Bernard Herrmann Composer Toolkit
Orchestral innovation inspired by a legend
Orchestral innovation inspired by a legend
Spitfire’s first dry scoring stage ensemble, inspired by the eclectic genius of Bernard Herrmann. Renowned for his groundbreaking scores including Citizen Kane, Psycho, Vertigo and Taxi Driver, his legacy continues to inspire the work of composers today.
We’ve worked exclusively with Bernard Herrmann’s estate to curate and assemble a unique set of studio orchestra ensembles, informed directly by the composer’s legendary orchestration aesthetic. Recorded at Studio One, AIR Studios by renowned engineer Simon Rhodes (Avatar, Spectre, Harry Potter, There Will Be Blood), we’ve captured players performing as Herrmann would have chosen – boisterous, lively and upfront, with patches featuring selected groups, unusual instrumental combinations, chords, effects and much more. Fire up this versatile toolkit for lively and distinctive scoring.
In this page:
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Spitfire Audio App required
Orchestra
CTA
Kontakt Player
Listen to Bernard Herrmann Composer Toolkit
Bernard Herrmann's 'The Murder' from Psycho:
The overview panel
This is the main interface for melodic instruments. Its default view displays all available playing techniques, has a simple microphone mixer and includes the main feature controllers.
General controls panel
This view allows further in-depth control of the instrument, showing all available signals and feature controllers, as well as the ability to purge techniques from memory to reduce system usage.
The Ostinatum
In this view you can add notes to a pattern sequencer, select which key it triggers on and then play for instant ostinato creation. It’s like an arpeggiator on a synthesiser.
Mercury synth
Included in the “advanced” folder are over 30 synth patches inspired by Herrmann’s use of sythesisers in combination with orchestral material. These can be controlled using our Mercury Synth GUI. It is an ingenious user interface that allows you to have instant fun without having to roll up your sleeves and go under the Kontakt hood. All of the controls are assignable to your control surface giving you the immediate ability to make our sounds your own.
What's included
Studio orchestra
- Chords (Common)
- Chords (Maj)
- Chords (Min)
- Chords (Other)
- FX 1 (Expand Contract Clusters)
- FX 2 (Cluster Stabs)
- FX 3 (Slides Up And Down)
- FX 4 (Slides Up And Down Strings Only)
- FX 5 (Cluster Swells)
- FX 6 (Chatter)
- Long
- Short
High strings
- Long nv/v/mv
- Long CS nv/v
- Long div by desk normale/CS nv/v
- Long Sul Pont
- Long CS Sul Pont
- Long Sul Tasto
- Long Harmonics
- Long Flautando
- Long Marcato Attack
- Tremolo
- Tremolo CS
- Tremolo Sul Pont
- Tremolo CS Sul Pont
- Trills (Min2, Maj2, Min3, Maj3, Perf4)
- Short Spiccato
- Short Spiccato CS
- Brushed Spiccato
- Brushed Spiccato CS
- Short 0'5
- Short 1'0
- Pizzicato
- Short Harmonics
- Pizzicato Bartok
- Col Legno
High strings octaves
- Legato (fingered, portamento)
- Long nv/v/mv
- Long CS nv/v
- Tremolo
- Trill (Min2, Maj2)
- Short Spiccato
High strings half section
- Legato (fingered, portamento)
- Long nv/v/mv
- Long CS nv/v
- Long Flautando
- Tremolo
- Tremolo Sul Pont
- Short Spiccato
- Short Spiccato CS
- Pizzicato
- Short 0'5
- Short Harmonics
- FX 1 (Cluster Slides)
- FX 2 (Cluster Stabs)
- FX 3 (Chatter)
- FX 4 (Cluster Swells)
Low strings
- Legato (fingered)
- Long nv/v/mv
- Long CS nv/v
- Long Sul Pont
- Long CS Sul Pont
- Long Flautando
- Long Harmonics
- Long Marcato Attack
- Tremolo
- Tremolo CS
- Tremolo Sul Pont
- Tremolo CS Sul Pont
- Short Spiccato
- Pizzicato
- Short Bartok
- Col Legno
- FX 1 (Cluster Slides)
- FX 2 (Chatter)
- FX 3 (Cluster Swells)
Low strings and horns
- Long
- Long CS
- Short
- Col Legno/Stopped
Low strings and trombones
- Legato
- Long
- Long CS
- Long CS Sul Pont
- Tremolo
- Short
- Short CS Sul Pont
Piccolo and flutes
- Legato
- Long (nv/v)
- Short
Concert flutes
- Legato
- Long (nv/v)
- Short
- Trill (Min2, Maj2)
- Long Flutter
- FX 1 (Rips)
- FX 2 (Upper Mordent Major)
- FX 3 (Upper Mordent Minor)
Mixed flutes
- Legato
- Long (nv/v)
- Short
- Trill (Min2, Maj2)
- Long Flutter
- Chords (Common)
- Chords (Maj)
- Chords (Min)
- Chords (Other)
- FX 1
- FX 2
Flutes and clarinets
- Legato
- Long (nv/v)
- Long (Octave)
- Short
- Short (Octave)
- Trill (Min2, Maj2)
Low winds
- Legato
- Long
- Long (Octave)
- Short
- Short (Octave)
Cor anglais, clarinet and trumpet
- Long (nv/v)
- Short
- Trill (Min2, Maj2)
- FX (Chatter)
Oboes, bassoons and horns
- Long (nv/v)
- Short
- FX
Trumpet and xylophone
- Long
- Short
- Short Muted
- Long (Octave)
- Short (Octave)
- Short Muted (Octave)
Horns
- Long (mf,ff)
- Short (mf,ff)
- Chords (Common)
- Chords (Maj)
- Chords (Min)
- Chords (Other)
Mid brass
- Long (nv)
- Short
- FX 1 (Chatter)
- FX 2 (Falls)
Trombones
- Long (nv)
- Long Muted (nv)
- Short
- Short Muted
Trombones and timpani
- Long
- Short
Harp and celeste
- Long
- Short
- Chords (Common)
- Chords (Maj)
- Chords (Min)
- Chords (Other)
Harp and vibraphone
- Long
- Long Bowed
- Short (Vibes On)
- Short (Vibes Off)
- Short Hotrods (Vibes Off)
- Chords (Common)
- Chords (Maj)
- Chords (Min)
- Chords (Other)
Ondes martenot
- Long Ondes
- Long Ondes Gong
- Long Ondes Tutti
- Long Ondes Wind Strings
- Short
- FX 1 (Trills)
- FX 2 (Birds)
- FX 3 (Clangers 1)
- FX 4 (Clangers 2)
- FX 5 (Clangers 3)
Percussion
- Anvil
- Bass Drum
- Bongos
- Bowed Cymbals
- Brake Disks
- Claves
- Congas
- Cymbals
- Exhaust Pipe
- Lion Roar
- Ogororo
- Quica
- Snare Drum (brushes)
- Snare Drum (snares off)
- Snare Drum (snares on)
- Steel Plate
- Temple Block
- Timbales
- Trash Can
- Woodblock
Timpani
- Hits Sustained
- Hits Damped
- Hits Super Damped
- Rolls
- Soft Stick - Hits Sustained
- Soft Stick - Hits Damped
- Soft Stick - Rolls
- Hot Rods - Hits Sustained
- Hot Rods - Hits Damped
Synths
- Aggressive Pulse Bass
- Aggressive Pulse Pad
- Belly Of The Deep
- Cheese Bass
- Cheesy Lead
- Clockwork Pulse
- Detune Square Bass
- Detune Square Lead
- Eyeball Pad
- Flute 1
- Flute 2
- Flute Sweep
- Galactic Pad
- Herrmann Detune
- Hollow Bass Sustain
- Hollow Bass
- Obie Bass
- Propa Bass
- Propa Sub 1
- Propa Sub 2
- Propa Sub 3
- Raucous Sweller
- Sci Fi Sweep
- Soft Pulse
- Soft Sub Bass
- Space Bass Sustain
- Space Bass
- Space Lasers
- Square Pad
- Square Sound
- Squelch Pulse Bass
- Squelchy Moog
- Sub Bass
- Triangle Pad
- Weird Noises (FX)
- Wind
- Wobbles In Space
Videos
Tech specs
Mac system requirements
Mac OS 11, 12 or 13
Both Intel and Apple Silicon/ARM are supported
Minimum: 2.8GHz i5 minimum (quad-core), 8GB RAM
Recommended: 2.8GHz I7 (six-core), 16GB RAM
32-bit systems are not supported.
PC system requirements
Windows 10 or Windows 11 - (Latest Service Pack, 64-bit)
Minimum: Intel 2.8 GHz i5 (quad-core) or AMD Ryzen 5, 8GB RAM
Recommended: Intel Core i7 6th gen and later or AMD Ryzen 7, 16GB RAM
32-bit systems are not supported.
File size
~186742 samples
146.6 GB download size
293.20 GB disk space required during install
Too large to download? Choose hard drive delivery at checkout
Kontakt player
Kontakt Player 5.6.8 or higher