Having recently announced a cool ten million downloads on their free Lab series, pioneering British firm Spitfire Audio has just released Cimbalom.
Spitfire Audio’s latest instrument pack, part of their ‘Original’s range, is a collection of cinematic sounds made with the Cimbalom. The Cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box with metal strings stretched across its top and is of Central- Eastern European origin.
The sounds were recorded by revered percussionist Greg Knowles whose TV and film work includes Harry Potter and Band of Brothers. In keeping with an ongoing relationship between the two North London firms, all the sounds were recorded in Lyndhurst Hall at Air Studios using a combination of close mics and a decca tree array. As with other Spitfire instruments, users are able to seamlessly blend these options together.
Included are also five preset modes to choose from: performance, short damped, short sustained, tremolo and warp. The last of these is processed with envelopes and additional layers of audio for pad-like textural tones. Furthermore, you get attack and release parameters, plus an in-built reverb as standard.
Many dance music producers may not necessarily immediately take to a Cimbalom as a staple sound in dance music. However, when one thinks of the musicality of Vince Watson, Marc Romboy or indeed Jeff Mills with Montpelier Philharmonic Orchestra, theres always scope for broadening the sound in new and creative ways. There’s more to a producer’s life than Serum and a 909!
Spitfire Audio’s Cimbalom is available at £29 and available at spitfireaudio.com.