How to resolve AdBlock issue? Spitfire Audio IMPRESSIONISM
Sounds and sample libraries creator Spitfire Audio announces the availability of IMPRESSIONISM as a love letter to 150 years of impressionist art that offers a brightly hued palette of instrumental sounds - duly designed as a first track go-to tool, enlivening the blank canvas under impasto daubs of brass; pastel washes of strings and woodwinds; shimmering touches of harps and vibraphones; and fine-tipped trills, clouds, and atonal clusters, all layered in with the turn of a mod wheel - as of December 10…
An appreciation of IMPRESSIONISM lends itself to a little understanding and appreciation of its namesake style or movement in painting that originated in France in the 1870s, characterised by a concern with depicting the visual impression of the moment - especially in terms of the shifting effect of light and colour. Consequently, IMPRESSIONISM itself adheres to the radical ethos of that movement’s chief exponents like Monet, Morisot, Renoir, van Gogh, and others by being designed to translate the most fleeting of thoughts and feelings into sound. Indeed, IMPRESSIONISM turns its back on notions of rigid compositional rules in favour of quick creativity and intuitive expression - much as the early Impressionists rejected the prevailing norms of the late-19th Century art world. Immediate inspiration is conjured by simply adding it to the top of a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) template to instantly begin outlining a sonic background. After all, as French painter and Impressionist founder Claude Monet so succinctly once put it: “A good impression is lost so quickly.”
IMPRESSIONISM is unconventional in both articulation - as evidenced by the BLANK CANVAS, DAYBREAK, HANDSHAKE, SALUTATIONS, EXPOSITION, NICE TO MEET YOU, BONJOUR, and BONNE SOIREE labelling on its inventive UI (User Interface) - and instrumentation - think 92 fine-tuned bespoke instrument combinations (created from three violins, two viola, two cello, double bass, two flutes, two bass flutes, three clarinets, two bass clarinets, contrabass clarinet, trombone, contrabass trombone, tuba, contrabass tuba, tenor sax, celeste, harp, and vibraphone) - by blending diverse textures in instrumental sound from across the orchestra and beyond.
Briefly returning to an appropriate painting analogy - not forgetting, of course, the multiple presets provided, each one containing the inspiration from an Impressionist painting, IMPRESSIONISM layers evolving, three-part stories for each note played: first, a short, percussive attack - akin to the tentative touching of brush to canvas; then comes a soft swell — the sonic embodiment of a thick smear of oil paint; and, finally, the sustain - the delicate, lingering brushstroke that gives each sound so much of its unique character. Those three parts - Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 - can be remixed individually or, should the user wish to do so, silenced completely. Creativity further abounds courtesy of several built-in effects - GRANULAR and REVERB - and playback parameters - SEPARATION, RELEASE, REVERB, and SLOW/FAST SPEED - that allow users to fine-tune each blend to taste.
To quote Vincent van Gogh, “An Impressionist is the one who does not paint like everyone, does not obey the rules and attitude.” Accordingly, IMPRESSIONISM’s mod wheel-driven ‘Diverge’ control creates space for happy accidents, allowing evocative trills and harmonic movement to shine through the mix - hear how new layers of flutes, harps, violins, and more start to emerge and intertwine when moving the mod wheel, while Spitfire Audio’s proprietary SCALE technology intelligently keeps everything in key. Thanks to the leading sounds and sample libraries creator’s new PLAYED MODE option, IMPRESSIONISM follows along with the user’s performance, automatically identifying and applying the correct scale so users can concentrate on following their feelings.
Fortunately for anyone interested in doing just that, IMPRESSIONISM comprises uniquely expressive performances of some of the UK’s leading instrumentalists, carefully captured in the crisp, dry environs of Studio 1 - itself billed as being a perfect recording space for bands and small orchestral groups - within London’s legendary AIR Studios. Spitfire Audio actively encouraged all the performers involved in IMPRESSIONISM’s creation to probe the boundaries of their instruments and employ unconventional articulations in search of musical equivalents of the Impressionists’ instinctive brushstrokes. Bear in mind, though, that every nuance of each performance was captured in exacting, intimate detail through a vintage, analogue signal chain, resulting in samples that positively drip with tonal colour and character, while IMPRESSIONISM’s included impulse responses effectively allow its users to position those instrumentalists in their chosen sonic setting.
Spitfire Audio Co-Founder Paul Thomson - an accomplished composer himself - is delighted with the end result, evidently, ending on several high notes: “At its core, IMPRESSIONISM is a very inspirational and beautiful-sounding library that gives you lots of control over the different elements that have been recorded, but, equally, will get you up and running very quickly. It will give you loads of ideas, and with the SCALE mode you’ve got all that additional functionality that can add in harmonic movement and life. The different kinds of musical gestures that it is possible to make with this library is really deep, so I’m fascinated to hear what people write with it.” It is fair to say, then, that Spitfire Audio’s latest creation is clearly a content rich affair with innovative features to boot. Available at an accessible price point, anyone can create with IMPRESSIONISM.
The 3.7 GB download-sized IMPRESSIONISM is available as a dedicated - AAX-, AU-, VST2- and VST3-compatible - plug-in for Mac OS X 11 to MacOS 14 (Apple Silicon computers supported, 64-bit DAW required) and Windows 10 or 11 (latest Service Pack, 64-bit DAW required) for a time-limited introductory promo price of £159.00 GBP/$199.00 USD/€199.00 EUR until January 2, 2025 - rising thereafter to its full price of £199.00 GBP/$249.00 USD/€249.00 EUR. Spitfire Audio’s namesake Spitfire Audio app allows anyone to buy now and download anytime, and is available for free from the website below.