Spitfirе Audio Labs KONTAKT

Scary Strings: 183 Mb | Mini Harp: 120 Mb | Peel Guitar: 18 Mb

It’s one of the quirks of sampling that you can never quite predict how things are going to turn out or “play” until the end of the production process. We have learned that by carrying out tests we can garner important lessons before going into the expensive process of “full production”. We also like to make toys that we can use to keep our collections fresh and to provide much needed inspiration whilst at the coalface.

Scary Strings

Another contribution from Christian's private collection, his "scary strings" are very simply made up VIs of small ensemble of string players recorded at Air-Edel studios in London. "I needed to turn a lot of music around really quickly and a lot of it had to be really scary, I wanted something that moved under my fingers so I could hold notes and chords for an age without it looping. These scary strings are the nuts for that. Whilst using them (a lot) over the last couple of years I also realised that playing more lyrical stuff just with the front end gives you a haunting, almost child-like fragility, a very unique and special sound". Christian has prepared three presets the standard Scary, the scary with a bit of "cool" when you move the mod wheel up and a time stretched version for an even more disturbing hyper-real effect.

Mini Harp

The final contribution for Labs 2014 from CH’s personal collection is his mini harp. Here’s what he had to say about the two VIs you get with this one package. “I love the sound of the harp, but like so many things it has a connotation, it puts you in a certain mood or place. I wanted to capture a more enigmatic account. So I bought a cheap small harp and played it badly myself concentrating only on the quietest level my fat fingers could play it. I love it on it’s own (with lots of reverb) and find it sits amazingly well with the proper Skaila Kanga harp that we built for a tracked sound. But my absolute fave is the trem harp, this for me is evocative of Gustavo Santaolalla or something Nick Cave would stick in one of his western scores.”

Peel Guitar

From Christian's private collection, a very simple but effective workhorse guitar. "I've never managed to better the quality of this little ditty, with 3 dynamic layers, no round robins it has sat on countless scores of mine. I get live players like Leo Abrahams to replace it but directors love the quality of sound so much that I rarely get rid of it altogether! It's a Fender Telecastor through a vintage 15w Fender Tweed amp played with just a hint of vibrato. It's got what I would call that totally English sound to it. With judicious use of tremolo and distortion/ amp plugs I have managed to make this sound - to a fairly convincing level - like Radiohead, Coldplay, Tom Waits, Nick Cave and U2!"