# My New Go-To Celeste



## Mike Fox (Dec 22, 2022)

Super excited to have found my new go-to celeste from Soniccouture!

As always, thanks so much for watching!


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## Wes Antczak (Dec 23, 2022)

Good to hear. The Celeste is one of the items I have been considering. Though I opted for EP73 Deconstructed first. Soniccouture do a good job at everything they release and their instruments are always a pleasure to work with.


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## Mike Fox (Dec 23, 2022)

Wes Antczak said:


> Good to hear. The Celeste is one of the items I have been considering. Though I opted for EP73 Deconstructed first. Soniccouture do a good job at everything they release and their instruments are always a pleasure to work with.


Yes, they make some seriously good libraries!


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## acousticshade (Dec 23, 2022)

Love the sound of all the bell tone keyboards. Vibraphones, Rhodes, Celeste...they all sound great. Nice review. Pretty sure most people pronounce it Suh-lest, but I could be wrong. Heck I think half the world pronounces Moog incorrectly.


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## Mike Fox (Dec 23, 2022)

acousticshade said:


> Love the sound of all the bell tone keyboards. Vibraphones, Rhodes, Celeste...they all sound great. Nice review. Pretty sure most people pronounce it Suh-lest, but I could be wrong. Heck I think half the world pronounces Moog incorrectly.


Haha! Yeah, I’ve heard it pronounced about 20 different ways lol. 

My old college professor always pronounced it the way i do in the video, so it just always stuck. 

Looks like Mike from CineSamples also pronounces it that way as well. 



James from Soniccouture pronounces it like “Chuh-lest-uh”



In this video it’s pronounced, Suh-lest.



So who knows? Maybe it depends on which part of the world you’re from? 

Anyway, thanks for watching!


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## soniccouture (Dec 27, 2022)

I checked with Scheidmayer on how they pronounce it because of this minefield!


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## muk (Dec 27, 2022)

soniccouture said:


> I checked with Scheidmayer on how they pronounce it because of this minefield!



Schiedmayer is a German company, so they will pronounce it like you did: Tshe - lest - uh, with emphasis on the 'lest'.



Mike Fox said:


> So who knows? Maybe it depends on which part of the world you’re from?


The name comes from the french word 'céleste', which means heavenly. The French pronounciation is 'Xe - lest', that's what Elizabeth Burley uses in the second video.


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## Bee_Abney (Dec 27, 2022)

This is from very quick internet searches checking a few sites.

The instrument was created by Auguste Mustel in Paris in 1866. Mustel was likely born in Paris, but it could have be Le Havre, as his father Victor (also an instrument maker) moved there from his birthplace in Le Havre . So if you choose to go with a French pronunciation, at least you'd have a good rejoinder to anyone who demurred!

However the word, French for Heavenly, comes to us from Latin and seems to crop up in Italian and Portugese.

One of the most famous uses of the Celeste is The Nutcracker by a Russian.

Add to that the fact that the people using it in English are chiefly musicians and composers, and so are a rather fractured and geographically diverse community of language users. Which makes me suspect that there may not be an established pronunciation in English. Given that Italian dominates written music, it isn't surprising that an Italian pronunciation should come to dominate, though.

And finally my project has loaded up so I can stop procrastinating.


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## acousticshade (Dec 27, 2022)

muk said:


> Schiedmayer is a German company, so they will pronounce it like you did: Tshe - lest - uh, with emphasis on the 'lest'.
> 
> 
> The name comes from the french word 'céleste', which means heavenly. The French pronounciation is 'Xe - lest', that's what Elizabeth Burley uses in the second video.


Thanks Muk. So it sounds like both might be acceptable and it depends on where you live. Now if only the world would figure out how to pronounce Sherbet correctly...


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## Mike Fox (Dec 27, 2022)

Interesting stuff!

I did wonder if a conversation like this was gonna spring up when making this review.

Then again, I grew up in Nevada, Utah, Texas, Colorado, Georgia, and California, so my dialect is pretty fu$&ed up as it is.


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## David Cuny (Dec 27, 2022)

acousticshade said:


> Now if only the world would figure out how to pronounce Sherbet correctly...


Or "Sarsaparilla"? My daughter told me I've been saying wrong after we stopped at Galco's.  

Back on topic, that's one sweet celeste!


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## Mark Steven (Dec 27, 2022)

Mike Fox said:


> Super excited to have found my new go-to celeste from Soniccouture!
> 
> As always, thanks so much for watching!



Their Celeste Is marvelous! I have it, and use it all the time...and IT'S ON SALE UNTIL THE FIRST WEEK OF JANUARY!


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## Inventio (Dec 28, 2022)

acousticshade said:


> Love the sound of all the bell tone keyboards. Vibraphones, Rhodes, Celeste...they all sound great. Nice review. Pretty sure most people pronounce it Suh-lest, but I could be wrong. Heck I think half the world pronounces Moog incorrectly.


It's "chelesta", actually  Italians would swear about it...


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## Uncle Ed (Dec 28, 2022)

Thanks for sharing. I have some kind of fetish for celeste libraries but I always go back to Randy's Celeste in the end.


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## soniccouture (Jan 2, 2023)

Inventio said:


> It's "chelesta", actually  Italians would swear about it...


This is the Soniccouture position also.


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## Bee_Abney (Jan 2, 2023)

soniccouture said:


> This is the Soniccouture position also.


Why do you hate the French so much as to deny them their own inventions? It's a bit weird with your name... 

Ah, well, convention, like all kinds of social conservatism, has never cared much for actual history...


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## soniccouture (Jan 2, 2023)

Bee_Abney said:


> Why do you hate the French so much


I'm English, we learn it at our mothers knee.


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Jan 2, 2023)

In France, we say Céleste (sounds like sell - est).
And like everyone knows, we are always right.


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## Bee_Abney (Jan 2, 2023)

Emmanuel Rousseau said:


> In France, we say Céleste (sounds like sell - est).
> And like everyone knows, we are always right.


Hey, I'm beginning to see @soniccouture's point!


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Jan 2, 2023)

Bee_Abney said:


> Hey, I'm beginning to see @soniccouture's point!


To be honest, me too !


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## shropshirelad (Jan 2, 2023)

Emmanuel Rousseau said:


> In France, we say Céleste (sounds like sell - est).
> And like everyone knows, we are always right.


In the true spirit of The Entente Cordiale, I can confirm that I have always pronounced it with a soft 'C' too. I'm afraid, however, that I'm unable to extend this to the second part of your statement.


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## Inventio (Jan 2, 2023)

Emmanuel Rousseau said:


> In France, we say Céleste (sounds like sell - est).
> And like everyone knows, we are always right.


You know, it's a long querelle about wine, cheese and football.


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## Loïc D (Jan 2, 2023)

Just to blurry all lines : « célesta » is also used in France - this is how I learned at music school.

But I’m a French with a hint of English ancestor so I’m some kind of traitor anyway (I like my tea at five and my wine at eight). 🤣


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## Inventio (Jan 3, 2023)

In any case, I am afraid I have to admit that it would be more accurate to pronounce it with a French c- (s), whether one chooses celesta or celeste...like accepting Trezeguet's golden goal at Euro 2000...


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## Mike Fox (Jan 3, 2023)

I’m just glad I’m not the only one who has no idea how to pronounce it.


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## rockstarjoe (Jan 4, 2023)

Uncle Ed said:


> Thanks for sharing. I have some kind of fetish for celeste libraries but I always go back to Randy's Celeste in the end.


I almost purchased Randy's Celeste during the holiday sales but I passed at the last minute. Is it really worth it? I have the BBCSO Core one and the Native Instruments Symphony Series one (which is pretty disappointing imho). 

The demo sounds nice but there isn't much info on their page. My understanding is that the original Harry Potter celeste sound was created by combining a DX7 sine wave with a celeste sample, but I'm unclear about whether Randy's Celeste is an actual recorded sample of a real celeste or if it is synthesizing the sound, if that makes sense. Thanks for any input!


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## Uncle Ed (Jan 5, 2023)

rockstarjoe said:


> Is it really worth it?


For me it is. Yes, it's a real sampled celeste with an augmented synth layer. It's smooth and buttery compared to the BBCSO celeste. No clicks and clonks.


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## rockstarjoe (Jan 5, 2023)

Uncle Ed said:


> For me it is. Yes, it's a real sampled celeste with an augmented synth layer. It's smooth and buttery compared to the BBCSO celeste. No clicks and clonks.


Awesome, thanks for the information! That sounds like exactly what I was hoping for. Guess I will have to save up for their next sale


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