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Spitfire Appassionata - Release Thread

Hi all, one year later... are you guys and gals still happy with Appassionata (and using it)?
I should add that I think you’ll appreciate that it requires minimal intervention of CC11, so volume fading is not an integral part of shaping the gesture.
 
The vibrato doesn’t have a very pronounced sound, it is very reserved, also the lack of portamento on every register doesn’t contribute to a more passionate style as their library name suggests. I always try it because the playability is good, besides for me results as a very cpu demanding one. I replace it every time after I write with, it’s almost there for that passionate style. Either way, if I could invest on a further expansion release I will be happy with it, shorts articulations, complete portamento, or even a new molto expressive legato could be super really helpful!
 
Sometimes I crossfade via CC11 the 'Rachmaninov' patch from SCS to simulate the more appasionato playing (ahem). Good because it's recorded in the same space and the patch in SCS is really light on RAM.
Other times I mix SAS with VSL Elite, which has a nice molto vibrato option.
Other times I layer them with soaring strings activating the 'niente' button, which links CC1 and CC11, so they come and go more pronounced (this works great for layering with every string library, soaring strings is great for this and it's not mentioned that often).
So, many different solutions depending on the context, I guess or what library to layer is faster to load or find in my SDD :)
 
Layering something with Spitfire's Rach articulations, Soaring Strings, Vista, Con Moto, CSS' or Berlin Strings' most intense vibrato layers will of course help pretty much any library to become more 'passionate'. But I'm pretty sure Spitfire aim for making libraries in the future that are more 'soaring' both in the loud and soft dynamic layers, for several reasons – one being that their own good old 'Rach' option aren't designed to work with other libraries as an overlay and doesn't have enough x-fade options to emulate a gradual change from soft playing with intense vibrato (think Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Mahler etc) to loud playing with intense vibrato. Their current Appassioata library certainly won't be their last word in the appassionata business! :)
 
I think you mean SSS
yep, my bad, I meant the Rach patch of SSS (too many acronyms to be right every time :) ).

For anyone interested, here's a small example of Appassionata with soaring for the molto vibrato layer (most noticeable at some points of the piece) - no mixing and a bit of 7th heaven in the master channel:
 

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  • Agur Jaunak example.mp3
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Really I don’t like to layer strings, everything becomes blur, the timings are different always, it is hard to match everything without this side effect. Sure there are masters that could get very good result, I tend to utilize different libs when I need a dynamic or art that it is not present on my main selected one. Every day I’m thinking to upgrade my main horse library, one that have it all the arts that I need, and ended the work to match different rooms, numbers of players, and so on every time. The newer VSL duality or Berlin (except that BB doesn’t have Glissandi’s). Could make that happen, but already spend all my resources on side sub libs
 
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, but do you use it in “passionate”passages?
I would add that I love it for very emotional pieces, where I would use the ff motto(ish) vibrato layer rather sparingly (and to good effect, I think, for using it for emphasis rather that omnipresence). But I might or might not reach for it for a particular kind soaring high romanticism that's all about driving for the highest dynamic motto-vibrato. For that I'd typically reach for Vista, or especailly, Soaring Strings. (And probably CSS if I had it).

But this is also precisely why I love Appassionatta - it's so full of nuance and emotion in the performances on each dynamic layer. And there's also something amazing about how you can crossfade to beautifully to draw out as further sense of performance and nuance.

So I would argue that, while not super-high-romantic-all-the-time, this constitutes it's own kind of emotional, passionate performance which, especially at the lower dynamics offer something very different from high romantic libraries like Vista, CSS, Soaring Strings etc. (Soaring Strings in particular offer virtually no nuance at lower dynamics, its soft layers are all about regrouping to score the next soaring ff).

So I guess I'd distinguishing a broader's sense of "passionate", which can deeply present even very soft performances, and a particular kind of high romantic "soaring" style, that sometime like Soaring string is (just like it says on the tin) all about.
 
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Layering something with Spitfire's Rach articulations, Soaring Strings, Vista, Con Moto, CSS' or Berlin Strings' most intense vibrato layers will of course help pretty much any library to become more 'passionate'. But I'm pretty sure Spitfire aim for making libraries in the future that are more 'soaring' both in the loud and soft dynamic layers, for several reasons – one being that their own good old 'Rach' option aren't designed to work with other libraries as an overlay and doesn't have enough x-fade options to emulate a gradual change from soft playing with intense vibrato (think Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Mahler etc) to loud playing with intense vibrato. Their current Appassioata library certainly won't be their last word in the appassionata business! :)
My one “complaint” about the library is that it is poorly named and so can set the wrong expectations about the library’s particular niche. It would not in fact be my go-to library for especially passionate legato playing.
 
Really I don’t like to layer strings, everything becomes blur, the timings are different always, it is hard to match everything without this side effect. Sure there are masters that could get very good result, I tend to utilize different libs when I need a dynamic or art that it is not present on my main selected one.
I'm entirely with you on this. I really like to work to the sense of the arcs and performances that the library records. There's a kind of "timbral integrity" (@jbuhler's term) to this. And I suppose in general I just also like the detail you get of smaller section sizes. So layering just really isn't my thing.


But this is a lovely example from Jackroberts:

If anyone's still curious how Appassionata blends with CSS, that's actually become my preferred string library combo and the results have been pretty convincing so far. Here's a work-in-progress demo with those two combined - melody starts at 0:40.
View attachment Paradise Lost v1.18.mp3

Where the layering really gives this kind of transcended wash, where bits of the detail of each library pop in an out of the foreground from a kind of fantastical shimmering effect.

Not something I would do, but very lovely.

Which this layering doesn't do - and this I think is what you're fundamentally talking about - is preserve the timbral integrity or the arcs of individual performance in either library. And both of these libraries are quite opinionated in their sense of arcs. Unlike as least certain Audiobro or VSL libraries, for instance, that (among other things) offer much more neutral recording and the tools and try to leave you more room to craft you own arcs from scratch.

That Appassonatta is "opinionated" in this way again speaks to what I love about the library.
 
Not sure if this is known here but, i read recently the Spitfire player is non multitimbral. However, i just found this today for anyone that doesn't know. Also, it is well worth subscribing to this channel as they give plenty of good tips for Spitfire users.



Also, Paul just put this up too.


No EFFIN FRICKIN WAY! NO EFFIN FRICKIN WAY MAN! I NEVER knew this, and was about to ditch BBSCO because of this! Different articulations to different outputs! Holy hell, you just made my whole day, week, month and year by posting this!
 
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