Hadziha - a West African choir by Karoryfer Samples

[dark water]

(If you were ever tempted to do a sample library of a Welsh male voice choir then I think you'd be onto another winner also, as there's definitely a gap in the market for such a well-loved style).

I do have some bigger ideas about how virtual choirs should work, and sales of this are certainly making it more tempting to do more simple ethnic choirs in the future, though I'll admit the closest thing to a Welsh male choir I've ever heard is Goldie Lookin Chain.

Ah, yes GLC are quite amusing but a million miles away from a Welsh male voice choir!
Tbf, I think it would be a hell of an undertaking for anyone because they'd need about 20 singers or more, let alone or the practicalities associated with recording them.
But there's certainly potential: not least because Welsh male voice choirs seem to have undergone something of a popular comeback in recent years:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AARrVAHnkdY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iPqepdQhR8

Anyway, congratulations on Hadziha: I bought it yesterday and it's great

[DSmolken]

Ah, yes GLC are quite amusing but a million miles away from a Welsh male voice choir!
Tbf, I think it would be a hell of an undertaking for anyone because they'd need about 20 singers or more, let alone or the practicalities associated with recording them.
But there's certainly potential: not least because Welsh male voice choirs seem to have undergone something of a popular comeback in recent years

I see. Interesting - they have a sort of "well rehearsed amateur" sound, so I can see both a connection to Hadziha, and a lack of such choirs on the sampled market today. Certainly something to keep in mind for the future. I still got one already recorded instrument to edit, and then can start making more plans.

And in the meantime, I got a couple of demos... one by a Mexican Vocaloid producer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYiXIcWVuPQ

And as if that wasn't unexpected enough, here's a chiptune one.

https://soundcloud.com/phryq/ghanachips

[dark water]

^^ Great use of your choir by those 2 producers (the Mexican one is particularly lovely).

[Spitfire31]

Two very different treatments, highlighting the ubiquity of Hadziha.

I agree with dark water – the Mexican song is wonderful and sounds remarkably authentic, almost like a field recording in an African church. Impressed!

/Joachim

[DSmolken]

Annnnnnnnd we'll fix the typo in the GUI, it's definitely Hadziha not Hadzidha... I just hit one too many keys when redoing the graphics for the Nth time, and nobody noticed until today. And we'll throw in four laughter samples into a bonus folder, while we're at it, earlier I got the OK to do that.

[Spitfire31]

Annnnnnnnd we'll fix the typo in the GUI, it's definitely Hadziha not Hadzidha... I just hit one too many keys when redoing the graphics for the Nth time, and nobody noticed until today. And we'll throw in four laughter samples into a bonus folder, while we're at it, earlier I got the OK to do that.

Joachim

[DSmolken]

Fixed the typo and added four bonus samples of incidental laughter, so anyone who bought this can redownload using the same link. Trying to decide if it's worth rerendering the walkthrough with new screen recording...

[epiphaneia]

I'm going to grab that one anyway (sounds just the way I hoped Kwaya could sound...), but: Is there hope for a Kontakt version?

[DSmolken]

There is some hope, but it is diiiiistant. I'm kinda trying to learn Kontakt by redoing one of my simpler freebies. If that goes well I might do Vengeful Cello, because it would be quite simple. If that goes well, I might also get to this.

[DSmolken]

So, what to do next? We could find more singers, either female or male, and we also could record the musicians from the Pan-African Youth Orchestra, which is basically a lot of flutes, a couple of balafons (wooden xylophones with gourd resonators), and a big variety of drums and percussion. African drums have probably been sampled a lot, though, so I'm leaning towards one of the others. Any preference, or requests to track down other sounds from that part of the world?

[epiphaneia]

So, what to do next? We could find more singers, either female or male, and we also could record the musicians from the Pan-African Youth Orchestra, which is basically a lot of flutes, a couple of balafons (wooden xylophones with gourd resonators), and a big variety of drums and percussion. African drums have probably been sampled a lot, though, so I'm leaning towards one of the others. Any preference, or requests to track down other sounds from that part of the world?

Do you have solo recordings of one of the singers of the choir? I for one would dig the ability to put a solo line (phrases or/and notes) on top of a choir line, that's sorely missing from more or less all choir libraries. Integrate that into one GUI (split left choir right solo) and I'd call that a winner!

[DSmolken]

I do not. Could record that next time, of course. Choir with a stylistically matching soloist, sure, I can see the appeal of this.

Edit: and totally forgot to mention we did another minor update this morning - the phrase translations now are included on the GUI, to make life a little easier. If you've bought this, you can redownload using the same link. And if anybody's bought it and hasn't gotten a link (stuff gets trapped in spam filters sometimes), PM me or email samples@karoryfer.com and we'll send you one.

[DSmolken]

Last 24 hours or so of the intro price, depending on how early I wake up tomorrow morning (it's Saturday, I might sleep all the way till 7:30 or even 8:00). Goes up to $39 after I've eaten breakfast.

[DSmolken]

Full price now, so those who think we deserve full price don't have to wait any longer. We'll try to record a choir of five guys (no, not the burger chain, just five guys) in Accra on Monday.

[wildinout]

Does anyone know how to download their files once purchased? I only received a confirmation email, but no instructions on how to download and emailing the company has gone unanswered.