Spitfire Audio have collaborated with Berlin-based composer and experimental sound artist Yair Elazar Glotman to produce Speculative Memories, a new sample library that focuses on creating tense and atmospheric cinematic textures.
Captured at MONOM Studio at Funkhaus in Berlin, the library features a selection of techniques performed on double bass, vocals, guitar, and a Buchla 200e modular synthesizer, as well as custom tape loops. The resulting sounds have then been transformed using granular processing and layering techniques, with Spitfire describing the results as “visceral abstract environments”.
MONOM Studio features a 4D sound system which features 48 omnidirectional speakers suspended throughout the room, as well as nine subwoofers mounted below the floor.MONOM Studio is a spatial sound studio and performance space, and is equipped with a 4D sound system consisting of 48 omnidirectional speakers suspended throughout the live room, with nine powerful subwoofers mounted beneath an acoustically transparent floor. The room has been used to re-amp the library’s sound sources and capture an additional spatial signal, which has been mapped to the mod-wheel to allow users to fade and blend between layers with differing acoustical qualities.
Speculative Memories offers a range of parameters to manipulate the captured sounds. An Expression slider provides a level control for the selected technique, whilst a Dynamics slider allows users to crossfade between a dry signal, and one treated with a tape effect. A Re-Amp parameter then allows users to blend between the signal set by the Dynamics control and the spatial signal recorded in the 4D room.
A Random Start function triggers each sample at random point rather than the beginning, which Spitfire say is useful for adding variation to repeated notes, and further control is offered by Attack and Release parameters. Lastly, the library features a built-in reverb with seven impulse responses that range from small studios to large churches and halls, as well as a delay effect.
Compatibility
The library is hosted by Spitfire’s own plug-in, which is supported on PCs running Windows 7, 8, 10 and 11 (all 64-bit only), and Macs running macOS X 10.13 through to macOS 12. VST2, VST3, AAX and AU formats are available, and the library requires 10GB of storage space. Speculative Memories is also NKS compatible, allowing for enhanced integration with Native Instruments’ series of hardware controllers.
Pricing & Availability
Speculative Memories is available now from the Spitfire Audio website, priced at $29£29 including VAT / €29.
