We previously covered several of the free virtual instruments created by Spitfire Audio, but their preview videos are primarily teasers.
Reader Mark Barkan shared this video, going much more in depth, and offering his thoughts on how to get the most out of them.
See the Spitfire site to preview and download their free instruments.
Topics covered:
00:00:00 Intro & Overview
00:01:04 Spitfire
00:03:32 LABS Site
00:05:20 Example Piece
00:08:46 Good & Bad
00:11:48 Reverb Warning
00:12:47 Spitfire Manager
00:15:47 LABS Interface
00:23:39 Composing Basics
00:24:00 Freeform Part
00:25:16 Getting used to Music
00:26:11 The Notes
00:29:12 Chords
00:33:22 Structured Part
00:34:35 Chord Progression
00:36:50 Movement with Flow
00:40:57 Bass
00:42:52 Guitar
00:47:14 Drums
00:50:26 Strings
00:53:36 Arrangement
00:59:53 Conclusion
Instrument samples seem out of tune with each other
I’m using Spitfire’s starter orchestra Discover, a couple of their Abbey Road instruments and several from the LABS list. The latter often have idiosyncracies that lean towards the experimental, but not always. The Dulcimer is very precise & inviting. The company ‘sound’ is cohesive, so look on LABS as that bank in your favorite synth that has the unique standouts.
Is it me, or does the electric guitar sound quite out of tune with the wurly around 6:44? How can that happen? Is it just chorus effects that are not lined up? I’ve not downloaded those particular labs myself.
Only the first 20 minutes is a (rather long winded) overview of Spitfire Labs, the rest is an (even longer winded) presentation of some basic chord theory and instrumentation stuff. I was hoping for a deeper exploration of Labs – the demo tunes Spitfire have videos for appear to be built up with just the Lab being demonstrated and are quite good examples of what can be done with multiple instances and layers of the same instrument.