Native Instrument’s Kontakt is billed as a complex sampler. Still, with the number of custom libraries, complete with their own UIs and engines, it’s easier to assume that the instrument is more akin it its own workstation and production tool overall. It all comes down to the specific libraries and the TLC that the developers of these libraries put into the products they sell.
Because the range of quality varies intensely with Kontakt libraries, ranging from poorly-built free libraries to professionally-recorded string libraries that can run you upwards of $1k, and with this sheer amount of content that you could buy and the price tag of many of the libraries on the market, it can be tough to know which one is right for you.
Sample Logic is one such company making libraries for Kontakt. With the success we found using the Bohemian Library a couple of months ago, we couldn’t resist following up on that review and taking their new AI Vocal Library for a test run in the studio. So let’s dive into the full review of Sample Logic’s latest Kontakt library.
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What Is Sample Logic’s AI Vocal?
Sample Logic’s Vocal AI is a virtual instrument with a novel combination of human vocals, synthesis, and morphing effects. The company has successfully merged organic vocals from various parts of the world, including Asia, Africa, Egypt, Europe, Persia, and the United Kingdom, with virtual effects and synthesis. The resulting product captures traditional symphonic soloists, choirs, and beatbox effects.
Vocal AI has features, including 456 instruments, presets 5.5 GB of sample content with 24,153 audio files, and a quad-core audio engine. The samples are derived from over 25 multi-sampled vocalists and choirs from across the globe. Additional features include Step & FX Animators, LFOs, an XY Core Mixer for perpetual motion, a dynamic tag-based preset browser, and the ability to randomize presets, sounds, and parameters for continuous inspiration.
The virtual instrument is designed with user convenience, allowing for drag-and-drop MIDI patterns to a DAW and offering hot-swappable effects chain technology. With its vast features, Vocal AI aims to provide a versatile and comprehensive tool for musicians and producers.
What I Liked The Most
What is most important about investing in Kintakt Libraries is that it needs to fit the styles and sounds of the musical genres you are making, which means that while no library is perfect, it’s always important to double down on the main features and qualities in a library that make it great for the tunes you wish to make. Here are my favorite things about the Vocal AI Library that I discovered making the melodic house and techno genres which are my forte.
Its Sound
The bedrock of the music I make is atmosphere, texture, and nuance, which this library has in spades. It includes a wide range of textures, timbres, and more, which cater to the ambient and atmospheric tones I strive for. Before using this library, Omnispere was my go-to tool for creating similar cascading vocal auras and soundscapes in my tunes. And while this library likely won’t singled-handedly retire Omnisphere to make my vocal textures, it certainly gives it a decisive run for its money.
Not only that, but the wealth of features that all you to shape and manipulate the sounds in the library helps you get even more bang for your buck. Turning lush vocal textures into rhythmic gate patterns using the sequencer, which I will be discussing momentarily, allows one patch or sound to fulfill multiple roles in the track as it evolves. Any tool that allows you to get “more for less” in music is considered priceless in my book.
Plus, a massive, and I mean MASSIVE, a bundle of presets allows you to start getting the full potential of this library almost instantly.
Is Sequencing
The sequencer is incredibly powerful, allowing you to map up-to-four oscillators and samplers to different modulation sequencers. Each of these sequencers has its interdependent rates, ranges, and amounts. It helps you get wildly complex patterns and interactions between the patch layers.
Not only that, but you can change the presets and sounds of the patch while in the modulation sequencer. I know this isn’t much, but it makes scrolling through and dialing in presets super easy when compared to VSTs like Omnisphere that lock you into the menu you are diving into, making creating such interactions between layers more complicated than it needs to be when compared to the streamlined flow of Sample Logic’s libraries (I say plural because their own AI libraries, like World AI, also allows for such scrolling and patch accessing.
It’s Inspiring
This quality speaks for itself and likely needs little further explanation, but I’ll try to expand on this anyways. This library is one of those rare production resources that p[errmits you to load it up in a blank project file and begin scrolling through the presets and see what catches your inspiration.
Whether your stumble on a cool gated vocal patch that inspires a rhythmic element, soaring atmospheres that goad your hand into crafting a similarly delicate melody, or just a series of vocal phrases that conjure up entire arrangments, this massive library encourages you to explore its sounds and patches and see what sparks your fancy time and time again.
What I Wasn’t Crazy About
Let’s dive into what I wasn’t as impressed by with this library. These points might be more subjective to my experience experimenting with this library, so take them with a heavy grain of salt for your workflows, wants, and needs.
Its Load Times
One thing that instantly gave me a bit of hesitation was the load times of the patches as I was scrolling through the library. Sure, they were only a second or two, but that, compounded over dozens of different presets you switch between while combing such a massive library for the perfect preset, can certainly add up quickly.
Not only this, but it’s just long enough to be a little annoying when you’re in the creative flow and looking to quickly audition different sounds in your fervent hunt for a new and inspiring sound when you’re deep in the throws of a coveted and hard-to-find flow state.
It’s Not All Automatable
While the parameters of the core features of the library could all be assigned to automation lanes in Ableton, the parameters on some of the auxiliary windows were not. This was far from a deal breaker, but I did find myself a bit discouraged as I was trying to push this library to the limits only to find that I couldn’t automate things like the sequencer rates, amounts, and most of the parameters in the FX menu.
Final Thoughts
Sample Logic’s Vocal AI library is a fantastic addition to any musician or producer’s toolkit. If you’re looking for a wide range of unique sounds to elevate your music, this library covers you. Vocal AI is packed with diverse human vocals, synthesis, and morphing effects that allow you to create genuinely captivating tracks. With features like drag-and-drop MIDI patterns and hot-swappable effects chain technology, it’s designed to make your creative process as smooth as possible. Plenty of additional features will inspire you to experiment with your music.
Despite minor concerns such as load times and some non-automatable parameters, the Vocal AI library is valuable for creating unique and captivating sounds. Its extensive selection of presets and powerful sequencing capabilities enable users to explore and experiment quickly. Ultimately, investing in the Vocal AI library is a wise choice for those looking to enhance their musical projects with atmospheric, textured, and nuanced sounds that can be tailored to various styles and genres.
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Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
