Nine Hymns on Spiritual Life

[Jerry Gerber]

I usually don't post pieces that don't employ any VSL instruments, but this collection of hymns does employ VSL instruments in a few of them. The choir is from East West and uses the word builder.

Nine Hymns on Spiritual Life

Jerry

www.jerrygerber.com

[Jos Wylin]

Hi Jerry,

With growing amazement I listened to the complete series of pieces. The choir expression and setting of the lyrics is absolutely great. (Thanks to the added scores, I was able to 'understand' what was sung - the syllables and words are sometimes a bit 'funny' and don't actually pronounce what is written). This is a great realisation, despite the limits of the virtual choir. If I would have to choose one piece, it would definitely be "It's Always Worse At Night". Such a delicate balance between text and orchestra, creating in a distinct way the right atmosphere. Really masterful!

Thanks for sharing and I do hope that other members will have the courage to listen through all the pieces. It's more than worth it!

Jos

[Jerry Gerber]

@Jos Wylin said:

Hi Jerry,

With growing amazement I listened to the complete series of pieces. The choir expression and setting of the lyrics is absolutely great. (Thanks to the added scores, I was able to 'understand' what was sung - the syllables and words are sometimes a bit 'funny' and don't actually pronounce what is written). This is a great realisation, despite the limits of the virtual choir. If I would have to choose one piece, it would definitely be "It's Always Worse At Night". Such a delicate balance between text and orchestra, creating in a distinct way the right atmosphere. Really masterful!

Thanks for sharing and I do hope that other members will have the courage to listen through all the pieces. It's more than worth it!

Jos

Hey Jos, Thanks for listening and commenting.  Does anyone else around here use the "Hollywood Choirs" by East West?  I am curious as to how others feel about the word builder.  It's not bad, but, like you say, the pronunciations can be problematic.  On the other hand, I've never heard a live choir in a church where I could understand the words if I either didn't know them by heart or have them written down in front of me.

I doubt East West is going to improve upon this word builder.  I am really hoping another company builds upon what East West has done and make the 3rd generation of word building choir software even better.

Glad you enjoyed the hymns!

Jerry

[Jos Wylin]

You're right, Jerry, about understanding the words of a church choir. But with the digital means we dispose of nowadays, this must be better. I remember hearing a virtual (word) choir somewhere (the Praag Choir?) with pretty decent pronunciation. I'm not sure about the company and where and when I've heard this. It must be some 4 years ago... Anyway, it's worth the while to look for a good choir. For now, I'm satisfied with the Vienna choir and solos, together with the Kontakt choir (syllables).

Jos