Hello.. Just heard the K-eriC demo track with cantor 1.5 and I actually like it... It's doesn't sound human at all! But it reamind my of the latest Daft Punk album.. Witch is great

Anyone tried it?

Orbitutle wrote:

Hello.. Just heard the K-eriC demo track with cantor 1.5 and I actually like it... It's doesn't sound human at all! But it reamind my of the latest Daft Punk album.. Witch is great Anyone tried it?

The general reaction at KVR was harshly critical. Much of this criticism was directed at the demo tune rather than the product, but some of it extended to both.

The demo tune seems pretty directly modelled on "Digital Love" from the Daft Punk album you mention. But it's missing one of that tune's best features: the Michael Jackson-esque breath sounds, which give the vocals an extra rhythmic quality. (Of course when MJ does/did this, it was less digitally processed!) Putting aside the question of "realism", which doesn't really matter for this style, I think the most disappointing aspect of the demo tune is the timing of the vocal part -- it just seems stilted and square.

Apart from that, I think the demo tune is catchy and well produced. I love the brassy lead sound that starts off the track. (I wonder if all the non-vocal sounds were made with Cantor -- apart from the drums, which i assume are samples.)

As for Cantor itself, I have pretty mixed feelings about it, based on the literature and reviews I've read and the demos I've heard. Clearly it falls far short of a realistic vocal emulation, which may or may not be a design goal. (But come on, of course it's a design goal -- it's like the Holy Grail of synthesis.) Meanwhile, I imagine it's got some pretty powerful synthesis tools that would make it capable of producing some cool and unique sounds. It's a shame that the demos don't go further to show this side of the instrument. But at the end of the day, it's rather expensive and rather specialized. If I had the $ I'd prefer to spend it on something less tangential to my musical interests. For this reason, I haven't even bothered to try the demo.

Now, to keep things in perspective, VirSyn is a great company, and TERA is my favorite synth bar none. Harry Gohs has stated that he plans to add sample playback in an update, and I can't wait to see the results.