Elektravox
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The CD is broken down into
16 section - Synthetic Voice & Choir, PCM Voice & Choir, Synthetic Vox
Layer, Humanic Voice, Classical Voice, Vox Scene, Repeat Vox, Vox Loop, Vocal
Phrase, Toons, Vox FX, Computer Voice, Voice Percussion, Human Detail, Vox Environs
& XXL Vox.
Synthetic Voice &
Choir (101) - The collection starts with a whole range of vocal pad and sustained
patches. We're immediately started off with the flavour of the whole collection
- vocal, but not really - a variety of vaguely human/pad like oooh's and aaaarhs,
with varying amounts of breathiness, and variety in pitch and timbre. Some you
would be hard pressed to think have any kind of human touch others quite distinctly
so. All though sound very synthetic, a little thin in isolation, yet with just
that ring of humanity to them. Very nice range here, in need of a little reverb
(this has deliberately been kept to a minimum throughout the collection), to
produce some rich chords, but overall very good indeed.
PCM Voice & Choir
(40) - Not dissimilar from the Synthetic Voice section above, we have more vocal
pad samples here, perhaps a touch smoother and human sounding, though still only
just. Some excellent chords can be produced from some of these, "Harmo Voice"
being my favourite here, a deep rich, powerful pad.
Synthetic Voice Layer
(66) - Whole range of more complex, evolving pads in this section, some of which
are only "Vocal" in the most tenuous of ways. Perhaps the pick of the
whole collection. There are many complex sounds here, from delicate shimmers,
to big powerful walls of sound. Unashamedly digital in nature, there are a few
"Glass" and "Ice" type patches, not to mention "Soundtrack"
like string samples, plus more of the synthetic oooh's, hurrr's and aaaarh's.
Humanic Voice (46)
- Much more human sounding samples here, though processed beyond any real recognition.
Sort of, is that a human voice distorted, or a synthetic voice making a human
sound. Less musical than the previous sections ideal for producing weird effects
or unusual elements to a track, ever need a manic Glisando, or "Mad Voice",
then they're here. If you've ever heard anything by the Art of Noise then you'd
have heard a few things like these. Very good.
Classical Voice (10)
- Not entirely dissimilar from the Humanic Voices except sourced from more operatic
type voices, ideal for a "Pavarotti" pad effect.
Vox Chord (23) -
Nice collection of nice thick rich chord sounds, some again with only the vaguest
of vocal origins, but great pad sounds nonetheless
Vox Scene
(8) - Although as loops these are hardly recognisable as such, more looped soundscapes,
difficult to describe really, synth pad like structures with voice overlay, the
effect of which varies quite dramatically as you move up or down in pitch. The
Trance Whistler sample is my pick of the collection, a quiet string synth patch
over layered with a deep distorted voice and distant whistle effect. Excellent
Repeat Vox (5) -
Quite a simple vocal effect is repeated, with some alteration over the length
of the sample, for example panning around the stereo spectrum. Not terribly inspiring
I must say, but only a few samples.
Vox Loop (84) - Here
the producers have taken synth, percussive and voice elements and produced a
series of distinctive loops, there are basically 21 loops with a number of variations
or elements of them making up the balance. BPM's range from 90-175.
There are certainly some
original and unusual ideas being used here, replacing traditional loop elements
with a variety of vocal effects. Some are quite complete loops while others would
be better suited as layers in a more orthodox loop as a "top loop"
to produce an original twist to a loop. There are some quite clever programming
involved here with some original sounds and ideas, some of the loops are a little
abstract but an interesting collection nonetheless.
Vocal Phrase (146)
- And we were going so well too....have to report that there are a couple of
samples here that are quite a distinctive "Give it to me louder" and
"You've got to move your feet".... Suppose we can allow the producers
that one small slip into cliché land ! Otherwise we have a whole range
of short vocal snippets or phrases, processed in one way or another to produce
a variety of effects, from distorted to vocoded with a few steps in-between for
good measure.
Toons (63) - Squeaky
cartoon voices the order of the day in this section, a variety of pitch shifted
and distorted effects to produce your best Mickey Mouse or Daffy Duck impressions.
Maybe ideal for adding a spot effect or unusual element to a loop.
Vox FX (17) - A small
selection of off the wall effects here, shouts, big cavernous voices and deep
breaths, couple of really nice little elements in here, quite catchy.
Computer Voice (85)
- There was just no way there wouldn't be a Kraftwerk like, robotic voice section
would there ?, so we have duly robotic renditions of numbers, letters and little
phrases here, not bad, though perhaps a little more distorted than the original
thing.
Voice Percussion
(89) - Not surprisingly a wide variety of short vocal snippets processed to produce
percussive effects. Quite a lot of nice elements here, if your into making your
own loops up there may well be material in here that you would want to use to
create something just a little different.
Human Detail (27)
- Assorted coughs, sneezes, scratches and so forth, just in case you've ever
wanted to construct a loop out of such things, certainly different !
Vox Environs (33)
- Mmmm, if you want to create a synthetic rendition of a crowded room or perhaps
an audio track to accompany "The Scream" then this is the material
you'll need. Weird vocal snippets, chopped up and distorted. Difficult to come
up with a musical context for some of these but multimedia or soundtrack creators
may well love them.
XXL Vox (2) - Just
a couple of nice powerful effects to round out the collection
Summary
& Overall...

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