The critically acclaimed British Drama Toolkit provides an instinctive yet intense connection to the heart of your composition. Created in collaboration with composer Samuel Sim, it features an ensemble dedicated to the emotionally potent sound he is lauded for — but also presents a unique way of interacting with the players, which sets this instrument apart from anything we have created to. Much like the massively successful British Drama Toolkit, CDT’s sound palette is thoughtfully curated. Originating in a masterful blending of its source material — mellow, chorus tones of a Juno 6, iconic MS–20 textures, vocalisations, and inspiring lead lines performed on guitar, electric cello, and electric violin — all processed via. This need is what brought Spitfire’s British Drama Toolkit (BDT) to life. Created with the help of award-winning composer Samuel Sim, this intimate string and woodwind library is designed to bring a certain sense of honesty and intimacy into your arrangements. Built for Native Instruments’ Kontakt engine, BDT consists of 10 main patches. British Drama Toolkit is a new library with a well-known set of instruments but with new approach and innovative sets of articulations. By Alex Arsov, Sept. The Spitfire fellows have yet again concocted a special, niche library that brings a bit of a different approach to the way we usually deal with orchestral libraries / instruments. Spitfire Audio has announced availability of its first full-blown library of 2021 with the release of CONTEMPORARY DRAMA TOOLKIT, teaming up again with British composer, producer, and songwriter Samuel Sim, whose scores for film and television have won numerous awards and accolades including BAFTA and Ivor Novello Award nominations.
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British Drama Toolkit is a unique and well-conceived library from Spitfire Audio designed in collaboration with composer Samuel Sim. It features a small string and woodwind ensemble and “presents a unique way of interacting with the players” that sets it apart from other Spitfire instruments.
My first interactions with it were surprisingly satisfying and I was creating lush well-balanced textures almost immediately using the Main setting. The underlying premise is velocity-driven orchestration in which one note may trigger various instruments or a blend of sounds based on the velocity range.
The player is able to quickly produce a cue with flowing variations in emotion potentially in one pass, making it a perfect tool for projects demanding a lot of material with tight deadlines. It’s as if the instrument is capable of orchestrating on-the-fly based on the harmony, melody and dynamics the composer creates in real time.
Organization
Spitfire Audio British Drama Toolkit
The instruments are divided by individual instruments and articulations, as well as being grouped in several ensemble configurations. The Accented category contains sounds which start off loud and then subside into the texture. Beside the usual long and short variety, there are some interesting and usable textural effects such as Chatter, sort of randomized chirping that works nicely with winds especially, and Chiffs, which are short bursts of air specific to the flute and piccolo. Articulations are programmable and key switchable.
Those familiar with other Spitfire libraries will notice significant changes in the GUI that reflect the velocity-based approach. The Velocity Layer view can range from Loud to Soft to Texture, and notes are visualized as you play. The visual feedback definitely enhances the experience and helps you to quickly grasp the effect of velocity for a given instrument configuration.
Spitfire Audio British Drama Toolkit
The General Overview window provides basic mic mix settings (close and “Decca” tree), reverb, CC information and expression settings.
The Expert View gives you additional control over stereo width, panning, round robin settings, and transposition.
Many of the settings you’ll find under the hood mirror those in the other Spitfire products I’ve reviewed in the past such as:
Although other Spitfire libraries may be more feature-rich or comprehensive, the British Drama Toolkit is unique in terms of the ease and speed at which you can generate well balanced orchestrated textures. The visually intuitive interface and velocity-based design make it an extremely playable device that keeps you thinking about the music and emotional impact, rather than wrestling with the technology.
Walkthrough: British Drama Toolkit
Spitfire Audio British Drama Toolkit Review
British Drama Toolkit is a unique and well-conceived library from Spitfire Audio designed in collaboration with composer Samuel Sim. It features a small string and woodwind ensemble and “presents a unique way of interacting with the players” that sets it apart from other Spitfire instruments. My fir