Hatsune Miku & Vocaloid All-Stars Discussion | Concerts, Songs, Music making, etc

S

SimonM7

Member
This topic is created to funnel off-topic discussion from the Project Diva threads and into a general Hatsune Miku/Vocaloid music thread. This first post will have to evolve over time, as I- uh, figure out what to put here.


Hatsune Miku?

Vocaloids?

Music making, you say?
Check out raidergale's post for vocaloid trials!

Concerts, you say?


For info and talk about the Project Diva and Project Mirai rhythm game series, go to these fine threads:

HATSUNE MIKU Project DIVA X |OT| Miku X Scarlett Johansson is happening!!! NEW!
HATSUNE MIKU Project DIVA Future Tone ♪ |OT| A gift to the millions of miku fans ♪
Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX |OT| .feat PuyoPuyo
Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd |OT| I'll Miku-Miku GAF♪ (For Reals)
Hatsune Miku Project Diva series general discussion thread
 
Oh, nice vocaloid community thread
Anyway, my contribution to this thread:

Vocadb.net
VocaDB is a free to use database for discography information about Vocaloid and related voice synthesizers such as UTAU. The main goal of the site is to have accurate, translated entries for as many artists, their albums and songs as possible.

http://vocaloid.wikia.com/wiki/Vocaloid_Wiki
Wikia to all stuff related to vocaloid.

My top 10 vocaloid producer (not in any orders)
1. Yairi
2. Jin
3. Wowaka
4. Hachi / Kenshi Yonezu
5. Fukurawa Honpo
6. Niki
7. Keeno
8. Tokotoko
9. Neru
10. Tohma
 
So I sometimes write for Vocaloidism even though I don't actually know much about Vocaloid in general beyond the games and concerts.

And when I say sometimes, I really mean it. I take the site's motto to heart.
 
I've recently been listening to the EP

Parallel World

by Deco*27 feat. GUMI and it's really nice. GUMI sounds really pleasant with her raspy voice and there are some catchy tunes. It is a bit monotonous at times but also quite relaxing. The most popular songs of the EP are probably 'Mozaik Roll' and 'Yowamushi Mont Blanc'.
Give it a listen if you have time.
 
Subscribed, thanks for making this :)

If you're feeling adventurous and want to try the actual Vocaloid software, here are some of the trials currently available (I'm sure there are more, especially from InternetCo*, but I need to look for them in they're weirdly formatted website).
*InternetCo is the company behind GUMI, for example.

(18/11/2015) Added trial for GUMI V4
(16/10/2015) Added trials for Hiyama Kiyoteru V4 and Kaai Yuki V4
(09/09/2015) Added trials for Hatsune Miku V3 English, Sachiko and V4Flower

VOCALOID2 Trials:
Hiyama Kiyoteru
Kaai Yuki
Nekomura Iroha
SF-A2 Miki

VOCALOID3 Trials:
Anon/Kanon (two Japanese female voices, scroll down until you see a small button with a lock sign on it. That means you need to login or register if you haven't already. You can then download the trial by clicking that button)
Aoki Lapis (same instructions as Anon/Kanon)
Chika (select "VOCALOID3 Chika" in the dropdown menu)
Galaco (includes two Japanese female voices variations. Same instructions as Anon/Kanon)
Gumi English
Hatsune Miku V3 English
kokone (select "VOCALOID3 kokone" in the dropdown menu)
Maika (Spanish voice + extra sounds like English "r")
Meiko Power
Merli (same instructions as Anon/Kanon)
Mew (same instructions as Anon/Kanon)
Tohoku Zunko
Tone Rion (same instructions as Anon/Kanon)
vFlower (same instructions as Anon/Kanon)
VY2V3 (male Japanese voice, same instructions as Anon/Kanon)
Yuzuki Yukari
ZOLA PROJECT (three Japanese male voices, same instructions as Anon/Kanon)



VOCALOID4 Trials:
Vocaloid 4 Editor 14 days trial (you need to be registered on the Net Vocaloid website)

Cyber Diva (English voice, you need to be registered on the Net Vocaloid website)
GUMI V4 (NOT the English voice. Each voicetype has two slightly different voices, useful for the Cross Synthesis function Vocaloid 4 offers)
Hiyama Kiyoteru Natural/Rock (male vocal. Natural has a softer tone with a falsetto high range, Rock is more solid and powerful)
Kaai Yuki Natural (young female child voice)
Megurine Luka V4X Hard
Nekomura Iroha V4 (Natural and Soft)
Sachiko (highly specialized Japanese Enka-style voice. Same instructions as Anon/Kanon)
SF-A2 Miki V4
V4Flower (same instructions as Anon/Kanon)
VY1V4 (has 4 Japanese female voices: Normal, Natural, Power, Soft. You need to be registered on the Net Vocaloid website)
Yuzuki Yukari V4 (Jun is basically her V3 voice, Onn is a softer, almost whispery voice and Lin is a more solid voice)

All the V2 and V3 demos include the actual editor you need to use them (V2 has the full editor, V3 has the Tiny version which has some limitations. In both cases the trials last 14 days).
Unfortunately there's no Tiny Editor for V4, but there's a 14 days trial available. Luka also comes with a .vst plugin called Piapro Studio which lets you use the voices as long as you have a program acting as a .vst host.
 
Great to see interest in the thread!

raidergale said:
If you're feeling adventurous and want to try the actual Vocaloid software, here are some of the trials currently available
Click to expand...

Actually, I downloaded the Luka trial earlier today and I'm goofing around with it right now. From what I can tell it's just the Japanese voice bank though? I've been building words from syllables. :O


antibolo said:
You should add links to the game threads in the OP, just so people are aware of them for actual game discussion.
Click to expand...

Good idea, and done!

KharmaPolice said:
GUMI sounds really pleasant with her raspy voice and there are some catchy tunes. It is a bit monotonous at times but also quite relaxing.
Click to expand...

I totally agree. I dunno how much range she has, but when GUMI is good it's probably my favourite voice. I wish Miku and pals would sneak her in more often.
 
antibolo said:
I'm on a Mac and use GarageBand with the Luka V4X demo, through the AU plugin support.
Click to expand...

I use Mixcraft on PC, and while it took some time to figure out how to use them in tandem, it works great now. It's just the Japanese version, though, right? Not the English voice bank?
 
Subscribed.

Thanks for the links, raidergale! I've been wanting to compose a vocaloid song for some time now but was hesitant to shell out for something I might not use often.

To those who've used the software before - does it come with everything needed to compose complete songs? The website does specify that instruments and voice banks are provided, but I'm not familiar enough with Piapro Studio to know what functionality it includes. Specifically:
  • Is it geared towards just vocal composition using the vocaloid soundbanks?
  • Does it have the capability for composing songs with multiple instrument tracks?
  • Is a full-blown music production suite like FL Studio or Reason, or is it more focused on notes/composition akin to Anvil Studio?
 
SimonM7 said:
I use Mixcraft on PC, and while it took some time to figure out how to use them in tandem, it works great now. It's just the Japanese version, though, right? Not the English voice bank?
Click to expand...

Yes, the demo only has the "Hard" voice bank, and the "Hard H.V.E.C." or something like that, which is apparently a new more flexible voice bank that can do a wide range of different styles.

For my test I just picked the regular Hard for simplicity's sake. I typed the lyrics in Katakana to make sure I get the desired sounds.

フレル　ジャク　フレル　ジャク
ドルメ　ブ　ドルメ　ブ
ソネ　レ　マチヌ　ソネ　レ　マチヌ
ヂン　ダン　ドン　ヂン　ダン　ドン
Click to expand...
 
antibolo said:
For my test I just picked the regular Hard for simplicity's sake. I typed the lyrics in Katakana to make sure I get the desired sounds.
Click to expand...

I've been writing syllables with two roman letters and constructing words that way, and it's.. working.. oookkkaaayyy. I don't think I'd be able to tell what she's singing if I wasn't privy to.. the inside information.. of.. having written what she's singing, though. :>
 
Kikirin said:
Subscribed.

Thanks for the links, raidergale! I've been wanting to compose a vocaloid song for some time now but was hesitant to shell out for something I might not use often.

To those who've used the software before - does it come with everything needed to compose complete songs? The website does specify that instruments and voice banks are provided, but I'm not familiar enough with Piapro Studio to know what functionality it includes. Specifically:
  • Is it geared towards just vocal composition using the vocaloid soundbanks?
  • Does it have the capability for composing songs with multiple instrument tracks?
  • Is a full-blown music production suite like FL Studio or Reason, or is it more focused on notes/composition akin to Anvil Studio?
Click to expand...

VOCALOID2 voices all come with the full V2 Editor, but it's not a DAW, you can only edit vocals.
VOCALOID3 voices come with the Tiny Editor, which is very limited. If you want the full editor you need to buy it separately, but because of this voices are generally cheaper than V2 voices since you only need to buy the editor once. Again, no DAW, only vocal editor.
VOCALOID4 voices don't even have a Tiny Editor, so you have to buy the editor separately. And again, no DAW.

The only exceptions to this are the newest Crypton vocals (Kaito V3, Miku V3, Meiko V3 and Luka V4), which come with their own editor as a .vst plugin and a lite version of the Studio One DAW.
 
Note that the Luka V4X trial does not appear to include Studio One though (or at least I couldn't find it in the Mac package), you need to provide your own DAW.
 
antibolo said:
Yes, the demo only has the "Hard" voice bank, and the "Hard H.V.E.C." or something like that, which is apparently a new more flexible voice bank that can do a wide range of different styles.

For my test I just picked the regular Hard for simplicity's sake. I typed the lyrics in Katakana to make sure I get the desired sounds.
Click to expand...
I think this method works well also with italian words, I've tried to paste this text
Code: 
フらマルチノカムパナロ、
ドルミトゥ、ドルミトゥ、
スオナレカムパレ、スオナレカムパレ、
ヂンドンダン、ヂンドンダン
(it's the italian version of frere jaques)
on http://www.acapela-group.com/voices/demo/ with the japanese speaker and it works fine.
 
God I wish I tuned my guitar better before recording this. Luka, who I assume sings perfectly in tune, sounds tone deaf wailing away to my guitar track.
 
antibolo said:
Note that the Luka V4X trial does not appear to include Studio One though (or at least I couldn't find it in the Mac package), you need to provide your own DAW.
Click to expand...

Indeed, the trial does not have Studio One.

And since so far I've only posted stuff without any videos, here are a few of my favourite Vocaloid uses (other than "Rera" they're all covers though).

Japanese:
Nekomura Iroha - Mind as Judgement
Nekomura Iroha - Flower of Sorrow
Nekomura Iroha - Rera
Meiko - The White Snow Princess Is

English:
Avanna - Early Winter
Avanna - The Only Exception
Sweet Ann - This One's for the Girls
Sweet Ann - Moonlight Shadow

And as an interesting tidbit of info, there are two Vocaloids made to sound best in opera, Prima and Tonio. If you know how to use them they can be extremely realistic, especially Prima.
Prima - Nel Cor Più Non Mi Sento
 
SimonM7 said:
God I wish I tuned my guitar better before recording this. Luka, who I assume sings perfectly in tune, sounds tone deaf wailing away to my guitar track.
Click to expand...

queFh8F.jpg

JyjuOKJ.jpg
Click to expand...
...
 
raidergale said:
VOCALOID2 voices all come with the full V2 Editor, but it's not a DAW, you can only edit vocals.
VOCALOID3 voices come with the Tiny Editor, which is very limited. If you want the full editor you need to buy it separately, but because of this voices are generally cheaper than V2 voices since you only need to buy the editor once. Again, no DAW, only vocal editor.
VOCALOID4 voices don't even have a Tiny Editor, so you have to buy the editor separately. And again, no DAW.

The only exceptions to this are the newest Crypton vocals (Kaito V3, Miku V3, Meiko V3 and Luka V4), which come with their own editor as a .vst plugin and a lite version of the Studio One DAW.
Click to expand...

antibolo said:
Note that the Luka V4X trial does not appear to include Studio One though (or at least I couldn't find it in the Mac package), you need to provide your own DAW.
Click to expand...

Yikes, thanks for the info. Looks like I'll have to do something about getting a legitimate DAW first before doing anything serious with vocaloids.
 
I assume that the Studio One that comes with the Crypton vocaloids must be decent enough as a starting point. (It's just not in the Luka trial.)
 
I was trying to make it look as though she were smashing the guitar on her head but I guess it does look more like she is just forcibly taking it off from her. Which is kinda funnier (and cuter) anyway.
 
antibolo said:
I was trying to make it look as though she were smashing the guitar on her head but I guess it does look more like she is just forcibly taking it off from her. Which is kinda funnier (and cuter) anyway.
Click to expand...

Haha, yeah I totally read it as ARGH GIVE ME THAT.

Andrefpvs said:
Hey guys!
Click to expand...

Hello!

-

Alright, I've cobbled something together before bed!

https://soundcloud.com/simonm7/luka-demo-03/s-WKhJO

It really isn't the insurmountable amount of fiddling with dials and knobs that I feared. I certainly have little-to-no idea what I'm doing, but it's early days and something is happening. It's super fun, and I honestly can't see myself *not* buying one of them when the trial is up.
 
antibolo said:
Yay Luka in Swedish!

The arigatou at the end is such a nice touch.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Although apart from the Japanese at the end, it actually "is", hilariously, in English. :D I put it up without the lyrics in text to see if it was possible to make out the words.

I probably have to go wild on the dials and knobs to tweak the pronunciation and intonation. But early days! And Japanese voice bank! :D


Lyrics

It was a long time
since you and me saw each other
and we believed all this time
would make us wiser

but there is no guarantee
that what we see defines us
so who's to say if time
is ever truly ours
 
Oh no I'm so embarrassed!

I listened to your other uploads and assumed this was also in Swedish!

Now listening while reading the lyrics... Oh... The second part is somewhat clearer.
 
antibolo said:
Oh no I'm so embarrassed!

I listened to your other uploads and assumed this was also in Swedish!
Click to expand...

No need to be embarrassed! It's all on me and probably the software. It shouldn't really be possible to miss what language a song is in. :D

raidergale said:
All the V2 and V3 demos include the actual editor you need to use them (V2 has the full editor, V3 has the Tiny version which has some limitations. In both cases the trials last 14 days).
Unfortunately there's no Tiny Editor for V4, but Luka comes with a .vst plugin called Piapro Studio which lets you use the voices as long as you have a program acting as a .vst host. So if you want to try out Yukari V4 your only option is to also download Luka V4 and use Piapro Studio, unless you already have the Vocaloid 4 editor of course.
Click to expand...

I'm getting familiar with the Piapro Studio plugin and comfortable using that. What voices aside from Yukari and Luka can you plug into that? Just V4 stuff? All the voices compatible with the Vocaloid editor?
 
Cool thread, subbed!

I know basically nothing of Vocaloid outside of the games. Maybe at some point I'll have to dig into it some more, learn some more of the music, maybe even try a bit of composition (assuming I spot it for a decent price).
 
antibolo said:
I assume that the Studio One that comes with the Crypton vocaloids must be decent enough as a starting point. (It's just not in the Luka trial.)
Click to expand...

It is, but I think the only .vst it supports is Piapro Studio, hence why it's called "Piapro Edition". It comes with a range of instrumental samples though, so you can indeed use it as a starting point.

SimonM7 said:
I'm getting familiar with the Piapro Studio plugin and comfortable using that. What voices aside from Yukari and Luka can you plug into that? Just V4 stuff? All the voices compatible with the Vocaloid editor?
Click to expand...

Piapro Studio supports all voicebanks from Vocaloid 3 onwards. It also has Vocaloid 2 support, but I think you need to have those voices imported in Vocaloid 3 or 4 in order for Piapro to recognize them, so you'd need one of the two editors anyway. :/
It's not a huge problem though because if you really like a Vocaloid 2 voice it comes with the full editor, but of course it'll be slightly different than working with Piapro.

Keep in mind that Piapro Studio will cease to function as soon as Luka's trial runs out, so if you want to try Yukari and don't want to buy Luka V4 (or any of the Crypton V3 voices) anytime soon you don't have a lot of time to do so. :)
 
raidergale said:
Piapro Studio supports all voicebanks from Vocaloid 3 onwards. It also has Vocaloid 2 support, but I think you need to have those voices imported in Vocaloid 3 or 4 in order for Piapro to recognize them, so you'd need one of the two editors anyway. :/
It's not a huge problem though because if you really like a Vocaloid 2 voice it comes with the full editor, but of course it'll be slightly different than working with Piapro.

Keep in mind that Piapro Studio will cease to function as soon as Luka's trial runs out, so if you want to try Yukari and don't want to buy Luka V4 (or any of the Crypton V3 voices) anytime soon you don't have a lot of time to do so. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up! I'm gonna download Yukari right now. See if I can get a duet going this weekend. :)

I'm definitely going to buy *something*, but I'm contemplating what the smartest first purchase would be. It seems like the Miku V3 English/Japanese bundle would be a good starting point... But I guess if V4 is around the corner it may not be?
 
SimonM7 said:
Thanks for the heads up! I'm gonna download Yukari right now. See if I can get a duet going this weekend. :)

I'm definitely going to buy *something*, but I'm contemplating what the smartest first purchase would be. It seems like the Miku V3 English/Japanese bundle would be a good starting point... But I guess if V4 is around the corner it may not be?
Click to expand...

I don't have Miku so I can't really comment, but from what I read online it's a nice starting point for Japanese, but her English is not good at all unless you really like her voice. Crypton hasn't announced anything in regards to a possible Miku V4, but it's their main cash cow so it's a possibility, it's just a matter of when (they're currently working on Rin/Len V4X, and there's a slight chance they might rework Luka V4X a bit since they're getting tons of complaints about her voice)
 
SimonM7 said:
Are fixes likely to be applied to the current version, if so? Or will they expect you to fork out again?
Click to expand...

It's not even confirmed if they will fix some of her issues, but if they will they'll probably do the same thing they did with Rin/Len for V2. They released an ACT2 some months after the release of the first version and they offered a free version for a limited time to people who bought the original voices.
 
raidergale said:
It's not even confirmed if they will fix some of her issues, but if they will they'll probably do the same thing they did with Rin/Len for V2. They released an ACT2 some months after the release of the first version and they offered a free version for a limited time to people who bought the original voices.
Click to expand...

Hmmmmmmmmm. Leaning towards Luka, then. I feel like it's either Miku, Luka or if leaving the Crypton stable, GUMI, that beckon the most for me. It's a bummer if you can't get Miku to sound decent in English, because that's realistically the only language I'll use these guys for.

_____________


About the tuning - is there a way to downplay the vowel after a consonant? Like when you use "du" or "do" to get a d - is there a way to "tune away" the vowel after, somehow?
 
SimonM7 said:
Hmmmmmmmmm. Leaning towards Luka, then. I feel like it's either Miku, Luka or if leaving the Crypton stable, GUMI, that beckon the most for me. It's a bummer if you can't get Miku to sound decent in English, because that's realistically the only language I'll use these guys for.

_____________


About the tuning - is there a way to downplay the vowel after a consonant? Like when you use "du" or "do" to get a d - is there a way to "tune away" the vowel after, somehow?
Click to expand...

Is it for simulating English ending consonants? I don't know exactly how to do that in Piapro, but make a short note and then try to find a window which says "phoneme" (I think it might appear by double clicking a note?).
In that phoneme window change the last vowel to "[vowel]_0", so for example "du", which should be "d M" in phonemes, has to become "d M_0". This devoices the vowel, but it'll still make a weird sound and that's why that note should be short.

If you want you can also play with the "dynamics" parameter, which is basically volume. If you cut it to 0 at the right point you'll only hear the consonant.
 
raidergale said:
Is it for simulating English ending consonants? I don't know exactly how to do that in Piapro, but make a short note and then try to find a window which says "phoneme" (I think it might appear by double clicking a note?).
In that phoneme window change the last vowel to "[vowel]_0", so for example "du", which should be "d M" in phonemes, has to become "d M_0". This devoices the vowel, but it'll still make a weird sound and that's why that note should be short.

If you want you can also play with the "dynamics" parameter, which is basically volume. If you cut it to 0 at the right point you'll only hear the consonant.
Click to expand...

Excellent advice! Will put to use right now. I've already tried doing short notes, and also let them lead into another word/overlap to cut them off sooner, but there's only so much opportunity to do that.

There's some discrepancy in the manual in the section with the phonetic symbols. Some of them just don't work. Maybe they're referencing the english voice bank.

EDIT: What you suggested works great. Applying it to all the places where it sounds like her tongue is doing a backflip in her mouth.
 
I've added 3 more trials to my previous trial list post:

Vocaloid 4 Editor 14 days trial (you need to be registered on the Net Vocaloid website)
VY1V4 (has 4 voices: Normal, Natural, Power, Soft. You need to be registered on the Net Vocaloid website)
Cyber Diva (English voice, you need to be registered on the Net Vocaloid website)

And a quick test I did with Cyber Diva's trial. I just plugged and played a random VSQ file I found online, so it's not that great, but I wanted to hear how her voice sounded like.
 
SimonM7 said:
Great! I added a link to your post.


There appears to be a demo for Meiko as well. I dunno if "power" is some special voice bank, or if that's just what her normal one is called now? I can't say I understand any of the naming conventions to be honest. :D

http://sonicwire.com/product/96145
Click to expand...

Oh, it's still there, I thought it wasn't available anymore, adding it to the post.

Power is one of her V3 voices, the others are Straight (closer to her V1 voice), Dark, Whisper and English. :)

I also have some more V3 trials on my PC (Gakupo Power, GUMI English, Mayu and a beta of IA_Rocks), but I'm afraid they're not available online anymore. :/
 
raidergale said:
Oh, it's still there, I thought it wasn't available anymore, adding it to the post.

Power is one of her V3 voices, the others are Straight (closer to her V1 voice), Dark, Whisper and English. :)

I also have some more V3 trials on my PC (Gakupo Power, GUMI English, Mayu and a beta of IA_Rocks), but I'm afraid they're not available online anymore. :/
Click to expand...

I was deciding between Miku, Luka and Gumi, pretty much, so I was bummed to see that Gumi had a trial that I missed. I didn't... even know about vocaloids back then, so... :D

I eventually decided by realising I'm gonna want more than one, and I got Luka. Luka and Gumi's voices are somewhat similar, though, so whenever I get another I think I'll go for something higher pitched, and I'll probably nab Miku then - dubious English and all.

I feel like I actually did a better job cobbling Japanese syllables together to make English words than some of the ready-made words in the English voice bank for Luka, so I suspect I could fix some of the more glaring pronunciation issues with English Miku, too.
 
SimonM7 said:
I was deciding between Miku, Luka and Gumi, pretty much, so I was bummed to see that Gumi had a trial that I missed. I didn't... even know about vocaloids back then, so... :D

I eventually decided by realising I'm gonna want more than one, and I got Luka. Luka and Gumi's voices are somewhat similar, though, so whenever I get another I think I'll go for something higher pitched, and I'll probably nab Miku then - dubious English and all.

I feel like I actually did a better job cobbling Japanese syllables together to make English words than some of the ready-made words in the English voice bank for Luka, so I suspect I could fix some of the more glaring pronunciation issues with English Miku, too.
Click to expand...

Luka V4 English sounds nice from what I heard, still accented but not that much compared to her V2. :)
Most of the English voices require changing some phonemes anyway, the problem with Miku English is that most of her sounds are actually wrongly recorded (tons of L/R issues, volume issues, slurry pronunciation and stuff like that).

As for Gumi's trial, I'd upload it since it's just a trial but my upload speed is pretty much 20kb/s and the file is 1.6GB. :/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Good New Music?
2
2K
bitbydeath replied
Are all American supermarkets like Costco?
13
2K
Afro Republican replied
July Wrasslin' |OT| All this G1 talk is making me Climax.
400 401 402 403 404
20K
952K
klonere replied
Autumn Anime 2017 |OT| Makes us all rotten
77 78 79 80 81
4K
435K
Kibakahn replied
New All You Can Eat Sushi Thread — So Full I May Not Survive the Night
25
2K
eddie4 replied
Top Bottom