Spitfire Audio releases Hans Zimmer Strings

Posted on 10. March 2018 by Carl

HANS ZIMMER STRINGS — working with the godfather of orchestral sampling himself, Hans Zimmer, to create a spectacular string sampling library like no other with no fewer than 344 of the greatest players in London assembling at AIR Studios to ultimately have technology transform them into an extraordinary-sounding ensemble available as a plug-in perfected primarily for composers by composers.

Arguably one of the greatest — certainly one of the most prolific — film composers of our time, notable for innovatively integrating electronic sounds with traditional orchestral arrangements, Hans Zimmer himself has often said, “The true magic of sampling is when you are creating something that’s impossible in reality.” In reality, creating the greatest film scores in the world involves thinking outside the box. It is little wonder, then, that Hans Zimmer, the godfather of orchestral sampling, came to high-quality virtual instrument and sampling libraries producer Spitfire Audio to turn what would become HANS ZIMMER STRINGS into reality. As such, it is perfected primarily for composers by composers to take the dynamic of any score to hitherto unimaginable levels with what is, it goes without saying, Spitfire Audio’s most ambitious sampling library yet. Make no mistake: when it comes to spectacular string sampling, thinking outside the box doesn’t get much bigger than HANS ZIMMER STRINGS!

So what, exactly, makes HANS ZIMMER STRINGS so special? For starters, Spitfire Audio adopted Hans Zimmer’s groundbreaking approach to large group-sampling and has taken it to another level entirely by assembling no fewer than 344 of the greatest players in London to perform on this library and recording them at AIR Studios. Indeed, it is the combination of such vast numbers of top-tier session players performing together as one whole that led to results that the company collectively could not have dreamt of! By breaking down those players into violins (grouped as 60 full, 20 right, 20 centre, 20 left, and 20 galleries), violas (20 centre and 20 wide), cellos (60 full, 20 right, 20 centre, 20 left, and 20 galleries), and basses (24 centre), the HANS ZIMMER STRINGS production team had the freedom and flexibility to sample them performing a large number of playing techniques, resulting in an amazing amount of compositional possibilities, perfectly usable on projects for many years to come.

Come to think of it, how does Spitfire Audio’s HANS ZIMMER STRINGS sound? It is difficult to describe, but who better to give it a go, then, than company co-founders and composers Christian Henson and Paul Thomson. “When you gather large string forces it is like the thread count with Egyptian cotton sheets; the higher the count, the silkier the feel,” tenders the former, before adding: “HANS ZIMMER STRINGS offers an oceanic patina of strings and articulations. Where some techniques are often angular, here they suddenly take on a fresh beauty; try out the Col Legno Trattos, a totally unique sound.”

Submits Paul Thomson: “This really will make you feel like you can create something totally new and extraordinary sounding — for example, the first experience of hearing 60 exceptional cellists playing muted as softly as possible is so memorable! Being able to realise my own musical ideas with this unusual creative toolkit is extremely inspiring.”

It doesn’t get much better than that. Then again, available as a (AAX, AU, VST2, and VST3) plug-in so that it can be used in DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) directly, this is a spectacular string sampling library like no other. This time Spitfire Audio has pulled out all the stops, working with UsTwo, one of the world’s best design and user-experience agencies, to create a composition tool that’s as easy to use as it is inspiring. Honed exclusively for those spectacular samples, HANS ZIMMER STRINGS’ GUI (Graphical User Interface) is clutter-free and focused, featuring sliders for expression and dynamics, and a knob that can be easily customised to the user’s personal workflow. Indeed, its intuitive navigation system is tailored specifically for orchestral work. Loading instruments is always a pleasure; preset filtering heightens this further still, so users can get on with what they do best — making music. Moreover, clear and beautiful icons means that they will always know what they are working with at a glance. Production perfection!

Put it this way, though: the name most synonymous with modern film scoring — namely, Hans Zimmer — has not only composed some of the most memorable scores in recent years, but he has also revolutionised music production for film with his innovative approach to sampling and recording. His daring instrument selection and use of unusual techniques have given his scores a distinctive reputation for making the unexpected sound like it couldn’t have been anything else. With HANS ZIMMER STRINGS, Spitfire Audio offers anyone a string library so ambitious and exciting that they’re sure to unlock areas of creativity they didn’t imagine possible!

Spitfire Audio is already accepting pre-orders on HANS ZIMMER STRINGS at a time-limited introductory promo price of £549.00 GBP (inc. VAT)/ $599.00 USD/€599.00 EUR (inc. VAT) — rising thereafter to an MSRP of £699.00 GBP (inc. VAT)/$799.00 USD/€799 EUR (inc. VAT) — from here: Spitfire Audio – Hans Zimmer Strings (Anyone pre-ordering will receive the limited-edition HANS ZIMMER STRINGS book.)

As of March 28, 2018, HANS ZIMMER STRINGS is available as a dedicated (AAX, AU, VST2, and VST3) plug-in for Mac (OS X 10.10, 10.11, macOS 10.12, 10.13 — 184 GB HD or SSD space required) and PC (Windows 8, 10 — 184 GB HD or SSD space required).

For more in-depth information, including several superb-sounding audio demos, please visit the dedicated HANS ZIMMER STRINGS webpage here:
Spitfire Audio – Hans Zimmer Strings

Watch Spitfire Audio Director Paul Thomson’s ‘traditional’ video walkthrough of HANS ZIMMER STRINGS here: