Hello, and welcome back to Music Nation. This week, we’re looking at a rather unusual library from Spitfire Audio’s recent line of increasingly esoteric products – sure to appeal to anyone seeking diverse sound palettes.
(Review updated September 2025) Spitfire Audio are masters of detail, and thanks to their incredible efforts in capturing every nuance of a recorded instrument, even the quietest note carries a powerful impact on your arrangements. With high-profile collaborations and increasingly distinctive products, the company is clearly venturing into deeper waters with this 2017 range.
Long gone are any concerns about quality – Spitfire Audio simply does not release anything sub-par, period. What I look for now is how far they can push boundaries while still remaining practical for everyday use. With an extensive catalogue of orchestral libraries available, new titles must try to avoid repetition by venturing into left-field and more experimental territories. Previous releases like Phobos and the Bernard Herrmann Library proved they are not afraid to push the boundaries.
Let’s get this whopping 50GB library downloaded and installed, and see what surprises it has in store this time.
Orchestral Swarm Overview
Orchestral Swarm is a unique orchestral library featuring high- and low-string ensembles, woodwinds, and brass. While that alone isn’t unusual, the recording process certainly is. Spitfire calls the concept the “pointillistic effect”: sustained notes or chords are animated with short staccato notes played at random intervals. With many players performing this way, the overall result has the effect of a sustained sound, but with a moving, alive texture. There is a strong emphasis on randomness, slight mistakes, and human imperfections.
This is not Spitfire’s first exploration of the “swarm” process; three previous titles experimented with it. In those earlier releases, the harp, mandolin, and marimba naturally sounded more balanced with this random effect. In contrast, bowed strings and tongued brass in Orchestral Swarm create a wonderfully disjointed unease. The unpredictable nature of quickly played, out-of-time notes is far more pronounced in these new patches.
Most of the library was recorded at British Grove Sound, in secrecy, for use in a recent Hans Zimmer/Radiohead collaboration on the new BBC Planet Earth II theme. It was later expanded with a full orchestra for the release version we have here. The alternate location, compared to the usual Air Studios, gives a drier, more organic, and intimate feel. A completely new signal chain was used, including a Neve 88R console with vintage EMI microphones and preamps, all recorded on a smaller stage, resulting in a more formative sound shaped by this new environment.
Road Test: Interface and Patches
The very familiar interface is well laid out, with Spitfire Audio’s typical, deceptively simple styling, hidden advanced controllers, and mic mixer. Someone new to the Spitfire ethos might not find it immediately inspiring, but these instrument patches are designed to be layered multiple times within a larger template, so simplicity is essential. The lighter ocean-blue theme differentiates this library from previous releases and looks smart – dare I say – in a very understated, English way.
Somewhat unusually for a Spitfire library, there are only seven patches included, with individual articulation banks to help manage CPU load if required. I quickly checked the manual during installation to see if I’d missed anything, as Spitfire usually provides numerous assorted patches, sometimes extra synths, and almost always curated presets or experimental patches alongside the main core – but not this time.
Each patch includes a variety of articulation styles, as well as your standard dynamics and variation controls, which you’ll want permanently patched to your MIDI controller. Interesting dual-reverb controls deliver surprisingly lush results, and the five-channel mic mixer allows you to enable extra mic recordings if desired.
The first thing you notice when playing any patch is: wow, this is really bizarre. The effect is unusual to your ears, and your brain isn’t used to hearing a large orchestra play purposely out of time. It takes a little while to get accustomed. Small pops of imperfect playing frequently emerge from the jumble – normally something that would draw an irritated gaze from the conductor – but here, they’re perfectly acceptable.
Spitfire uses the “ocean” terminology extensively, and it certainly describes the timbre of the sound. In its simplest form, each patch displays a kind of bubbling, rippling quality, which can extend into more aggressive and energetic textures if you push the dynamic controls or experiment with articulation variations.
Road Test: Sound and Performance
The string patches are separated into high and low sections, and the swarm effect is less intense than in previous releases. Because of the bowed strings’ natural character, the sound is more of a trill effect rather than the liquid, waterfall-like texture of Harp Swarm. Reducing the variation control simplifies the swarm effect but makes it feel more intense, giving the strings a large, heavy presence. Unfortunately, the effect isn’t tempo-locked; while there is no strict rhythm, a vague tempo can be detected, which can feel at odds in very slow arrangements.
Brass, tuba, and horn patches exhibit the most distinctive personality, particularly with unusual articulation choices. Woodwind whispers are wonderfully off-worldly and mystical. As a whole, the library sounds lifelike and more realistic than usual, thanks to the human error and randomization factors. It has a hypnotic and soothing quality, even though some instruments can get aggressive and raw when pushed dynamically.
The range of articulations is generally focused, staying close to the core style. Initially, this feels a bit limited, but with practice, I found them much more versatile than expected. Staccato articulations are included mostly for finalizing or ending chords, and thanks to the dry, intimate recording style, these patches are some of my favorites across all Spitfire libraries. The small soundstage makes them sound gritty, immediate, and in-your-face.
A brief note on system performance: larger, multi-layered templates require significant DSP, but individual instances are surprisingly frugal, using around 3–5% CPU depending on articulation and mic mix. As always with sample libraries – and particularly Spitfire – there is no such thing as too much RAM. While an SSD is preferable for faster load times, even older SATA drives perform adequately, though an optimal setup would benefit from higher access speeds.
Controls and Articulations
The two main controls you’ll want to map to your controller are dynamics and variation. Dynamics govern intensity, often increasing brightness as musicians attack notes with more ferocity. Variation is an intriguing control, producing different results depending on the dynamic level and the selected articulation. When available, this control morphs between two alternative recordings – usually a softer, smoother swarm and a simpler yet more aggressive performance.
Changing articulations is easy: click the switcher or trigger a mapped keyboard note. I personally assign a drum pad controller for the role, finding it more accurate for on-the-fly changes. You can also layer articulations on top of each other, resulting in increasingly chaotic textures. Additionally, the mic mixer can be switched from global to individual control, allowing you to mix articulations independently – a very useful feature.
Power users will want to set up UACC (Universal Articulation Controller Channel), Spitfire Audio’s system that assigns a CC data number to each articulation. This allows complete customization of how you perform with your MIDI device. A nifty addition is the “By Speed of Playing” option in the triggering menu, which changes articulations based on how quickly you play. Experienced users will exploit this for highly tactile and expressive performances. Of course, all these controls are fully usable within your DAW, so even if your live performance skills are limited, you can harness everything via sequencing.
Mixing, Mics, and Ostinatum
The room mic section features a large mixing panel with extensive options, plus full output routing through Kontakt to your DAW if you prefer to mix externally. By default, the (T) Decca tree is selected, consisting of three mics at the conductor’s position. You also have control over valve mics at close positions, stereo vintage outriggers, stereo mics at ground level near the Decca tree, an R88 stereo ribbon mic at the back of the room, and a mid-room mic on brass patches for added punch. It’s a very generous selection.
Spitfire Audio’s Ostinatum arpeggiator is available for short articulations. While somewhat clunky to program, it produces surprisingly humanistic results. You could technically draw sequences in your DAW, but the drag-and-drop step arranger is ideal for users with limited programming experience – or anyone who just wants to experiment with quick ideas. It’s also a fantastic tool for inspiration: randomizing notes, layering, or duplicating across multiple instances often produces chaos – but every so often, pure gold.
Conclusion
Spitfire Audio Orchestral Swarm is a highly focused and characterful library – not one I’d recommend for a first purchase if you’re new to virtual instruments. It demands solid composition skills to be used to its full potential. Its signature sound also means it’s best used sparingly, mostly for small embellishments rather than throughout entire arrangements.
Despite the unusual voicings, the results aren’t harsh or abrasive. Swarm carries an underscored tension, a living texture, and a subtle sense of movement that tricks the ear. There’s no real compromise or realistic alternative to replicate this effect. In the right context, Orchestral Swarm can be a transformative tool for composers.
On its own, the library might be best suited for sound design or avant-garde projects. That said, it pairs beautifully with libraries like Symphonic Strings, elevating orchestral projects to a new level. The swarm effect can be as subtle or bold as you like, though the old adage “less is more” applies – overuse risks making it trite.
While no demo versions are available, Spitfire Audio offers excellent hands-on tutorials and overviews, providing valuable insight into professional applications of the library.
Another standout offering from Spitfire, Orchestral Swarm showcases their willingness to push boundaries. It’s one of the boldest innovations in sampling technology today and an essential tool for both emerging composers aiming to lift their work and established pros looking to stay at the top of their game.
Full details with purchasing options are available on the official Spitfire Audio website right here www.spitfireaudio.com
