Cantai - the new impressive vocal synth on the block
  • francis
    Posts: 11,399
    Has anyone heard of Cantai? I downloaded the demo and it is quite impressive.

    It's a vst that plugs directly into Sibelius and other scoring apps.


    https://cantai.app/demo
  • probe
    Posts: 226
    Have a look at the Discord channel where the users complain about the problems.
    It certainly promises to be something good, with a wide range of voice types but there is much to be improved for classical singing.
    It's $10/month, lifetime licence $149 is good value if you intend to go on using it.

    A cheaper alternative is cantamus.app at €5/month but limited to one voice per staff. Adequate for its stated function of preparing rehearsal tracks for singers, not a synthesised choir which is the aim of Cantai.

  • francis
    Posts: 11,399
    What is discord channel… your link brings me to a login screen
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,761
    Discord is a chat app.
  • probe
    Posts: 226
    Yes, it's the community discussion board. Cantai don't provide support there, any more than Cantamus do on their Discord channel. It'll only cost $10 to try Cantai for a month to see does it work with your specific music and desired voice types. You'll probably need to sign up (free) to their Discord channel to post problems and get the workarounds from those who have been there before.
  • francis
    Posts: 11,399
    I did the trial … went back-and-forth with support… they have a lot of bugs to work out. However, it sounds really great for choral music in the Roman Catholic tradition.
    Thanked by 1probe
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 3,361
    I have it (was an early supporter for 2 years before a product dropped) but as of yet don't use it much. There are still rough edges. The good news is that development is happening at a breack-neck pace, and it is getting better. Early iterations had vibrato that would have made a billy goat blush. Recent choir voices have toned that way back (thank God). But there are still issues being worked out.
    Thanked by 2probe francis
  • francis
    Posts: 11,399
    @ServiamScores

    Do you use it inside of Sibelius?
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 3,361
    Dorico
  • francis
    Posts: 11,399
    Does it work well I use Sibelius and the voices drop in and out and the pure tones play when the voices drop out
  • probe
    Posts: 226
    @francis, I suggest you put that point on their Discord channel and see if you get any ideas to try. I'm not following it closely but people are constantly coming across and overcoming limitations and where that fails submitting bug reports.
  • PaxMelodious
    Posts: 503
    Are we really talking seriously about music made with artificial voices? How is this possibly ok for religious use???
  • liampmcdonough
    Posts: 342
    This is for playback and notation software purposes, which is not a religious use
    Thanked by 1ServiamScores
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 3,361
    correct. no one said anything about it replacing real singers during Mass. It's just so you can hear your score playback in notation software and possibly generate practice tracks for your choir.
  • ajglotz
    Posts: 9
    A friend of mine pumped one of my recently finished scores through Cantai. Hearing "actual voices" sing it (cue AI debate) was crucial for the next step of editing. It's a powerful tool that I would highly recommend for the composing and editing process. I would not put the sample it produced out there for the world to hear because it was *bad,* like, a sloppy and sometimes drunk-sounding. However, the consonants and vowel noises made a world of difference listening to my score. So for personal use, great. For good sounding recordings, not a chance.
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 3,361
    FWIW, while it takes manual intervention, SynthV choir voices can make a very acceptable demo for the world to hear after the composing process is complete.

    Here's one of my 7 last words through Synth V. Not perfect, but perfectly acceptable and great to give amateurs an idea of how it should sound: https://youtu.be/Yh40OOS3as8
    Thanked by 2probe CHGiffen
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