Cantai v3 out today but I must admit I hadn’t expected the Ottetto choir to be out the same day. So inevitably I have to arrange a shootout between SynthV and the new Cantai choir using my Lux Aeterna which has been used before as a comparison piece (for the first time with Cantamus which at one stage was best going but was imho surpassed by the SynthesizerV choirs.
This test is slightly unfair as it is pretty well just Cantai straight out of the box (a couple of obvious dynamics/timing errors near the beginning corrected), whereas SynthV obviously had to to be translated from a Spanish vocal model to Latin which takes a bit of time and Cantai supports Latin natively – and perfectly decently in my view.. But anyway – which do you prefer simply from the point of view of the choir sound?
Cantai Ottetto Box
SynthV Box
I prefer the Ottetto version. This is mostly because I prefer little to no vibrato in most choral works. I will add that the standard choral voices in Cantai have significantly improved except that the male voices, with all things being equal, significantly overpower the female voices. I don’t find that with Ottetto parts.
My next wish is that Cantai, like most VSTs, would have a CC range for volume from 0-127 and associated either with CC11 or the Modulation Knob CC so that we can better match volume with instruments along the entire range of volume. The arbitrary dynamics available often don’t sync well with instrumentation. There is also little bit too much of the increasing volume as pitches rise. I would love to hear Ottetto Sopranos on, for example, a G5 at pianissimo. How divine would that be?
BTW, I like your scoring of Lux Aeterna - very nice, indeed!
Interesting — with the SynthV version, I’ve actually reduced the vibrato by around half so I find there’s little vibrato there. I myself am a bit undecided as to which is better – SynthV is more refined but Cantai has a bit more character. And you’re right about the original choral voices – they sound quite different than before (previously completely unusable in my view) and a good deal better, though still somewhat rough and ready.
As the dynamics, well yes they remain rather rudimentary. One problem is that they only behave as velocity meaning gradual control over a note is impossible which can be pretty problematical for long sustained notes in polyphonic choral music . I’ve pointed out myself that dynamics tend to rise and fall with pitch which is fine as a general rule but not always what is actually required. But to some extent you can compensate with judicious adjustments in the key editor.
Glad you liked the Lux Aeterna – it’s my favourite part of my Requiem, I think!
Nice writing! I think I like Cantai a bit more but they are different tastes. Synth V sounds a bit more direct or closer but Cantai a bit more smooth. Synthesizer V you still have to import xml instead of playing directly from the part as Cantai does, don’t you? That workflow is so much easier.
taking the Requiem as a whole, I do prefer Cantai. I also like the fact the full choir can be swapped in for the Dies Irae which needs a bit more heft (and works far better than in the previous incarnation). Curiously in the Lux Aeterna, there’s little to choose for me – they both have their strengths. Actually I lied about that being my favourite part – its really the Recordare which forms the heart of the piece.
And incidentally, if anyone would like and has time to hear the entire Requiem, I’ve posted it here for the time being. At the moment the version on Reelcrafter is still using SynthV but this is likely to be updated quite soon.
thanks! At least we can probably agree that Cantai is doing a remarkably good job, although there are a few things to be sorted out (hissing snakes, dynamic imbalances, occasional bizarre lack of timing synch between the two voices in each part) but I’m sure they’ll be dealt with in time.