Spitfire Audio Mervyn Warren Choir

A Celebration of Breathtaking Black Voices

Capture the unique timbre and expressive power of an elite Black choir, meticulously curated and produced by five-time Grammy winner Mervyn Warren.

This library is the realisation of a long-held artistic vision: to provide composers with a definitive choral tool that celebrates the richness of the Black choral tradition, going above and beyond the improvisational style of traditional gospel, offering filmic precision and studio-grade performances.

Recorded at Evergreen Studios in Los Angeles with a star-studded cast of professional singers, Mervyn Warren Choir is a deeply versatile choral library designed to elevate vocal production in film music, pop, jazz, R&B and beyond.

With sopranos and altos, covering an incredible range from full-voiced wails to mellow and intimate humming, and a soulful section of tenors and unbelievable basses that sing all the way down to A0, these recording sessions captured an incredible range of vocal techniques, seamless transitions between vowel sounds, smooth legatos and aleatoric hairpins for unpredictable, moving textures.

To further inject rhythm and soul into your compositions, this library also includes a full Body Percussion Kit of handclaps, fingersnaps and stomps as well as vocal expressions such as whispers, inhales and exhales for added realism and emotion.

Mervyn Warren: A Visionary Artist

The cornerstone of this project is Mervyn Warren, a legendary composer, producer, and arranger whose career defines versatility.

As a five-time Grammy winner and ten-time nominee, his influence spans genres from pop and R&B to jazz and orchestral music.

He was a founding member of the iconic a capella group Take 6 and has collaborated with an unparalleled roster of A-list artists including Hans Zimmer, David Foster, Whitney Houston and Quincy Jones, as well as producing and arranging songs on revered soundtracks such as Sister Act 2 and The Preacher's Wife.

Literally The Best In Their Field

Working alongside Grammy-nominated artist, vocal arranger and producer Nikki Grier, Mervyn's vision was brought to life by a hand-picked cast of "absolute superstar" singers, artists in their own right who have lent their voices to some of the biggest names in music and film: Beyoncé, Celine Dion, Elton John, Janet Jackson, Childish Gambino, Hans Zimmer, John Legend, Sting, Diana Ross, Pharrell, Sunday Service Choir, Chaka Khan and many more.

Evergreen Studios

Every note was captured with meticulous care at Evergreen Studios in Los Angeles.

The sessions were engineered by the Grammy and Emmy-award winning Frank Wolf, who, under Mervyn's direction, helped deliver some of the finest samples Spitfire has ever recorded.

Core Choral Techniques

• Sopranos, Altos, Tenors, and Mega Basses
• Vowels, Yeahs, and Mmms - Includes a wide range of vocal sounds, with presets for techniques such as Longs, Yeahs, Oh Long, Ooh Short Staccato, and Mmm Long.
• Legatos - Available for Aah, Oh, Ooh, and Mmm, combined with longs to create realistic legato dynamics.
• Vowel Morphs - Seamlessly morph between two different vowel sounds (e.g., Ooh to Aah).
• Stacked Sounds - Layered techniques (e.g., Aah+Oh) to create a bigger, more human sound.
• Aleatoric Hairpins - Techniques where each singer increases their dynamic at random for unpredictable, moving textures.

Body Percussion and Vocal Expressions

• Body Percussion Kit - A full kit with techniques like Handclaps, Stomps, Fingersnaps, Thigh Slaps, and Chest Beats – sounds that are a staple of the tradition.
• Vocal Expressions - Unique vocal expressions, including Whispers, Inhales and Exhales

Controls and Functionality

• Ensemble Engine
• Controls - Dynamics, Expression, Vibrato, Reverb, Morph, and Tightness
• Mixer - The mixer features three mic signals: Close, Room, and a Mix option.