U.K.-based Spitfire Audio has Intimate Strings—it’s the next release in their range of Originals sample library. Recorded in London at Lyndhurst Hall at AIR Studios, it features 25 of London’s finest string players playing in chamber-sized ensembles, and includes the company’s first ‘flautando’ (flute-like sounding) collection. Other extended techniques include half-sections and harmonics.
Intimate comes with its own player bundled with Spitfire’s content management that gives you access to a number of free Spitfire Labs sample collections! The player has Close, (Decca) Tree and Vintage signal chains, plus a good-sounding reverb.
We installed Intimate Strings in Mac OS 10.15 Catalina running Logic X on a new Mac Pro; registering the library is easy and it all worked the first time—we liked the player’s simple and intuitive controls.
The library literally consists of nine patches that struck us as warm and emotionally evocative! For the most part, the presets are great as they come with an organic and warm sound that fits well into an acoustic ballad we had underway.
So Intimate Strings is a great way to get a new color and flavor of a smaller string section into any song. One suggestion, perhaps on the next collection, a true legato patch could be added. Highly recommended!
Intimate Strings sells for only $49 MSRP (download) and is available for AAX, AU, VST2, 3 and supports MAC OSX 10.10 or later and Windows 7, 8 and 10.
