London Contemporary Orchestra Strings
Ultra-modern chamber strings techniques
Ultra-modern chamber strings techniques
London Contemporary Orchestra Strings gives you everything you need to make cutting-edge chamber strings music. Unique among our String libraries, it offers you tools that capture the unconventional techniques and stunning performances of an extremely exciting group of musicians. With over 100 never-before-sampled, dynamically controllable articulations, this library provides a rich set of diverse recordings that are both ultra-playable and musical, giving you access to their widely sought after experimental palette. The library comprises six violins, four violas, three cellos and two basses, with the cellos in octaves, expertly recorded in a tight, dry studio at Spitfire HQ, giving you extra control and a crisp, modern sound.
Over the last decade, the London Contemporary Orchestra has collaborated with a distinguished array of composers, artists and brands and are known for their long-time collaboration with Radiohead, as well as game-changing performance and arrangement credits on blockbuster scores including Moonlight, There Will Be Blood and Under the Skin.
In this page:
- Hard drive delivery available at checkout
- You can buy now and download any time
Spitfire Audio App required
15 players
4 mics & 2 mixes
100+ articulations
Kontakt Player
Listen to London Contemporary Orchestra Strings
The members of the LCO became interested in collaborating with us when we started experimenting with our Evolutions libraries. Over a period of two years, we worked together to create a library unlike any other, capturing the unique techniques and performance styles of an extremely exciting group of musicians for use in our own compositions, and creating new instruments with them only be possible by harnessing the power of modern sampling technology.
Winner of the Ensemble category at the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards in 2015, the London Contemporary Orchestra has established itself as one of the world’s most innovative and respected ensembles, focused on commissioning and developing new music and scores, and performing live all over the world. Formed in 2008 by co-Artistic Directors and conductors Robert Ames and Hugh Brunt, the LCO is at the top of their game, having collaborated with a wide array of musicians, creative figures and platforms, including Radiohead, Frank Ocean, Jed Kurzel, Steve Reich, William Basinski, Mica Levi, Actress, Arcade Fire, Goldfrapp, Beck, Foals, Nike, Secret Cinema, Boiler Room, NTS, Resident Advisor, Terry Riley, Hannah Perry and Vivienne Westwood. Highlights include sold-out performances at renowned venues such as the Roundhouse, Printworks, Tate Modern, Southbank Centre, There Will Be Blood: Live at the Barbican, the critically-acclaimed site-responsive series Imagined Occasions, and live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3. The orchestra has a strong arrangement, recording and performance record for world class film and television music, having recorded soundtracks such as The Master, Alien: Covenant, Macbeth, Phantom Thread, Assassins’ Creed, You Were Never Really Here, McMafia, Suspiria, American Animals, Moonlight, There Will Be Blood and Under the Skin, and featured heavily on Radiohead’s 2016 A Moon Shaped Pool.
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.
What's included
Instruments
- Violins
- Violas
- Celli
- Basses + Celli
Individual Articulations
Violins
- Violins - granular tremolo
- Violins - long detuned open - granular trem
- Violins - long detuned open - irregular trem
- Violins - long detuned open - normale
- Violins - long detuned open - granular to ord
- Violins - long granular to ord
- Violins - long harmonics
- Violins - long molto sul pont
- Violins - long slackened
- Violins - long spectral scrubs
- Violins - long sul pont
- Violins - long sul tasto
- Violins - long twitchy
- Violins - long woozy vib - quick pulses
- Violins - long woozy vib - slow pulses
- Violins - long woozy vib unmeasured
- Violins - vivid long
- Violins - short harmonics
- Violins - short percussive pizzicato
- Violins - short slackened
- Violins - short vivid spiccato
- Violins - short staccato dig
- Violins - short super pont scrapes
- Violins - tremolo sul pont
Violas
- Violas - granular tremolo
- Violas - long detuned open - granular trem
- Violas - long detuned open - irregular trem
- Violas - long detuned open - normale
- Violas - long detuned open - granular to ord
- Violas - long granular to ord
- Violas - long harmonics
- Violas - long molto sul pont
- Violas - long slackened
- Violas - long spectral scrubs
- Violas - long sul pont
- Violas - long sul tasto
- Violas - long tailpiece
- Violas - long twitchy
- Violas - long woozy vib - quick pulses
- Violas - long woozy vib - slow pulses
- Violas - long woozy vib unmeasured
- Violas - vivid long
- Violas - short harmonics
- Violas - short percussive pizzicato
- Violas - short slackened
- Violas - short vivid spiccato
- Violas - short staccato dig
- Violas - short super pont scrapes
- Violas - tremolo sul pont
Celli
- Celli - long detuned open - granular trem
- Celli - long detuned open - irregular trem
- Celli - long detuned open - normale
- Celli - long detuned open - granular to ord
- Celli - long granular to ord
- Celli - long harmonics
- Celli - long molto sul pont
- Celli - long slackened
- Celli - long spectral scrubs
- Celli - long tailpiece
- Celli - long twitchy
- Celli - long woozy vib - slow pulses
- Celli - long woozy vib unmeasured
- Celli - vivid long
- Celli - short percussive pizzicato
- Celli - short slackened
- Celli - short vivid spiccato
- Celli - short super pont scrapes
Basses & Celli
- Basses + Celli - long detuned open - granular to ord (bass only)
- Basses + Celli - long detuned open - granular trem (bass only)
- Basses + Celli - long detuned open - irregular trem (bass only)
- Basses + Celli - long detuned open - normale (bass only)
- Basses + Celli - long granular to ord
- Basses + Celli - long harmonics
- Basses + Celli - long molto sul pont
- Basses + Celli - long slackened
- Basses + Celli - long spectral scrubs
- Basses + Celli - long twitchy
- Basses + Celli - long woozy vib - slow pulses
- Basses + Celli - long woozy vib unmeasured
- Basses + Celli - vivid long
- Basses + Celli - short percussive pizzicato
- Basses + Celli - short slackened
- Basses + Celli - short vivid spiccato
Extended Techniques
- Violins - long techniques
- Violins - short techniques
- Violas - long techniques
- Violas - short techniques
- Celli - long techniques
- Celli - short techniques
- Basses + Celli - long techniques
- Basses + Celli - short techniques
Other Patches
- Violins - economic long
- Violins - economic short
- Violins - light resources
- Violins - time machine
- Violas - economic long
- Violas - economic short
- Violas - light resources
- Violas - time machine
- Celli - economic long
- Celli - economic short
- Celli - light resources
- Celli - time machine
- Basses + Celli - economic long
- Basses + Celli - economic short
- Basses + Celli - light resources
- Basses + Celli - time machine
Mics & Mixes
Mics:
- C - Close
- R - Room
- FX1
- FX2
Mixes
- MX1 - Full mix
- MX2 - Pumped mix
Videos
Testimonials
This is a really interesting library offering vast articulation options. It’s beautifully creative. Work with it and you will be rewarded with sonic gold.
FAQs
LCO Strings is different to what I'm used to and I'd like some help getting started with it
We strongly advise getting to know this library like you would any new instrument and remember this library is no less responsive than our others so imagine the players playing and use that modwheel! The walkthrough will also help you get the most out of the library. Watch it here.
How do I orchestrate if you don't include how the articulations are made?
A lot of these articulations are made in a workshop environment where the players bounce ideas off each other and are produced by our team, these articulations are born of that process. Most orchestrators will have a rough idea of how these sounds are made and playing the demo to the strings leader will be the fastest way of getting a close match.
Why are the Celli and Basses recorded together in LCO Strings?
In order for the ‘workshop’ system to work the players have to vibe off on each other in a group, the violins and violas are larger selections but many of the unique LCO bass work is based on blending the basses and celli together.
Read more FAQs for this productTech 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
56.20 GB disk space required during install
28.10 GB download size
Too large to download? Choose hard drive delivery at checkout
Kontakt player
Kontakt Full or Kontakt Player 5.6.8 or higher