REVIEW QUOTES
The
deliveries comprise a choice of simple and evolving vowel sounds, short
ultra-breathy 'ahs', hums, crescendos and drifting-pitch sustains (good for
spooky cluster chords). All in all, a very varied and colourful 7.3GB collection
of expressive, finely performed and beautifully recorded solo female vocal
performances, all patiently waiting their chance to make it onto the soundtrack
of Gladiator 2 ('just when you thought it was safe to go back into the arena'). -
SOUND ON SOUND
Wow! Well,
that's the short-form review. To elaborate, these are superbly-recorded "ethnic"
samples from Bulgaria, Syria, India, Wales (think Enya), and America (which tend
toward more multisampled notes rather than idiosyncratic phrases). They play
back through EastWest's Play engine (32/64-bit, Windows/Mac, ASIO/Core Audio,
VST/AU/RTAS) which itself is pretty cool, with convolution reverb, delay,
artificial double tracking (chorus), amplitude envelope, and lowpass filter.
There are also interesting tricks, like assigning mod wheel to sample start
point—start anywhere within a phrase. Another is you can use the left, right, or
both channels of a vocal (different channels use different mics) but if you use
only one, you can synthesize a stereo spread. The Welsh vocal "phrase generator"
is cool, too. Although initially it seems there are only a handful of presets,
the "master" ones use keyswitching to access multiple articulations. There are
also presets with individual articulations, and some with true legato. Print out
the PDF manual—lots of options are hidden in those presets. While obviously
geared for video and movies, the vocals are great for replacing that clichéd
diva sound used in a lot of trance music, as well as for any kind of chill.
Three words: Evocative, fascinating, and unique. Oh, and add "wow," too. —
EQ MAGAZINE
I almost
jumped out of my seat the first time I instantiated this library and played a
note. That's how much personality these performances capture. The amount of
attitude is in fact the strength of VOP and, in a sense, its limitation. Female
singers from America, Bulgaria, Syria, and Wales were tracked, and EW made some
very interesting decisions. Instead of performing actual words, the Syrian
ladies, for example, intone a series of pitched phrases that "sound" real - at
least to Western ears. The same holds true for the Indian and Bulgarian singers.
Load the Bulgarian Master patch, for example, and you're presented with a series
of chromatically pitched phrases that you can switch between. The mod wheel is
critical to the execution of convincing performances. It filters the sounds and
adds a great deal of nuance to them. All of the sample sets in this library have
convincing legato and portamento, and they highlight the beauty of PLAY's DSP.
In fact, there seems to be a lot going on underneath the PLAY hood, and the
result - across the libraries - is, in part, a gorgeous set of legato
transitions. - MIX
Voices of
Passion contains samples of five really good solo female singers from around the
world: Syria, India, Bulgaria, Wales, and America. The library contains a large
variety of sounds and you can use it in many ways, but in general it's very
emotional and sets a mood…as the name implies. Like the other libraries in this
review, the recordings and performances are terrific. The passionate voices are
recorded with different mics in each channel, so you can choose between thicker
and brighter sounds. Normally you'd use the default, which is a stereo mixture
of the two going through a rich PLAY convolution reverb that's mixed in very
wet. The Indian and Syrian instruments are phrases—lots of them mapped to
different notes in different keys (triggered by keyswitches). You can make the
phrases start later with the mod wheel for more variety. Both these singers are
remarkable—true virtuosos. Unlike the Indian and Syrian singers, the Welsh and
American ones can be played like Western instruments—they have actual notes on
the keyboard rather than phrases. Even though the singers cover a considerable
range of sounds, the American and especially Welsh singers lean toward the
breathy, ethereal side. Finally, the Bulgarian singer is in between: she sings
mostly slow-moving phrases on one note. It's very effective to play her
polyphonically, because these independently moving vocalizations—not words—sound
like a small group of women on independent lines. In general the programming
makes Voices of Passion easy to play, which seems to be EastWest's overall
philosophy these days. My hunch is that this library will be especially popular
among composers who do a lot of scoring. It's pure emotion in a box. -
VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT MAGAZINE
VOICES OF
PASSION is a tool designed to use
vocal samples as the foundation for creating new instruments, and includes
female vocals from Wales, Syria, India, Bulgaria and America. It includes
ethereal, passionate, flowing, mysterious, wailing and whispering vocals for
Film, TV and Game composers as well as songwriters, new age artists and zen
horticulturists. Altos and Sopranos. VOICES OF PASSION is not designed to
replace a live singer in your studio.
VOICES OF
PASSION features 5 stunning
female artists singing vowels, words, morphing vowels, effects, phrases, calls,
whispers and breath noises. This is the first virtual instrument created
specifically for use in the film/TV/game genre. This is also the first virtual
instrument or sample library created specifically for use in ambient or new age
music.
VOICES OF
PASSION is the first virtual
instrument to feature true legato intervals (American and Wales only). The
Middle Eastern and Indian phrases are presented in a construction kit format
allowing users to create very long consistent performances. Mod-wheel controls
entry point on ethnic phrases.
QUICK FACTS:
Produced by NICK
PHOENIX
Over 7 GBs of vocals
Female Vocalists from Wales, Syria, India, Bulgaria and America
All singers recorded with great attention paid towards pitch
Oo, oh and ah true legato intervals (American and Wales only)
Over 1000 ethnic phrases with a great deal of passion
Phrase generator for Welsh vocals
Expressive samples, non vibrato, delayed vibrato
Ethereal style, breathy vocals
New Age vocal performances, staccato and swells
PLAY features allow for very quick and intuitive sound loading and organization
All singers recorded with a Telefunken Elam 251 and a RCA 44 ribbon mic for
tonal variation