# Choir plus vocoder...



## Rob (Apr 7, 2014)

one of my favorite pastime since a few years has been how to give intelligibility to choir libraries... after years still the only thing I have found that gives some results is mixing vocoder lines with the choir patches. If done with sensitivity it really can give the illusion of a choir singing. As an example, I have done the beginning of Mozart's "ave verum" for choir and strings, using eastwest symphonic choir and a few tracks (one for each voice, 4 in all) sang by me. How does it sound to you? 

www.robertosoggetti.com/AveVerum.mp3


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## wst3 (Apr 7, 2014)

it sounds pretty cool to me!


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## Krayh (Apr 7, 2014)

Sounds very impressive! But I dont understand how you mix the vocoding with a choir? Do you use the choir as the carrier? And then use a vocal (sample) to "sing" the phrases?


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## Rob (Apr 8, 2014)

Thank you Bill, I think it's rather cool too... at least you can render any word in any language, as long as the vowel sound are the usual ones...

Krayh, I have tried that too, using the choir sample as the carrier and my voice as the modulator, but the results weren't encouraging... so I decided to just do a mix of the sampled choir tracks (you have to have the option of word building) and the vocoded tracks I did changing the voice to simulate the SATB timbres. These tracks aren't to be heard alone, they are pretty awful actually, but when mixed they provide the intelligibility, especially the consonants...


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## Krayh (Apr 8, 2014)

Thanks for the explanation. I think you're really good at it. I can remember another track from you where there is a small choir actually singing and couldn't believe you just use a vocoder and samples.


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## Rob (Apr 8, 2014)

Krayh @ 8th April 2014 said:


> Thanks for the explanation. I think you're really good at it. I can remember another track from you where there is a small choir actually singing and couldn't believe you just use a vocoder and samples.



Thank you, that song eventually went on an official cd, with the addition of a real singer...


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## Markastellor (Apr 8, 2014)

This really is impressive.

You explained the process, but could you tell us the specific vocoder you used?

Thanks for posting that.


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## TGV (Apr 8, 2014)

While I like the intelligibility, the transitions between the syllables are a bit choppy. By coincidence, I've done a version of the same work a few years ago using East-West Symphonic Choir, albeit a bit slower and tuned a semitone lower. I'm curious how you'd compare both versions: https://soundcloud.com/tgv/ave-verum


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## Cygnus64 (Apr 8, 2014)

Markastellor @ Tue Apr 08 said:


> This really is impressive.
> 
> You explained the process, but could you tell us the specific vocoder you used?



Yes, I'd like to know too. Very impressive. So , you have word builder going in EWQL and added vocoder, is this correct? Sounds excellent.


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## doubleattack (Apr 8, 2014)

Technically it is impressive, musically it sounds more like Verdi than Mozart to me.
So in my opinion it's not to recommend for all styles of choirs… :wink:


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## Rob (Apr 8, 2014)

Markastellor @ 8th April 2014 said:


> This really is impressive.
> 
> You explained the process, but could you tell us the specific vocoder you used?
> 
> Thanks for posting that.



I'm almost ashamed :oops: because it's an ipad app, it's called "Ivoxel" by Virsyn... I think it's really great though. Full of options and responds to midi...


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## Rob (Apr 8, 2014)

TGV @ 8th April 2014 said:


> While I like the intelligibility, the transitions between the syllables are a bit choppy. By coincidence, I've done a version of the same work a few years ago using East-West Symphonic Choir, albeit a bit slower and tuned a semitone lower. I'm curious how you'd compare both versions: https://soundcloud.com/tgv/ave-verum



I like it a lot... also, more delicate than my rendition...


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## kmlandre (Apr 8, 2014)

Hi Rob-

That's a really fascinating technique, and pretty convincing.

If you have it, would you mind posting a "pre" vocoded version? I'd be interested in hearing what it sounds like prior to mixing that part in...

Thanks!

Kurt M. Landre'
https://www.SoundCloud.com/kmlandre


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## Graham Keitch (Apr 9, 2014)

That sounds really good Rob. I'm interested to hear your experiments which I think are very encouraging. I'm keen to have a go myself.

I've been layering VoP with studio recorded voices for just over a year now. I'm using VoP which I find very inspirational and capable of producing good mock-ups on its own.

Without a lot of audio tweaking, a single studio voice for each SATB part will only ever sound like a quartet. But blended with the VoP recording and a good cathedral reverb I get close to the cathedral choir sound I'm looking for.

Here's the Gloria from my recent completely Missa Brevis. The opening bar is real voice only but after that there's a lot of VoP, especially for the higher voices. The organ is also virtual and played out of Finale (Hauptwek Hereford Cathedral).

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=12587440&q=hi&newref=1 (http://www.soundclick.com/player/single ... i&amp;newref=1)

Graham


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## Rob (Apr 10, 2014)

Graham Keitch @ 9th April 2014 said:


> That sounds really good Rob. I'm interested to hear your experiments which I think are very encouraging. I'm keen to have a go myself.
> 
> I've been layering VoP with studio recorded voices for just over a year now. I'm using VoP which I find very inspirational and capable of producing good mock-ups on its own.
> 
> ...



that's beautiful, Graham! You know I'm a fan of yours already.
I'll let you know how my research progresses, I'm trying new things...


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