9:34
At the edge of silence
Capturing a characteristically Scandinavian sound, we've sampled a 100-piece orchestra playing never-before-sampled techniques, at the very edge of silence. Alongside our huge range of orchestral content are bellows, percussion and a characterful warped synth section — everything you need to take it down a degree or two.
- You can buy now and download any time
- Students & educators save 50%
- Download user manual
- Includes Kontakt Player (free download)
- Compatible with NKS
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Spitfire Audio App required
Listen to Albion Tundra
Slow Burner - Oliver Patrice Weder
Järva County - Christian Henson
Winged Migration - Andy Blaney
Scenes From The Tundra - Borgarts & Kolinski
Fratres - A. Part - Arr - Christian Henson
Fratres A Part Arr - Christian Henson
Faint - Oliver Patrice Weder
Curiosity's Consequence - Homay Schmitz
We Could Have Been - Harnek Mudhar
Crystals - Oliver Patrice Weder
Winter's Vestige - Homay Schmitz
In Action
Using Quiet Layers To Make Your Music Stand Out
I tend to use the low and high end sounds on Tundra layered into everything I do. That 'no rosin' sound is just unbelievable — you can't really get that sound with 36 string players.
Jeff Russo - Composer (Star Trek, Fargo)
Features
Tundra orchestra
- A 100-piece orchestra recorded to tape at Air Studios, London
- 133 multi dynamic orchestral articulations split across Strings, Brass and Woodwinds ensembles
- 38 violins with 32 articulations including 19 longs, 11 shorts and 2 legatos
- 12 Celli and 6 Basses with 30 articulations including 17 longs, 11 shorts and 2 legatos
- Brass ensembles with 17 unique articulations for both Mid and Low ensembles
- Woodwind ensembles with 18 unique articulations for both High and Mid Ensembles
- Legatos designed by Andrew Blaney
- Multi-mic control with Close, Tree, Outrigger and Ambients
- Recorded using priceless valve and ribbon mics
- Neve Monserrat preamps into a Neve 88R desk
- Recorded digitally at 96k via 2" Studer tape
The "Vral" grid
- 32 hand-crafted slowly evolving drones, with varying loop points
- All housed within our ‘Evo Grid’ engine, for almost limitless randomisation
Stephenson's steam band
- 138 Stephenson Pads housed in our eDNA interface
- Organic sounds created from the orchestral material
- 198 original sounds to create more content from
Brunel loops
- 22 unique instruments with 52 presets
- All played in triplets, 12ths, 8th and 16ths, tempo-synced to your DAW
- Played by the infamous Paul Clarvis
Darwin percussion
- 20 percussive elements
- Single patch for easy playability
Walkthrough — Albion Tundra Orchestra
Icy strings
Creating something extraordinary often involves taking a leap into the unknown. We knew we wanted the strings to have a 'frozen' sheen to them, and to achieve this we needed to scoop some of the lower mids out of the frequency map. To do this we made the bold decision to exclude violas from the orchestra, replacing them with rich celli and basses — 12 Celli and & 6 Basses sat in the middle of the room, with two massively enhanced violin sections of 20 and 18 players sat in antiphon (opposite sides of the room). We give you a huge selection of articulations ranging from classics such as our ever popular flautando, but with mutes added, and sections playing poly-divisi, so that even with a band of this size, every player can be heard.
We also explored unorthodox approaches — from requesting that players attend the session with practise bows with no rosin on the hair for minimum traction, to bowing the strings with the back of the bow. Resident AIR Studios engineer Jake Jackson's real challenge, with the roof fully elevated so that the signal contains as much early reflection as possible, was trying to get the musicians louder than the ambient room tone. We recorded the strings in two sections, high and low, with matching articulations where possible. Highlights alongside these cascading longs articulations are flautando legatos, brushed shorts, and some extraordinary loose pizzicatos.
Walkthrough — Vral Grid
Whispering choruses
When it came to Woodwinds and Brass, we recorded four different bands (high winds, mid winds, mid brass, low brass), approaching the sampling process with a choral mode in mind. Our instructions to all bands were that we wanted it to sound raw, honest and non-Conservatoire, but with very specific textural approaches that liven the hall, to create a very natural, mossy texture.
The entire Tundra Orchestra played from quiet markings all the way down to silent oblivion, resulting in a deeply dynamic and timbral set of expressive instruments that quite happily act as a standalone orchestral toolkit, albeit with a unique quality.
Walkthrough — Stephenson's Steam Band
In what is always a fascinating creative process, we set about accompanying the Tundra band with a selection of Harmoniums and Shruti Boxes (bellowed single-chord Indian drone makers). But it didn't quite match up to the Tundra magic, so it was abandoned. Well, everything save a throw away portion of the recordings where the players to performed on the knife edge between the bellow hissing, and the reeds actually sounding. This produced an extraordinary selection of stuttering granular folk beds which we have slammed through processing and have warped into a very special Nordic style Evo Grid. With 32 evolutions spread over 12 regions, and the all important dice function to immediately randomise your preset into a near infinite number of possible outcomes.
Walkthrough — Darwin Percussion
Following on from our hugely successful warped orchestral content in Albions I and III, we decided to approach this set differently. Instead of using our 'in-the-box' pristine set of digital processing and mangling tools, we decided to go wholly out-of-the-box, employing whirring Roland Space Chorus Echoes with classic Eventides and Axe FX Pros into the mangle chain. The brief: imagine you had put together a studio made entirely from an abandoned 1960s American early warning system. Not only does this collection feature orchestral material, but also the aforementioned Harmoniums and Shruti boxes which offer up a particularly unique, Northern feel.
The end result of this component is as inspiring and earthy as the rest of the library, presented in our ever popular eDNA engine enabling you to instantly make these presets your own.
Walkthrough — Brunel Loops
Never to shy away from epic, we also felt it would be important to create some brooding epic drum combos, designed for intermittent use, to mark time or punctuate. Think Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten by Arvo Pärt. Featuring unique combinations of very small drums played against massive Verdi bass drums and taikos, these drums speak of distant pagan rituals.
The story
We invited renowned percussionist Paul Clarvis, leader of the London Olympics Opening Ceremony drum corps and London movie session favourite, back to Spitfire's dry stage with his infamous car full of 'percussion that doesn't sound like percussion' to record some intimate and honest rhythmic passages, to add frosty momentum to your scores — again presented on the eDNA platform for instant tweakability, but also with a series of spring-out-of-the-box presets designed by Spitfire's team of award winning composers and producers.
In what can only be described as a sonic odyssey, the Spitfire crew has travelled to Northern climes to research, discover and unearth the most naked, honest and glacial set of samples we have recorded to date. Returning back to London, we set about recording an enormous orchestra - but not in a style steeped in the choral tradition. We sought instead to create a sonic tapestry evoking Estonian forests, Scottish lochs, Norwegian fjords, and the sense of isolation when stood on the permafrost and tundra of Iceland.
For many years now, Spitfire Audio has been recording orchestras of all sizes, but a theme that has run throughout our last decade is how to unearth and discover more naked and honest performance styles. We also understand that where sampling is concerned, it's at the quietest of levels where the real magic happens. By taking this into account, studying the most popular recordings of Arvo Pärt, Sibelius and Gorecki, and by observing new emerging talent from Scandinavia and Iceland, we were inspired to create a whole new set of tools.
Partnering with long term collaborator, orchestrator and contemporary composer Ben Foskett, we set about recording a full dynamic set of samples where the top level was set at mp (mezzo piano, or medium quiet) right down to the quietest recordings we have ever dared record. Our chief engineer opened up the hall at Air Studios to maximise its amazing early reflections, and to liquify the fibrous and finely textured instructions we gave the 100 strong band of extraordinary London players, to create samples we believe have never been made before.
What's Included
Albion Tundra Orchestra
- High Strings - Main
- High Strings - Soft and Wild
- Low Strings - Main
- Low Strings - Soft and Wild
- High Brass
- Low Brass
- High Woods
- Mid Woods
High strings
- Long - Air and Ice
- Long - Air Ice and Tratto
- Long - Col Leg Tratto
- Long - Double Stopped 5ths
- Long - Flautando Con Sord
- Long - Frozen
- Long - Gypsy Harmonics
- Long - Gypsy
- Long - Harmonic Trems
- Long - No Rosin
- Long - Other Harmonics
- Long - Pulsing Con Sord
- Long - Richocets
- Long - Silken Con Sord
- Long - Sul G/C
- Long - Sul Pont Con Sord
- Long - Super Sul Tasto
- Long - Travelling Trems
- Short - Brushed Pizzicato Con Sord
- Short - Brushed Silken Con Sord
- Short - Brushed Sul Pont Con Sord
- Short - Double Stopped 5ths
- Short - Flautando Con Sord
- Short - Frozen
- Short - Gypsy
- Short - Light And Loose Col Leg
- Short - Pizz Sul Pont
- Short - Pizz Sul PontCol Leg Mix
- Short - Pizz Harmonics - Basses
- Short - Pizz Harmonics - Celli
- Short - Super Sul Tasto
- Trems - Gyspy Harmonics
Low strings
- Long - Air and Ice
- Long - Air Ice and Tratto
- Long - Col Leg Tratto
- Long - Double Stopped 5ths
- Long - Flautando Con Sord
- Long - Frozen
- Long - Gypsy Harmonics
- Long - Gypsy
- Long - Harmonic Trems
- Long - No Rosin
- Long - Other Harmonics
- Long - Pulsing Con Sord
- Long - Pulsing CS Sulpont
- Long - Silken Con Sord
- Long - Sul G/C
- Long - Sul Pont Con Sord
- Long - Super Sul Tasto
- Long - Travelling Trems
- Short - Brushed Pizzicato Con Sord
- Short - Brushed Silken Con Sord
- Short - Brushed Sul Pont Con Sord
- Short - Double Stopped 5ths
- Short - Flautando Con Sord
- Short - Frozen
- Short - Gypsy
- Short - Light And Loose Col Leg
- Short - Pizz Harmonics - Basses
- Short - Pizz Harmonics - Celli
- Short - Super Sul Tasto
- Trems - Gyspy Harmonics
High brass
- Long - Air
- Long - Bursts
- Long - Doodle Tonguing
- Long - Double Tongue Mute Cresc
- Long - Finger Trills
- Long - Fltz
- Long - Gran Flutter Bright Cresc A
- Long - Gran Flutter Bright Cresc B
- Long - Hollow Distant
- Long - Mini Cresc
- Long - Multiphonics
- Long - Overblown FFF
- Long - Slight Bend
- Long - Stifled
- Long - Super Air
- Long - Tuning Slide Taken Out
- Long - Vibrato
- Short
Low brass
- Long - Air
- Long - Bursts
- Long - Doodle Tonguing
- Long - Double Tongue Mute Cresc
- Long - Finger Trills
- Long - Fltz
- Long - Gran Flutter Bright Cresc A
- Long - Gran Flutter Bright Cresc B
- Long - Hollow Distant
- Long - Mini Cresc
- Long - Multiphonics
- Long - Overblown FFF
- Long - Slight Bend
- Long - Stifled
- Long - Super Air
- Long - Vibrato
- Short
High woods
- Long - Air
- Long - Aleatoric Overblown
- Long - Bursts
- Long - Doodle Tonguing
- Long - Finger Trills
- Long - Fltz
- Long - Hollow
- Long - Mini Cresc
- Long - Multiphonics
- Long - Overblowing
- Long - Overblown
- Long - Pulsing Semi Cresc
- Long - Slight Bend
- Long - Super Air
- Long - Vibrato
- Short - Overblown
- Short - V Short
- Short
Low woods
- Long - Air
- Long - Aleatoric Overblown
- Long - Bursts
- Long - Doodle Tonguing
- Long - Finger Trills
- Long - Fltz
- Long - Hollow
- Long - Mini Cresc
- Long - Multiphonics
- Long - Overblowing
- Long - Overblown
- Long - Pulsing Semi Cresc
- Long - Slight Bend
- Long - Super Air
- Long - Vibrato
- Short - Overblown
- Short - V Short
- Short
Legato patches
- High Strings - Air and Ice Legato
- High Strings - Flaut Con Sord Legato
- Low Strings - Flaut Con Sord Legato
Other patches
- High Strings - Time Machine Shorts
- Low Strings - Time Machine Shorts
- High Brass - Time Machine Shorts
- Low Brass - Time Machine Shorts
- High Woods - Time Machine Shorts
- High Woods - Time Machine Shorts
"Vral" grid evo
- An Evo Grid containing 32 evolutions
Brunel loops
Arctic combos - 30 presets
- Farteous Maximus 2
- Farteous Maximus 3
- Farteous Maximus
- Filtered Scoops - MW is gate strength
- Filtered Scoops 2 - MW is gate strength
- Filtered Scoops 3 - MW is gate strength
- Funny Goings On Deeper
- Funny Goings On
- Glitcher HH 2
- Glitcher HH
- Leather Bellows and Animal Skin 2
- Leather Bellows and Animal Skin
- Metal Shaker and Bodhran
- Passing Time 2
- Passing Time
- Scooped Hallucinogens 2 MW is Bottom
- Scooped Hallucinogens 3 MW is Bottom
- Scooped Hallucinogens MW is Bottom
- Slapping Thighs
- Stuttering HHs
- Super Fat Pulser 2 MW is Saturation
- Super Fat Pulser 3 MW is Saturation
- Super Fat Pulser 4 MW is Saturation
- Super Fat Pulser 5 MW is Saturation
- Super Fat Pulser 6 MW is Saturation
- Super Fat Pulser MW is Saturation
- Tuneful Bells n Bass
- Tuneful Bells n Bottom
- Tuneful Bells n Chaos 2
- Tuneful Bells n Chaos
Raw presets - 22 presets
- Assorted Metal
- Bodhran Brushed
- Bodhran Hotrods
- Bodhran
- Broze Tear Drop
- Burma Bells
- Djun Djun
- High Djun Djun
- Hubbuck Cymbal Central
- Hubbuck Cymbals
- Hubbuck Hi Hat
- Key Tree
- Metal Rings
- Paiste Central Cymbal
- Paiste High Hats
- Paiste Stereo Cymbals
- Quadrabans Medium
- Quadrabans Wide
- Tambourine Stereo
- Tbal Rims with Hands
- Tbal
- Temple Cymbals
Darwin percussion
- Darwin Percussion
Stephenson's steam band
Bellow pads
- Awesome Blade and Sky Bellows - MW is Filters
- Bellow Drones and Ricochets PLAY LOW - MW is Filters
- Bitey Bellow Drone - MW is Gate
- Blade Bellow - MW is Gate Depth
- Blade Bellow2 - MW is Filters
- Blade Bellow2a LPF - MW is Filters
- Blade Drone - MW is Gate Depth
- Cluster Drone - MW is Gate
- Distorted Sunrise Bellows 2 - MW is Filters
- Harmonic Drone - MW is Gate Depth
- Harmonic Sky Bellows - MW is Filters
- Lanois Bellow - MW is Gate Depth
- Lanois Bellow lpf - MW is Gate Depth
- Misstuned Sky Bellows - MW is Filters
- Morse Drone - MW is Gate Depth
- Morse Drone 2 - MW is Gate Depth
- Morse Drone 3 Angry - MW is Gate Depth
- Needs A Tune Up - MW is Gate Depth
- Nice Chord Sky Bellows - MW is Filters
- Northern Lights - MW is Gate
- Northern Lights 2 - MW is Gate
- Random Bellow Celeste - MW is Delay Return
- Simple Bellow Boxes - MW is Gate Depth
- Sky Bellows - MW is Filters
- Slow Vibes - MW is Gate Depth
- Stephensons - Bellow 1
- Stephensons - Bellow 2
- Stephensons - Bellow 3
- Super Spread - MW is Gate Depth
- Super Spread Quiet - MW is Gate Depth
- Thownshends Friend - MW is Gate Depth
- Thownshends Friend 2 - MW is Gate Depth
- Trem Bellows via a Torn Tweed - MW is Gate Depth
- Trem Bellows via a Torn Tweed 2 - MW is Gate Depth
- Very Dark Drone - MW is Gate
- Very Very Dark Bellow Drone - MW is Gate
Jarv pads
- A Fond Farewell MW is 8ve
- A Melody Is Possible Fat MW is Phase Align
- A Melody Is Possible MW is Phase Align
- AMAZING Chord Try 8ves MW is Flash Gordon Interval
- Amazo Chord 2 MW is Filter
- Amazo Chord MW is Stutter
- Anthems MW is Hiss
- Arctic Chorus 2 MW is Rain
- Arctic Chorus MW is Rain
- Awesome Distant Choir MW is Dynamic
- AWESOME Glacial Pad 2 MW is Gates
- AWESOME Glacial Pad MW is Trumpets
- Awestruck and Drone MW is Hiss
- Awestruck MW is Hiss
- Chordal Waves MW is Tuning
- Dark Pad MW is Interference
- Distant Symphony MW is Glitch
- Endless Glacier MW is Gate
- Fireflies MW is Flutter
- For Epilogues in Major Keys MW is Phase Align
- Go Back In Time and Give To Bukem 2 MW is Gate
- Go Back In Time and Give To Bukem 3 MW is Gate
- Go Back In Time and Give To Bukem MW is Gate
- Harmonic Series
- Huge Arctic Choir MW is Rain
- Inspiring Drone MW is Phase Align
- Lanoisium and Phaser MW is Glitch
- Lanoisium MW is Glitch
- Octaves Apart MW is Glitch
- Original Pad MW is Nice Interval
- Shruti Drone 2 MW is Lower Bellow
- Shruti Drone MW is Low Drone Balance
- Simple Pad and Fireflies MW is Flies
- Simple Pad MW is Small to BIG
- Stacked Symphonies MW is Tuning
- The Mystics MW is 8ve
- THE Pad MW is Filter
- THE Ultimate Slow Anthem 2 MW is Glitch
- THE Ultimate Slow Anthem MW is Glitch
- Tundra MW is Gate
- Uncles First FM Synth MW is Gate
- Uncles First Synth MW is Balance
- Unperceivable MW is Perceivability
- Unpredictable MW is Gate
- Very Distant Sunrise MW is Sunrise
- Vortices MW is Vortex
- Warped Ricochet MW is Gate
- Waterfall MW is Gate
- Weather Pad MW is Phase Alignment
Sammal presets
- Arctic Choir Drone 2 MW is Hiss
- Arctic Choir Drone MW is Hiss
- Arctic Choir MW is Hiss
- Awesome Moss Strings Harmonic MW is Upper Level
- Awesome Moss Strings MW is Glitch
- Bark Drone MW is Glitch
- Bark Pad MW is Glitch
- Chamber vs Symphony 2 MW is Balance
- Chamber vs Symphony MW is Balance
- Choir Distortion MW is Phase Align and Sat
- Dirty Drone MW is Glitch
- Early Warning Interval MW is Tuning
- Early Warning MW is Tuning
- Fat Fjord Drone MW is Ultra Saturation
- Fjord Full Of Bacteria MW is Flash Gordon Interval
- FM Signal MW is Interference
- For Major Keys MW is Phase Align and Sat
- Further Tuning Complications MW is Flutter
- Hairy Celli MW is Glitch
- Hairy Organ MW is Upper Harmonic
- Harmonic Distortion MW is Phase Align
- Insistent MW is Timbre
- Late Night At The Listening Station 2 MW is Hiss
- Late Night At The Listening Station and Int 2 MW is Hiss
- Late Night At The Listening Station and Int MW is Hiss
- Late Night At The Listening Station MW is Hiss
- Mediation MW is Gate
- Mellow Fjord Angry 2 MW is Gate
- Mellow Fjord Angry Chord MW is Gate
- Mellow Fjord Angry MW is Gate
- Mellow Fjord Chord MW is Gate
- Mellow Fjord MW is Gate
- Peat Tea
- Proud Anthem 2 Chord MW is Ultra Saturation
- Proud Anthem 3 Chord MW is Ultra Saturation
- Proud Anthem 4 Chord MW is Gate
- Proud Anthem 4 Chord MW is Ultra Saturation
- Proud Anthem Chord MW is Ultra Saturation
- Proud Chord MW is Hiss
- Proud Fat Chord MW is Hiss
- Shovel Beard MW is 8ve
- Symphony 2 Through Military Desk MW Pulls Back Hair
- Symphony Through Military Desk MW Pulls Back Hair
- The Grey MW is Gate
- The Pacifist 2 MW is Gate
- The Pacifist 3 MW is Gate
- The Pacifist MW is Gate
- Tuning Complications MW is Flutter
- Wichita Signal Massive MW is Phase Alignment
- Wichita Signal MW is Phase Alignment
Mics
- C(lose)
- T(ree)
- A(mbient)
- O(utrigger)