Spitfire Audio advances Abbey Road One: Film Scoring Selections

LONDON, UK: having successfully cemented a creative partnership with world-famous Abbey Road Studios late last year as ABBEY ROAD ONE: ORCHESTRAL FOUNDATIONS inaugurated its ABBEY ROAD ONE: FILM SCORING SELECTIONS series showcasing the foundational film scoring sound of Studio One by carefully capturing a full, symphony-sized (90-plus- piece) orchestra inside the world’s largest purpose-built recording studio, Spitfire Audio is proud to announce availability of its attractively-priced ABBEY ROAD ONE: SPARKLING WOODWINDS and ABBEY ROAD ONE: LEGENDARY LOW STRINGS siblings — smaller libraries captured in that same iconic studio, this time inspired by classic films and offering pre- orchestrated themes to focus on accomplishing certain performance elements as a perfect fit for seamlessly working with(in) ABBEY ROAD ONE: ORCHESTRAL FOUNDATIONS or equally well on their own, as well as working with any other orchestral library — as of February 18…

Abbey Road Studios is indisputably the most famous recording studio in the world and a global music icon. As the world’s first purpose-built recording studio, opening on November 12, 1931, almost anyone who’s musically anyone has walked up the eminent entrance steps to 3 Abbey Road in London’s St John’s Wood. While embracing classical recordings and big bands to the first British rock ’n’ roll records, and defining the sound of the ‘Swinging Sixties’ and beyond, Abbey Road Studios has been home to the artists who have shaped music history and popular culture — from The Beatles, Pink Floyd, U2, and Oasis to Florence + The Machine, Kanye West, Adele, and Frank Ocean. Outside of the pop and rock arena, Abbey Road Studios has also become one of the world’s premier destinations for film scoring, adding the emotion, mood, and magic to the greatest cinematic storytelling of the last 40 years, which was a key connection for the considerably younger sound-specialising British music technology company with whom it has successfully struck up a creative partnership. After all, according to Spitfire Audio co-founder and composer Christian Henson, “For us film composers, it is synonymous with the sound of cinema.”

Watch Spitfire Audio co-founders Christian Henson and Paul Thomson take a first look at ABBEY ROAD ONE: SPARKLING WOODWINDS and ABBEY ROAD ONE: LEGENDARY LOW STRINGS during its premiere here: 

Clearly, then, the critically-acclaimed collaborative ABBEY ROAD ONE: ORCHESTRAL FOUNDATIONS with which Spitfire Audio and Abbey Road Studios successfully cemented their creative partnership to create the supremely sampled core of an easy-to-use expandable virtual instrument library like no other — carefully capturing a full, symphony-sized (90-plus-piece) orchestra inside the world’s largest purpose-built recording studio, working with world-class first-call musicians recorded by four-time GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer Simon Rhodes using Abbey Road Studios’ stunning selection of microphones — allowed any composer to effectively access at any time the foundational film scoring sound of Studio One from the comfort of their computer as an AAX-, AU-, VST2-, and VST3-compatible, NKS-ready plug-in that loads directly into a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). Indeed, it was the first title in the ABBEY ROAD ONE: FILM SCORING SELECTIONS series announced at the time of its October 2020 release, readily revealing at the time that the next titles in this symphonic series would be smaller libraries inspired by classic films offering pre-orchestrated themes focused on accomplishing certain performance elements... enter two such series additions in the finely-honed form of ABBEY ROAD ONE: SPARKLING WOODWINDS and ABBEY ROAD ONE: LEGENDARY LOW STRINGS.

Watch Paul Thomson’s ‘traditional’ walkthrough of ABBEY ROAD ONE: SPARKLING WOODWINDS here:

As alluded to by name, ABBEY ROAD ONE: SPARKLING WOODWINDS is based around a stunningly-orchestrated woodwind section performed by first-call London session players — as heard on countless blockbuster recordings — recorded in Studio One, and allows users to create everything from engaging elegiac passages to super-fast sparkling runs and flurries using Spitfire Audio’s new legato patches, positively bursting into musical life with energy and intrigue. Indeed, users can quickly lose themselves in a magical world of woodwind accompanied by the glockenspiel that is a classic movie pairing — perhaps even a musical match made in heaven. However, there are also a selection of blockbuster flourishes with which they can decorate their latest production, be it destined for the big screen or otherwise.

An apt appellation if ever there was one, the Studio One-captured cellos and bass sections of London’s first-call players provide ABBEY ROAD ONE: LEGENDARY LOW STRINGS with a set of distinctly detailed and beautifully orchestrated performances that are deep and powerful — sometimes even threatening. These versatile patches take their inspiration from both the standard orchestral repertoire as well as classic legend and fantasy films. From the marauding short notes and powerful longs to Spitfire Audio’s new, easy-to-use legatos, dive deep into the legendary low strings residing within this latest addition to the ABBEY ROAD ONE: FILM SCORING SELECTIONS series!

Both beautifully orchestrated and incredibly detailed-sounding, both ABBEY ROAD ONE: SPARKLING WOODWINDS and ABBEY ROAD ONE: LEGENDARY LOW STRINGS are duly designed for a specific performance purpose. Put it this way: with a variety of patches incorporating legato transitions created with Spitfire Audio’s newly-developed recording techniques they allow for wonderfully-realistic performances and also include other articulations so users can create a customised palette which will seamlessly work with(in) ABBEY ROAD ONE: ORCHESTRAL FOUNDATIONS (forming the core of the ABBEY ROAD ONE: FILM SCORING SELECTIONS series) or equally well on their own, as well as working with any other orchestral library — including Spitfire Audio’s entry-level LABS series of free sample-based virtual instruments, ongoing ORIGINALS series of instant library tools with the same outstanding recording quality as the ‘full-blown’ blue-chip libraries with which the sound-specialising British music technology company has built its reputation, or the encyclopaedic compendium of symphonic strings sampling that is SPITFIRE SYMPHONIC STRINGS. But best of all, ABBEY ROAD ONE: SPARKLING WOODWINDS and ABBEY ROAD ONE: LEGENDARY LOW STRINGS offer any composer carefully captured, perfectly-performed pieces of the iconic sound of Abbey Road Studios’ Studio One at an attractive price point.

Watch Paul Thomson’s ‘traditional’ walkthrough of ABBEY ROAD ONE: LEGENDARY LOW STRINGS here:

Putting it this way, Mirek Stiles, Head of Audio Products at Abbey Road Studios, says, “I love the concept of ABBEY ROAD ONE: FILM SCORING SELECTIONS expanding the palette of sampled textures recorded within the beautiful acoustics of Studio One. Each ...SELECTIONS release will bring a unique and inspiring orchestral dynamic to the Spitfire Audio world.”

Which sits well with these considered closing words from Spitfire Audio co-founder and composer Paul Thomson: “This is the whole point of these ...SELECTIONS — things that happen in film scoring that we really love the sound of, so we’ve developed some new techniques to record these patches so that when you play them they really accomplish that specific job beautifully well.” 

ABBEY ROAD ONE: SPARKLING WOODWINDS is available as an AAX-, AU-, VST2-, and VST3-compatible, NKS-ready plug-in that loads directly into a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) at an attractive MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) of £49.00 GBP (inc. VAT)/ $49.00 USD/€49.00 EUR (inc. VAT) from here: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/abbey-road-one-sparkling-woodwinds/

ABBEY ROAD ONE: LEGENDARY LOW STRINGS is available as an AAX-, AU-, VST2-, and VST3-compatible, NKS-ready plug-in that loads directly into a DAW at an attractive MSRP of £49.00 GBP (inc. VAT)/$49.00 USD/€49.00 EUR (inc. VAT) from here: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/abbey-road-one-legendary-low-strings/

ABBEY ROAD ONE: ORCHESTRAL FOUNDATIONS itself is available as an AAX-, AU-, VST2-, and VST3-compatible, NKS-ready plug-in that loads directly into a DAW for a time-limited promo price of £299.00 GBP (inc. VAT)/$349.00 USD/€349.00 EUR (inc. VAT) until March 11, 2021 — returning thereafter to its MSRP of £399.00 GBP (inc. VAT)/$449.00 USD/€449.00 EUR (inc. VAT) — from here.

ABBEY ROAD ONE: ORCHESTRAL FOUNDATIONS pre-ordering customers will receive either ABBEY ROAD ONE: SPARKLING WOODWINDS or ABBEY ROAD ONE: LEGENDARY LOW STRINGS for free, receiving an e-mail reminder from Spitfire Audio that this exclusive offer needs to be redeemed by March 31, 2021.

Spitfire Audio’s namesake Spitfire Audio application allows anyone to buy now and download anytime, and is available for free from here.

For more in-depth info, including some superb-sounding audio demos, please visit the dedicated ABBEY ROAD ONE: SPARKLING WOODWINDS webpage here.

For more in-depth info, including some superb-sounding audio demos, please visit the dedicated ABBEY ROAD ONE: LEGENDARY LOW STRINGS webpage here.