Spitfire London Contemporary Orchestra Strings £299

Over recent months, we’ve taken a look at a range of Spitfire products that make use of interesting and unusual mic positions and recorded ambience to deliver engaging results. London Contemporary Orchestra Strings, on the other hand, places the emphasis firmly on interesting playing techniques. This is not to say that there’s no ambient character, but the recording room is quite dry, making the Room Mic samples tight and the Close Mic versions intimate. A convolution reverb is employed within each instrument – though it can be dialled out – and there are a number of effected layers and full mixes that up the interest.

The LCO are know for their collaborative approach to ensemble playing and have worked with a wide range of artists across many genres, including Radiohead, Actress and Frank Ocean. This library distills this approach by covering a range of articulations that are new or rarely heard. The odd granular and scratchy tones are particularly engaging, but you’ll also find strange vibrato and aggressive shorter styles. They all have a very contemporary feel that would work in a range of more experimental contexts, especially when combined with electronics. The shortest articulations work particularly well in their ‘Pumped Mix’ guise.

You’ll find the usual Spitfire attention to detail, including the excellent Ostinatum rhythmic engine. It isn’t cheap – which may put off those looking for an all-round string collection – but this library remains an inspirational writing tool, and an easy way to add cutting-edge string sounds to your audio armoury. Bruce Aisher www.spitfireaudio.com VERDICT 8.7