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Bernard Herrmann Composer Toolkit

Orchestral innovation inspired by a legend

  • Overview
  • Listen
  • Walkthrough
  • What's included
  • Tech specs
  • Orchestral innovation inspired by a legend

    Spitfire’s first dry scoring stage ensemble, inspired by the eclectic genius of Bernard Herrmann. Renowned for his groundbreaking scores including Citizen Kane, Psycho, Vertigo and Taxi Driver, his legacy continues to inspire the work of composers today.

    We’ve worked exclusively with Bernard Herrmann’s estate to curate and assemble a unique set of studio orchestra ensembles, informed directly by the composer’s legendary orchestration aesthetic. Recorded at Studio One, AIR Studios by renowned engineer Simon Rhodes (Avatar, Spectre, Harry Potter, There Will Be Blood), we’ve captured players performing as Herrmann would have chosen – boisterous, lively and upfront, with patches featuring selected groups, unusual instrumental combinations, chords, effects and much more. Fire up this versatile toolkit for lively and distinctive scoring.

    • Hard drive delivery available at checkout
    • You can buy now and download any time

    Includes Kontakt Player (free download)

    Compatible with NKS

    Orchestra

    CTA

    Kontakt Player

    Listen to Bernard Herrmann Composer Toolkit

    Three portraits of Bernard Herrmann at various ages
    Bernard Herrmann conducting his orchestra, in black and white

    Bernard Herrmann's 'The Murder' from Psycho:
    Psycho Score

    General controls GUI

    The overview panel

    This is the main interface for melodic instruments. Its default view displays all available playing techniques, has a simple microphone mixer and includes the main feature controllers.

    General controls GUI

    General controls panel

    This view allows further in-depth control of the instrument, showing all available signals and feature controllers, as well as the ability to purge techniques from memory to reduce system usage.

    Ostinatum GUI

    The Ostinatum

    In this view you can add notes to a pattern sequencer, select which key it triggers on and then play for instant ostinato creation. It’s like an arpeggiator on a synthesiser.

    Mercury Synth GUI

    Mercury synth

    Included in the “advanced” folder are over 30 synth patches inspired by Herrmann’s use of sythesisers in combination with orchestral material. These can be controlled using our Mercury Synth GUI. It is an ingenious user interface that allows you to have instant fun without having to roll up your sleeves and go under the Kontakt hood. All of the controls are assignable to your control surface giving you the immediate ability to make our sounds your own.

    What's included

    Studio orchestra

    • Chords (Common)
    • Chords (Maj)
    • Chords (Min)
    • Chords (Other)
    • FX 1 (Expand Contract Clusters)
    • FX 2 (Cluster Stabs)
    • FX 3 (Slides Up And Down)
    • FX 4 (Slides Up And Down Strings Only)
    • FX 5 (Cluster Swells)
    • FX 6 (Chatter)
    • Long
    • Short

    High strings

    • Long nv/v/mv
    • Long CS nv/v
    • Long div by desk normale/CS nv/v
    • Long Sul Pont
    • Long CS Sul Pont
    • Long Sul Tasto
    • Long Harmonics
    • Long Flautando
    • Long Marcato Attack
    • Tremolo
    • Tremolo CS
    • Tremolo Sul Pont
    • Tremolo CS Sul Pont
    • Trills (Min2, Maj2, Min3, Maj3, Perf4)
    • Short Spiccato
    • Short Spiccato CS
    • Brushed Spiccato
    • Brushed Spiccato CS
    • Short 0'5
    • Short 1'0
    • Pizzicato
    • Short Harmonics
    • Pizzicato Bartok
    • Col Legno

    High strings octaves

    • Legato (fingered, portamento)
    • Long nv/v/mv
    • Long CS nv/v
    • Tremolo
    • Trill (Min2, Maj2)
    • Short Spiccato

    High strings half section

    • Legato (fingered, portamento)
    • Long nv/v/mv
    • Long CS nv/v
    • Long Flautando
    • Tremolo
    • Tremolo Sul Pont
    • Short Spiccato
    • Short Spiccato CS
    • Pizzicato
    • Short 0'5
    • Short Harmonics
    • FX 1 (Cluster Slides)
    • FX 2 (Cluster Stabs)
    • FX 3 (Chatter)
    • FX 4 (Cluster Swells)

    Low strings

    • Legato (fingered)
    • Long nv/v/mv
    • Long CS nv/v
    • Long Sul Pont
    • Long CS Sul Pont
    • Long Flautando
    • Long Harmonics
    • Long Marcato Attack
    • Tremolo
    • Tremolo CS
    • Tremolo Sul Pont
    • Tremolo CS Sul Pont
    • Short Spiccato
    • Pizzicato
    • Short Bartok
    • Col Legno
    • FX 1 (Cluster Slides)
    • FX 2 (Chatter)
    • FX 3 (Cluster Swells)

    Low strings and horns

    • Long
    • Long CS
    • Short
    • Col Legno/Stopped

    Low strings and trombones

    • Legato
    • Long
    • Long CS
    • Long CS Sul Pont
    • Tremolo
    • Short
    • Short CS Sul Pont

    Piccolo and flutes

    • Legato
    • Long (nv/v)
    • Short

    Concert flutes

    • Legato
    • Long (nv/v)
    • Short
    • Trill (Min2, Maj2)
    • Long Flutter
    • FX 1 (Rips)
    • FX 2 (Upper Mordent Major)
    • FX 3 (Upper Mordent Minor)

    Mixed flutes

    • Legato
    • Long (nv/v)
    • Short
    • Trill (Min2, Maj2)
    • Long Flutter
    • Chords (Common)
    • Chords (Maj)
    • Chords (Min)
    • Chords (Other)
    • FX 1
    • FX 2

    Flutes and clarinets

    • Legato
    • Long (nv/v)
    • Long (Octave)
    • Short
    • Short (Octave)
    • Trill (Min2, Maj2)

    Low winds

    • Legato
    • Long
    • Long (Octave)
    • Short
    • Short (Octave)

    Cor anglais, clarinet and trumpet

    • Long (nv/v)
    • Short
    • Trill (Min2, Maj2)
    • FX (Chatter)

    Oboes, bassoons and horns

    • Long (nv/v)
    • Short
    • FX

    Trumpet and xylophone

    • Long
    • Short
    • Short Muted
    • Long (Octave)
    • Short (Octave)
    • Short Muted (Octave)

    Horns

    • Long (mf,ff)
    • Short (mf,ff)
    • Chords (Common)
    • Chords (Maj)
    • Chords (Min)
    • Chords (Other)

    Mid brass

    • Long (nv)
    • Short
    • FX 1 (Chatter)
    • FX 2 (Falls)

    Trombones

    • Long (nv)
    • Long Muted (nv)
    • Short
    • Short Muted

    Trombones and timpani

    • Long
    • Short

    Harp and celeste

    • Long
    • Short
    • Chords (Common)
    • Chords (Maj)
    • Chords (Min)
    • Chords (Other)

    Harp and vibraphone

    • Long
    • Long Bowed
    • Short (Vibes On)
    • Short (Vibes Off)
    • Short Hotrods (Vibes Off)
    • Chords (Common)
    • Chords (Maj)
    • Chords (Min)
    • Chords (Other)

    Ondes martenot

    • Long Ondes
    • Long Ondes Gong
    • Long Ondes Tutti
    • Long Ondes Wind Strings
    • Short
    • FX 1 (Trills)
    • FX 2 (Birds)
    • FX 3 (Clangers 1)
    • FX 4 (Clangers 2)
    • FX 5 (Clangers 3)

    Percussion

    • Anvil
    • Bass Drum
    • Bongos
    • Bowed Cymbals
    • Brake Disks
    • Claves
    • Congas
    • Cymbals
    • Exhaust Pipe
    • Lion Roar
    • Ogororo
    • Quica
    • Snare Drum (brushes)
    • Snare Drum (snares off)
    • Snare Drum (snares on)
    • Steel Plate
    • Temple Block
    • Timbales
    • Trash Can
    • Woodblock

    Timpani

    • Hits Sustained
    • Hits Damped
    • Hits Super Damped
    • Rolls
    • Soft Stick - Hits Sustained
    • Soft Stick - Hits Damped
    • Soft Stick - Rolls
    • Hot Rods - Hits Sustained
    • Hot Rods - Hits Damped

    Synths

    • Aggressive Pulse Bass
    • Aggressive Pulse Pad
    • Belly Of The Deep
    • Cheese Bass
    • Cheesy Lead
    • Clockwork Pulse
    • Detune Square Bass
    • Detune Square Lead
    • Eyeball Pad
    • Flute 1
    • Flute 2
    • Flute Sweep
    • Galactic Pad
    • Herrmann Detune
    • Hollow Bass Sustain
    • Hollow Bass
    • Obie Bass
    • Propa Bass
    • Propa Sub 1
    • Propa Sub 2
    • Propa Sub 3
    • Raucous Sweller
    • Sci Fi Sweep
    • Soft Pulse
    • Soft Sub Bass
    • Space Bass Sustain
    • Space Bass
    • Space Lasers
    • Square Pad
    • Square Sound
    • Squelch Pulse Bass
    • Squelchy Moog
    • Sub Bass
    • Triangle Pad
    • Weird Noises (FX)
    • Wind
    • Wobbles In Space


    Videos

    Tech specs

    Mac system requirements

    Mac OS 11, 12 or 13 

    Both Intel and Apple Silicon/ARM are supported

    Minimum: 2.8GHz i5 minimum (quad-core), 8GB RAM

    Recommended: 2.8GHz I7 (six-core), 16GB RAM

    32-bit systems are not supported.

    PC system requirements

    Windows 10 or Windows 11 - (Latest Service Pack, 64-bit)

    Minimum: Intel 2.8 GHz i5 (quad-core) or AMD Ryzen 5, 8GB RAM

    Recommended: Intel Core i7 6th gen and later or AMD Ryzen 7, 16GB RAM

    32-bit systems are not supported.

    File size

    ~186742 samples

    146.6 GB download size

    293.20 GB disk space required during install

    Too large to download? Choose hard drive delivery at checkout


    Kontakt player

    Kontakt Player 5.6.8 or higher

    Bernard Herrmann Composer Toolkit sounds great with…