Best Vocal Choir Vst
Nguyet Edmondson
Hi, is there an app that has a gospel choir type sound on iOS? And ideally other kinds of vocal harmonies too, to give Beach Boys / Beatles sounds. I've seen a few apps for classical choirs, which would be OK, but I just wondered if I'd missed some that do these sounds specifically.
Thanks!
Hi, I ended up getting the World Piano Keyboard Synth by Taqsim, as it is a smaller app size than some of the others and has a good range of choirs as an IAP which only costs 2.50. You can also layer up 3 voices and add some effects. Ideally it would be nice to add vibrato for that gospel sound, but unfortunately that isn't available. However there are tremelo and chorus ones which can get in the right ballpark. Thanks for the help!
@Adamcw89 said:
Hi, I ended up getting the World Piano Keyboard Synth by Taqsim, as it is a smaller app size than some of the others and has a good range of choirs as an IAP which only costs 2.50. You can also layer up 3 voices and add some effects. Ideally it would be nice to add vibrato for that gospel sound, but unfortunately that isn't available. However there are tremelo and chorus ones which can get in the right ballpark. Thanks for the help!
Thanks NeuM, I just checked and it is the correct name, although the one you mention looks very similar, presumably the same choir sounds? And I don't think it is a subscription as far as I can see, on the App store description (it talks about premium membership but I can't see that within the app itself), but I think I bought the choir pack outright and there is no subscription listed on the App store profile. Unless you can see differently?
Cheers, Adam
Thanks, yes it is a bit confusing but seems you can buy them outright or subscription, whichever you prefer. If it isn't too cheeky, if anyone cleverer than me can create a mix of the choir voices and stock effects that is the best gospel choir sound you can get, for 'aahs', 'oohs' or both, please post some screenshots of your settings! I will have a go myself too ?
I tried adding vibrato using an AUv3 effect in my workstation (KeyStage), but it didn't seem to accept effects and refused to work. So I looked again in the app itself, and realised actually using the mod wheel at about halfway gives a very nice vibrato effect on the choirs. You can also add various other effects e.g reverb, chorus, but I don't think they are necessary.
I'm using the 'Blended choir' preset which gives you 'oohs' and 'aahs' depending on the octave you play. And it sounds really quite convincing in a mix! Thanks for the help pointing me in the right direction, hope this helps someone else
Would be nice if Klevgrand or Harry Gohs would create a more refined version of their vocal simulation products. Maybe an MPE player/keyboard which would far more accurately model the human larynx or the sound of choirs, but completely using modeling techniques and no samples.
I agree - there seems to be a gap in the market for a good AUv3 app that specialises in gospel choirs and backing singers suitable for different genres, whether as you suggest as a modelled sound or just good quality samples. It's a classic sound that surely many musicians would like to add to tracks and/or use live.
I have to warm up an amateur SATB choir, and I'd like to do a bit of playing around with solfege. Over the course of the exercises, I'd like have singers go from a low to a high "do," or a whole octave. So, my question is this: what key is best to accommodate the ranges of all singers? (For example, if I were to start on a G, some tenors may not be able to hit the G2 if they wanted to start low and some might not be able to hit a G4 if they wanted to start high.)
The voice parts are designed to overlap but be distinct. You won't find a spot where everyone will be perfectly comfortable - the objective of warmups is to stretch everyone to expand every part's range. If you want to focus on particular keys, exercise the parts in pairs (bass/alto, tenor/soprano).
Remember that the focus of warmups is not to sound pretty or to be comfortable - it is working to stretch the range. You'll never find a happy key for everyone. You can either do male/female octave splits or everyone unison.
A lot of people say that vocal warm-ups are for "warming up the voice" - stretching the vocal muscles, removing excess phlegm, reducing risk of injury, etc., etc. And while that is generally true, I think that warm-ups for choir have a more important role: they provide a chance for us to hone in on teaching vocal technique to our singers.
Every rehearsal, I spend about 15-20 minutes on choral warm-ups (yes, I really do!) addressing various issues in vocal technique that I see and hear from my singers. This helps them build a solid vocal foundation for singing that can then be applied to their music.
Once the body is warm and stretched out, breath is the next thing to work. Breath is critical for singing as it is the "generator" for our instrument so we should strive to always include at least one breathing exercise in our warm-ups.
In layman's terms, I describe phonation as the point which the vocal folds touch and begin to oscillate/vibrate. The challenge with phonation is finding the right amount of pressure. I primarily work with singers to avoid adding too much pressure (which is often the issue). So, I focus on exercises that have a light amount of pressure, just enough for the folds to oscillate.
Resonance is essentially the way we use the space or cavities in our body to mold the sound we produce. You can control the resonance by placing the sound more in your chest, mouth, nasal area, or head, for example. Helping singers explore their various resonance chambers will allow them more control over the sounds they produce, help them with placement across their registers, and give you more options for expression and musicality in your repertoire.
Our vocal articulators include our tongue, teeth, lips, jaw, and soft palate. As singers, we need to work our articulators so that we can not only sing our lyrics but also to help us with correct placement of consonants and vowels. Many exercises listed above will also help with articulation such as lip bubbling/trills or humming.
I don't consider register in its own category since you can work it within several of the categories above. But I always like to include some register exercises so that singers can play within different areas of their voice and try to maintain a consistent sound across their registers.
Tori Cook is the former Director of Sales & Marketing at Chorus Connection, an active board member of the Greater Boston Choral Consortium, and a soprano with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. In a past life, she was the Music Director of the Harborlight Show Chorus and President of Chorus pro-Musica. When not making music, she daydreams about adopting a golden retriever puppy and scuba diving to exotic locations around the world.
There are many simple vocal exercises you can use to warm up your voice, so you have a lot of options when it comes to deciding how to warm up your voice. Fortunately, School of Rock can help you narrow them down. Here are nine of the best vocal warm-ups used by our vocal instructors.
But if you are looking for very specific changes in your voice, or if you have a need for unique musical expression, then singing lessons may be more beneficial to you than joining a choir, at least as your first step. Let me tell you why.
When you take a singing lesson with a good teacher, you enter a magical world that is quite different from that of the choir. Choir experience is about the group in harmonious action together. A singing lesson is about you, and only you.
For instance, my friend who has found that her voice has lost power may find that certain vocal exercises will gradually increase the power in her voice. A voice coach will listen to her singing through various exercises (or songs) to see if there is an imbalance in how she is using her voice.
Is it a problem with the vocal cords themselves? This is something that is tricky to address. If there is damage to her vocal cords, she may need to see a throat doctor and/or commit to a period of vocal rest.