The Pool Project is Oliver Patrice Weder's second library for Spitfire Audio. Oliver discovered his love for keyboards after listening to the sound of Ray Manzarek of the Doors and spent his formative years playing classical and jazz piano in the rainy foothills of the Alps..
After recording and touring Europe with various bands, including the psychedelic rock band Time for T, studied al Berklee College of Music of Valencia where he established his passion for film music. In addition to composing for the BBC, Oliver has established himself as the lead composer of Spitfire Audio.
The Pool Project consists of two complementary elements - the library of samples and Weder's second album, now out on SA Recordings - the London label dedicated to supporting and releasing music created by contemporary composers and sound artists. As the name suggests, part of the album was recorded in an indoor pool and the sound is absolutely interesting.
The Making of
It is a particular way of recording an album, because in addition to the music, Oliver Patrice created and then disclosed the tools he used to record. To sample the tools he spent the block days with his family in a country cottage surrounded by an oak forest. There is an indoor pool in the cottage and as he was walking in there, Oliver was drawn in by the acoustics of the place. He wasn't sure what to record until his good friend and brother-in-law Juan Spiger came and jokingly sang the opera in there. Realizing that the sound was just gigantic and beautiful, he then decided to sing something sweet and soft. In fact he was already conceptualizing and starting to write his next album.
Thus was born the choice of having very angelic and gentle voices recorded in order to capture the tranquility and sensitivity of the surroundings, as in a bubble that cut everything off. All the material then became a useful toolkit for those who write music for films. Synth loops play a very accompanying role in the album and are often used with the chorus echo first and then the delay (and vice versa). In the plugin this was reproduced using the modulation slide, so you can use the Roland Juno 6's arpeggio and then fading into one of the delays.
The piano sound was taken from a 60s Petrof, Weder's personal piano. As for the collaborations and musicians that characterize the album, there are friends of Oliver who play on this record, a band called Club del Rio, where Oliver himself says he found the equivalent of Crosby, Stills and Nash with their harmonies. Compared to Weder's first sample library and disc, OPW, which was inspired by constant movement and travel, The Pool Project is a tribute to peace and quiet.
In addition to angelic and rarefied voices, we find a Kaval (Bulgarian flute) and the bass clarinet waves of the wind duo Zopli2 with the different techniques of execution, including circular breathing. As for the creative process, it took place with the musicians around the piano with Oliver explaining the kind of sounds he had in his head, the recording went on in separate days for the voices and winds.
Plugins and Presets
The interface of the plugin is the one already known of Spitfire Audio with two controllers for expression and dynamics. Expression controls the overall volume of the sample, while dynamics the sound from the “close” microphone to the room's condenser microphone.
In addition to the 13 IR reverbs specially curated, we have different effects depending on the preset: Dynamics, Expression, Attack, Release, Reverb, Stretch (control the speed of the sample playback), Variation (to switch between different variations of the sound), as well as the Key Release and Pedal on piano presets.
Are present 40 preset, grouped into Vocal Trio (6), Gentle Breeze (6), Solo Voice (7), Pianos (Double Felt & Taped), 'Toys' (5), Percussion (4) and and Synth Loops (10). Presets are also velocity sensitive, so they react to touch as we play. Some sounds have a very long tail, produced by sending reverbs to other reverbs or by sending delays through reverbs that then echoed on it.
For example, an arpeggio on the Roland Juno 6, sent through a chorus echo (Roland RE-501) and in the middle of the track in fading through a delay. The piano sound is very very warm and "cozy", compared to the piano on the previous sample library it is a little lighter, so a little clearer and warmer at the same time, recorded with two AKG 414 to even out the sound. Two felts were used and then the strings were silenced with adhesive tape to obtain a very special sound. Then there are toys, each brought by Oliver and the musicians, they are an interesting addition to the library. We find a recorder that plays a lot interesting with the addition of a little distortion.
VOCAL TRIO:
soft, meditative and synchronized vocal drone with vocals, humming, nana, swell
- Ah Drone
- Aah Swells
- Meditation Trio Chant
- Mhm Drone
- Mhm Swells
- Nana Swells
GENTLE BREEZE:
a duo of winds playing long very soft and delicate with a lot of air
- Airy Longs
- Airy Swells
- Circular Breathing
- Meditation Longs
- Pulsing Swells
- swells
VOICE ONLY:
- Aah Longs
- Breathy Ooh's
- Eee Longs
- Meditation Chant
- Mhm Aah's
- Mhm Longs
- Nanas
PIANO:
- Double Felt Piano
- Taped Piano (Oliver's little green piano)
TOYS:
- Harmonica
- Kaval Flute Longs
- Kaval Flute Experimental Longs
- Recorder
- Toy Piano
PERCUSSION:
- Drum Machines
- Jawbone (Juan Espiga's instrument)
- Traveling Shaker (soft shaker that moves in a stereo path)
- Organic Loops (selection of percussion instruments)
SYNTH LOOPS:
synth loop processed with adjustable intensity via modwheel
- Forest Glade
- Lala
- Wild Cicada
- Maximum magic
- Last Sun
- Comfortable Blizzard
- Night ride
- Complex Ant Burrow
- Colored Rain
- Pollination Dance
Conclusions
What we find in the library is an extension of Weder's album, in which there are half of the sounds that are present in the library. With a range of controls and effects, the sample library concept is an invitation for musicians and producers to re-imagine, recreate or completely separate an artist's sonic palette to facilitate their own viewing. The sounds are very suitable for those who write film music.
The album is now available on the website of SA Recordings and is also available as a digital bundle (sample library + digital album downloads) or as a physical bundle (sample library + digital album downloads + limited edition 12-inch gatefold vinyl).
