Voices of Israel – Music Tech - April 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
The human voice is undoubtedly one of the most emotional and evocative of all the instruments in a composer’s arsenal, but it is also one that no amount of technology can re-create – and hiring a session singer or two can be an expensive business. Luckily, we have companies such as Sonokinetic which has built up a reputation for creating libraries of unique ethnic vocal performances. The company’s latest, Voices of Israel, is no exception.
The pack is available as a download and expands to 1.6GB of 24-bit/96kHz audio plus five instrument patches for Kontakt 4.1. In theory you could import the raw audio into your sampler of choice, but seeing as there are more than 200 samples involved, we wouldn’t recommend it.
The collection is essentially divided into five parts: chants, Western improves, five poems, seven songs and a collection of whispers and shouts that are all beautifully performed in the traditional Sephardic Jewish style by singer Hadass Pal Yarden. Also included are PDFs with English translations of the texts and some info on the historical background of the music. Each section is presented in phrases that are spread across the keyboard, with additional keyswitch keys that enable you to jump between a couple of different tempos, add in breath sounds, change the pitch up or down one semitone or add in an ending phrase. Other controls on the simple custom Kontakt GUI include two envelope knobs, a breath control knob and a section to control the four included Synagogue convolution reverbs.
There are plenty of very usable melodic phrases here that could easily be layered into a film score to instantly create a feeling of ancient Jewish tradition or added to a track to give a unique ethnic flavour. The poems and spoken whispers are also an interesting extra, although how useful they actually are will depend on your project.
Given that some of the songs are naturally sung free-time, Sonokinetic has done a good job of capturing the phrases in sample-instrument form. This is a unique and beautifully recorded library and we look forward to hearing more in the series, possibly with male singers or groups.
Verdict: Beautifully recorded and incredibly evocative Jewish vocals that are perfect for film and media composers or producers looking to add an ethnic edge.
Rating: 9/10
Click here for more details about Voices of Israel
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