Abbey Road Orchestra: High Percussion
by Spitfire Audio · Instrument · Orchestral percussion library
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One section of Spitfire's modular Abbey Road Orchestra, recorded in Abbey Road Studio One with percussionist Joby Burgess and mixed by Grammy winner Simon Rhodes.
Core has one mix for $99; Professional adds 16 signals for $449.
Best for: Acoustic Instruments, Drums. Genres: Ambient & Cinematic.
Keywords: electric piano, modular, round-robin, vintage, cinematic, mallets, multisampled, sample-based.
What it does
Abbey Road Orchestra: High Percussion is one volume of Spitfire's modular Abbey Road Orchestra, recorded section by section in Abbey Road Studio One. It covers the smaller, higher drums and hand percussion, played by percussionist Joby Burgess and mixed by engineer Simon Rhodes.
- Snares and small drums: a vintage 15" snare, a field drum, two piccolo snares, octobans, five rototoms, timbales, shime daiko and log drums.
- Hand drums: bongos, mini bongos, congas, darbuka and djembe.
- Small percussion: six claves, castanets, ratchet, vibraslap, two whips, two guiros, four shakers, maracas, two caxixi, temple blocks and three "plastics" bucket sounds.
- Content: 62 instruments and 391 articulations, including single hits, rolls and snare-off variants, with beaters including hands, brushes and mallets.
- Sampling depth: up to 16 round robins and up to 11 velocity layers, which keeps repeated hits from sounding mechanical.
- Two-handed playing: separate left- and right-hand performances mapped across the keyboard for natural sticking, plus voice choking.
- Core edition: one curated mix.
- Professional edition: 16 signals including two Simon Rhodes mixes, close mics, ribbons, tree, outriggers, ambients and vintage mics.
Source: Spitfire Audio product page
When to use it
High Percussion goes much deeper on one family of instruments than the percussion inside full orchestras like BBC Symphony Orchestra Core or Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, with up to 16 round robins and two-handed mapping. It is narrower than those packages, though: it has no timpani, cymbals, metals or tuned percussion, which sit in other Abbey Road Orchestra volumes. Compared with buying BBC Symphony Orchestra Core, the Core edition is a cheap way to add detailed snares and hand drums to a template, while the Professional edition is for composers who want full mic control. The Latin hand drums and the log drums are its strongest material.
- Best for: detailed snare work, light hand-drum grooves, Latin percussion and small effects percussion in scores.
- Genres: cinematic, orchestral, TV and game music.
- Look elsewhere if: you want a whole orchestra in one purchase (BBC Symphony Orchestra Core) or need timpani, cymbals and tuned percussion in the same library.
- Tip: play the split left- and right-hand mappings with two hands for rolls and fills that sound like real sticking.
What producers say
Reviewers praise the recording quality and sampling depth, with the price and the gaps in the instrument list as the main reservations.
- Sound On Sound (Dave Stewart, June 2023) gave it 4 out of 5, praising the two-handed mapping and the log drum, "an ideal timbre for light, bubbling percussion patterns", but found the timbales too tame and the price high for what is missing.
- MusicRadar said it "takes percussion to a high ebb", praising the playing, the high round-robin counts and the natural split-keyboard layout.
- Criticisms: the plugin is not multi-timbral, the library is not a complete percussion set, and mixer mic settings reset when you audition a new instrument (MusicRadar).
Where to buy
- Spitfire Audio: $99 (Core edition: one mix by Simon Rhodes, about 6.7GB download)
- Spitfire Audio: $99 (Professional edition: 16 mic signals, about 98.05GB download)
Tutorials and reviews
- Checking Out: Abbey Road Orchestra: High Percussion by Spitfire Audio
- Walkthrough: Abbey Road Orchestra High Percussion
- The Sampleist - Abbey Road Orchestra - High Percussion by Spitfire Audio - Composing - Overview
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