Available for download, SONUSCORE Lyrical Vocal Phrases is a virtual instrument and sample library for Native Instruments Kontakt. It provides the sound of a soprano singing lyrical phrases in six different languages, including Italian, Latin, and Elvish, as well as pure vowel sounds. This Sample Library is built around the concept of a “phrase instrument.” The people at SONUSCORE enlisted Conny Kollet, a singer featured in the Elder Scrolls Online MMO game, as well as films such as The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Kollet sings flowing, evocative melodies in every key, many scales, and in many modes—phrases which were impeccably recorded and organized by the developers into a layout that is easy to manipulate as you compose. Each phrase has been sung in four different keys, to keep artificial pitch shifting to a minimum; at most, you’re only pitching a phrase up or down by half a semitone. 

The idea is to connect all these themes into something wholly new; to that end, intuitive keyswitches have been provided to transition between themes, sections of themes, keys, and to some extent, the phrasing of these themes. While it is simple for any composer under a deadline to use this software for quick mockups, the developers of Lyrical Vocal Phrases hope that you can, like a Musique Concrète composer—or hip hop producer—daisy-chain and layer phrases together to make unique expressions of your own. As such, this is a useful tool for composers working in the video game and film industries. 

These phrases have been recorded rubato, so they do not conform to a conventional tempo. However, if you need them to line up to the grid, you can use the Speed parameter in the GUI to slow or accelerate the tempo of the phrase in real time, subtly nudging the phrase in time. This is MIDI-controllable, and you can assign it to your mod wheel or other compatible destination. 

An effects section provides a four band EQ, delay, reverb, and a convolution engine. Over 300 phrases were provided in all, spread amongst 17 themes. A full version of Native Instruments Kontakt version 5.6.8 or later is required to run Lyrical Vocal Phrases, and the virtual instrument can operate on both Mac and Windows platforms. It requires 5GB of hard disk space.