Spitfire Audio have released Impressionism, available at the intro price of £159.00, increasing to £199.00 after the promotion. The offer ends January 3rd.
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.
Impressionism’s recording sessions captured some of the UK’s most accomplished instrumentalists in the crisp, dry environs of Air Studio 1, allowing you to position them the sonic setting of your choice using the included impulse responses. We encouraged all the performers to probe the boundaries of their instruments and employ unconventional articulations in search of musical emulations to the Impressionists’ instinctive brushstrokes. 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.
Impressionism requires Spitfire Audio’s dedicated app.
For more information on Impressionism, click here:
NOTE: Some of the links you click on may be affiliated. Clicking and purchasing using these links helps support and fund The Beat Community. Thanks for your support.
