1 setups to provide a steadfast, yet potent, foundation for composition.
Effectively elevating grooves with vibrant detail, ABBEY ROAD ORCHESTRA: HIGH PERCUSSION CORE’s clarity and intricate performances come courtesy of using the same selection of 62 incredible instruments included in the ABBEY ROAD ORCHESTRA: HIGH PERCUSSION PROFESSIONAL package - ranging from the crisp snap of three pristine snare drums to Congas, Rototoms, and much more besides - that is surely more than enough to bring anyone’s rhythmic aspirations to life. Likewise, …HIGH PERCUSSION CORE also offers identical detail in the selection of its (391) available articulations, beaters, and techniques, all performed by virtuoso percussionist Joby Burgess. Indeed, it is fair to say that …HIGH PERCUSSION CORE re-emphasises the nuanced features of …LOW PERCUSSION CORE, duly demonstrating their dynamic responsiveness to also include RIGHT/LEFT MAPPING, SOFT TAKEOVER (triggers roll dynamics intuitively via key velocity while also retaining mod wheel functionality), TWO-HANDED LAYOUT (mirrors mapped keys further up the keyboard to enable flexibility and speed when playing), and VOICE CHOKING (precisely controls the end of roll techniques when pressing correspondingly hit keys). All allow for an instinctive and gratifying performance. Put it this way: with everything carefully captured by Simon Rhodes - responsible for the essential microphone mix that locks the incredible sound of Abbey Road Studio One into those grooves, …HIGH PERCUSSION CORE offers an experience that is agile, responsive, and intuitive.
Injecting a metallic edge into orchestral compositions with a comprehensive collection of uniquely sampled metal percussion really represents ABBEY ROAD ORCHESTRA: METAL PERCUSSION CORE’s raison d’être. As an expertly curated collection of 58 percussive instruments - including, but not limited to, a myriad of cymbals, Tam-Tams, and three Triangles with (up to) 10 dynamic layers, (up to) 10 ROUND ROBINS, and 409 articulations, it not only delivers traditional metallic percussion from the orchestral palette, but also includes the resonant clang of Anvils, the otherworldly textures of the Waterphone, plus a range of Agogos, Cowbells, Guira, and more. Moreover, all have been hand-selected by Joby Burgess, mostly from his personal selection that has been extensively used on many major Hollywood productions. “ABBEY ROAD… percussion was born during lockdown in the UK, when, for a period of time, you could only record a single musician in the glorious acoustic of Abbey Road Studio One. Maybe it’s partly because of this that, once we’d started, we really went to town and recorded these solo percussion libraries in unprecedented detail. They are so incredibly full of life and colour that I’m still finding new ways to use them - even now. The mix from Simon Rhodes gives you the absolute definitive sound of each instrument in the space, so I’m very happy that we’re now able to get these incredible performances by Joby Burgess into the hands of many more composers and producers in the new …CORE editions.” So says Paul Thomson, Spitfire Audio co-founder and an active composer - clearly one with an inherent appreciation of production values… be they orchestral percussion related or otherwise.
On top of that, …LOW PERCUSSION CORE, …HIGH PERCUSSION CORE, and …METAL PERCUSSION CORE each include a free MIDI pack of creative workflow-enhancing fundamental drum rudiments - building blocks of specifically-programmed percussion techniques that leverage their intuitive RIGHT/LEFT MAPPING for authentic performance, in other words. When dragging and dropping these rudiments into compositions at any tempo, then freely editing them in the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) being worked with, realistic drum techniques can be added with ease.
Engineered into existence by some of the world’s best producers in music recording, the three attractively-priced libraries concerned collectively deliver everything from thunderous orchestral drums to shimmering metallic textures, offering orchestral staples and unique cinematic timbres to inspire instinctive and gratifying performances with exceptional realism - thanks, in no small part, to their expansive sonic palette performed and recorded in the timeless acoustics of Abbey Road Studios’ celebrated Studio One.
Priced at £99.00 GBP/$99.00 USD/€99.00 EUR each, the 5.5 GB download-sized ABBEY ROAD ORCHESTRA: LOW PERCUSSION CORE, 11.9 GB download-sized …HIGH PERCUSSION CORE, and 16.4 GB download-sized …METAL PERCUSSION CORE are all available as dedicated - AAX-, AU-, VST2-, and VST3-compatible - plug-ins for MacOS X 11 to MacOS 14 (Apple Silicon computers supported, 64-bit DAW required) and Windows 10 or 11 (latest Service Pack, 64-bit DAW required) from the first website below.