# Choral Composition for 5 Voices



## mediumaevum (Mar 24, 2011)

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https://soundcloud.com/mediumaevum-artist%2Fchoral-for-5-voices

I've composed this piece, and I'd like to share it with you. Enjoy - any feedback is appreciated.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

Very evocative, moving too. I do have one criticism though. The music is too reliant on phrase lengths that are the same imo. It would have been a better listen for me if you had extended a phrase or two beyond the 2 bar length and got away a little from the regularity.
Having said that, the regular phrase lengths do aid comprehension, especially in a ritualistic sense and as such, works well with your music, I'd just prefer some slight variation myself.


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## mediumaevum (Mar 24, 2011)

mikeh375 said:


> Very evocative, moving too. I do have one criticism though. The music is too reliant on phrase lengths that are the same imo. It would have been a better listen for me if you had extended a phrase or two beyond the 2 bar length and got away a little from the regularity.
> Having said that, the regular phrase lengths do aid comprehension, especially in a ritualistic sense and as such, works well with your music, I'd just prefer some slight variation myself.


Thanks for the critique. Unfortunately the sample library don't allow me to lengthen the phrases, but I've composed a new piece where the phrases might be better. Also with more dynamics.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

So are these phrases pre-recorded? The track above still suffers from the same phrase predictability to my ears, but ymmv obviously. If they are sampled phrases, then you are stuck with them I guess and if they are indeed sampled I'm not sure I'd call what you've done composition, maybe more like digital compositing or simply editing. I know how easy it is to just compile pre -recorded slices of audio in a DAW on an arrange page and so forgive my cynicism.


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## mediumaevum (Mar 24, 2011)

mikeh375 said:


> So are these phrases pre-recorded? The track above still suffers from the same phrase predictability to my ears, but ymmv obviously. If they are sampled phrases, then you are stuck with them I guess and if they are indeed sampled I'm not sure I'd call what you've done composition, maybe more like digital compositing or simply editing. I know how easy it is to just compile pre -recorded slices of audio in a DAW on an arrange page and so forgive my cynicism.


I composed the melodic and harmonic stuff. Not the text/lyrics, the lyrics is pre-determined.

The length of each note is predetermined. It has a certain length, but I am still 100 % free to compose my own melodic and harmonic stuff within that length, so to speak.

However, the library also comes with Sustains and Legato patches, where I have 100 % control of the length of each note, it's just that I can't have lyrics then, unless I combine the different patches. I might try that for future composition with that library (8Dio Silka).


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

Have you seen the Wordbuilder feature used with EastWest's Hollywood Choirs? It's not perfect, but it does allow you to create your own text and play it back. It's not perfect, but it can give one an impression. More importantly imv, is that the changing vowels and consonants can add considerably to the realism.


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## mediumaevum (Mar 24, 2011)

mikeh375 said:


> Have you seen the Wordbuilder feature used with EastWest's Hollywood Choirs? It's not perfect, but it does allow you to create your own text and play it back. It's not perfect, but it can give one an impression. More importantly imv, is that the changing vowels and consonants can add considerably to the realism.


I don't think I can afford it.
Any choir with a fully customizable word builder is very expensive.


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## pkoi (Jun 10, 2017)

I think both of your examples sound very beautiful and meditative. As mikeh375 pointed out, the usage of samples with pre-determined lyrics and phrase lengths will limit your possibilities quite a lot. Have you considered giving up using samples altogether and recording your choral stuff yourself? When I write for choir, I usually create mockups of my choral compositions with me singing all the parts. This usually attracts the interest of choir-conductors much more than just a written score with a midi mockup (assuming you want your pieces performed by an actual choir). Naturally my voice range is limited and I can effectively cover only the bass-tenor-range. In a male choir piece this is not a problem, but in SATB-setting I usually do the following: I record the male voices normally. Then in higher registers I use some vst-choirs and record myself singing those parts, if possible, a few semitones lower. Then I transpose those parts to their actual range and blend them with the synthetic choir. I often use a bit of Melodyne to fix the imperfections in very high or very low registers. The result is by no means perfect but it is, in my opinion, sounding often better than just a vst-choir, and it also gives you practically limitless freedom to write any kind of choir-texture you want. You can also record lyrics to just one of the stems and use samples on the rest.

The other choice is to write mockups of your pieces fully fitted to your vocal range but provide the potential choir a score with the actual registers.

And naturally you can also ask someone else to record them for you. If you don't know anyone who would do this, I imagine you could find someone to do it via fiverr or other similar services for a relatively low price.


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## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

mediumaevum said:


> I don't think I can afford it.
> Any choir with a fully customizable word builder is very expensive.


There are some in-between, such as Dominus from Fluffy Audio, where you get a bunch of phonemes you can glue together to pre-determined words and trigger them with key switches. It's still maybe too expensive at over $400 USD, although cheaper than the 8Dio product you are using.

EW Hollywood Choirs are currently on discount it seems - $239.60 USD for the diamond edition.


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