Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5 Stars
Featuring Emma May Price — the same soprano heard in the Sonora Cinematic Aria libraries — Emma Legato is a very simple and inexpensive vocal instrument that runs on the free version of Kontakt (version 8 or higher). The instrument has three main sound voice options: Humming, Poco Vib and Aah. The Aah voice has a very expressive vibrato that creeps in as the note evolves. The true legato part is important as the transitions between notes are also sampled to produce a very natural‑sounding portamento. Keyswitching is available in the lower register of the keyboard to switch between the three voicings, and also to turn Auto mode on or off. Auto is a clever feature that automatically adjusts the legato transition time according to the incoming note placement, though it can be turned off to allow the user to set a fixed speed. Clicking the settings cog button opens up adjustable fade‑in, fade‑out and release times for the legato as well as attack and release times.
To the right of the three voice select buttons are fuzzy blobs for Reverb and Atmo. As you hold/slide up and down over these images the blob grows larger and brighter and the amount of effect is adjusted accordingly. Reverb does as you’d expect while Atmo appears to be a macro control that brings in multiple effects at the same time. Clicking on the dot to the right of the word Atmo changes its colour from blue to pink. In blue mode the Atmo control brings in an endearingly shimmery, diffuse type of ambience with a long decay tail, which gives the voice an ethereal quality. In pink mode the effect combines modulated reverb with some subtle granular processing that creates a very spacious, textural effect that also seems to push the sound forward in the mix as you increase the amount of processing.
Despite its apparent simplicity, Emma Legato produces really great‑sounding results...
There are a few presets to get you started but with so few controls, they are barely necessary. Admittedly there are dozens of samples of Mmms and Ahhs on the market already, but the combination of a talented performer and true legato note transitions gives Emma Legato a hauntingly endearing character that will find many uses. That really is it by way of controls so the learning curve is almost non‑existent. Despite its apparent simplicity, Emma Legato produces really great‑sounding results so if you still need to be convinced, go to the Sonora Cinematic website and check out the video demo.