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Advice Please on Voices of Gaia and Voices of Rapture

Reid Rosefelt

aka Tiger the Frog
I own "Mimi Page Light & Shadow," which I love. I have watched the videos of "Voice of Wind: Adey" many times, and it's on my list of libraries to buy--but I have been waiting to see what else comes out in the "Voices of Wind" series. I was fine with waiting until the whole package was there and it went on sale for a good price.

So now there is this big sale on Native Instruments. "Adey" is easy to buy for $65, so essentially for $114+tax, I can get Gaia, Rapture, and Requiem Light. Maybe this is similar to the kind of deal I was waiting for with "Voices of Wind." A great buy on "Adey." But maybe not.

The only library in those two series I was serious at any point about buying was "Strawberry." I had gone so far as to check out Linda Strawberry's website and listen to as much of her music as possible. While I am a fan of Strawberry the singer, I didn't buy it because I wasn't completely sold on the legato in the library from the demos.

I'm not somebody who likes to buy a big package of stuff just because the price is good. Maybe "Adey" is the only thing I want in this package.

Having read the above, what is your advice to me? What do you think of those two libraries?

Thanks!

Reid
 
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I was listening to the walkthroughs yesterday and I want to say one of the tenors sounds kind of female. I want to say it's the Gaia one. And I'm sure in real life he doesn't sound so feminine, but the high notes are probably past what he should sing. If he is actually singing and they aren't tuned up.

It seems as long as you remember to overlap the notes, the legato is decent.
 
An opera legato is very different from an Epic legato or from an emotive legato or celtic legato. So maybe the fisrt question is : what kind of “ mood” ?
 
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I think all your Ethera videos sound spectacular, but sometimes when I try to use it, I don't get the results I'm hoping for. You can totally blame that on me and my lack of skills. But I really try. For days. On the other hand, Solo Opera Legato, with my same lack of skills, always works like a charm.
It may just be that what you are writing is more suited to the Solo Opera voice. I find with all solo voice libraries even more than solo instruments I have to write to the VI voice. This is kind of true with real humans, too, so I guess it's not that surprising.

I very much like both that Organic Samples' Solo Opera voice and the whole Ethera line, but especially EVI. And there's enough overlap between them that I often end up auditioning both before deciding which I prefer for the part. And it's always interesting to see how different the vocal parts end up, not just in CCs and velocity and whatever parameters, but the rhythmic placement, the lengths of the notes, where I choose legato and where I choose non-legato and sometimes even the pitches. A lot more difference than if I'm auditioning, say, two solo violins.
 
Hi @TigerTheFrog

Well, I try to explain the concept.

If you don't get the results like mine, you're probably wrong something.

I've listened a lot of awesome Epic Tracks or Trailer Tracks from other Composers too, make with Ethera Series.

Therefore:

Are you looking for a "SOLO OPERA Voice " Ethera is not for you.

Ethera Series has been designed to give the possibility of having first of all of a "cinematic" voice as faithfully as possible. Starting from the mood of "Lisa Gerrard", up to more Epic genres or for a " Gravity Sound Track Vocalist Style "...do you know the great Gravity Movie with Sandra Bullock ? Of Course. So For this kind of music... Ethera Series is for you.

So if we talk about of "opera voice" , well Ethera Series is not a suitable library.

So as a first rule always choose the product for the use you want to do.

Do you Make Cinematic Music, Epic, Fantasy, Trailers Music , You are looking for an Emotive Voice, Epic Voice, Cinematic Voice ? Ok Ethera Series ( Ethera EVI, Ethera GOld, & Ethera Soundscapes) is for you and probably is one of the best choices you can make , also for many other sounds included besides the voice. And the Emotive True Legato and Epic True legato are among the most suitable for this style.

You are Looking for a soprano "opera" style ? Ethera is not for you. If need of a "opera" Voice , " Solo Opera " is the best on the market of course. IHMO.

Moreover a voice with a style of "opera" is not suitable for many other cinematic music genres.

This is why I say the "mood" is very important to decide which library to use. It is useless to compare an "Opera" library with a "cinematic" library.

I have the "Solo Opera Library" is excellent too. But it is indeed a classic voice: "Opera". Opera is not a "cinematic voice" or "emotional ethereal voice" or Lisa Gerrard style ...

That's why I say the starting point is very important, even when you go to develop a library.

During the development of the True Legato, there are many differences if you plan to make a "classic" sound ( opera ) or a more "cinematic" or "epic" sound.

Moreover in my videos often I play live with the True legato, no particular skills...but only I Think on What Kind of Music I can do with this True Legato. And How I can do it in a GREAT way.

Needless to play styles far from the concept of the library.

This is the first Rule for all libraries I Think.

Any libray born with a purpose. The Ethera Series was born for " Cinematic " Epic Music. As for vocal, as for other sounds included.

Furthermore, there are many different nuance in the Human Vocal. The "solo vocal " is perhaps the hardest thing to do. That's why there are tons of phrases in Ethera. Anyway, every Ethera has a different True Legato for this reason. Soundscapes True Legato is very different from EVI, EVI is very different from Ethera Gold which has faster transitions and a more Epic sound.

Just some example:

Did you have listen to my Epic Heart demo With Ethera Gold ( all sounds and Epic True Legato ) and Ethera EVI?

or Duetto with Ethera EVI ?



Or the " Demo 1 " form Ethera Gold demo videos.



Or this Kind of Music by the composer Alan Lennon Made With Ethera Gold and EVI.



or this from another Composer using always Ethera Gold.




Well This is the "kind" of Music Where The Etheras are exellent. opera voice No, of course.

I hope I explained clearly.

Cheers :)
 
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Here is a track I composed with Ethera Gold phrases and legato:



For this one I used Ethera Soundscapes legato for the whole intro:



Stefano's libraries can be used for a number styles. I don't utilize the synth and epic side as much because I am more into the softer, more ethereal style, but you write epic music you will find a lot that is useful especially in EVI and Gold. I have Soundiron's Voices of Gaia and Rapture, but I rarely ever use them and am always going for Ethera. I like the tone and legato in Ethera much more than the soundiron options. Clara's voice has so much emotion and I love the natural vibrato that comes out on the long notes.
 
Looking at my old headline, I can see why my request for information about Voices of Gaia and Voices of Rapture, became a thread dedicated to Ethera. I asked people to compare those two libraries to other libraries, so I got what I deserved. My fault. I was sincerely trying to find out what owners thought of them, not that they didn't use them because they only use Ethera.

There's a sale going on at NI and I have to make a decision on whether to buy the Soundiron Vocal Collection. Somebody must use these libraries. Thank you, @dzilizzi

I own four of the Etheras. I know what they are like and I am not facing a decision with them now

So now my headline just says:
Advice Please on Voices of Gaia and Voices of Rapture

If there's anybody who owns Voices of Gaia and Voices of Rapture and would care to give me their impressions, it would mean the world to me. :dancer:

Thank you all very much.

Reid
 
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Looking at my old headline, I can see why my request for information about Voices of Gaia and Voices of Rapture, became a thread dedicated to Ethera. I asked people to compare those two libraries to other libraries, so I got what I deserved. My fault. I was sincerely trying to find out what owners thought of them, not that they didn't use them because they only use Ethera.

There's a sale going on at NI and I have to make a decision on whether to buy the Soundiron Vocal Collection. Somebody must use these libraries. Thank you, @dzilizzi

I own four of the Etheras. I know what they are like and I am not facing a decision with them now

So now my headline just says:
Advice Please on Voices of Gaia and Voices of Rapture

If there's anybody who owns Voices of Gaia and Voices of Rapture and would care to give me their impressions, it would mean the world to me. :dancer:

Thank you all very much.

Reid
Got it, sorry about that! To be honest, in my opinion, I could live without Voices of Gaia and Voices of Rapture. I got them with the Kontakt Player Bundle which has some useful stuff for me (especially emotional piano, requiem, and mercury elements). For the current price with the bundle its a good deal and you also get Requiem Light which I use quite a bit. I don't have Voice of Wind or Mimi Page so I can't compare them though they look like they could be pretty nice. To me, Voices of Gaia and Rapture weren't as useful or impressive as I hoped. I don't like the legatos a lot as I feel they have less life in them (as compared to the emotion of ethera) and sound less realistic (transitions sound kind of fake to me). On the other side, a positive of having both rapture and gaia is that you have some more options to choose from because you have 8 different singers. For example, I think there was one song where I needed to use the Alto voice from Voices of Rapture because it was able to get the high note I needed which my other libraries (ethera and 8dio) couldn't reach. I haven't found a lot of use for the phrases yet from either of these libraries. Take my comments with a grain of salt as I am neither professional or very experienced. In the right hands these libraries may be able to do far more than I have gotten out of them. For someone of my limitations, the etheras have met my solo vocal needs more and are easier to use.

Another option to check out as compared to Rapture, would 8dio's New Studio Sopranos which is on sale for 78 right now. From what I have heard of it, I think it would be more useful to me than the soundiron options. I hope my feedback is helpful in someway.
 
I own VOR....and have used VOG. VOR has more of a classical feel Than VOG which seems better for more modern music, and i find VOR much better in general than Voices of Opera from EW which i also have.

I use VOR a fair bit and for the bundle price is definetely worth it if you also like some of the other stuff.
 
Hi TTF, do get them both. I did, and like them a lot. In fact, they originally were “full Kontakt” libraries and then got bundled and reworked to Kontakt Player status. As far as opera-style libs go, Voices of Rapture is up there with the best. I prefer it to the new EW Voices of Opera. But it’s not opera-style only, you can do much more than opera with Voices of Rapture. And then there’s Voices of Gaia. Always loved the individual libraries of Strawberry, Bryn, and even Francesca. They added Mike later and bundled them into the new Voices of Gaia. Amazing value at the deal price now.
 
Another option to check out as compared to Rapture, would 8dio's New Studio Sopranos which is on sale for 78 right now. From what I have heard of it, I think it would be more useful to me than the soundiron options. I hope my feedback is helpful in someway.
Yes, that is intriguing me too. Gaia and Rapture seem sort of "maybe I'd use them" but the New Studio Sopranos sound lovely to me in the demos, something I am sure I would use. But I don't always trust 8Dio demos.

The Studio Sopranos were $248 and got an update with a new GUI a few months ago with a price of $98. So $78 seems like a nice price. Of course soon they will no doubt go lower. I've always liked 8Dio's Jenifer too.
 
Yes, that is intriguing me too. Gaia and Rapture seem sort of "maybe I'd use them" but the New Studio Sopranos sound lovely to me in the demos, something I am sure I would use. But I don't always trust 8Dio demos.

The Studio Sopranos were $248 and got an update with a new GUI a few months ago with a price of $98. So $78 seems like a nice price. Of course soon they will no doubt go lower. I've always liked 8Dio's Jenifer too.
Darn it! Why did you make me look at the Studio Sopranos? They do sound really good. Though I'm wondering how the work against the Realitone Ladies. There are a couple really good sopranos in the group. I guess I will check it out.

Edit: Realivox Ladies are a totally different sound. More of a pop/RnB backing singers to me. Though they do have at least one opera singer in there. There is some weird legato thing going on. I'm sure it is fixable because I don't remember hearing it before. Or at least not as bad as I am hearing it now. It got better when I played with the settings a bit and combined more ladies in the mixer. They sound much better when you mix them.
 
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Studio Sopranos has risen near top of short list. Hoping strongly that Roula is added !!
That sound is very desirable here. :thumbsup:
(edit) Roula can utilize the 50% discont Code, but still @ $99.
 
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Darn it! Why did you make me look at the Studio Sopranos? They do sound really good. Though I'm wondering how the work against the Realitone Ladies. There are a couple really good sopranos in the group. I guess I will check it out.
First, a big thank you to everybody who has shared their knowledge and expertise. After this, and watching videos until they are coming out of my ears, I've decided to pass on this deal.

I am almost certain that I will never use Requiem Light. And in the unlikely event I would ever want to write music with a big choir as a focal point... honestly I would just start the piece with a choir I own, and, if I was unsatisfied, I would research all choirs, pick the one that's best for my piece, wait for it to go on sale, and pop it into my track.

But I do use solo voices all the time. Generally they are contemporary sounding--Ethera, Mimi, and the Realitone Ladies. I enjoy the jazz voices in Omnisphere. I use Solo Opera Legato not because I like opera (I don't) but because I like the VI.

Adey is definitely on my list. If the other vocals in Voices of Wind are similar, I'll buy the package. If not, just Adey.

Maybe I'll buy Strawberry someday if it is super cheap.

I'm interested in the Studio Sopranos and would buy them today for $78 if they were made by Indiginus. This is not a bargain, or at least it's not a guaranteed bargain. 8Dio has made it abundantly clear that they may sell this library for $38 or $28 someday. The only thing I can count on about the price is that there will be an "8" in it. So I pass on this for the moment.

But I am always a sucker for a single library that I have studied a lot and know I want when it goes on sale for 40% or 50% off. Big packages like these cause GAS attacks, so I try to tread slowly.
 
My problem is I don't have Mimi or Adey. Or Strawberry for that matter. So for the price, it is kind of worth it to me. I need more male singers though. I can actually do a lot of the female stuff myself, if I can keep my cat quiet. (he made an appearance on my last two recordings.....)
 
My problem is I don't have Mimi or Adey. Or Strawberry for that matter. So for the price, it is kind of worth it to me. I need more male singers though. I can actually do a lot of the female stuff myself, if I can keep my cat quiet. (he made an appearance on my last two recordings.....)
If I didn't have Mimi already, I think I would do it. Mimi + Adey + Strawberry would probably put me over the top and GAS would win.
 
I have VOR and I have used them way more than I expected.
You can get some amazing multis built, like combining sustains and legato. I used a multi with staccs, phrase and liked the outcome, maybe curl purists toes but it was what I wanted. Couldn't be further away from Opera if I tried.

It's the quality of each singer and the depth of the package I like. Sound is excellent. However, the depth of it does put me off using it more.
 
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Studio sopranos are a steal at 78. Im using them more and more but as someone inquired they do not blend with the realitone ladies
LOL! I wasn't expecting them too. I was wondering if I even needed them as I had the Realitone ladies and I knew at least one was an operatic soprano. But they are very different. The Realivox Ladies would not replace the Studio Sopranos. Whereas, Mimi and Adey sound like they might fill in a similar space.
 
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