I’m disappointed in what happened to Rigoletto. Not the same as before.
Agree.
not the same no. Less vibrato which is what Cantai - in my view correctly – is aiming at. Perhaps a little resonanace is lost but so far, wouldn’t say it’s in general a retrograde step.
Most of us have our own idea of what sounds best in a solo voice or even a choral voice. The more options that we have to control those sounds via the interface, the more successful Cantai is likely to be. I think it would also be helpful to have a standalone interface much like Garritan uses Aria and Steinberg uses Halion Sonic.
This would allow us to easily sample different voices and, potentially, different settings like vibrato presence, vibrato depth, etc. We have a bit of a preview of such things with some voices that have the same singer with different characteristics already in Cantai.
There is much opportunity to create a Cantai with an interface that could rival most any other sound library.
well, quite. And of course the ability to configure the voice to a large degree is what currently sets SynthV apart from Cantai. However I think at its best, Cantai has more individualised and expressive voices so has an increasingly ever more promising starting point.
Incidentally, the reduction of vibrato seems to be quite widespread among the voices in the latest iteration - one where it’s particularly noticeable is Maria. Because tastes and the requirements of the music vary, the ability to change the vibrato level would be one of the first things 'd like to see configurable in Cantai.
it’s interesting to see what has happened to Hannah incidentally - my favourite voice by some distance. The expressiveness has been boosted to almost hysteria levels which can be very moving but one or two odd swoops have crept in which weren’t there before. As Hannah was one of the newer voices, there wasn’t that much vibrato to begin with so that’s not an area one sees much change.
My conclusion after 4 hours of testing:
BRAVO!
Pro
- Fantastic idea
- Super easy to use
- Fascinating result
Major-Con:
- The bass voices are definitely not bass voices, but tenors. They need a major (sound) update
- When the voices have different rhythms, problems can occur
- The dynamics need a major update
The fact that not all languages are available yet, no divisi is possible, or that rendering takes some time and some other minor issues: no problem. That’s perfectly normal at this stage of development.
I can’t say anything about audio export, as I haven’t tried it.
Back to Noteperformer 4.5 — but in about 6 months I’ll definitely be back with CANTAI 
Agreed, Kent!
The ability for us to set these in the same way as we do with other articulations would be very useful
Indeed.
BTW, does anyone know whether this is correct, please?
And how to categorize according to voice ‘type’?
David,
Richard has said all along that this was the aim. After all, vibrato is really an ‘effect’ less than two centuries old!
Yes please!
Ottetto: first listen
A while back I shared that I’m building Ottetto, a chamber choir inside Cantai: eight voices, SSAATTBB, one singer to a part, the sound of a small world-class vocal ensemble.
Now you can hear it. This is a first listen, with a work-in-progress roster and mix, so treat it as a glimpse rather than the finished thing. In the demo all eight voices are split out. At release you’ll be able to group them however you write, most often two parts split male and female, or four, or the full octet.
Ottetto arrives July 2026 for Sibelius, MuseScore Studio, and Dorico, and it’s included with every Cantai license, nothing more to buy.
I had a listen and it sounds really promising!
“Now we are talking” (I mean singing). Yes, it does sound more than promising.
Very nice! Please fix the scoopy, droopy pitches of the current Dorico release, though, before releasing this ensemble. It would be very disappointing otherwise.
Sounds great — looking forward to it!
— Jim
We’re working on it!
Excellent!
I suspect Richard knows what the voice was of the singers he recorded! Anyway, the category is baritone/bass which is probably accurate although really low bass notes below around G are problematic – get the impression they may not have been sampled. Certainly a proper basso profundo would be useful.. As I said previously, it’s great to finally see a real tenor in Maxwell who is genuinely useable in a classical context.
And the Ottetto is indeed promising – in the recording the bass is too boomy and prominent but of course things like that can be adjusted and it’s only a preview as stands..
The singer list is in constant flux. The roster shown here is made up mostly of temporary voices I contracted so that I’d have something available while I worked on building the official roster (which can be previewed here: https://youtu.be/hRNeMV5O37s). Some of the singers will remain, but most will be replaced with bespoke singers.
Good to know. Hoping to see the “real” voices soon! (Not rushing you! 
)