The story
Inspired by mucking about with my ‘TC Helicon Talkbox Synth’ pedal (a second-hand find) I wanted to create a synthesised vocal sound, but (hopefully) with enough life and character to not sound fully synthetic. The mod wheel fades between the two vowel sounds.
Originally I had planned on a slightly more complex instrument but ultimately some things didn’t work out, such as the round robins which somehow ended up being too different to be usable, and it became a matter of diminishing returns. And let’s be honest, I ran out of steam/enthusiasm! But still, I really enjoy how it sounds!
The samples cover every note from midi numbers 45 to 71 (A to B, just over two octaves) and then I’ve artificially extended the range just a tiny bit, down to 36 and up to 72. I’ve indicated this by colour-coding the on-screen keyboard, white and light grey respectively, and then out of range keys are dark grey.
Anyway, thanks so much to everyone on the Pianobook discord server who gave feedback and advice over the course of development. Thanks especially to Sid_B for helping me troubleshoot a loop-point issue and putting me on to Polyphone, which I ended up using to set my loop points when REAPER and Audition were both misbehaving in different ways! And thank You for giving my instrument a go! I hope you enjoy it and find some use for it.
A quick demonstration video
Interface
Reviews for Mechanised Choir
- Sound
- Character
- Playability
- Inspiration
- GUI
Leave a review to let others know what you thought of the instrument!
LOVE the UI as well as the PAK
Wow Tobias - what a great addition to my library. I'd love to know more about the process you used to build the background png. I have just written an ALLELUIA for a choir - I will post it to PB demos once it's complete. Again - would love to know more about the UI BG. let me know if you can - rga@rgaproductions.com
Very Cool
This sample library is really cool, the only things I would like are a larger range and more control over the timbre and shape of the sound, though they are already very good.
Really good, unique choir sound
The intent to be somewhere in between a realistic choir sound and a synthetic or "artificial" one here was IMO a success. For me that's why the value is mostly leaning heavily towards the "ah" sound, but depending on what I'm doing, it might not. It's simply very well done and many thanks for it!
A fun little choir with fantastic UI
I really love the character of this pack, and the UI artwork. It's a simple choir library with plenty of customisability that I could definitely see myself using for some video game ambient music. I'm getting some clicking/crunch noises when using the modwheel to move between the Oh/Ah, which could be a CPU issue depending how efficient dS is in its group-switching. But that is my only fault with the library. Great job Tobias!
Beginning of something great
I don't know what it is about Tobias, but I'm fascinated by his work. First, buzzy bee caught my eye as a creative person making their own analog gear to then make a digital version. THEN came the cedar box instrument with a perfectly imperfect sound. Now the mechanised Choir. Tobias has taken his own voice to create a beautifully artificial instrument. This instrument sounds best while slowly manipulating the center control shifting from "OH" to "AH" and back again. This does make me wish for a LFO, but I don't know if that is possible with DS. Tobias has also created an incredible UI that is impossible to overlook. I love the visual world you are creating. I'm confident that Tobias' profile is going to blow up very soon. You are an brilliantly creative dude and I'm always excited to see your latest creations.
