Electronic Antique – New LABS Instrument From Spitfire Audio
Spitfire Audio need no introduction. Their LABS series of free software instruments has grown from the Soft Piano that launched a thousand muted, virtual felt pianos into an incredibly impressive set of high-quality sampled instruments. The Electronic Antique is a great new addition to the series and gives musicians the chance to play a virtual version of one of the world’s earliest synthesisers – the Ondioline.
First conceived by French inventor Georges Jenny in 1939, the Ondioline was capable of creating a wide variety of sounds and featured a pressure-sensitive suspended keyboard, which enabled the player to create a natural vibrato effect by moving keys from side to side as they were depressed. So not just the forerunner of the synthesiser, but arguably the precursor of MPE too!
The LABS version features seven presets, each allowing you to alter the tone, vibrato, reverb, delay, attack and release. Our current favourite is Harmonic Woods which makes a beautiful pad when you add some delay and vibrato, plenty of reverb and a slightly slowed attack and release. The mod wheel adds some dynamic layers which aim to emulate the instability you would expect from such a vintage instrument.
Head over to the Spitfire LABS website to download Electronic Antique for free and to listen to the wonderful demo track by Spitfire’s in-house composer Louis Rugg.
