Voices of War: Men of the North v1.1 KONTAKT
3.59 Gb
Voices of War: Men of the North is a low-voiced male choir that covers all things “Vikings.” It features a wide collection of ambience, atmosphere, drone, pad, legato, word-building and texture patches recorded at the legendary MGM Scoring Stage in Los Angeles.
ABOUT THE LIBRARY
As the “swords and sandals / dragon” genre continues to dominate globally in television, video games, and film, composers must be continually armed with the appropriate colored samples to score these scenes.
Ancient Norse Singing At The MGM Scoring Stage
We had the assistance of a linguist fluent in Old Norse – the legendary native tongue of the Vikings. The library’s vocabulary features sets of words pertaining to war, nature, and the gods – a true departure from the faux Latin based words featured in most word builders.
The dense early reflections of the Sony Scoring Stage smooth the transients, blending the tone in its signature dark and transparent tone. A set of full spectrum “enhanced” stereo mixes are included to achieve that familiar cinematic sound without the need for third party processing. You will find Voices of War to be a very “blendy” library.
An Ambient Tribal/Cinematic Color (Not Operatic)
Contrary to Voxos, Men of the North dials in a specific style of a half-voiced (sotto/mezzo voce), reserved style of cinematic singing. Special attention was paid to getting a true blended tone, perfect for pads and drones but also capable of carrying a word-based melody at a strong mezzo forte. The library excels with the modwheel set around 50-75 where holding a simple unison or fifth provides enough color to simply be its own cue. The color of the choir never formally opens up enough to be considered classical. It maintains its carefully chosen quasi-warrior (non-professional singer) tone perfect for this style.
The ensemble was a group of extended range baritones (additional range coverage for throat “quasi Tuvan” and falsetto patches).
Men of The North is a must have for video game composers. We set up the unique KU100 head-shaped microphone, affectionately known as “Fritz,” directly in the middle of the choir with singers set around it in a semicircle. The unique binaural capabilities of the KU100 combined with a set of headphones immerses the listener in a true 360º perspective that simulates the human listening experience. Perfect for interactive video game audio engines and perspective/distance based listening.
ARTICULATIONS
Select from the menu of patches on the PRESETS page to change all parameters. You may scroll through the various articulations in the center of the shield from a master patch, or use the keyswitches to change the basic articulations.
“Ooo” & “Ahh” Sustains and Legato
True monophonic legato “Ooos” and “Ahhs”. Use the BLEND knob (CC2) to morph between “Ooo” and “Ahh”. For legato, try setting the SAMPLE START knob around -120, then setting your DAW’s Track Delay to -120ms.
Vowel Morphs
The vowel morphs were recorded as morphs without scripting – the vocalists modified their voices live on the stage.
Fourths & Fifths
The Fourths & Fifths were actually recorded as divisi harmonies on the scoring stage.
Pitch Morph
Use the BLEND knob (CC2) to crossfade between in-tune and out-of-tune for the Pitch Morph articulation.
Whispers
Use the BLEND knob (CC2) to adjust the ‘chaos’ of the whispers.
Falsetto Morphs
Use the BLEND knob (CC2) to adjust the vowel timbre in this extended range patch.
A Collection of Other Function Patches:
Other useful patches that many libraries ignore are included: Low Throat Drones, Pitchless Drones, Whisper Loops and more.
Voices of War: Men of the North has 4 essential mixes:
- Tight – a standard, straightforward, shapeable mix that allows the user to place the choir into any mix setting with simple modification.
- Dragonborne – a “finished,” dark, distant mix that lends itself to cinematic settings.
- Head – Neumann’s binaural KU100 microphone without any processing. Perfect for video game composers, this mix is especially tasty with headphones.
- Full Spectrum – a “finished,” panoramically wide mix that richly fills the stereo spectrum.
Requires Kontakt 5.6.8 and above.
Demo Preview: