Following its AIR Studios Reverb convolution reverb plug-in, Spitfire Audio has announced AIR Studios Reverb Essentials to a wider audience, again created in collaboration with London’s legendary AIR Studios.
As a streamlined plug-in, AIR Studios Reverb Essentials is anchored around 64 presets based on real-life mixing practices catering for various instruments, moods, and set-ups, to offer a selection of standard reverb modes and spaces. Spitfire Audio has taken the concept of Impulse Response (IR) – that simulates the acoustics of a space or hardware device by using recorded impulse responses to create a reverb effect that can be applied to any sound or instrument – to new heights by capturing an unprecedented 67,000 IRs to recreate any position and configuration in Lyndhurst Hall, which is one of the world’s largest recording rooms with a live area capable of accommodating a full symphony orchestra and choir simultaneously.
AIR Studios Reverb Essentials goes beyond traditional IRs, using Spitfire Audio’s proprietary Virtual Positioning Technology (VPT) to allow users to drag and drop (mono or stereo) sounds and musicians anywhere within AIR Studios’ Lyndhurst Hall, capturing the ambience of its acoustic spaces. When working in Lyndhurst Hall, musicians traditionally face the control room, which creates a distinct reverb character, although a lesser-known, yet equally endearing, sound is achieved with musicians facing the organ – a set-up synonymous with the AIR Studios-recorded scores of Hans Zimmer. As such, mirrored microphone placements on the hall floor recreate both of these signatures sounds, courtesy of a Hall Layout feature that switches the orientation of the player and microphone positions in the hall. Combined with dedicated loudspeaker placement, this allows users to position their virtual sound source facing in either direction.
AIR Studios Reverb Essentials’ UI reflects its musical mission, with an information panel positioned towards the top highlighting those hall layouts alongside associated Canopy Height, Canopy Material and Gallery Dampening configuration settings – all a visual reflection of whatever preset is selected. The lower panel provides ready access to input (the intensity of the input signal and the size of the ensemble, with Gain control and Width; Reverb with Pre-delay plus Early Stretch and Tail Stretch settings; and Output to balance dry and wet signals and the output gain.
The 9.73GB download AIR Studios Reverb Essentials is available as a dedicated – AAX, AU, VST2 and VST3 plug-in for MacOS X 11 to MacOS 14 (Apple Silicon computers supported, 64-bit DAW required) and Windows 10 or 11 (latest Service Pack, 64-bit DAW required) for £99 (inc. VAT)/US$99/€99 (inc. VAT).
