Mervyn Warren Choir

Name: Mervyn Warren Choir
Price: 399 USD
Author: Spitfire Audio

by Spitfire Audio · Instrument · Gospel and soul choir library

Not rated yet

A choir library produced by five-time Grammy winner Mervyn Warren, recorded with 20 singers at Evergreen Studios in Los Angeles.

It has 21 vocal techniques, a body percussion kit and three mic signals in Spitfire's own plugin, for $399.

Best for: Vocals, Acoustic Instruments, Sound Design. Genres: R&B & Soul, Pop, Ambient & Cinematic.

Keywords: choir, ensemble, film & game audio, monophonic, cinematic, pads, sample-based, smooth, sound design.

What it does

Mervyn Warren Choir is a Black choir library produced by five-time Grammy winner Mervyn Warren, meant to celebrate the Black choral tradition with "filmic precision and studio-grade performances". It was recorded at Evergreen Studios in Los Angeles by engineer Frank Wolf, with vocal arrangements by Nikki Grier.

The ensemble: 20 professional singers, split into 10 high voices (5 sopranos, 5 altos) and 10 low voices (5 tenors, 5 basses), whose credits include Beyoncé, Celine Dion and Hans Zimmer. The basses reach down to A0.
21 techniques: Longs, Yeahs, Oh Long, Ooh Short Staccato and Mmm Long, legatos on Aah, Oh, Ooh and Mmm, vowel morphs, stacked sounds that layer several techniques, and aleatoric hairpins.
Body percussion: a kit of handclaps, stomps, finger snaps, thigh slaps and chest beats.
Vocal effects: whispers, inhales and exhales.
Controls: Dynamics, Expression, Vibrato, Reverb, Morph and Tightness, with a Legato Offset setting on the legato patches.
Mics: Close, Room and Mix signals. Techniques can be switched by keyswitch or by clicking icons.

It runs in Spitfire's dedicated plugin and has a 40% student and educator discount.

Source: Spitfire Audio product page

When to use it

Mervyn Warren Choir is the pick when a track needs a gospel and soul ensemble sound rather than a cathedral choir. Compared with Eric Whitacre Choir, it trades the classical choral blend for a gospel and soul sound and adds body percussion and breath noises, but it sings vowels only. Unlike Augmented VOICES, which turns vocal samples into synth-style textures, it is played as a real choir. Unlike choir libraries with a word builder, it cannot sing lyrics, and Sound On Sound found it pricier than other gospel choir libraries.

Best for: gospel-style pads and swells, soul and pop backing choirs, choral claps and stomps, and choral moments in film and TV.
Genres: R&B and soul, gospel, pop, jazz and neo-soul, cinematic.
Look elsewhere if: you need sung words or a classical choir sound; Eric Whitacre Choir fits classical writing better, and a library with a word builder is needed for lyrics.
Tip: Sound On Sound suggests loading each articulation on its own track for finer dynamics, and adding the Close mic to the Mix signal for more presence.

What producers say

Early reviews praise the voices and the morphing, with the price and missing word tools as the main complaints.

Sound On Sound called it "really very special indeed", praising the well-balanced mix signal, the deep basses and the "smooth morphing between vocal techniques".
Criticisms: Sound On Sound found it expensive next to cheaper gospel choir libraries, missed consonants and a word builder, and noted no vibrato control on the legatos and no separate volume for layers within combined presets.

Sound On Sound review

Where to buy

Spitfire Audio: $399
PluginFox: $399

Tutorials and reviews

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