Spitfire Audio has has announced a new collaboration with Abbey Road Studio.
Spitfire Audio has announced a new collaboration with the internationally renowned Abbey Road Studios. ‘Abbey Road One: Orchestral Foundations’ is the inaugural product in the partnership and it is an orchestral sample instrument that emulates the ambience of the world’s largest purpose-built studio.
Abbey Road opened in 1931 but emerged as a global icon in the 1960s, when it became the go-to studio for The Beatles throughout their entire career. Since then, it has regularly played host to some of the biggest artists in the world while also becoming the first-choice studio for orchestras recording film soundtracks. Among these are the likes of Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Aliens, Gravity, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, multiple Harry Potter movies and King Arthur, all recorded with the signature sound of Studio One.
Spitfire Audio’s history is more recent, with the co-founders having set up shop in London in 2007. Since then, their sampling collaborations with recording studios and composer put them on the map as one of the top sample library developers around.
The recording for the library was overseen by four-time Grammy winning sound engineer Simon Rhodes, who made use of Abbey Road’s microphone collection to capture the sound of an orchestra of over 90 musicians.
The plug-in’s GUI is similar to Spitfire’s recent Originals plug-ins, with the largest difference being the picture of a recording-ready Studio One to the left and more parameters for detailed control in the bottom section. The instrument is split into the traditional four categories of strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion but it also offers ensemble options, with different instruments spread across the keyboard in different combinations. The effects, such as vibrato and velocity, have also been programmed – and recorded – to be more dynamic and respond to smaller tweaks.
“While nothing compares to recording a 90-piece orchestra in Studio One, we wanted to enable aspiring composers and seasoned pros alike to obtain a degree of that magic from the comfort of their own creative spaces,” states Abbey Road Studios Head of Audio Products Mirek Stiles.
“For a lucky few, Abbey Road One will provide a sketch pad for themes to be signed off by directors, knowing those same notes will be replayed by musicians within the bricks and mortar of number 3 Abbey Road; for others, this will be an inspirational first taste for dreams yet to be fulfilled. Then there will be the rule-breakers from unexpected genres using Abbey Road One as a creative tool in its own right, in non-conventional ways.
The legendary studio had partnered with plug-in developers in the past, for example with Native Instruments’ for the Abbey Road Drums Kontakt libraries and with Waves for their Abbey Road Plug-in Collection.
Spitfire Audio stated that Abbey Road One is the beginning of a number of larger collaborations with Abbey Road, saying “we are looking to build on this over the years, with huge-scale projects in the works, including the most detailed and high-end modular orchestral library we have ever created.”
Abbey Road One will be available on 5 November at a price of €349.