Spitfire Audio is an English technology company based in London that creates virtual instrument sample libraries used for music production. The company was founded in 2007 by professional composers Christian Henson and Paul Thomson.

Products

Henson and Thomson initially made their sample libraries available only to colleagues, but upon finding there was a larger market for the sample libraries founded Spitfire Audio in 2007. Taking the form of digital audio plug-ins recorded by professional artists in recognised recording studios, Spitfire Audio's virtual instruments make available recordings of each note performed in multiple ways using multiple microphone positions. Composers and musicians play the virtual instrument within a

digital audio workstation A digital audio workstation (DAW) is an electronic device or application software used for recording, editing and producing audio files. DAWs come in a wide variety of configurations from a single software program on a laptop, to an integra ...

via

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, an ...

to create new music. Some Spitire Audio products utilize Spitfire's own interface with select performance specifics, while others utilize the Native Instruments Kontakt system. The purchase price of Spitfire Audio products includes the right to use the music produced commercially without further payment, with the original performers receiving both an initial fee and subsequent royalties from Spitfire Audio. The recording sessions for the company's sample libraries are made in commercial studios such as AIR Lyndhurst in Hampstead and Abbey Road Studios in

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west fr ...

. Similarly, Spitfire Audio's recordings of the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

were made at the orchestra's base in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios. The company also operates their own recording studio at their premises in Tileyard London. In addition to direct recordings of individual and groups of instruments, Spitfire has collaborated with noted film composer

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Oscars and four Grammys, and has been nominated for two Emmys and a Tony. Zimmer was also named on the list of Top 100 Living ...

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drummer

Chad Smith Chad Gaylord Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician who has been the drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers since 1988. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Smith is also the drummer of the ...

Ólafur Arnalds Ólafur Arnalds (; born 3 November 1986) is an Icelandic multi-instrumentalist and producer from Mosfellsbær, Iceland. He mixes strings and piano with loops and beats, a sound ranging from ambient/electronic to atmospheric pop. He is also the ...

, Roger Taylor of

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Eric Whitacre Eric Edward Whitacre (born January2, 1970) is an American composer, conductor, and speaker best known for his choral music. In March2016, he was appointed as Los Angeles Master Chorale's first artist-in-residence at the Walt Disney Concert Hall ...

, guitarist Leo Abrahams, and posthumously with the explorer and musician

David Fanshawe David Arthur Fanshawe (19 April 1942 – 5 July 2010) was an English composer and self-styled explorer with a fervent interest in world music.'' The Times'' obituary 9 July 2010. His best-known composition is the 1972 choral work '' African Sanct ...

, in creating mixed audio productions for television and film use. Alongside the company's retail products, it also releases occasional free products under the 'LABS' brand.

Pianobook

On Piano day in 2018, Henson launched a website and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

channel called ''Pianobook''. Run by a small group of volunteers, the channel is dedicated to crating and sharing sampled instruments for free. As of April 2021, over 500 'instruments' had been released via the Pianobook YouTube channel.

SA Recordings

The company runs their own

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the prod ...

, ''SARecordings'', to offer recordings using Spitfire Audio products by selected composers, such as

Alev Lenz Alev Lenz (born 17 January 1982, in Munich) is a Turkish–German, Grammy Awards, Grammy-nominated record producer, singer-songwriter and composer. Career Lenz, the daughter of a Turkish people, Turkish mother and a German father, signed her fi ...

's third studio album ''3'', which was the label’s first release. Additionally, Spitfire Audio has announced plans for a series of unique sample libraries to be released in conjunction with their artists’ album releases.

References

External links

* {{coord missing, London Recording studios in London 2007 establishments in the United Kingdom Software samplers Software synthesizers Software companies of England

Products

Pianobook

SA Recordings

See also

References

External links