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Spitfire Audio London Contemporary Orchestra Strings (Digital Download)


Ultra-modern chamber strings techniques

London Contemporary Orchestra Strings gives you everything you need to make cutting-edge chamber strings music. Unique among our String libraries, it offers you tools that capture the unconventional techniques and stunning performances of an extremely exciting group of musicians. With over 100 never-before-sampled, dynamically controllable articulations, this library provides a rich set of diverse recordings that are both ultra-playable and musical, giving you access to their widely sought after experimental palette. The library comprises six violins, four violas, three cellos and two basses, with the cellos in octaves, expertly recorded in a tight, dry studio at Spitfire HQ, giving you extra control and a crisp, modern sound.

Over the last decade, the London Contemporary Orchestra has collaborated with a distinguished array of composers, artists and brands and are known for their long-time collaboration with Radiohead, as well as game-changing performance and arrangement credits on blockbuster scores including Moonlight, There Will Be Blood and Under the Skin.

Cutting edge strings

Step into the world of the London Contemporary Orchestra, 15 players performing over 100 cutting edge articulations, recorded on our dry stage at Spitfire HQ by in-demand engineer Joe Rubel and Spitfire's Head of Product, Stanley Gabriel. In recent years, there has been a shift in string writing that is fast becoming a global movement, based on innovative techniques and performance styles notoriously impossible to program with the tools currently available. We recreated their popular workshop approach to curate a deeply versatile and most importantly, playable set of never-before-sampled articulations and playing styles that give you, at long last, the ability to demo and create cutting-edge, sophisticated string writing — the kind of work that is winning promising composers plaudits across the compositional landscape.

From sharp and angular to sincere beauty, these upfront strings are designed to make you think differently about string writing. In collaboration with the London Contemporary Orchestra, we have embraced technology to deliver a unique set of tools and instruments you would never hear outside a sampler.

Main features

  • 6 Violins, 4 Violas, 3 Celli and 2 Basses, with the Celli in octaves
  • Recorded in a tight, dry recording space, for extra control and a modern sound
  • Over 100 articulations captured across all sections
  • A unique ‘Detuned Open String’ instrument for each section

For each articulation

  • 2 mic positions, Close and Room
  • 2 individual stereo mixes, Full and Pumped
  • 2 additional, printed analogue FX
  • Integrated reverb, matched to the room, with control on the GUI

What's Included

Instruments

  • Violins
  • Violas
  • Celli
  • Basses + Celli

Individual Articulations

Violins
  • Violins - granular tremolo
  • Violins - long detuned open - granular trem
  • Violins - long detuned open - irregular trem
  • Violins - long detuned open - normale
  • Violins - long detuned open - granular to ord
  • Violins - long granular to ord
  • Violins - long harmonics
  • Violins - long molto sul pont
  • Violins - long slackened
  • Violins - long spectral scrubs
  • Violins - long sul pont
  • Violins - long sul tasto
  • Violins - long twitchy
  • Violins - long woozy vib - quick pulses
  • Violins - long woozy vib - slow pulses
  • Violins - long woozy vib unmeasured
  • Violins - vivid long
  • Violins - short harmonics
  • Violins - short percussive pizzicato
  • Violins - short slackened
  • Violins - short vivid spiccato
  • Violins - short staccato dig
  • Violins - short super pont scrapes
  • Violins - tremolo sul pont
Violas
  • Violas - granular tremolo
  • Violas - long detuned open - granular trem
  • Violas - long detuned open - irregular trem
  • Violas - long detuned open - normale
  • Violas - long detuned open - granular to ord
  • Violas - long granular to ord
  • Violas - long harmonics
  • Violas - long molto sul pont
  • Violas - long slackened
  • Violas - long spectral scrubs
  • Violas - long sul pont
  • Violas - long sul tasto
  • Violas - long tailpiece
  • Violas - long twitchy
  • Violas - long woozy vib - quick pulses
  • Violas - long woozy vib - slow pulses
  • Violas - long woozy vib unmeasured
  • Violas - vivid long
  • Violas - short harmonics
  • Violas - short percussive pizzicato
  • Violas - short slackened
  • Violas - short vivid spiccato
  • Violas - short staccato dig
  • Violas - short super pont scrapes
  • Violas - tremolo sul pont
Celli
  • Celli - long detuned open - granular trem
  • Celli - long detuned open - irregular trem
  • Celli - long detuned open - normale
  • Celli - long detuned open - granular to ord
  • Celli - long granular to ord
  • Celli - long harmonics
  • Celli - long molto sul pont
  • Celli - long slackened
  • Celli - long spectral scrubs
  • Celli - long tailpiece
  • Celli - long twitchy
  • Celli - long woozy vib - slow pulses
  • Celli - long woozy vib unmeasured
  • Celli - vivid long
  • Celli - short percussive pizzicato
  • Celli - short slackened
  • Celli - short vivid spiccato
  • Celli - short super pont scrapes
Basses & Celli
  • Basses + Celli - long detuned open - granular to ord (bass only)
  • Basses + Celli - long detuned open - granular trem (bass only)
  • Basses + Celli - long detuned open - irregular trem (bass only)
  • Basses + Celli - long detuned open - normale (bass only)
  • Basses + Celli - long granular to ord
  • Basses + Celli - long harmonics
  • Basses + Celli - long molto sul pont
  • Basses + Celli - long slackened
  • Basses + Celli - long spectral scrubs
  • Basses + Celli - long twitchy
  • Basses + Celli - long woozy vib - slow pulses
  • Basses + Celli - long woozy vib unmeasured
  • Basses + Celli - vivid long
  • Basses + Celli - short percussive pizzicato
  • Basses + Celli - short slackened
  • Basses + Celli - short vivid spiccato

Extended Techniques

  • Violins - long techniques
  • Violins - short techniques
  • Violas - long techniques
  • Violas - short techniques
  • Celli - long techniques
  • Celli - short techniques
  • Basses + Celli - long techniques
  • Basses + Celli - short techniques

Other Patches

  • Violins - economic long
  • Violins - economic short
  • Violins - light resources
  • Violins - time machine
  • Violas - economic long
  • Violas - economic short
  • Violas - light resources
  • Violas - time machine
  • Celli - economic long
  • Celli - economic short
  • Celli - light resources
  • Celli - time machine
  • Basses + Celli - economic long
  • Basses + Celli - economic short
  • Basses + Celli - light resources
  • Basses + Celli - time machine

Mics & Mixes

Mics:

  • C - Close
  • R - Room
  • FX1
  • FX2

Mixes

  • MX1 - Full mix
  • MX2 - Pumped mix

Tech specs

macOS requirements

Mac OS 11, 12 or 13 

Both Intel and Apple Silicon/ARM are supported

Minimum: 2.8GHz i5 minimum (quad-core), 8GB RAM

Recommended: 2.8GHz I7 (six-core), 16GB RAM

32-bit systems are not supported.

PC requirements

Windows 10 or Windows 11 - (Latest Service Pack, 64-bit)Minimum: Intel 2.8 GHz i5 (quad-core) or AMD Ryzen 5, 8GB RAM

Recommended: Intel Core i7 6th gen and later or AMD Ryzen 7, 16GB RAM

32-bit systems are not supported.

File size

56.20 GB disk space required during install

28.10 GB download size

Too large to download? Choose hard drive delivery at checkout

Kontakt Player version

Kontakt Full or Kontakt Player 5.6.8 or higher

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