EastWest – Voices Of The Empire $399

EastWest’s latest addition to the impressive Composer Cloud subscription service is Voices Of The Empire, based on the singing of, LA-based Mongolian, Úyanga Bold. This collection consists of 84 ‘instruments’ across various categories familiar to any regular EastWest user. The Sustains are a good starting point, with various forms of vibrato and non-vibrato melismas, slurs and held notes. The Legato section attempts to connect notes realistically, for more fluid phrasing, and comes in ‘traditional’ and Mongolian styles. While these largely work well, they do reveal one of the problems with this kind of library: it’s hard to distil the unique sound of a singer like this and make a fully realistic, playable, entity without removing some soul. Within a full music mix the ‘joins’ can be made almost invisible. However, a more elaborate host engine, customised to the specific nature of the audio content, might make the task simpler. The Combo and Keyswitch instruments, employing multiple articulations (under velocity, mod wheel or key control) make this easier, and the Phrases are great standalone improvised elements.

Overall, this 15GB collection should appeal to anyone writing for film and TV, as the starting point for some experimental electronica or dance. Although pricey as a standalone, for those already signed-up to Composer Cloud this is a great (free) addition to complement the more formal Hollywood Choirs.

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VERDICT 7.8