Abbey Road Orchestra: 1st Violins

Name: Abbey Road Orchestra: 1st Violins
Price: 249 USD
Author: Spitfire Audio

by Spitfire Audio · Instrument · Violin section library

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Abbey Road Orchestra: 1st Violins by Spitfire Audio

One section of Spitfire's modular Abbey Road Orchestra, recorded in Abbey Road Studio One with 16 first violins and mixed by Grammy winner Simon Rhodes.

Core has one mix for $249; Professional adds 16 signals and extended techniques for $449.

Best for: Acoustic Instruments. Genres: Ambient & Cinematic, Jazz, Acoustic & Classical.

Keywords: strings, monophonic, electric piano, film & game audio, modular, smooth, tight, sample-based, cinematic, leads, vintage.

What it does

Abbey Road Orchestra: 1st Violins is the first volume of Abbey Road Orchestra, Spitfire Audio's modular orchestra recorded section by section in Abbey Road Studio One. It features 16 first violins, with mixes by engineer Simon Rhodes, and is built around smooth dynamic crossfades, vibrato and playability.

Legatos: Performance Legato, which reacts to how fast you play, and Lyrical Legato for slower melodies; Professional adds six more, including portamento, detaché, slurred, allegro and runs.
Longs: long, flautando, tremolo, harmonics, trills (major and minor 2nds and 3rds) and measured tremolo synced at 150 and 180 BPM.
Shorts: spiccatissimo, spiccato, staccato, marcato, pizzicato and col legno; Professional adds accented marcato and soft swell attacks.
Vibrato and dynamics: vibrato crossfades smoothly between intensities, most articulations have five dynamic layers, and release, tightness and legato offset are adjustable.
Core edition: one curated mix (Mix 1), about 11,000 raw samples.
Professional edition: 16 signals including two Simon Rhodes mixes, close, leader, ribbons, tree, outriggers, ambients and vintage mics, plus the extra legatos and attacks; about 196,000 samples.

Core owners can upgrade to Professional by paying the difference. No trial is mentioned.

Source: Spitfire Audio product page

When to use it

1st Violins is the better pick when the violin line is the star and you want the most playable, detailed legato you can get for one section. Compared with BBC Symphony Orchestra Core, it costs more for a single section but has far more legato types, smoother vibrato and, in Professional, many more mics. Berlin Strings covers the whole string section in one purchase, while this library is one section with a polished Hollywood scoring tone. Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition gives a full orchestra for less than several Abbey Road Orchestra sections.

Best for: lead violin lines, romantic legato and tight action shorts in film, TV and game scores.
Genres: cinematic and orchestral.
Look elsewhere if: you want a whole string section or orchestra in one purchase (Berlin Strings or BBC Symphony Orchestra Core), a more unusual character, or a light RAM load.
Tip: Audio Plugin Guy suggests close mic at full, the leader mic to taste, Outriggers 1 near 45%, and the built-in reverb off when mixing with other libraries.

What producers say

Reviewers call it a new benchmark for sampled violins, with price and RAM use the main complaints.

Audio Plugin Guy rated the Professional edition 4.7 out of 5, praising its "big and symphonic, and yet clear and present" sound and the adaptive legatos.
Sample Library Review called it "the new benchmark for violin sample libraries", praising its vibrato, five-layer dynamics and responsiveness.
Criticisms: high price, high RAM use, a slightly shrill top dynamic, few unusual articulations, and a Hollywood sound that won't suit everyone.

Where to buy

Spitfire Audio: $249 (Core edition: one mix by Simon Rhodes, about 3.9GB download)
Spitfire Audio: $249 (Professional edition: 16 signals and extended techniques, about 85.5GB download)

Tutorials and reviews

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