Spitfire Audio is an English technology company based in London that creates virtual instrument sample libraries used for music production. The company was founded in 2007 by professional composers Christian Henson and Paul Thomson.

Products

Henson and Thomson initially made their sample libraries available only to colleagues, but upon finding there was a larger market for the sample libraries founded Spitfire Audio in 2007. Taking the form of

digital audio Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital signal (signal processing), digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical sampling (signal processing), ...

plug-ins recorded by professional artists in recognised recording studios, Spitfire Audio's virtual instruments make available recordings of each note performed in multiple ways using multiple microphone positions. Composers and musicians play the virtual instrument within a

digital audio workstation A digital audio workstation (DAW ) is an electronic device or application software used for Sound recording and reproduction, recording, editing and producing audio files. DAWs come in a wide variety of configurations from a single software pr ...

via

MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

to create new music. Some Spitire Audio products utilize Spitfire's own interface with select performance specifics, while others utilize the Native Instruments Kontakt system. The purchase price of Spitfire Audio products includes the right to use the music produced commercially without further payment, with the original performers receiving both an initial fee and subsequent royalties from Spitfire Audio. The recording sessions for the company's sample libraries are made in commercial studios such as

AIR Lyndhurst Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producers George Martin, John Burgess (record producer), John Burgess, Ron Richards (producer), Ron Richards, and Peter Sullivan (rec ...

in Hampstead and

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster, London, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Historically the northern part of the Civil Parish#An ...

. Similarly, Spitfire Audio's recordings of the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The ...

were made at the orchestra's base in the BBC's

Maida Vale Studios Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, ...

. The company also operates their own recording studio at their premises in Tileyard London. In addition to direct recordings of individual and groups of instruments, Spitfire has collaborated with noted film composer

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, five Grammy Awards, and has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards and a Tony ...

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

drummer Chad Smith,

Ólafur Arnalds Ólafur Arnalds (; born 3 November 1986) is an Icelandic multi-instrumentalist and producer from Mosfellsbær, Iceland. He mixes strings and piano with loops and beats, a sound ranging from ambient/electronic to atmospheric pop. He is also th ...

, Roger Taylor of

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

, Eric Whitacre, guitarist

Leo Abrahams Leo Matthew Abrahams (born 28 November 1977) is an English musician, composer and producer. He has collaborated with Brian Eno, Katie Melua, Imogen Heap, Jarvis Cocker, Carl Barât, Regina Spektor, Jon Hopkins and Paul Simon. After attending th ...

, and posthumously with the explorer and musician David Fanshawe, in creating mixed audio productions for television and film use. Alongside the company's retail products, it also releases occasional free products under the 'LABS' brand.

Pianobook

On Piano day in 2018, Henson launched a websitePianobook website
/ref> and

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel called ''Pianobook''. Run by a small group of volunteers, the channel is dedicated to creating and sharing sampled instruments for free. As of April 2021, over 500 'instruments' had been released via the Pianobook YouTube channel. Pianobook's instruments are made available in Decent Sampler, Kontakt, SFZ, and EXS/Logic Pro Sampler formats.

SA Recordings

The company runs their own

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

, ''SARecordings'', to offer recordings using Spitfire Audio products by selected composers, such as Alev Lenz's third studio album ''3'', which was the label's first release. Additionally, Spitfire Audio has announced plans for a series of unique sample libraries to be released in conjunction with their artists’ album releases.

Acquisition

In April 2025 Spitfire Audio was acquired by Splice.

References

External links