Review: Glass And Steel by Spitfire Audio
Could be very useful for composers creating unscore & electronic music creators.
Fans of eDNA engine will get extended ambiences, pads & rhythms.
Reasonably priced.
The very focused sample set narrows the range of timbres the instrument is capable of producing even once manipulated through the hybrid engine.
With a sample set of ‘found’ glass and steel objects housed in Spitfire’s hybrid engine, Glass And Steel could be very useful for media composers crafting underscore and fans of eDNA looking to expand their hybrid pallet.
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Jump to the Videos of Glass And Steel
Jump to the Videos of Glass And Steel
Review: Glass And Steel by Spitfire Audio
Glass and Steel is described by Spitfire‘s team of composers as a ‘secret weapon’. With a sample set of ‘found’ glass, metal and crockery housed in Spitfire‘s eDNA engine and crafted into morphed and sequenced instruments.
The sample set comes from percussion performances by Paul Clarvis and was recorded on a ‘dry’ stage. Spitfire tweaked and toiled to create over 235 curate presets with the goal of providing “out-of-the-box satisfaction, stimulation and inspiration”.
Steel and Glass housed in Spitfire‘s eDNA Engine
Glass and Steel downloads as 1.6 GB and does require the full version of Native Instruments Kontakt.
Glass And Steel is available from Spitfire Audio for £99
Thoughts
I was pretty excited to check out the library when I first heard about it. With a sample set created from ‘found’ glass, metal and played as percussion I figured this library would align with my tastes of adding unique and quirky bits to scores.
In total Spitfire recorded 45 different glass and steel objects struck with different beaters, hit and flicks, bowed and pinches to capture the 3153 samples. As I stated above the library does download as 1.6GB and this is compressed audio using Native Instruments NKI compression for a total of 3.3GB of uncompressed wav data.
Spitfire recorded 45 different glass and steel objects struck with different beaters, hit, flicks, bows
The samples themselves are are housed in Spitfires eDNA engine. If you’re not familiar with eDNA, it is Spitfire‘s hybrid engine allowing you to morph between 2 different loaded samples (from one bank to the other) as well as manipulate the sound with a large selection of FX. I am not getting into all the details of the FX, but have posted the official “In Depth – eDNA Engine” video in the playlist below. In summary it is a nice set of FX with lots of controls and parameters.
The library is organized across 6 folders and contains 235 hand curated presets including folders for: Cinematic Rhythms, Cinematic Systems, Construction Kits, Disturbed Morphs, Hand Blown Pads and a folder for the RAW samples as RAW Glass and Steel.
Steel and Glass Folder Organization
I think this library will be useful for media composers who are seeking specialty pallets for underscore. Glass and Steel contains a good sized sample set for the price. With this eDNA instrument you can get endless results tweaking and manipulating the libraries engine. But I would be amiss to not note that I amend the term “endless” with a limitation.
The very focused sample set narrows the range of timbres the instrument is capable of producing even once manipulated through the hybrid engine. On the positive this gives the instrument a distinct character no matter how far you tweak out the sound and morph them, on the negative if you’re not into the sound then the library probably isn’t for you.
I think this library will be useful for media composers who are seeking specialty pallets for underscore.
I also think electronic music producers/ DJs might get some use out of this library (from the likes of Thievery Corporation to Amon Tobin, )
Some of the highlight for me checking out the library were the exploration and inspiration from the array of curated presets and The Raw Glass and Steel sounds. The Raw Glass and Steel folder present the source sounds in their simple, unprocessed form. I found these instruments to be just as useful for the kind of scoring I am drawn to since I am a fan of the mallet sound.
Loading up one of The Raw Glass And Steel presets
A highlight of the library is The Raw Glass and Steel sounds.
On the PROS Glass and Steel provide an expansion for fans of eDNA with a range of ambience, textures and loops and for what you get the library is reasonably priced. Even affordable, which is saying alot since Spitfire‘s pricing tends to be at the top of the spectrum.
With the eDNA engine you can get some great sounds and there are plenty of controls, But personally I have not come to gel with the interface. Interacting with the EDNA Engine in Glass and Steel or other Spitfire eDNA libraries, I always feel a little disconnected in the process of crafting the sounds or sculpting my own original timbres. Maybe it is because I have spent so much time with other hybrid libraries, or perhaps it’s just personal taste.
Weather Glass and Steel is right for you will come down to the sound of the playback of course and your feelings toward the eDNA engine. Check below to hear demos and any other Glass and Steel videos I can find around the web.
Glass And Steel is available from Spitfire Audio for £99
