BOWED GLASS CLOUDS KONTAKT 6 PLAYER FULL VERSION

The eponymous 'swarms' are repeated short notes which start quietly and sparsely and grow in volume while gathering pace - having reached peak speed and loudness, the players reverse the procedure and subside into quietude (a crescendo-diminuendo by any other name, but 'swarm' is snappier). There are three main performance styles: 'clouds' are long, looped notes made up of random, uneven repeated hits on a single note, with an on-screen slider controlling note density. Spitfire placed the three percussionists at widely spaced stations across the hall and recorded them playing together on identical instruments. Evolved over the last five years and inspired by granular synthesis, the 'swarm' concept creates sustaining articulations out of instruments which normally play short notes, providing composers with original-sounding beds and textures that don't conform to traditional orchestral stereotypes. Though it's capable of percussive power, the emphasis is on more subtle sonorities and unorthodox articulations.

If you're used to old-school percussion libraries consisting largely of single hits on individual instruments, this collection may come as a pleasant surprise.

BOWED GLASS CLOUDS KONTAKT 6 PLAYER FULL VERSION

For those who don't own the full version of Kontakt, the free Kontakt Player is included. In another return to form, the makers eschew the proprietary plug-in designs of some of their recent releases in favour of the ubiquitous Kontakt (version 5.6.8 or higher).

The whole shebang (60GB installed) was recorded in Spitfire's spiritual home, London's Air Lyndhurst Hall, which imparts its usual luxuriant reverb trails to the samples. Perhaps due to some austerity measure, this particular swarm consists of only three players (top percussionists Paul Clarvis, Frank Ricotti and Gary Kettel), but they do buzz around a lot, spending half their time playing tuned percussion and the other half coaxing improbably expressive performances out of a set of ethnic drums and instruments. In this library Spitfire extend their 'swarm' concept, formerly applied to mandolins, harps, marimbas and orchestral sections, to percussion.

Bowed glass clouds kontakt 6 player