# VOCALISA: Slavic Women's Choir by Impact Soundworks, RELEASED! New walkthrough video + intro price e



## Andrew Aversa (May 29, 2014)

VOCALISA: Slavic Women's Choir

*Available now! Click here to purchase @ ImpactSoundworks.com*







*VOCALISA* is our newest virtual instrument, a vocal library capturing in detail the electric and powerful sound of a Slavic (Bulgarian) women's choir. We've been working on this collection for quite some time, and now are finally coming down the home stretch with editing & programming! *Vocalisa* features a full choir, as well as sections - altos, mezzos, sopranos, and soprano soloist - with multiple vowels/consonants, pitch bends, and word building.

This type of singing is very unlike traditional Western choirs. It frequently relies on harsh vowels and syllables, tight harmonies, and extensive use of pitch bends to create a truly powerful and ethereal sound. Slavic & Bulgarian singing has been used on classic soundtracks & scores like Xena: Warrior Princess and Ghost in the Shell. 

By using Vocalisa's different sections as well as the full choir and soloist patches, it is possible to create a choral sound that is as subtle or dramatic as you need. An inspiring UI includes such features as a phrase builder, allowing you to construct your own musical parts from syllables like "eh", "mah", "oh", "shteh", "svah", and consonants. 

Library designer Will Roget gives a quick overview of the library in real-time in the video below:



*FEATURES*
* Detailed & authentic recordings of traditional Bulgarian choral singing
* Five sections: Full Choir, Sopranos, Mezzos, Altos + Soloist 
* Syllable building with idiomatic vowel and consonant combinations: eh, mah, yah, ree, shteh, svah, oh
* Mordents / turns, clusters, FX, breaths
* Two flexible playing modes: keyswitch & grid (sequence) mode
* Beautiful UI with performance & syllable tweaking, mixing options and FX
* Carefully recorded to provide a flexible sound with air and character - not overwhelming hall reverb, or stark dryness

*AUDIO DEMOS*

[flash width=400 height=250 loop=false]https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/38458906&amp;color=ff6600&amp;auto_play=false&amp;show_artwork=true&amp;show_playcount=true&amp;show_comments=true[/flash]

*PRICING & AVAILABILITY*
Vocalisa is available now for an outstanding intro price of *$99* through July 2nd (list price: $129)

*http://impactsoundworks.com/products/vocal/vocalisa-slavic-womens-choir/*


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## Alex Koev (May 29, 2014)

*Re: VOCALISA: Slavic Women's Choir - Coming soon from Impact Soundworks! Overview & Intro video*

Congratulations on the library!

Regards,
Alex


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## tmm (May 29, 2014)

So many great new vocal libraries coming out this year! I need them all


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## Raptor4 (May 29, 2014)

*Re: VOCALISA: Slavic Women's Choir - Coming soon from Impact Soundworks! Overview & Intro video*

Congratulations for the nice Instrument design and the artwork Andrew.

To be honest *it is NOT A TRUE BULGARIAN CHOIR* - I'm I right ? I guess in is US one...
There are lots of non-Bulgarian choirs which try to sing Bulgarian songs and try to imitate the Bulgarian singing style. The true Bulgarian Voice engine has unique timbre as well as very specific articulation, way of singing, ornamentation ect. 
It can be compared with Stradivarius violin library announcement where you have sampled model Stradivarius in fact (not original) .
The demos sound like Polish, Croatian, Russian etc (with US speechifying accent) but not Bulgarian. So "Slavic Choir" seems to be more realistic name though it is still performance emulation. 
Anyway this library will be useful as many others.
Good luck!


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## tmm (May 29, 2014)

*Re: VOCALISA: Slavic Women's Choir - Coming soon from Impact Soundworks! Overview & Intro video*



Raptor4 @ Thu May 29 said:


> To be honest *it is NOT A TRUE BULGARIAN CHOIR*


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## Farkle (May 29, 2014)

*Re: VOCALISA: Slavic Women's Choir - Coming soon from Impact Soundworks! Overview & Intro video*

Oh, goodness, this sounds AMAZING. You nailed the "Xena"/"Ghost in the Shell Sound". 

Great work, Impact Soundworks... this is on my summer purchase list! 

Mike


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## mk282 (Jun 5, 2014)

*Re: VOCALISA: Slavic Women's Choir - Coming soon from Impact Soundworks! Overview & Intro video*



Raptor4 @ 29.5.2014 said:


> The demos sound like Polish, Croatian, Russian etc (with US speechifying accent)



That's nowhere near Croatian or Polish, dude, in any way considered.


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## Andrew Aversa (Jun 6, 2014)

New demos today from library designer Will Roget, II and composer Blake Ewing! These showcase both cinematic and more traditional styles.

[flash width=400 height=200 loop=false]https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/38458906&amp;color=ff6600&amp;auto_play=false&amp;show_artwork=true&amp;show_playcount=true&amp;show_comments=true[/flash]

We're also pleased to announce the intro price of the library: *$99* for 2 weeks after it launches later this month! We think this represents an outstanding value for composers looking to harness the sound of slavic women's singing for their productions.


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## Dr.Quest (Jun 6, 2014)

Man that sounds great! Love that Ghost in the Shell piece. I've just been listening to that soundtrack. This is going to be a must buy!
Great job!
*J*


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## Wes Antczak (Jun 6, 2014)

*Re: VOCALISA: Slavic Women's Choir - Coming soon from Impact Soundworks! Video + new demos posted!*

Sounds great and also a great into price. But what's up with those comments from Lubomir?

Now I'm going to have to dig out those Ghost in the Shell soundtracks... haven't listened to them in ages.


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## Andrew Aversa (Jun 6, 2014)

Thanks for the kind words! Not sure what was up with the Soundcloud comments either. We don't know that person - maybe a troll? 

Anyway, I want to mention something. Our philosophy has always been that the sound, flexibility, and playability of a library is what ultimately matters. You can have all the famous musicians, major studios, and million-dollar consoles in the world, but none of it matters if the resulting library is unintuitive, uninspired, poorly-edited, etc.

For this library, we recorded an extremely talented slavic choir in a medium sized hall. We then spent a *long* time carefully mixing the recordings, editing, scripting, etc. Through more demos + video you'll see the library is very easy & natural to play, and sounds great in a large number of styles. Plus, at $99, we think the price is a no-brainer for a multi-section choir library!


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## tmm (Jun 6, 2014)

Agreed…. so post it for sale already


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## Andrew Aversa (Jun 9, 2014)

New demo today from Henning Nugel, "Daughters of Illyria"! This showcases the more intense, electric dynamics of the singers, as well as mordents, FX, and staccatos layered into a thrilling orchestral cue.

[flash width=400 height=200 loop=false]https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/153593381&amp;color=ff6600&amp;auto_play=false&amp;show_artwork=true&amp;show_playcount=true&amp;show_comments=true[/flash]

We're also happy to announce that Vocalisa will be released on *June 16th*!


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## Wes Antczak (Jun 9, 2014)

*Re: VOCALISA: Slavic Women's Choir, by Impact Soundworks: New demo posted + release date announced!*

Very nice, Andrew! Kudos to ISW and kudos to Henning on a nice promo piece! Exciting!


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## Henning (Jun 11, 2014)

*Re: VOCALISA: Slavic Women's Choir, by Impact Soundworks: New demo posted + release date announced!*

Thanks, Wes!


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## Andrew Aversa (Jun 16, 2014)

Vocalisa: Slavic Women's Choir is now released! The $99 intro price is good through June 30th, after which it will go back to the list price of $129.

Our demo player has been updated with more demos, and the full product manual is available at the product page below.

Enjoy, and let us know what you think!

*http://impactsoundworks.com/products/vocal/vocalisa-slavic-womens-choir/*


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## tmm (Jun 16, 2014)

Proud to say I went looking for it and found it before the VI-C announcement  Downloading as I type.


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## JE Martinsen (Jun 16, 2014)

Yes! :D 

I need to eat of course, but I'm sure I can find something edible in the woods until next payday.


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## playz123 (Jun 16, 2014)

*Re: VOCALISA: Slavic Women's Choir by Impact Soundworks, RELEASED! Intro price $99 through June 30th!*

And when are we going to see the release of a VocaJillian library?  

Congratulations of this latest release Andrew. I know that I would find it useful, so will definitely consider a purchase before introductory pricing ends.


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## Andrew Aversa (Jun 16, 2014)

Cheers all! We'll have more video+audio soon, too.

As for a Jillian library, we are going to begin production on that pretty soon. And it will be awesome.


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## zouzou (Jun 25, 2014)

*Re: VOCALISA: Slavic Women's Choir by Impact Soundworks, RELEASED! Intro price $99 through June 30th!*

Hi,

OK, it's definitely not a Bulgarian choir, but it sound nice and natural, and seems very easy to play. 

I'd like to know if when you play "MAH" or "YAH" (for exemple) on the first note and play others legato notes, to make a mélodic line, you can hear legato "AH" (and not MAH-MAH-MAH or YAH-YAH-YAH)? In case it's impossible, I think it would be really great to add this possibility to your product (or add simples "AH" samples legato playable) !

Thanks.

Regards


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## Andrew Aversa (Jun 27, 2014)

It's true that Vocalisa does not have legato interval sampling. However, it does have several ways you can manipulate the syllables / vowels to make them sound more seamless and blended. One way is to use lower velocity notes, for example around ~40 velocity. Doing this will offset the syllables, starting them at a later point in the recording and bypassing the consonants. You can also use the syllable tweak features to offset everything and then load JUST the consonants with the section FX patches. This gives a maximum of control.


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## zouzou (Jul 1, 2014)

*Re: VOCALISA: Slavic Women's Choir by Impact Soundworks, RELEASED! Intro price $99 through June 30th!*

Hi,

Vocalisa bought yesterday!
Very nice work, congratulations to Impact Soundworks!

Finely recorded Voices! OK this is not an authentic Bulgarian choir, but a very good Slavic choir. It will fit into a wide range of music.

- PROs -
- The sound is very clear, sweet to strong. The modulation wheel is very useful to gradually introduce nuances.
- The ornaments are very characteristic and give life to the melodies.
- Having voices in split sections and a solo voices is very good.
- "Grid Mode" and "Keyswitch Mode" offer very suitable ways to play.
- Tweak Page Syllable is very useful and powerful, especially "offset"!

- SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT -
- Add a attack time control knob for each syllable and ornaments in the Syllable Tweak Page: after using the "offset" button we can smooth the attack and make more sweet melodies ...
- Add a Time Stretch control knob for each syllable and ornaments in the Syllable Tweak Page: it would be very useful to make fastest (quick) syllables and ornaments, to suit to certain kinds of music whose tempo is very fast!
- Add a Legato Mode using Kontakt Scripts (no new samples required) to play more fluid melodic lines.

- About samples: your choice of syllables had to be thoughtful, but I do not see what kinds of Slavic words we can build with ...? Can you tell us more about this?
I think it would be nice to have new additional syllables samples, to introduce variety in the melodies ...

With all of this would be Vocalisa an essential and terrific tool!

Thanks!

Zouzou (with his so bad English...!)

(also emailed to [email protected].)


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## mk282 (Jul 1, 2014)

*Re: VOCALISA: Slavic Women's Choir by Impact Soundworks, RELEASED! Intro price $99 through June 30th!*



zouzou @ 1.7.2014 said:


> - Add a attack time control knob for each syllable and ornaments in the Syllable Tweak Page: after using the "offset" button we can smooth the attack and make more sweet melodies ...



You can change this manually in edit mode, if you want. It's a bit tricky to include it since attack is also modulated by velocity, and the two values interact between each other, and their amounts are different for each syllable. So it would be adding two more controls per syllable, which would clutter the UI IMHO. Best left as internal adjustment by the user.



zouzou @ 1.7.2014 said:


> - Add a Time Stretch control knob for each syllable and ornaments in the Syllable Tweak Page: it would be very useful to make fastest (quick) syllables and ornaments, to suit to certain kinds of music whose tempo is very fast!



You can also change this manually in edit mode yourself, if you want - and it's actually adviseable to do it that way, because things would have to be shuffled around in the instrument layout a lot to offer a TS/DFD switch (duplicate groups). The script would also have to be half-rewritten to accomodate this. For the time being, since it's easy to do these changes manually and save it as a new NKI, it would be my recommendation to do it like that.



zouzou @ 1.7.2014 said:


> - Add a Legato Mode using Kontakt Scripts (no new samples required) to play more fluid melodic lines.



This was tried during beta tests but it just didn't sound good at all unfortunately, plus it wouldn't work with grid mode at all.


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## Andrew Aversa (Jul 1, 2014)

Intro price has been extended for an additional 24 hours through July 2nd, since we've just now released a new walkthrough video by library designer Will Roget, II. If you are still on the fence and want to learn more, check this out!


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## Will Blackburn (Jul 4, 2014)

Love the sound. Can you morph between syllables using CC to smoothen the transitions?


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## mk282 (Jul 4, 2014)

You cannot morph between syllables.


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## AnhrithmonGelasma (Feb 17, 2022)

Is it possible to use the wordbuilder to get what could be taken for intelligible English words?

Vocalisa apparently also lets you play isolated consonants, or tweak the syllables to only do part of them. I was thinking of trying to turn "mah + eh" into "m-eh" but I doubt that will sound like "may". Like "eh-mm" for "aim". IDK if reverb or delay could help sound more like coarticulation rather than abrupt transition, or at least cover it up (... or render it even more unintelligible).

I have been having fun coming up with possible nonsense word phrases for Vocalisa. Vah-shteh-vah yah-eh-shteh-svah ree-eh-ah-ma oh vah-ya-eh vah-shteh.

Timbre-wise I'm not sure it quite "gets" the sound I'm hearing in Ghost in the Shell, or some more recent Bulgarian choir or Balkan singing libraries. The sound examples I've heard sound much of the time a little too much like a conventional Western choir (granted, that may be because they're not being played with tight harmonies). And to the extent the timbre differs, I can get similar results with VI or synths that I can play more expressively. I love the idea of the ornaments in Vocalisa and I do like them a bit but somehow they seem slightly off the mark relative to other examples of this style that I love....


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