#//i play with openutau a bit

[spectrumspace]

Cringetober Day 12: Hatsune Miku/Vocaloid

I actually don't have, like, a strong preference for any Vocaloids besides Miku, but there's quite a few characters for other software that I quite like. They're friends.

[bmpmp3]

I KNOW every person says this about every medium, art form, hobby, etc. ever, and always specifically about whatever time they get really really really into said hobby BUT i do genuinely think, at least from a software perspective, that we're probably on the cusp of some kind of vocal synth renaissance. the scene never died or even wavered, but with the sheer amount of new software coming out both paid and free, voicevox getting a singing update,stuff like OpenUtau making compatibility easier... i don't care for subscriptions so im only interested in their perpetual licenses but i will admit voisona's subscription model for voicebanks has a lot of benefits for those who just wanna use a voice maybe once or twice.... there are so many robots to make sing you guys. there are so many.

[keitaiware]

📁 Interview 002: "UTAU and Music Production on MacOS." ft. yoneyoneprone

Today's interview we will have a in depth look at incorporating UTAU into a music production workflow on MacOS. Our guest today is Yoneyoneprone, also known as 44e, he has been producing original songs by using UTAU and Garageband together to create alternative EDM, and rock music!

Before we start with any of the questions, can you introduce yourself and your work?

44e: Hello! I’m 44e-prone, also known by my online alias, Errorfours (or just Error, for short). I’m a music producer who mainly produces UTAU originals using Mac’s default DAW Garageband.

Q. What kind of genres do you specialize in your work?

44e: Genre is something weird for me because I don’t really tend to stick for a specific one. I guess if I had to pick, I’d say I make electronic rock? Not sure if that’s really a genre, though, haha. I guess I’ll say that I do a little bit of everything.

That’s the sort of vibe I got from your work! I like the rock and chip tune elements in your songs, its a nice wide range between the two!

Q. When it comes to UTAU, how long have you been familiar with the software?

44e: I first started on UTAU-Synth about 4-ish years ago. I recorded a voicebank, JANKYLOID ENGLISH. I was familiar with the UTAU community, but that’s my first time actually using the software. However, I only really started using UTAU regularly (on OpenUTAU ) last year or so. I was inspired to get back into UTAU because of you, actually! So my answer for this question will be “about a year”.

Oh wow! I am really flattered!! Having an English voicebank for your first UTAU is insanely impressive, there was a point where I went on hiatus so I will say about 3 years..? It was sort of sparse during that time. It feels good to be back in the scene, and I am glad to have you here as well!

Q. For my next question, how long have you been producing music for, and whats your general workflow when producing and incorporating UTAU into that workflow?

44e: Starting with English was definitely a decision, haha. I’ve always composed my own music on piano since I started quite young, but I started doing DTM music maybe 5 or 6 years ago. I started on Musescore actually. My general workflow goes like this. I write an instrumental with a melody track that acts as a placeholder for vocals. Once I’m happy with it, I go back and write lyrics. I’ll format the notes in Garageband and separate out the syllables in a Google Docs document. That way, I can use the, “lyrics,” feature in OpenUTAU. Garageband is funny, in that, it doesn’t export MIDI files. I have to export the vocals as an .AIF file, find it in my library, then use an .AIF to MIDI converter. I then have a MIDI file I can use in OpenUtau. I select all the notes and put in the syllables I wrote down and separated from earlier. I then export my tracks and put them over the instrumental just to hear how it sounds (and make changes if needed.) After that, it’s just a matter of tuning vocals and mixing the final.

Very intuitive! Yes, its a real shame how Garageband cannot export files in MIDI format. I feel like exporting in MIDI format is a core feature. I appreciate the insight!

Q. Do you play any instruments?

*(Outside of manipulating VSTs inside the DAW.)

44e: I started playing piano at 5 which is a very good way in my opinion. Music programs operate almost solely on the skeuomorphism of keyboards. I can play the ukulele but only basics. I play flute in a marching band and sing in a choir. I was born with perfect pitch, so it gives me a good jumping off point when trying to learn a new instrument, I can usually figure out the very basics quickly. My family is also very musical so I was always encouraged to play music. I’ve got family members that play bass clarinet, guitar, taiko, etc. Needless to say, music is an important part of my life! However, when producing, I hardly touch an instrument. I have a MIDI keyboard but I never use it. A lot of people tend to think that you need to play an instrument or get formal training, but that’s not the case at all. 99% of what you hear me make is all just placing notes by clicking.

Very interesting! That's a lot of instruments.. I think having such a large musical background helps a lot too! Especially when looking for sound profiles to incorporate in your work. Its also good insight for beginners before they make any decisions to purchase equipment for music production.

Q. Speaking of which, do you have any recommendations for beginner producers?

44e: I would say just start. Starting is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome. Many people think stuff like “I’d start, but it’s going to take a long time to learn.” So what if it takes time? What’s the rush? It’s okay if your first works aren’t great. My first UTAU album, “YOU & I” is by no means an objectively fantastic piece of work, but I learned so much from it. I definitely have a long way to go, but you hear the improvement, just listen to my old and new versions of, “Blockhead!” That’s literally all of my recommendations. Just start.

Its very daunting, it helps knowing what inspires you and what sounds are most pleasing to your ear as well. I love block head a lot! Both versions are very enjoyable as the duet is very fun!

Q. Do you have any inspirations for your work?

44e: I’d say I’m inspired just by the music I listen to. I’m a big fan of JIN’s music with his cool guitar riffs and such. Mikito-P was a big inspiration for me to start producing music I’d say. I don’t think I have a good answer to this question, I just listen to music and go “Woah, that’s neat.”

I do this as well, its nice having a wide range of tastes! Its a bit ironic how recently I've been binging JIN's work after listening to summering again.

Q. To wrap up this interview, what are your future ambitions for your work?

44e: I want to be famous, and have 43 songs that need to be completed. I have two large UTAU projects coming up! I’m working on a game and a song series. I hope I can complete them and that there are people who will enjoy it. :)

*Noting* He wants to be famous, and finish his 43 unfinished songs.. *pen click*

How exciting! I wont pry for too many details as we wouldn't want to spoil the audience, but I will be looking forward to that! If you're curious to find more of 44e's work, I will link his profiles down below. Thank you for your time shared with the KEITAIWARE project today!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/yonyoneprone YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtiymJUs5ILN4nHcde-1F8w Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5QSCVjMHhor5F4mPptogOP?si=6YDZ7-nbRIimTt1pOMkAJg&nd=1&dlsi=f82f24497a1d415e

[naivedesla]

New Releases, Voicebanks and Updates!

Hello everyone! We have updated our website with some news you might like. All of them are detailed under the Read More cut.

However, the following is a summary (relevant updates to users marked in bold):

Home page edits

Voices page(s) updated

Glucagon's voicebanks updated

New released voicebanks

Fixed website URLs

Credits page updated

Other news about "coming soon" voices

First of all, the front page was cleaned up and there's a new release! Yay!

Second, the Voices menu!

As you probably have noticed, there are two new Voices: Bakira and SC-122-Sonia.

Bakira will have her own release post. Her voicebanks are already up for distribution again, however the sound samples in the website do not work yet, and display Glucagon's samples instead.

SC-122-Sonia was not updated yet for re-release, so the DL links and the play samples do not work. You might notice the preview shows the display a bit broken... I'm unsure why it shows like that, however the website should look good.

Third, Updated voicebanks!

Glucagon's page was updated with new links as well as his voicebanks!

Both releases (UTAU / OpenUTAU) updated the readme links and made some adjustments to the oto.ini, specifically the hiragana aliases that behaved like duplicates. Some Artwork was included as well.

Fourth! URLs were fixed and Credits page was updated!

You might have noticed (or not), but all the URLs used to be kind of "copy-of-copy-of..." That's fixed now! The URLs now should be displaying the name of the page you are in.

As well, Credits page was updated. Glucagon's credits displayed the wrong name, now the credits mention Fractured Hope Co. as it should be.

Sadly, the Credits page is missing some details and the Projects page is still a work in progress (oops). We hope to fix that with the remaining credits for the front page and Bakira and SC-122-Sonia's credits.

Last, but not least important: Comming Soon (& other news)

Now, this is probably a wall of text divided in sections: new voices, wiki links, addition of affiliated websites, and other miscellaneous updates.

(1)- New voices

There are some voices that only have the wiki, are a wip or have their own website.

Those UTAUs are: Slice, Meast, Nayela Aakiri, Azoa, Captain Papers. (I might be missing a few)

Now, the UTAUs that will 100% be shoved inside the NaiveDesla official website are Meast and Nayela Aakiri. However, Slice could also be included. This has not been decided yet.

Azoa and Captain Papers have their own websites, however Azoa has not been granted a public release (yet) and Captain Papers has been shown mostly in the Wiki page. The idea is to make a "Misc. Voices" menu with similar display to the main Voices, that act as some kind of "backup" or "redirect".

The temptation of creating an UTAUloid group of a project wich we will codename NOTE is very high, as well as making an UTAUloid for a specific inkling-like character. If this last option is done, Slice could be moved to a different website for Splatoon UTAUs. This is not decided yet.

(2)- Wiki page links

One of the upcoming additions is the presence of links to each UTAU's Wiki. That should be an easy way to get detailed information about each one of them and their voicebanks.

(3)- Affiliated websites

Another upcoming addition is the presence of a page for Affiliated websites. This includes easy access to other UTAU's pages and our own. However, the possibility of moving these to Contact page instead is very high.

(4)- Misc. Updates

The Carrd page should be updated soon, and our Tumblr pages as well. We should be making a Wiki page and add Altericide in our website as our "sister project".

[auspicious-voice]

UTAU Tutorials - Multipitch & Multiexpression Voicebanks

Hi! Here's a bit of a heads up: I've switched to using OpenUtau (an open-source alternative for UTAU), so if I post any screenshots concerning UTAU in general, chances are it'll use OpenUtau. Thanks!

That being said, it's been a hot while since I wrote a tutorial. I've been holding off this one for a while until I released my UTAUs' recent updates, and considering the format of those voicebanks, we'll be taking a look at multipitch (and multiexpression) voicebanks. This is not a tutorial on how to record those voicebanks, and it's meant to provide an overview of what they are and what purpose they have in general.

Multipitch Voicebanks

OH BOY. Multipitch voicebanks. They tend to be bigger than monopitch (one pitch) voicebanks since they contain multiple pitches. They can be in any format, but they often appear in either VCV or CVVC.

Multipitch voicebanks are VERY popular in the UTAU community for a variety of reasons, which I will get to later.

The Setup

When you open a monopitch voicebank folder, the you can already see the .wav files, frq. files, and all that kind stuff that makes a voicebank sing. In the case of multipitch voicebanks, every single pitch is organized in a folder and the folder name is named after the note (suffix/prefix) the pitch was recorded in (e.g. A3, D4, etc.). This allows for easier management when making a multipitch voicebank, but that doesn't stop there.

The oto.ini of a pitch is a bit different, because when you open one, you can see something like this:

The major difference between the oto.ini configurations of a monopitch and a multipitch voicebank lies in the suffix (or prefix) being used in the aliases. Why does every pitch need a suffix? The answer lies in the prefix.map file, which automates how a multipitch voicebank functions.

Every multipitch voicebank contains a prefix.map file. Normally, monopitch voicebanks don't need one due to their nature, but multipitch voicebanks cannot function properly without a prefix.map that is configured.

When you open a prefix.map file (with Notepad or any text-editing program), you can see on the left side the notes of the piano roll, and on the right side the pitches the multipitch voicebank was recorded in. Every configured pitch can now play according to the note range it is set in, and when you play it in UTAU, all of these pitches will come together to make a great singing voice.

What are the benefits?

The benefits of using (or even making) multipitch voicebanks is that it gives the UTAU you're using a wider range compared to a monopitch voicebank, meaning that they won't distort as much in either the higher or lower octaves. It also makes the UTAU sound more natural as a result.

Ideally, the spacing between pitches is at least five semitones to allow for the most optimal results, so keep that in mind when you record multipitch voicebanks.

Multiexpression Voicebanks

Now this kind of voicebank doesn't really matter if it's monopitch or multipitch, because it allows multiple appends of the same UTAU to be packaged into one voicebank. It's not an entirely new concept as it has existed since forever, but there's an alarmingly growing trend of UTAUs receiving multiexpression voicebanks.

The Setup

The average setup of a multiexpression voicebank typically involves the normal voicebank, and a couple other of appends such as a power/soft/falsetto append. The normal expression is often configured like a regular multipitch voicebank, but as for the appends, their suffixes are a bit different.

So you notice something in the power append's oto.ini? The suffix in the aliases often have something like "x X■G4". The ■ can either be a letter or a kanji that corresponds to the voicebank.

How does this play out in the editor?

Notice how two of the notes have a weird-looking suffix to them. These suffixes will activate a certain append, with 弱 activating the soft append and 強 activating the power append. So the voice goes from a soft > normal > powerful voice in the process, all in one track.

HOWEVER, if you want all appends to work seamlessly, you would need to record all expressions with the same pitch setup AND according to the prefix.map, otherwise the appends won't work at certain parts.

But in OpenUtau, we have the Voice Colors feature, which allows you to use multiple appends recorded at very different pitches all within the same voicebanks. Say you have a normal voicebank append at A3, D4, and G4, and the power append is recorded as G3, C4, and F4. This setup would not work in UTAU unless you brute force it with adding a suffix to the notes, but OpenUtau's Voice Colors features allows you to use both appends within the same track through the use of prefix.map. It's a VERY convenient feature if you want to combine several voicebanks into one neat package.

What are the benefits?

The great benefit to using multiexpression voicebanks is that by using multiple appends within the same track/UST, you get a realistic, expressive voice. It is INSANE that you can get very nice results with the help of using different suffixes, and it's a game changer when making covers.

Conclusion

Multipitch and multiexpression voicebanks are just one of the many voicebank types that are very popular in the UTAU community. Should you use them or even record one? I think that's entirely up to you, so go use any kind of voicebank you feel comfortable using. I like to talk about voicebanks for the most part, so I hope this post hlped you in some way.

Thanks for reading! ^^ I'll try to work on other tutorials when I can.