1st Desk was recorded on the front desk of the first violins, perfectly placed for adding individuality and definition to a string line, while still able to blend in with the section. Our “1st Desk” performer plays “out”, leading the orchestra. Our progressive player was recorded further away from the conductor, designed to fit into larger string sections, or offer up solo passages in a more contemporary vernacular, opening the door to a modern, filmic sound of extended techniques including “Mandolin pizzicato” and “Tremolo whispers”.
These three violins are joined by three exceptional string players on viola, cello and double bass, all with an equal attention to detail and depth of sampling. This gives us an exceptionally versatile set of tools that can create anything from a single searing cello line to multiple parts added to larger sections, providing added definition and personality and bringing together a very unique sextet of players with unprecedented control and malleability.
For Solo Strings, Spitfire had the privilege of working with a group of internationally acclaimed musicians with a goldmine of experience as first-call soloists. These players can be heard all over major Hollywood films. Featuring Jack Liebeck( violin - Virtuoso), Clio Gould(violin - 1st Desk), Thomas Gould( violin - Progressive), Max Baillie (viola), Richard Harwood (cello) and Leon Bosch (double bass), Solo Strings is a no-compromise library, recorded in an exceptionally resonant acoustic space.
The Hall
As with many Spitfire libraries, we returned to the iconic Hall at AIR Studios to record Solo Strings. Scores such as Dunkirk,Beauty and the Beast, Wonder Woman and Paddington 2 were recorded there recently, as well as classics such as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, The Dark Knight and Gladiator.
Solo Strings was recorded by award-winning engineers, who captured each soloist using world-class equipment: priceless ribbon and valve mics through Neve Montserrat preamps, the largest 88R Neve console in the world, onto pristine 2” tape before being converted with the top-of-their-class Prism AD converters at 96k. There’s a reason that this hall has been the choice for Hollywood directors for decades.
Total performance
Our highly intuitive Solo Violin (Virtuoso) and newly added Solo Cello Total Performance instruments are included in Spitfire Solo Strings, and are also available to purchase as separate Kontakt Player libraries — follow the links below to find out more. At your fingertips are our most detailed and advanced solo violin and solo cello to date, performed by world-renowned virtuoso concert violinist Jack Liebeck and concert cellist Richard Harwood respectively, in The Hall at AIR Studios.
Each contains all of the techniques you need to create a realistic solo performance, including five different types of true legato — fingered legato, bowed legato and portamento legato, runs and arpeggios. They also feature spiccato, staccato, tremolo, trills, molto vibrato, progressive vibrato and non vibrato (as well as pizzicato and Bartok pizzicato for cello) — all combined together to enable musical phrasing without the need for key-switching, and programmed to react to playing speed and touch. Easy to play and ultra intuitive, these instruments allow you to focus entirely on your composition, without the need to ‘stitch’ together performances.
What's Included
