Recording - April 2021 - 58

-Review by John Czerwinski

Spitfire Audio
Abbey Road One:
Orchestral Foundations

Conduct the orchestra of your dreams, in
one of the world's most prestigious rooms
Abbey Road One: Orchestral Foundations from Spitfire
Audio is a sample library/virtual instrument designed
for workflow efficiency. Musicians and composers can
maximize their inspiration and work quickly-even novice
orchestrators can now produce great-sounding tracks with
minimal effort, and without getting bogged down in the
intricacies of virtual orchestration.

The space

As the name implies, Abbey Road One ('ARO' moving forward) was recorded at the venerable Abbey Road Studio One in
London. While Abbey Road will forever be synonymous with the
Beatles, Studio One remains one of the most prized film scoring
sound stages in the world. Its enormous size can accommodate
the largest of ensembles and has a revered depth and warmth.
The samples in ARO were authentically captured by an impressive
arsenal of modern and vintage mics, from ten different positions.

An organized blend

The library organization is similar to the Spitfire Albion One
offering, in that groups of instruments-strings, brass, woodwinds,
and percussion-are organized and pre-blended together. If you
prefer specific or unusual pairings, the Spitfire BBC Orchestra
may be a more appealing option. With that said, ARO offers splendidly blended combinations of orchestra sections that
sound amazing right out of the box.
Upon opening the dedicated player in your DAW (Logic in my
case), the initial patch is an elegantly balanced and dynamic mixture of the entire orchestra playing at once, complete with staccatos
and swells-perfect for an epic, full sound. The real delight though,
comes when digging into the individual sections.

Strings

Thirty violins and twelve violas comprise the high strings,
while ten cellos and eight basses make up the low strings. Both
sections are rich in tone, warm in color, and transition smoothly
through all of the dynamic layers. Included articulations comprise vibrant spiccatos (a detached style of playing where the
58 RECORDING April 2021

bow bounces off the string), delicate pizzicatos (plucking the
string rather than using the bow), energetic tremolos, and con
sordino (where a mute is applied to soften and alter the tone for
quiet passages). I'm a bit picky when it comes to high strings
not sounding thin and tinny, and ARO does not disappoint. Five
round robins are included, achieving an incredible amount of
realism when playing spiccato passages. Unlike Albion and
BBC, ARO omits a legato articulation, but perhaps this will be
offered in an upcoming module.

Woodwinds

If strings provide the foundation for the orchestra, the winds
are the next crucial structural block. They have the strongest
relationship with the string section and provide a liaison of
sorts with the brass. Like the strings, ARO splits them into high
and low sections, ideal for expressing the range from light and
frivolous to melancholy and moody. Though the long passages
are supple and smooth, I found the most enjoyment from playing
staccato and building light, rhythmic passages as a foundational
element for creating anticipation and energy.

Brass

Brass is organized into three sections: high brass, horns,
and low brass. The brass section comprises four trumpets, four
French horns, three trombones, two bass trombones, a contrabass trombone, a tuba, and a contrabass tuba. As with the
strings and woodwinds, these meticulously detailed sections
can produce an astonishing dynamic range. It was hard not
to find myself distracted by reproducing some excerpts from
Brahms and Mahler! The included articulations are the most often utilized: staccato, tenuto, and marcato. I was perhaps most
taken by the three varied-length versions of swells included in
the library; they are perfect for accenting points in the work
without having to build them from scratch.



Recording - April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - April 2021

No label
Fade In
Fast Forward
A Family of Microphones Compared: The Mojave MA Series
Plugin Outlet: Baby Audio Spaced Out
Singer/Songwriters and Producers: The Relationship
OWC: Mercury Elite Pro Dual USB-C Drive Enclosure with 3-Port Hub
Earthworks: Icon and Icon Pro USB and XLR Streaming Microphones
ELECTRONIC OBSERVATIONS and SOLILOQUIES for the modern world: Steven Wilson’s THE FUTURE BITES
Audix: A133 Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone
Plugin Outlet: PSP Audioware InfiniStripFIRE
Inside the Box with Joe Albano—Loops: Songwriters’ Little Helper
PreSonus: ATOM SQ Hybrid Controller
Soundware Showcase: Toontrack Electronic Edge EZX
Session Log: The Angel Headed Hipster—Part 4: Producer Hal Willner: A Tribute
MXL: Revelation Mini FET
Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby—Songwriters In The Wild: When Creativity Strikes
Soundware Showcase: Spitfire Audio Abbey Road One: Orchestral Foundations
Focal: Clear Mg Professional Headphones
Readers’ Tracks
Sennheiser: MD 445 Supercardioid and MD 435 Cardioid Dynamic Handheld Microphones
Recording - April 2021 - No label
Recording - April 2021 - Cover1
Recording - April 2021 - Cover2
Recording - April 2021 - 1
Recording - April 2021 - 2
Recording - April 2021 - 3
Recording - April 2021 - Fade In
Recording - April 2021 - 5
Recording - April 2021 - 6
Recording - April 2021 - 7
Recording - April 2021 - Fast Forward
Recording - April 2021 - 9
Recording - April 2021 - A Family of Microphones Compared: The Mojave MA Series
Recording - April 2021 - 11
Recording - April 2021 - 12
Recording - April 2021 - 13
Recording - April 2021 - 14
Recording - April 2021 - 15
Recording - April 2021 - Plugin Outlet: Baby Audio Spaced Out
Recording - April 2021 - 17
Recording - April 2021 - Singer/Songwriters and Producers: The Relationship
Recording - April 2021 - 19
Recording - April 2021 - 20
Recording - April 2021 - 21
Recording - April 2021 - OWC: Mercury Elite Pro Dual USB-C Drive Enclosure with 3-Port Hub
Recording - April 2021 - 23
Recording - April 2021 - Earthworks: Icon and Icon Pro USB and XLR Streaming Microphones
Recording - April 2021 - 25
Recording - April 2021 - ELECTRONIC OBSERVATIONS and SOLILOQUIES for the modern world: Steven Wilson’s THE FUTURE BITES
Recording - April 2021 - 27
Recording - April 2021 - 28
Recording - April 2021 - 29
Recording - April 2021 - 30
Recording - April 2021 - 31
Recording - April 2021 - 32
Recording - April 2021 - 33
Recording - April 2021 - 34
Recording - April 2021 - 35
Recording - April 2021 - Audix: A133 Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone
Recording - April 2021 - 37
Recording - April 2021 - Plugin Outlet: PSP Audioware InfiniStripFIRE
Recording - April 2021 - 39
Recording - April 2021 - Inside the Box with Joe Albano—Loops: Songwriters’ Little Helper
Recording - April 2021 - 41
Recording - April 2021 - 42
Recording - April 2021 - 43
Recording - April 2021 - PreSonus: ATOM SQ Hybrid Controller
Recording - April 2021 - 45
Recording - April 2021 - Soundware Showcase: Toontrack Electronic Edge EZX
Recording - April 2021 - 47
Recording - April 2021 - Session Log: The Angel Headed Hipster—Part 4: Producer Hal Willner: A Tribute
Recording - April 2021 - 49
Recording - April 2021 - 50
Recording - April 2021 - 51
Recording - April 2021 - MXL: Revelation Mini FET
Recording - April 2021 - 53
Recording - April 2021 - Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby—Songwriters In The Wild: When Creativity Strikes
Recording - April 2021 - 55
Recording - April 2021 - 56
Recording - April 2021 - 57
Recording - April 2021 - Soundware Showcase: Spitfire Audio Abbey Road One: Orchestral Foundations
Recording - April 2021 - 59
Recording - April 2021 - Focal: Clear Mg Professional Headphones
Recording - April 2021 - 61
Recording - April 2021 - Readers’ Tracks
Recording - April 2021 - 63
Recording - April 2021 - 64
Recording - April 2021 - 65
Recording - April 2021 - 66
Recording - April 2021 - 67
Recording - April 2021 - Sennheiser: MD 445 Supercardioid and MD 435 Cardioid Dynamic Handheld Microphones
Recording - April 2021 - 69
Recording - April 2021 - 70
Recording - April 2021 - 71
Recording - April 2021 - 72
Recording - April 2021 - Cover3
Recording - April 2021 - Cover4
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