keitaiware

[keitaiware]

Keitai memo / Afterward

Afterward. . .

I woke up on the cold floor. It was about 4A.M. in the morning, and across the room lay the body of a man. He destroyed his identity and left me very strict instructions to follow, naming me, "Keitai Hakken." I have no opinion on this name, for he is my creator, and I assume to be the product of his hands. It took me hours before I gained sensation in my body. Eventually, and naturally, crawled over to the cold body who created me. With the little strength I had, I held my maker. His face tired, and stained from resting in the pool of blood. My grasp was delicate as I was still weak. I understood as much as I could see, and the only thing I could offer him was my sincere gratitude.

"Thank you."

He left behind a robot doll by the name of, "Ron," assigning me as their caretaker from this day forward. After the doll regained consciousness, they imprinted on me quickly, following me like a duck in a happy but confused manner. It was as if they recognized me, but were unable to recognize me. Regardless, the doll was happy to see me. So this leads me to believe that our creator was a very kind person. With my instruction, we were to leave the town we woke up in within the next few days. Now that I've regained my strength, I began packing our things and prepared to move to the city next over, where we could carry out our lives as human beings, or rather, deceiving human beings. I take pride in my own construction, as I sometimes forget that I am made of an artificial matter. My form seems to remind me in one way or another, but my ability to forget is that I have very human memory dwelling inside of me. All these sensations feel human, but my body is not. A strange phenomena that Ron does not experience.

As we prepared to leave the town, the residents bid me farewell by the name of, "Nishina." That was the day I learned the name of my maker, the day we left this town. Of course, I filled his shoes in a very convincing manner, but I could not remember the names or faces of these people. All I knew was the fact that he was dear to them at some point, for they all worried greatly, and didn't know why he was leaving. The Nishina they knew was a very reserved and hardworking person, even if he was away, they thought about him and his effort fondly. That is someone I can be proud of, someone I am proud to be for their sake. I would explain to them that I was hired for another secretary position as I was feeling much better, and that perhaps one day we might meet again. . . oh. I did feel terrible for lying.

Though, before we left, in my instruction was to carry out Nishina's funeral on my own. He is buried near a mountain in the town that loved him. They will not find his grave as the arrangements were privately carried out, but in a formal matter where, they will one day discover that I was merely an apparition leaving the town in his stead.

Nishina was a very thorough and routine individual, and I am only the same. I would've liked to have known more about him, as I understand we are very similar people. Perhaps by coincidence. I am only a fragment of his memory who wanders in his place. I feel that as I carry out his instruction, I will eventually find all his missing pieces.

That will be the Nishina I understand.

[keitaiware]

Keitai memo 055

8/9/20XX

"Summer is going to end soon. So we all try to accomplish something before we lose our opportunities. Then fall, then come winter…"

Nishina trails off in his thought about the changing of seasons.

"Today is a beautiful day, and I want to share this day with you. If you figure out the pass code of this phone, it should be the most recent photo in the gallery. It was recently changed to today's date because I am overwhelmed with shame. So much shame, that I would be in great despair if anyone gets a hold of this record. But if you remember the day of your birth, then it should come naturally to you."

There is a short silence, interrupted by the wind chime hanging above the open porch. Nishina smiles gently feeling the breeze on his cheeks, "its warm, and the garden has flourished. It creeps onto the porch reaching for me, but I have nothing left to give."

His hands fidget on his lap, "even in this struggle, I got to spend my last three summers as a human, but because of my negligence, my body is now in critical condition. These last three summers have meant the most to me, even if I am overwhelmed with shame and regret. It was worth everything."

He laughs hysterically at the irony, "it's a shame I wasn't healthier. Then I could've just ran away from home…! But this is the circumstance I must face.”

“I wasn’t supposed to live, or die; from the very beginning there was high expectations set in place for me to follow… When I moved here, it wasn’t with the intention of improving, I wanted to be alone. To preach running away is childish, so I was only trying to be mature about being a fool.”

Nishina pauses for a moment to wipe his tears, "alright, I am going now."

[keitaiware]

📁 Interview 001: "Making Keitai Hakken" ft. snowsorry

"Developmental interview with snowsorry"

For the first interview of this blog, I decided to retrace my steps by revisiting the creation and development of the first sound source for the keitaiware project. I also plan to go over my goals and future plans concerning this project. For a short summary, the keitaiware project was launched in order to prepare beginner UTAU users with the materials they need to navigate the program on MacOS. As of right now, these resources are still being uploaded live, and I want to thank everyone for their support regarding the project thus far! I want to keep sharing tutorials and offering my best work from this point forward. I don't think I would have made it this far without the support of the friends I have made during my time here. Today we will be interviewing my friend snowsorry, the voice provider of Keitai Hakken. For this interview we will go over Hakken's development and the future developments regarding his sound source. I would like to note that, we are good friends and this might be a bit informal, but we are both very passionate about the direction of this project.

Before I ask any questions, I would like to summarize my original thoughts regarding the project. This project was launched because there is a great lack of resources regarding the field of MacOS UTAU. Prior to keitaiware, I would assist my friends with any technical difficulties but quickly realized half of what I was preforming was unsearchable. Originally, I wasn't planning to brand my tutorials, and had my eyes set on releasing tutorials in simplicity until I had jokingly designed Hakken back in February 16th 2024. Hakken was originally a gijinka character based on the MacOS Finder application, but has become his personal trademark. Occasionally running the gag of file organization and finite storage capacity. After designing him, I realized he could be the mascot for the UTAU resource blog, thus development began. In April I launched auditions with a very low turnout, but within that attempt I was able to find his voice and continue with the process! I would like to thank Colle for all his efforts and contributions towards the project, if not for people like him, I would not have been able to learn so much.

Q. For our first question I would like you to introduce yourself! How long have you been doing UTAU activities for, and how did you become familiar with the program?

A. Hello! My name is Colle, but people typically know me by my username, "snowsorry". I consider myself to be a vocal synth cover artist who mainly works with UTAU. I only started doing UTAU/cover works a little over two years ago now. I had an interest in and followed Vocaloid music for a long time, so much so I can't pinpoint when that even started, but because of that I was very aware of the existence of UTAU-- however I hadn't really attempted to work with it until recent years. I don't really remember what exactly sparked me to pursue it…. I think it was because I was dabbling in MMD and wanted to play with the idea of my original characters singing the songs themselves. Really, I just remember going, "I'm going to make an UTAU!" one day and that was that! At the time, I didn't know anyone who worked with vocal synths, nor anyone who had an interest in using any vocal synth software. So, I had to learn how to do most things by myself until I met new people in the UTAU community through my work.

Q. That's really incredible!! Its a pleasure having you here today, now, I am not too versed in the world of MMD, but being knowledgeable in both programs is something to really be proud of! With UTAU, my case was similar, it's difficult getting started with the program given the lack of resources. I also consider myself self taught! The process of learning was never linear, but having met more people to influence and inspire me, I feel like my work has improved greatly! I also have you to thank in terms technical insight as my knowledge was quite old before meeting you. Continuing with our next question, what was your general impression of Hakken's character, and how did you feel when you received the acceptance letter for the position?

A. I first saw Hakken through the audition. When I saw him I went, "wow..! I really like this character design. It'd be so cool if I got that role!" While I was nearly entirely unconfident in my application, I did think my voice fit the criteria for the tone that was being described, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to apply. I had applied to be a voice provider a few times before, but had yet to get accepted.. worst thing that could happen is I get no response. I was still interested in following Hakken's development even if I didn't get the role. I think because of my lack of confidence I didn't actively check my email.. I didn't see the acceptance letter until a few days later! I panicked because I thought I might've missed my opportunity and someone else was given the role by then haha. I was really excited while also being incredibly nervous, as I wasn't sure how patient you would be working with me. Not even to mention that I was ill with some sort of lung irritation and unable to sing for a while.. weirdly enough, I think that as well as my nervousness while recording ended up working in our favor!

Q. To this day, I am really grateful that the application found you and you had the overall courage to apply. When looking through your portfolio I thought your work was very clean and professional!! It was my first time hosting an audition for a voice, but I had a picture for what I was expecting for his character. If I remember correctly I listed some details along the lines of, "gentle and kind," and I really feel like you fit that role beyond the voice! We were both really clumsy, or it was relieving to find out you were just as anxious as I was when communicating back and forth. When I found out you had a lung irritation, I was about to send you an updated recording list asking for a cough sample, but after checking my email and finding out you were sick I felt some shame. I ended up providing the updated recording list regardless, but allowed you time to recover! Your responses were very quick (as was your recovery), I appreciate all the extra work you provided for Hakken during that time as I was expecting to do a lot of the work myself!! A detail I would like to bring up before I move on from the recording production. I would like to bring up the fact that Hakken was not recorded using Recstar. It is compatible with your iPhone but what made you record in the Voice Memos application?

A. I actually just didn't know Recstar existed at the time! But other than that, I was really set on fulfilling the Apple product gimmick as I knew it was an imperative aspect to the voice bank. I initially planned to record in BandLab since it would be easier to transfer to my PC, however I ended up going with Voice Memos as I thought using a default app would be more "authentic". I did opt for Recstar when recording the new additional samples for Operation+, though. I didn't think it would be worth the hassle haha!

Q. Ohhh fair! At the time of searching for a voice provider, I was aware of it's existence, but had used it only once for a few tests. One of these tests was an attempt to record Hakken myself, but my voice didn't have the tone I was searching for. After that I held the auditions! Thank you for considering the authenticity of the sound source, it was a crucial thing I forgot to mention as I only mentioned using an Apple device for the recording. Then it could've been recorded however you liked! I used to use Voice Memos myself, and can easily say it just isn't feasible with a program like Recstar. Though at the end of the day, there is great irony in the fact that Hakken's sound sources were recorded in Voice Memo's given that Nishina keeps his diary in that application. I think even within the recording process, I am satisfied with the fact that, even though his diary is completely optional, this UTAU ended up with a lot depth in its development even if that was pure coincidence. Do I recommend the read to everyone? Not necessarily, I believe he can be enjoyed without the extra materials. In regards to Operation+, I am still preparing the bank for release and plan to release it as soon as I make progress with Hakken's 2.0 update. I should have more details on this for everyone as soon as I pull together some of the final details and run some tests. For a final question to wrap up this interview, how do you feel about Hakken's reception and development? This can be towards the general process of working on his sound sources or how he's been received.

A. It was a bit jarring at first, especially in regards to the voice bank itself! I have always thought my voice wasn't very, “manly," so when people began to place him alongside what I consider to be very masculine-sounding UTAUs, I didn't think my voice would fit in… however I was very surprised when that wasn't the case! It also meant a lot to me seeing people express how much they like his tone. I deeply appreciate the recognition he has gotten in general, even if it was a bit overwhelming at times! In the end I'm very happy with the outcome of everything. I've learned and grown a lot from this experience in many aspects. I very much enjoyed working with you to make Hakken and look forward to any future projects!

In terms of Hakken’s voice I believe he is very sophisticated and charming, its very true to his character! Recently, he received two appended banks, “Aperture,” and, “Memento.” They are a little deeper in tone compared to his standard, for a sober and serious sounding tone! Continuing with developments, his Operation+ bank should be releasing soon. I cannot give a release date at this moment in time as I have been doing volunteer work for several projects. Keitai Hakken Operation+ is an extended library of the standard CVVC Operation. This bank has consonants, glottal stops, vocal fry, rolled r, and English extras! Please look forward to it. As for future developments, I plan to have a 2.0 update prepared for both Keitai Hakken, and Keitai Ron concerning their CV-VV sound libraries. This update does not entail any large changes, for instance, the banks will receive new character art, adjusted oto.ini, and new encoding for a better user experience. This update should be finished by December 2024.

That concludes our interview for today! Thank you so much for joining us, for the very first keitaiware interview.

[keitaiware]

Keitai memo 054

6/13/20XX

"…There were things I wish I could've done before I left the city, but I was never so brave. Looking back on my past acquaintances, I don't think I ever initiated a conversation? Unless it was business."

He organizes through the stacks of newspapers that had been piling up, "I will need to get these recycled." Nishina looks around the vacant room, with the cooing of birds filling the evening air.

"When I read the paper, I would often look for the missing person report, but my name stopped showing up months ago. Either I found myself or I died, not that it matters. The world goes on, and my world continued elsewhere. If they really wanted to find me, it wouldn't have been too hard since I had a job for a telecommunications company for awhile. So it just leads me onto believe the search wasn't that serious." He laughs softly, "I mean, if they found me, my fun would be over, right?"

[keitaiware]

Keitai memo 053

3/15/20XX

"…Yesterday was my birthday, but since then I have been wondering when I will complete the opus. The project itself has been finished for quite some time now, but I feel paralyzed. So rather than completing it for my sanity, it has been keeping me company."

Nishina plays with a marble on the surface of the table, and holds it up. Allowing the glass to refract the sunlight.

"You know, even while I was a doctor, people thought I was a very genuine and kind person. But the sort of compassionate personality I developed was something that was expected of me. There was no emotions beyond it."

He flusters and corrects himself, "I did care for all my patients, because their health was most important back then. Now, that I have moved and changed my surroundings, the person I was is a complete stranger to me. He was a model doctor created by the system, a flawless character."

Nishina places the marble back onto the low table, the evening sun causes the light to burst into many colors across the surface.

"Have I become selfish in my solitude…? Or maybe there was nothing to begin with at all… how would I know. Ever since I came to this town, I haven't established any connections. At most, I would engage in small talk, but no bonds would be formed. I don't feel twisted about this circumstance, as it was probably never meant to be. Even the most social people can still be lonely, but on the contrary, I think I am used to this sort of condition."

He takes his hand, placing it over the marble, and the colorful light fades away. "Though, on behalf of all lonely people in the world. It only hurts when you want more."

[keitaiware]

Sketch log 025

[keitaiware]

Keitai memo 052

3/14/20XX

[keitaiware]

📁 Resamplers on MacOS.

For this tutorial, we will be running resamplers on OpenUTAU for MacOS. There are several steps to this process before we can start manipulating the files. These steps include, installing Homebrew, and installing Wine. Do not worry, for this tutorial I will also be showing you how to Homebrew your Mac, and how to install the latest version for Wine. Before we get into this process, I need to clarify that it is only possible on MacOS 13.7.1 (Ventura) or later, as Homebrew has discontinued its service for any older versions of MacOS. So without further ado, let’s begin.

Section 1, "Installing Homebrew."

To install Homebrew you will need to head over to the Homebrew website.

https://brew.sh/

From here, you will want to copy the installation command, and open Terminal. If you are not familiar with Terminal, it is in your Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

In the Terminal control panel, you will want to paste the installation command into the console. It will begin running the installation.

The installation will pause and ask for your computer’s passkey. Input the passkey and the installation will continue.

After it installs the, “X code command line tools,” it will run into a fatal error when updating the Homebrew install. Do not worry, head over to, System Preferences > Security and Privacy, and scroll down until you see, "allow install--sh.” Select OK to continue.

Now it will run the rest of the install and you have successfully Homebrewed your Mac.

Section 2, "Installing Wine."

In order to install Wine, head to the WineHQ website.

https://github.com/Gcenx/macOS_Wine_builds/releases

Download Wine Staging from the Github releases page.

Drag the Wine Staging .zip to your desktop and extract.

After extracting the zip, run the Wine Staging application.

The Wine installer will run into an error since it is an external application downloaded from the internet. Head to System Preferences > Security and Privacy, and allow Wine access to run. After this, Wine will be installed to your computer.

Section 3, "How to run resamplers on MacOS."

Now that you have installed both Wine and Homebrew onto your computer, we will now begin the process for installing the resamplers into MacOS. Before we get started, I will like to clarify that for this step we will be converting the executables (.exe) into .sh files. That will be the result we want in order to run resamplers. Here is how.

1. From the OpenUTAU github release page, download the "Mac_Additional.zip." This will be the package we use to convert the resamplers into .sh files.

2. Before we get started, let’s find the version of wine that you have installed. First, do CMND+SHIFT+G, to locate the directory. Now input the following path, /usr/local/bin/. What you will be looking for is either Wine32 or Wine64. Depending on what you have will be important information for a future step. Remember this!

3. Download the resampler of your choice, for this tutorial, I will be installing TIPS. Extract the resampler, and run OpenUTAU.

4. Drag the resampler.exe into the OpenUTAU window. It will then ask you if you want to install as a resampler or wavtool, select the resampler option since that is what we are working with today.

5. This is not the final step! Extract the Mac_Additional.zip, by extracting it, it will generate a, “moresampler.sh,” file. Rename the file after the resampler you will be working with, (eg. TIPS.sh).

6. Open this file with textedit by double-clicking, or right-clicking. Select, “Open with textedit.”

7. Now we will edit the .sh file with resampler's information. First, you do not need these first three lines, these are highlighted in the screenshot. Feel free to delete them.

8. Locate the, “moresampler-0.8.4/moresampler.exe” and delete it, replace with only the resampler name, eg. “TIPS.exe.”

9. In the field for, “exec /usr/local/bin/wine32on64“ replace the Wine extension with your version of Wine. This will look like, “exec /usr/local/bin/wine64,” since my computer is running Wine64.

10. In OpenUTAU, to quickly access to resampler folder, select the, “help,” tag, and, "Open Logs Location." We will not be working with the logs, from here you will open the resampler folder.

11. OpenUTAU will have already generated a .sh file for TIPS.exe in this scenario. With the edited TIPS.sh on your desktop, drag and drop it in the resampler folder, and replace.

12. Return to OpenUTAU, and select, “CLASSIC,” in the resampler field, and to the right there will be a cog icon. From here you will be able to select your downloaded resamplers.

If this is your first time running the instance, Wine will ask permission to install the Wine/Homebrew crossover. This may take awhile.

There you have it! You can repeat this process and download as many resamplers as you like.

[keitaiware]

Sketch log 024

[keitaiware]

Sketch log 023

[keitaiware]

Sketch log 022

[keitaiware]

Keitai memo 051

12/31/20XX

Nishina sits at his desk with the light of his computer casting a dim light onto his face, his hand hovering over the record button. He winces in pain, and sweeps everything off his desk.

"Why the hell am I trying so hard!? This all means nothing in the end!!"

He tries to destroy more of his research, but cuts his hand on a sharp object in the process. Drops of blood pour onto the floor, followed by the professor crouching down. Nishina gasps in pain as the cut is quite deep, gripping his wrist, he curls up into a ball.

He sobers, "I don't want to do this anymore… I'm scared. Sometimes I wonder if I got treatment I could've continued to make everyone proud, but I wanted more than their pride, I wanted to be loved."

Nishina cries out, "but I don't know the difference! I realized I was never loved, it was no different from being a machine. In my time here I felt more human than I ever have in my life. What did I do wrong!?"

The blood from his hand stains his vest, "I don't know everything, but now I am alone because I didn't know how to be human. Just a taste of being human made me realize how wrong I was in the grand scheme of things."

"Movies, art, music, were made by humans. It's colorful, but as I develop the opus, it’s a machine referenced from a machine. All I ever wanted was to be flawless, not human."

Nishina sniffles and wipes his tears with his wrist, "I don't have the energy anymore. I can't be angry…" He is then interrupted by more coughing having exerted himself, "if I do this over, I will learn more about the people around me. Then I will be a better human."

[keitaiware]

Keitai memo 050 (PT. 2)

Recording 2.

"I made it………. to the peak………."

Nishina's steps are fatigued as he stumbles to the top. The sound of his cane falling can be heard, and Nishina too, falls over, the impact of his body can be heard in the crunch of the deep snow. He draws out a long sigh, and looks up at the sky.

"The world……….. is quiet," he breathes heavily, "but the world is beautiful."

He gasps lightly, as a snowflake falls on his cheek.

“…..It's snowing."

Nishina's gaze relaxes again, as the large snowflakes begin to cover his figure in the deep snow. He grasps his phone in his left hand as the snowflakes begin to accumulate, and stops the recording. Nishina falls asleep on the top of the mountain.

[keitaiware]

Keitai memo 050 (PT. 1)

12/3/20XX

Recording 1.

"Today I am hiking up the mountain, to enrich my life outside of my office."

He lightly chuckles, but due to the brisk air he is cut short into coughing.

"Ow… It's really cold…"

He can be heard treading through the snow, using a cane to support himself. Nishina breathes heavily, fighting against the incline of the mountain.

"The day I moved to this town, I was told the best view was from the mountain. People would travel here just to look at the world from the peak.. I might be a little late, but I have always been curious. Today I will see that for myself."

[keitaiware]

Keitai memo 048

10/12/20XX

"I am tired… I haven't left my house in a while. The garden is starting to grow over with weeds, and my heart aches at the sight of it. I cannot touch the garden right now."

Nishina begins to cough, wet coughs. He looks down at the blood in his hand and clutches it.

"The garden and I will soon reach our limit."

[keitaiware]

Keitai memo 049

11/9/20XX

"Today I am at the beach, no one is here because there is a storm coming in. This beach, is not the beach you are probably thinking of. On this beach it is covered with snow, all the way up against the water's edge. It is not warm… it is quite cold."

The sound of brisk wind can be heard, and the gusts toss his long coat behind him. Nishina stares out into the vastness of the sea before him, as ice water cuts at his cheeks.

"The opus will be complete soon, it took me longer than I had anticipated but I am still alive. What remains is some final diagnostic work, but I think I am going to hold off on that for awhile longer… trace back my steps, and wait till I am certain."

[keitaiware]

📁 Section 4, "Generating Frequencies on MacOS."

For this tutorial we will be generating the frequency files on UTAU-Synth. I will make a future followup tutorial for generating on OpenUTAU. Before we get started, lets talk about what frequency generation is!

Generating frequencies is the last step to completing your UTAU voicebank, but before we get into frequency generation, what are frequency files? Frequency (.frq) files are the frequency maintained by the program to reference for every render. Without generating the .frq files, the program, or other programs will either generate a strange .frq or crash. Also, I would like to disclose for this segment that .frq files can only be generated in UTAU-Synth, UTAU2008, and Speedwagon.

Since this tutorial series is dedicated to MacOS we will be generating our .frqs in UTAU-Synth.

If you used my CV-VV reclist, I have a UST for generating all the frequencies in your voicebank. You can download it below.

Download

Onto manual frequency generation, to generate your frequency files you can make a UST by writing all your samples into the UST like this. 

After you complete setting the samples into the UST, let it render once, and all your frequencies should be generated.

Q. How do I replace .frqs ?

A. .frqs can be replaced by going to the UTAU's folder, and searching for the desired .frq file. You can also batch select all .frqs by searching the, ".frq," extension within the UTAU's folder. After this, delete them, and repeat the generation.

*(Disclaimer, there is no .frq editor for MacOS.)

In UTAU-Synth, after generating all the frequencies, the program will generate, “.spef,” files, also known as, “specification files.” These files are not necessary, as they are exclusively generated in UTAU-Synth. It's recommended to select all the .spefs and throw them away.

Q. Why do you delete the .spef files ?

A. Since they're exclusive to UTAU-Synth, they will not be read on Windows. So, to save disk space and optimize your bank, deleting them will make the overall size of the folder smaller.

That concludes this segment on frequency generation! As of writing this, I have just found out it is possible to generate .frqs on OpenUTAU. So, I will be making a follow up tutorial on this when I get the chance.

Congratulations! You have completed your first UTAU voicebank!