....Getting tired of my current Choir library I have been using for over 5 years. What's up VSL?
Rob
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Will the VSL choir ever be released?
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Without word-builder facility (on soloists too) it will only be good for science fiction and horror flicks; I am hoping the scope of the VSL is infinitely larger than this, although having followed this forum for years I admit the aforementioned, limited, uses will prove to be by far the most common. However, the vast choral and choral-symphonic opportunities do beckon for something more sophisticated than aahhs and oohhs!...
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Agreed, and you know that VSL will deliver the goods on time and in perfect working order.
Howver, regarding the the level of depth and the expense that goes with it, i can't see them going super-realistic without it being super-expensive.
So it's a toss up between pretty good and expensive and really f**kin good, yet really f**kin expensive.
Though I have exactly no money {that reminds me, rent is due}, I hope it's the latter. There are enough mediocre libraries out there [they know who they are :D]
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I agree with all that, but keep in mind one thing -
To correctly sample a choir you are not doing just another instrument. That is what all the lame choir libraries that already exist have done and why they are so painful to use.
In fact, you are doing another entire orchestra of sounds. So a properly sampled choir will essentially be VSL 2.0. With difficulties like legato on all vowels in multiple velocities in all of the four vocal groups, etc. etc. etc. Not to mention the little problem of singing consonants for complete words thrown into that mix. So this would probably be the biggest and most complex single release of all their samples beside the entire Cube taken together. To do this correctly obviously involves some innovation that no one else has come up with. Though based upon the past work they have done VSL is definitely up to the challenge.
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OK VSL team - metaphorically speaking - I know your policy is to 'not let the cat out of the bag' - but how about a teaser (of your progress on the choir) to let us at least hear it 'purring'. [;)]
Rob
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It seems that there are three challenges in doing the choir that are huge -
1 - the money for all those singers
2 - making them all lose their voices for the legato recordings
3 - inventing a new technology for samples to form complete words that will fit seamlessly into VE
So it is understandable that it will take almost as long as the entire orchestral library did, or MIR.
Though I am just as impatient as anybody. I still cannot believe that EW did not record the entire range of each choir in the Symphonic Choir. That burns me up (especially after buying the damned thing). Do you realize they took a one step forward and two steps backward from VOTA? Because that earlier choir (which I also have) had complete ranges on SATB, and could also do word formation, though neither does it very well. And nobody in the world has recorded real legato which, besides intonation, is the single most important element in singing. There is nothing worse than hearing a sampled choir pinging from one single note sample to another...
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Please someone tell me of a good choir I am dying for a choir and would pay my life savings for a GOOD one but it seems that choir technology is the most lacking because the supposed 'best ones' that I have heard and cost whopping $$$ are all very disappointing to me from the samples that I have been able to hear or get my hands on. I have heard EWQL choir and Symphony Of Voices I think it was called and some other ones and none of them are terribly impressive. Is there ANYTHING good out there ????????????????
Recently I heard the sopranos instrument addition or whatever it was here on this VSL site and I thought it sounded amazing and I might get it but it's only sopranos :(
What is the best value right now is it basically East West choir???
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Update I just listened to vsl soprano choir demo again. GOOD GOD!! I am definitely getting this soon. SOMEONE PLEASE for the love of god make the rest of the voices alto tenor bass. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VSL is the greatest. Come on guys!!!!
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Yes, this is truly an amazing collection. I was initially hesitant to download what I suspected was not only a partial solution (being "just" sopranos) but what I thought would also be incomplete even within the context of a single voicing.
Wrong! Not only is this collection magical, versatile, and very complete in articulations and moods/timbres, but it reacts the best to MIDI-entered note-phrasing of any vocal library I've worked with thus far (most of them, except for Bela D's offerings).
Last weekend, I retracked some stuff that I had earlier used Miroslav Philharmonik for, in the pop vein, and was surprised that the results fit perfectly within the genre in spite of it being a "classical" choir. And like Miroslav, you have your choice of "warm" or "cold" voices.
I've never gotten EWQL Symphonic Choirs + Word Builder to work, and sure wish I could sell it. I have no doubt that once VSL releases a full choir library, there will be no need for Word Builder -- even if that library and auxiliary phrasing tool ever make it to the PLAY engine and Intel Macs.
The only other choir library of interest right now is Bela D's piece-by-piece approach that will refactor Diva, Giovanni, introduces The Tenor, and will flesh all of this out over time with basses/etc. The Tenor is a download instrument, quite affordable, and has some K2 phrasing script support.
The older Symphony of Voices (Akai format) will be folded into Spectrasonics Ominisphere (at least in part) when it is released next Monday. It will be interesting to get some reports on any added usability of the refactoring.
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I will be rather surprised if EWQL Symphonic Choirs does not make it into the PLAY engine following the recent considerable price-drop... I also own this collection and am hoping for a similarly considerable upgrade discount when that time comes. However, a VSL choral product - even if expensive - will probably find its way to my studio, the recent Pro Edition Upgrade Path annulment fiasco notwithstanding, IF AND ONLY IF it includes word-building capabilities. Otherwise, I believe that even with superior sounding quality and transitions between notes, when EWQLSC makes into PLAY, VSL will only be catering to cliched soundtrack usage (and if the price is prohibitive there is a lot of competition in that department), or scary mock-upists tackling Daphnis & Chloe, Prometheus and the like (which I would love to hear you scary people!...)
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WHEN????????????????????? Can we at least get like a ROUGH ESTIMATE you know maybe like the year or the decade i.e. 2009 or 2010? PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok on one hand I guess I understand for competition reasons why you would need to hide it I mean I can just imagine the developer for EWQL or whoever your competition is reading this forum and finding the 'smoking gun' and running back to his bosses "I got it!! I got it!! VSL is bringing out their choir Q4 2009!!! Finally we know the date! Now everyone hurry let's finish our choir so we can use this knowledge to beat them out in the market!" - by either shipping it before VSL or at the same time to steal sales etc..it's always best for big companies to have their best project release dates a secret from competitors so that basically competitors aren't given time to develop a strategy to try to steal sales or basically adjust their own developments based on the new discovered time table for VSL's release. But still here's hoping that maybe you're permitted to give us SOME ROUGH estimate at least the year perhaps or something...I'm salivating at the mouth here come on.
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Requiem - you make valid points but I think the risk of giving no 'rough' of the schedule will in fact lose sales. The current offerings of choirs have their limitations but a pro needing some 'choir' might just purchase what is currently available because he/she is unaware of anything on the horizon.
Obviously if VSL hits a homerun on this Choir (when it eventually hits the market) - people will say 'crap' - I just paid X for the competition BUT if the projects require it - the pro may spring for the additional dollars - but I am thinking of the 'hobby/semi pro' client (which I bet are MANY) - those are the sales that could be potentially lost given no updates on schedule (becuase they already purchased the competition).
I have the competition's products currently and continue to use them on many projects - I just want what I think will be THE choir offering (judging the two years of using the SOP limited release.)
Rob
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This is a good point in fact I'm one of those people you speak of. You see I'm considering getting a choir library in the short to medium term future and if I were to know definitively that VSL choir is coming in 2009 I might wait but if I'm left in the dark as you said I'll have no choice but to buy EWQL or something else instead simply out of necessity.
However just based on my experience and knowledge of such things as big releases from corporations, given the fact that no real announcements to my knowledge have been made or any progress reports divulged I would not expect such a major library to come out anytime before 2010 and honestly even 2010 may be unlikely.
My educated guess is at the earliest Q4 2009 (unlikely), realistically Q2-3 2010, at the latest Q1 or Q2 2011.
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Yea - if your schedule is possible (I think given the nature of what has to be done - wouldn't surprise me) - if I were in your position I would purchase the competition. "Clients" won't wait as we all know.
For me if a project would be more than minimally rewarded by picking a library (new or old) - and I can work it in the budget - I usually get it. In some cases it could mean winning the gig or not.
No matter what - when VSL releases this important library - there will be many lined up to purchase regardless of what they may have currently on the HD's.
Rob
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Just a 'yes' to the topic question - which includes the word 'ever' - is not very helpful, and rather obvious (I know it was meant in good humour, as is this). Can you answer monosyllabically again on whether this choir to be released within the lifetime of this universe, will be literate? Thanks.@michi said:
all the best, michael
