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Choirs on Sale everywhere!

So I came on tonight to see if I could get some advice on the NI choir sale that is currently on... and have just seen that now 8Dio have a flash sale on their choirs too.

Initially, I was going to ask:

The only dedicated choral library that I have is Dominus, although I do have Metropolis Arc 1 and 2 which have some choral stuff, and also the libraries that come with Komplete and so I have been looking for a while to expand. I also have mosaic voices but I'm not sure I'd put that in the same category.

I have a limited budget (£200) so was looking at maybe either the Soundiron bundle sale that NI are running, but am very tempted by the Genesis children's Choir from Audiobro that is also on the NI site - as from what I've heard this sounds really great.

But now the 8Dio sale has really put a bit of a spanner in the works. I mean, do I take advantage of the great price for one of their libraries and leave the NI sale alone?? Dilemma!

I recognise that each library has a different feel/use/sound etc but just want to make sure I get the best bang for buck at the moment as I'm pretty sure these prices won't come along again for a while.

Thanks for your help and advice...
 
You didn't cite Voxos, that is in your price range and also includes a boy choir (aah-uuh only). I suggest to check it, if it is a versatile choir that you are looking for.

Paolo
 
You didn't cite Voxos, that is in your price range and also includes a boy choir (aah-uuh only). I suggest to check it, if it is a versatile choir that you are looking for.

Paolo

Thanks - will check it out - it is slightly over budget at 250 but I can see the appeal...
 
Do you want adults or children? The good news is that 8Dios stuff will be on sale again at some point. They are always having a sale. So really, I would just look at the NI sale for now, if you have a limited budget. Though if you really want a choir of adults, maybe 8Dio is what you want. The Soundiron is mostly soloists with a limited but good choir. Probably will work well with what you have.
 
Let me add that the Ark 1+2 choirs are good ... and I'm wondering if anyone can give insight how Insolidus/Lacrimosa compare against Viktoria/Aarauer (Ark1) and/or Calandrelli/Breitenstein (Ark2).

Equally important question: how does Genesis (NI sale) compare against Lichterfelder (Ark 2 Children Choir)? I know that structurally they are different (4 vocal sets in Genesis ... which I suppose could be compared against 4 instances of Lichterfelder, and Lichterfelder has no phrase building) so I'm wondering about sonic comparison and legato transitions.
 
I just picked up Genesis as well (plus 5 others on sale). I'd wholeheartedly recommend Genesis based on my early impressions. The sound is just beautiful and feature-wise it seems quite flexible and with a straight-forward, uncluttered UI.

If I had to do it over and could only pick one it would be Genesis for sure.
 
You can see my dilemma!

I certainly want a children’s choir at some point so as budget is limited probably going to go for Liberis and Requiem Pro.

But then a lot of you have intimated here that the 8dio sales come along quite regularly and then in which case maybe I should bide my time on 8dio and instead spend the money on either Genesis or the soundiron bundle - but it would be less library for my buck with that option.
 
A quick listen to Requiem Lite tells me it is a really nice choir. You might not need Pro with it. It doesn't have a children's choir in the bundle but the bundle is very usable if it is something you want. If you don't need the rest, you can wait for a Soundiron sale for just the lite version.
 
You can see my dilemma!

I certainly want a children’s choir at some point so as budget is limited probably going to go for Liberis and Requiem Pro.

But then a lot of you have intimated here that the 8dio sales come along quite regularly and then in which case maybe I should bide my time on 8dio and instead spend the money on either Genesis or the soundiron bundle - but it would be less library for my buck with that option.
Yes, 8DIO have sales all the time. Audiobro don't. So Genesis is probably your best deal as far as the Native Instruments offer goes.
 
for lesser choir requirements, Requiem Light seems pretty nice.

especially with the bundle price - and other instruments.

i have the Arks, so might be a nice compliment.
 
In the end I went for Liberis and Requiem Pro. I will probably regret not picking up genesis at some point but budget was tight and I figured this was the best - a full choir and a children’s choir, all for less than the £200 budget.
 
How are you liking it?

I know you didn't ask me, and I've only had the chance to mess around with the longs and legatos (and not write anything with it) and can say it is absolutely gorgeous. Also, while I've never been drawn by libraries that do auto-divisi stuff (I never play stuff in) I had thought I wouldn't care. But it feels almost magical doing it. So for figuring things out etc the auto-divisi thing is amazing. The sound seems amazing, and consistent etc.
 
How are you liking it?
I am currently looking for good S-A-T-B voices to mockup lively (short syllable) 4-part singing for a regional choir. Genesis looks promising for the Sopranos and Altos (although the choir in question is not a childrens choir).

I have an odd assortment of Choir instruments that I've assembled willy-nilly, namely:
- Native Instruments choir
- Embertone Ancient Voices (free)
- Spitfire Labs Choir
- SoundIron
+ Requiem Light
+ Mercury Elements and Mercury Micro
+ Olympus Elements and Olympus Choir Micro
+ Voices of Gaia
+ Voices of Rage
- Orch Tools Ark I and II choirs
- VSL Special Edition 4 Choir
- Genesis

I know you are mainly interested in Genesis (as am I) - but I am almost done analyzing how all these choirs can be used for S-A-T-B. [Some of them are clearly intended for other uses] When done (shortly) I will post the results. Genesis is a complex product ... not sure I will be able to test everything this go round ... but I can tell you already it sounds gorgeous.
 
To summarize my very specific investigation, for mocking up S-A-T-B choral music singing lively 4-part music (thus requiring short syllables), given my odd assortment of libraries, my favorites are:

- Genesis
- Ark II choirs
- Ark I choirs
- SoundIron Requiem Light

I will echo the comments of @ILikeMusic - I don't play music in (in fact I use Sibelius instead of a DAW), but sitting at the keyboard and letting the auto-divisi kick in is a delight.

Here are some results from the above libraries singing the S-A lines below. I've removed reverb, used close mics and short voices as much as possible to increase intelligibility, but keep in mind that the syllables are generally random round-robins .. I did not actually construct phrases, as some of the libraries allow. In all cases, the utterances do not correspond at all to the lyrics. In my view, all of these libraries have merit.

1566590887003.png



1. Genesis Sopranos (girls & boys) + Genesis Altos (girls & boys) - as shown in the score fragment above; there is much more to experiment with here



2. Ark II Children Legato - no syllables here, but good legato



3. Ark II Children Sustain - for comparison; no syllables



4. Ark II Calandrelli Women Marcato - with the OT Ark libraries, the Marcato and Staccato voices give the largest set of syllables. For this one, because I thought the 2nd half of the randomly generated phrase was a bit murky, I appended another 2nd half. Presumably I can control these.



5. Ark I Viktoria Women Short Marcato



6. Requiem Light Ensemble Phrasemaker - the ensemble instruments cut between men and women within the middle range

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1PovQQDvttjfx4curDV2G5Z03Bsq1k5rM

Hope this is helpful for those who care about syllables. Anyone who has further experience with syllables and phrases, please chime in. I'm going to attempt some phrasemaking next. I will summarize my impressions of my other choir libraries as well.
 
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