Best choir VST plugins

In the world of choral singing, every element plays a key role. From the subtleties of dynamics and articulation to the size of the group, its vocal capabilities and the peculiarities of room acoustics – all this is significant. These factors make the task of creating high-quality, realistic, and lively sounds from choir plugins incredibly challenging. And this applies even to professional level programs, where the difficulties do not decrease.

Audio software developers are constantly exploring different methods of microphone placement to achieve the illusion of a real choir, trying to develop extensive sample libraries that can be easily adapted to different musical genres.

It follows that even if free choir plugins sound convincing, they can already be considered quite high-end.

1. Choir NST Bigcat Instruments

Bigcat Instruments offers a plugin especially suitable for beginners. While it may not be the standout among free choir VST plugins, it may well suit the needs of many users. One of its most valuable features, especially for beginners, is its diverse collection of patches. These patches are designed with vocal ranges in mind and offer more than simple chord harmony.

The user interface in this plugin is organized very conveniently. Apart from this, there are several presets available which are known to play an important role for novice users.

However, there are also some disadvantages. In my opinion, they are not critical, especially for a beginner. The choir’s sound lacks natural reverb, and the sound quality, while not bad, makes it feel like the samples were recorded in an anti-echo chamber. More is often expected from a choral VST plugin, given that many free choral VST plugins offer more extensive features. However, this particular choral VST does its job well.

2. Distant Choir from Rast Sound

The “rast” sound in the music reminds me of the traditional “makam” systems used in folk music of countries such as Turkey, the Arab Peninsula and Iran. In these cultures, the word “rast” in a musical context is usually associated with a specific musical scale or modality (I recommend searching the Internet for “rast maqam”). But let’s return to the main topic.

Distant Choir reminds me of ChoirZ, which we mentioned earlier in the article. It primarily acts as a processing tool, as opposed to more advanced choral sample plugins. The focus here is on sound control and effects, with a wide range of options available.

Apart from audio editing, the plugin offers numerous presets, which is a big plus. At the same time, due to the limited base of se
samples – only one articulation and the absence of dynamic layers or separate male and female voices – the sound of the plug-in is prone to synth coloring. This may not be suitable for those looking for more extensive and realistic choral libraries.

While Distant Choir isn’t on our list of the best free choir VST plugins, it can be quite effective for basic choral music production needs. This is especially true for situations where minimal functionality without frills is required.

3. Angle Studios’s Virgin Choir

Virgin Choir from Angle Studios is another great choice among VST plugins. Its sequencer mode allows you to apply different patterns in melodic and harmonic sequences, which is an optional but very valuable feature. This mode expands the musician’s creative horizons.

One of the key features is the choice of vowels, which can be compared to the library function. This provides additional flexibility, allowing even simple texts to sound convincing.

Virgin Choir does have its shortcomings, mostly related to the quality of the choir’s sampling. The initial high costs likely affected the quality of the sampling. Despite Angle Studios’ promotion of a wide octave range, limiting the sound to only female voices affects the balance of the range, especially in the low frequencies, where the sound seems artificial.

While well-crafted, the choir sounds sometimes sound repetitive and artificial due to the limited sample base. One significant drawback is that the plugin cannot be used for commercial purposes, which may be surprising given its free status.

However, Virgin Choir remains a great tool, especially for beginners. And perhaps over time we will find out why the plugin from Angle Studios is only intended for home use.

4. Sonatina Choir Bigcat Instruments

Virgin Choir from Angle Studios is another great choice among VST plugins. Its sequencer mode allows you to apply different patterns in melodic and harmonic sequences, which is an optional but very valuable feature. This mode expands the musician’s creative horizons.

One of the key features is the choice of vowels, which can be compared to the library function. This provides additional flexibility, allowing even simple texts to sound convincing.

Virgin Choir does have its shortcomings, mostly related to the quality of the choir’s sampling. The initial high costs likely affected the quality of the sampling. Despite Angle Studios’ promotion of a wide octave range, limiting the sound to only female voices affects the balance of the range, especially in the low frequencies, where the sound seems artificial.

While well-crafted, the choir sounds sometimes sound repetitive and artificial due to the limited sample base. One significant drawback is that the plugin cannot be used for commercial purposes, which may be surprising given its free status.

However, Virgin Choir remains a great tool, especially for beginners. And perhaps over time we will find out why the plugin from Angle Studios is only intended for home use.

5. LABS Choir Spitfire Audio

Many argue that this product is the pinnacle of free solutions, and this opinion is not limited only to the land of the “free and the brave” 🙂 The speaker system from Spitfire Audio has gained recognition throughout the world, and there are many compelling reasons for this.

Based on the commercial product Eric Whitacre Choir, Spitfire Audio’s LABS Choir offers virtually everything one would expect from such a product. The choir sounds incredibly rich, and the voices are natural and convincing.

This instrument includes an impressive library of sounds with a wide range. Plus, it has a very user-friendly and intuitive user interface, making it an incredibly attractive option.

However, it would be great if the library had separate parts for male and female voices, as well as a variety of articulations. If these elements are critical to you, it may be worth considering purchasing the commercial version of Eric Whitacre’s choir.

It’s also worth noting that some users complain about having to use a third-party installation center, which can be annoying.

As a result, Spitfire Audio can rightfully be proud of its LABS Choir. This plugin ranks among the leading choral VST plugins, regardless of their cost, and this may be due to the nostalgic feelings of producers.

6. Serenity

Serenity is a free plugin developed by HG Fortune, specializing in choir and string pads. Its main feature is its ability to recreate the unique sounds of choirs and strings.

This plugin offers sounds that may remind you of vintage string instruments or choral synths, but its goal is not to accurately imitate those sounds.

Serenity is equipped with a number of features such as filters, low frequency oscillators (LFOs), a variety of effects, as well as the unique “Twin Etherify” effect.

7. Free Orchestra

Free Orchestra from the renowned company ProjectSAM provides a gigabyte of free orchestral sounds with a cinematic twist. This plugin covers a wide range of sounds, including symphonic percussion, staccato strings, dystopian sounds, and orchestral staccato strings.

It serves as a great free alternative to plugins such as Soundiron Requiem Light Symphonic Choir, Strezov Sampling Choir, EastWest Sounds Hollywood Choirs, Soundiron Olympus Choir Elements and WOTAN Male Choir.

To work with Free Orchestra, you must use the free Native Instruments Kontakt player version 6.2.1 or newer.

8. Choir Soundfonts

In light of the limited number of free choir VST plugins, a good alternative is to use Choir Soundfonts. To do this, you can install the free SoundFont player and load choral Soundfonts into it.

List of resources from Choir Soundfonts:

• Rkhive provides over 20 free choir Soundfonts for you to download and use at your discretion;
• Musical Artifacts has a small collection of choir Soundfonts that are great for adding realism to your music;
• Zander Jazz offers access to over 15 free vocal and choral SoundFonts;
• Producer Buzz includes a collection of 15 free choral Soundfonts designed to create natural-sounding human voices;
• Various Presets offer a library of two voices: a chorus with oohs and aahs, and a solo voice.

9. Voc-One

Voc-One is a cutting-edge choir synthesizer that brings the unique beauty of natural voices to your music. This innovative choir synthesizer gives you complete control over every step of the vocal synthesis process, allowing you to create realistic and natural-sounding choir parts.

Its formant filter facilitates transitions between vowel sounds, making it easier to create subtle and natural transitions between vowels. In addition, the Voc-One has a high-quality reverb built into it, making it easy to create rich and realistic choir sounds.

Features of Voc-One include:

• Built-in high quality reverb;
• Intelligent choir synthesizer;
• Full control over the vocal synthesis process;
• Formant filter.

10. Dave Choir (Kontakt)

Dave Choir is a unique choir plugin that includes voice samples from Dave Hilowitz. Dave recorded his voice 16 times, creating 352 individual notes for this choir plugin. The plugin is compatible with both the full version of Kontakt and the SFZ format.

This plugin’s range covers 22 baritone notes and includes two separate sample sets: 8 samples each for the “ah” and “oh” sounds. The Dave Choir has four modes of operation: a combined “ah” and “o”, a separate “ah”, a separate “o”, and a modulation wheel for smooth switching between “ah” and “o”.

Key features of Dave Choir include:

• 16 voice samples;
• Four different modes;
• One layer of dynamics;
• Convolution reverb.

Choir Kontakt Libraries

In a world of vocal sounds created from complex choral samples, ethereal quality is achieved through a skillful combination of authorship and resources. In this context, do not underestimate the contribution of the resonant sound design offered by Native Instruments’ Kontakt player.

Of particular note is Luminous Choir from ProjectSAM’s Free Orchestra suite, which is a favorite among many free choral VST plugins. It requires Kontakt Player, which fortunately is also free.

The quality of the Luminous Choir sample base is top notch, and the developers have not compromised on quality to expand the collection. The plugin’s user interface is well thought out, intuitive and includes a variety of effects, filters and ADSR controls, all organized efficiently and accessible.

Despite the somewhat narrow range of Luminous Choir, this is more an advantage than a disadvantage, especially when it comes to its artificial expansion, for example, through a synthesizer.

However, among the shortcomings it is worth highlighting the somewhat strange vowel management, which seems insufficiently developed and confusing. Compared to other libraries from the Free Orchestra set, Luminous Choir lacks various articulations, which can also be considered a disadvantage.

Overall, Luminous Choir offers an exceptionally balanced choir sound that is reminiscent of the quality of commercial plug-ins.

Haunted Choir by Fluffy Audio

Fluffy Audio has made a real breakthrough with their Haunted Choir plugin, which, although it doesn’t have all the features of their commercial product Dominus Choir, still stands out among its peers.
The audio quality of this plugin is truly exemplary, with the ability to adjust the position of the microphones, which adds depth to an already rich sound. While Haunted Choir’s dynamic range isn’t as great as other plugins on this list, its balance makes it particularly valuable. In this case, balance is more important than range.
In addition, the plugin is complemented by realistic reverb settings, which makes it even more attractive. From a technical point of view, the only significant drawback is the lack of a distinct male choral sound.
This plugin, despite its genre specificity, offers ample opportunities for creative use. However, it is important to note that Haunted Choir requires a full version of Kontakt, which may be a barrier for the average user of free plugins.
The bottom line is that Haunted Choir, especially when combined with Dominus Choir, can offer virtually everything a choral composer or producer could need.

MIDI Choir Martin Wikanek

If you’re looking for a free choral VST plugin that effectively combines the harmonies of male and female choirs, or just looking for the best free choral VST plugin in general, then you should know that there are many different options out there. However, Midi Choir belongs to a completely different class of instruments.
Midi Choir lacks traditional choir samples, and the term “realistic choir” is less appropriate than other choir plugins. This instrument can rather be called a “synthesizer” or even some kind of miniature “micro-DAW”. It allows you to take a single note and apply a wide range of effects and editing to it.
Midi Choir is ideal for both midi automation and use with virtual instruments or other great VST plugins. With a compatible MIDI controller, controlling this instrument is intuitive and elegant.
Unlike most free choir plugins, which don’t offer deep audio editing capabilities, MIDI Choir can be used to create the desired effects and sit before the actual choir plugin in the audio processing chain.
However, it is worth considering that this plugin is only available for Windows users.