#clear utaite

[bmpmp3]

speaking of genbu's "serious" sounding tone in his voicebank, i think that might be why he was such a dead ringer for teto pre-synthv-bank-release with just a couple little gender parameter tweaks. wait do my followers know this. sorry i know most of my vocal synthesizer talk is genuinely gibberish to my beloved and loyal long time followers but do you guys know this. for a few years, people had discovered that since utau teto and genbu have this similar strong enunciation and dark sounding tone plus teto can have a bit of a tomboyish edge to her voice anyway -> if u mess with some parameters and phonemes he'll sound close enough to her, so it became a bit of running gag in the community, along with just being a genuine and novel use case for his voicebank. actually recently i found out about someone who made a couple of synthv scripts to set genbus voice to his falsetto pitch and set the tension to drop during each syllable automatically to make him sound like the utau sora amaha. genbu's purpose is to impersonate other vocal synthesizers

[zero-ek]

I seriously don't even know what to say...

Even after three whole years, every new song feels like the first one, and every single time i fall in love with her music all over again.

Just... how... how does she do it?

[stepswowdsen]

【KagePro】 Kuroha x Envy Baby ♦️ ♥️ 🃏

"I'm ready for this this lover baby My garden of love is in danger from a drawing hand Truly, this this lover's crazy In the garden of harm, the bud of a human is a lie-ai-a"

(EN TL by Magenetra)

You can see the translated lyrics above! Magenetra has the best translation of Kanaria's Envy Baby

Original Song by Kanaria (illustrated by LAM)

Envy Baby Fan-cover by Utaite Mafumafu

Envy Baby Fan-cover by Raon Lee

Envy Baby (Douman UTAU Jinriki) by Doskoi Tsukimiyama

My doodle is based on the Envy Baby MV illust by LAM, and Mochizuki Kei's illust of the Mafumafu (Utaite) fan cover. Their art styles are so strong… LAM has a great painting style, and MochiKei has really strong lineart and colours

Raon Lee's fan cover of Envy Baby is my personal favourite! She has such a powerful belting voice and I love her growls. Since she's fluent in KR, JP, and EN, she makes really good translations/song lyrics for her song covers.

Kind of a shame that the card covers up the dots on his face, but oh well 😭 Quick 1 hour sketch cuz I just wanted to get the concept down, I'll draw more interesting patterns on the balloons and playing card eventually

Literally no one fits this song more than Douman (FGO). Envy Baby is a song about "twisted love" and love being an obstacle, with the center character being drawn with clown and circus motifs.

Douman is an evil gay clown demon (major FGO antagonist) who hates humanity and doesn't understand love, but after being defeated by Ritsuka (FGO's protagonist), is trying to learn how to love this human. LimGuda (Douman (Limbo) x Ritsuka (Guda)) is spicy as hell and deadly romantic... My fave FGO ship forever!!!

It is PERFECT for Douman and the LimGuda ship.

But I wanted to try my hand at a Kuroha crossover.

Also cuz Tsukimiyama already drew a Douman x Envy Baby crossover with their gorgeous art (and also did a Douman UTAU jinriki cover). For a UTAU jinriki, the tuning is nice ^^ They have a great painting style. I LOOOOVE the Douman UTAU fan-cover sm... UTAUs are fan-made Vocaloids, and the people who make UTAUs and UTAU jinrikis usually make art and tune their fan-covers as well ^^

The only second runner ups that I can think of who would fit this song almost as well as Douman, would be Nikolai (BSD), another GNC gay clown - go figure, and Tyki (DGM) due to his playing card aesthetic.

Funny how the song starts with "Hi I wanna people save" All these bitches are doing the opposite of people saving LMFAO They're murderous as hell!

When I'm free, I wanna draw JuAli soon I miss them weh weh...

This is mainly KagePro but since I mentioned the others, I might as well tag them...

[harapeveco]

Oks so! Before anything if it somehow seems I’m like scolding you or anything pls note that’s not the case! I’m just here to inform!

Anyway yes they are the same BUT we as fans aren’t supposed to say it. Kamiboku is kind of a side project of his, he wants to show the talents his band members have but he doesn’t want the band itself to be recognized as the “Mafu band” y’know? He thinks if people want listen to them is bc they like their music and not bc there’s a famous name behind it. That’s why when Kamiboku performs the singer is Dokono Dareka and not Mafu….who’s Mafu? Idk him! (Also that’s the whole reason why the band wears masks)

So yeh Mafu fans have this rule where no one mentions Mafu when there’s something Kamiboku related out of respect, to the effects of everything they are different people who just so happen to sound the same….what a coincidence!

Also just in case! In various streams people have asked him this questions and he always avoid it so pls make sure you don’t ask it, if he doesn’t say anything it is for a reason AND VERY IMPORTANT don’t go around saying they are the same person pls

That’s all I hope this helps!❤️

Question for everyone who loves j-pop and/or knows utaite

Do you think Kami sama I have noticed and Mafumafu are the same in some way?

[natsubane]

"yeah, i guess i'll keep living"

(kaisei / clear weather by orangestar, ft. daybreak trio, my own translation, and umikun's cover!)

individual frames (without effects) featuring my keykid zero and his reincarnation spring, my friend mage's design of older ephemer, and my extremely shitty handwriting

other kaisei covers i really fucking like bc i'm normal about this song:

original upload, orangestar feat. ia

megatera zero, possibly one of the best covers of this song ever

amatsuki (he's my fav utaite. give him some credit)

soramachi, with their own band arrange! the mv is good too

fantastic youth, possibly also one of the best covers ever (plus it has rap)

[roboyomo]

the pinned post

finally making one!!

anyway hai helloo people i am roboyomo :] usually go by yomo (or robo but that's a rare one). i use he/him and masculine terms despite being agender

more info about my blog below the cut :)

current interests are:

#projmoon - Mostly lobcorp and ruina!! Probably one of my biggest interests at the moment,, adam and the fascinating worldbuilding could be some of the main reasons why

#pokemon - Still fairly new to pokemon, but nonetheless i still enjoy the games :) (even though i can only watch gameplays since i don’t have a nintendo ds. cruelty to me)

#yuppie psycho - Yuppie Psycho has been here with me for a long while, but It mostly stayed like a vague memory from a few years ago. Still, I absolutely enjoy the game and everything about it!! domori and rei sintra my beloveds,,

#utaite - A REALLY BIG utaite fan. literally 99% of the songs i listen are just utaite originals or utaite covers of vocaloid songs. (and only just a bit of actual vocaloid songs)

#ocs - LISTEN this may not qualify for an interest to some people. but it does to me. i love hearing about the little critters other people have created from their mind. and i love talking about my beasts. Basically hand over your beasts. i need to hold them like a dove it is urgent and of upmost importance

#studio investigrave - i. Did Not post about these games yet but i have a lot of art ideas for these games i love all of the current 5 games released urhfuwhrhwh,,,, biggest favorite out of the 5 is elevator hitch!!!!

#reverse 1999 - i am still fairly new to the game but i have been playing for like 3 something weeks by now and i fucking adore medpoc I LOVE YOU MEDPOC R1999 THEY COULD NEVER MAKE ME HATE YOU

I also have my own tags for this blog!!

#yomoposting : General posts and such. i use this to post mostly random stuff

#yomoart : my art tag!!! all of my sketches, drawings and illustrations are under this tag :]

#yomoasks : the tag for asks i receive! pretty straightforward

#yomo and his beloveds : i don’t use this tag as much,,, but generally i use this to tag posts that are centered around my most beloved/comfort characters!!

#yomo ocs?! : THE TAG FOR OC CRITTERS!!! Everything about them goes here - ranging from lore rambles to random joke stuff with them involved

and some character-specific tags!!

#adam the greatest : the tag for my most beloved adam lobcorp!! “all hail adam christ”, as i used to say. everyday i hold him like an injured bird because he is precious to me

#carmen the beloved : the tag for carmen projmoon :] i love carmie i hold her dear to my heart. which might be a bad idea considering what she does but i’m doing it anyway

#volo my bestfriend volo : the tag for volo from pokemon!!!! i adore him i love me some cool long-haired male characters with some very clear issues. and also with some religious motifs going on

#N the greatest : the tag for N (or Natural Harmonia Gropius) from pokemon!! i still need to get through the entirety of the story for pokemon bw and b2w2 but i love him nonetheless. cool green guy :]

i am also on Artfight!! My profile is here if you want to check it out :)

An index section for my oc master rantposts just to keep track of them:

Azrael and Kenix and their story

some additional stuff: i am an artist for as long as i can remember, i really really really like adam lobcorp, volo, carmen, cynthia, N and medpoc and i heavily obsess over characters that are just. long haired and have some sort of plan for the world and the humanity. <- and i do not mean “oh this is a good thing to do” NO they need call it a good deed but in reality it will absolutely ruin everything instead. plus i am also really obsessed with my own ocs and their lore so please please please ask about them i will happily ramble about my little critters. also please be careful with the things you say in my direction! i am. sensitive and i WILL be sad over what you have said about me.,,

my blog is welcome to everybody :] that is unless you are an asshole and/or a creep so please leave if you are anything like that. that being said, please do not make yaoi/yuri, fujoshi/fudanshi and himejoshi/himedanshi jokes on my blog! i am not comfortable with those terms exactly so please avoid using them in the comments or reblogs. thank you for your cooperation!!!

yea this post turned out to be a bit tooo long for my standards but who cares

[trisloshr]

other life updates

irrelevant ot anybody but most important to MEEEE i went to see an utaite group (half of them anyway) ive waited 10 years to see in person YAYYY

i also went for my fav guys solo tour and ended up in the front row (MY INSANE LUCK (its by lottery..) most joyouse thing that ever happened in my life btw i also got to hold his hand get a smile etc so awesome ever

also met one of my best friends kiko again while i was there heres a wonderful picture

in more recent news errrrm i moved across the world and had to say bye to my cutest loveliest babiest kitty but heres a pic of her:

also last week i cleared my locker by accident so ermm everything falls on him when he opens it

and finally me and merr <3

ok those are the awesome things that have happened to me Thats all

[tuningknight]

29.03.2024 Listening Activity

Ciel has such a pretty and appealing voice, it's like a clear and sweet translucency that floats so effortlessly.

Anyways, this reminded me that Ciel released a new song recently! It's so beautiful and suits her so well, it's such a bop too.

Time to get through my too long Watch Later playlist. HIPPI has such a bold and unique voice, really bop song too~

I'm a huge fan of dongdang's aesthetic and voice, the image conveyed is so elegant and mystical.

LUCIA SWEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is like the perfect song for lucia to cover, so beautiful for her voice i love luciaaaaa 🫶

I always thought Kana Sukoya has such an amazing singing voice, and she chose the perfect song to cover here too!! She's expressive in a way that's a bit rare to find, it's so good to listen to

SODA KIT SWEEEEEEEEEPPP i love love love love soda kit I LOVE SODA KIT‼️‼️‼️ okay that's all. their vocal blend & balance is amazing, their visuals are so cool and fun too. they're like the perfect utaite/vsinger group, honestly.

Sheeno Mirin, I love their songs, they're so chaotic yet captivating. This time they did a song with tanaka!

I love tokiwa's songs and I've been meaning to listen to more of their works, they're really nice and simply captivating. The vocalist here Achu* suits tokiwa so well too, it's super nice.

h4o has such a calming and nice voice, the song choice is so nice too. super nice super nice

[superespresso]

Leaving Your Mark On A Genre: The Lost Artisans of Vocaloid

If you've been around me for more than 5 seconds you're aware that I am an avid enjoyer of Project Diva games. Learning this week about every single producer who was associated with the music that has passed has made it extremely difficult to play. I keep missing buttons in every song I play because I'll suddenly remember I'm playing a song by wowaka, or while scrolling past samfree in the menu have a moment of sadness that doesn't clear up.

There's been a strange sense of melancholy playing certain songs. Even before this research project and learning about the people who had passed just watching the Viva Happy PV or Odds & Ends left me strangely.. empty feeling.

I didn't know about any of these producers passing on. I work in news media and frankly I don't go looking for news when off the clock because it's a job that sucks the soul out of you. When I'm home I'm content to enjoy things as they are. Imagine my surprise to see a tweet of unrelated context alluding to wowaka's passing. How insane it was to me to learn of this. Moments later after commenting such I'd learned of Samfree, and Powapowa-P. After giving it some time I decided to do my due diligence, especially since others in the same thread stated "They weren't aware of any others."

This is only 6 of 40 listed on the VocaDB under deceased. Please add to this if you have anything else to share about any of these producers or others you know of. I'd love to hear more. What was special about their music to you?

Perhaps others are like me and don't know of these passings. Maybe you've played a Vocaloid game, but the names are unfamiliar. Or, you just know the songs by cover-artists. I'd never done any digging on these people, but I've been melancholy. I wanted to know more about who they were.

As an aside before the cut-- this is expanded from an X thread I started. Less space on X to work with, and less comfort using Blue expansion. If you see anything blatantly copied from X, it's probably from here.

The 6 Big Names:

Powapowa-P.

Samfree.

Otsu-P.

Wowaka.

Brother-P.

SHIKI.

It feels incredibly impersonal to just list names. So for each one lets talk about what they did. I'm not going to go into detail about their passing, or their families. If you want to do that you're welcome to go search that. I want to celebrate their life and accomplishments. As stated above; any others whom I may have missed (I don't have the most vast knowledge about this subject) I humbly invite others to include. I welcome additions. It would please me to hear others celebrate the lives of the people who made the music I still enjoy from high-school.

PowaPowa-P (ぽわぽわP)/siinamota (椎名もた) or Mizoguchi Ryou (溝口遼)

In 2012 he joined GINGA; performed live performances and was extremely popular on a worldwide stage. He was beloved on Niconico for his compositions as well as the arrangements and lyrics in many songs self-produced. He was also talented with the piano, and utilized this skill for quite a few songs and albums Today on TikTok, Young Girl A is still getting a massive number of views and features in videos as backing. The song features strong themes of depression and unhappy mentality. It's themes are shared by "Alive" which ranked #1 in 30 different countries on Apple music.

He mostly used Miku & Rin for Vocalsynth, with many, many album releases-- including Best-Of tracks.

Some of his most notable works are:

Young Girl A

Alive

Q

Sayonara Remember-san

Strobe Hello

Hello Strobe

Strobe Last

Strobe Light

Please Give Me a Red Pen

samfree or Sano Takayuki (佐野貴幸)

You know who samfree is if you've ever picked up a Vocaloid game. The picture may not be familiar. The name may not jar your memory, but the music will.

His songs were hits from conception. On this list he is one of the most well known just from his notoriety. He was more than just a Vocaloid composer. He was also an Utaite himself, being in "Nanario no Nico Nico Douga" and prompting a flood of response. He released 6 albums himself between 2008-2011.

His songs have been in more than just Vocaloid though, having credit in "The Sound of SEINS;GATE Complete" from March of 2016 as the arranger, "TOHO Eurobeat" Volumes 1, 3, and 4. As well as "The Best Of Non-Stop TOHO Eurobeat 2011" and "The Revival Mix 2" (TOHO Eurobeat) albums as a mix of an arranger and lyricist.

His significant works in the Vocaloid franchise include:

Luka Luka★Night Fever

Neko Neko★Super Fever Night

Megu Megu☆Fire Endless Night

miki miki★Romantic Night

Piko Piko☆Legend of the Night

Tako Luka★ Maguro Fever

Lily Lily ★ Burning Night

Many other "Night" Credits in the same series.

Missing

Promise

Bye-Bye Lover

Rainbow

Otsu-P (乙P)

Otsu-P released fewer songs than others on this list due to the year of their sudden passing being 2013. It's easy to tell from fan reactions still in circulation that they have no shortage of affection still. Their music lives on within compilations and re-releases, keeping his memory fresh.

Producers released the "Pandoras Box" album after their passing-- including songs that had final touches placed post-mortem so that those who enjoyed their work could enjoy everything they had to offer. There is very, very little about Otsu-P available. That's okay. If you have anything to share, or any kind of memory you'd like to include-- please do.

The works included on their most notable are:

chord line

Oman Ko

Innovation

Mythologist

Pandora's Box

Stick With You

wowaka (ヲワカ)/Genjitsutouhi-P (現実逃避P)

This is the hardest one to cover for me. It's very strange. For a while now SPiCA has made me very, very sad. I wasn't sure why. I didn't know about wowaka until this week. The song isn't meant to be sad at all. The musical undertone though leaves me feeling empty. Now I can't even play the song. It really did leave a deep mark. Even choosing a picture, I went through about 20 of them, just to find one where he looked content.

Wowaka heard about Vocaloid after hearing "Last Night, Good Night," enjoying and being shocked by the ability of the program-- as well as the ability of a single user to do so much production. Debuting in 2009 and exploding soon after, wowaka formed the band "hitorie" in 2011, establishing BALLOOM. Under the BALOOM umbrella, artists would be able to publish music worldwide.. from the internet. Following this "Rolling Girl" saw an international release.

In 2011 after this release, wowaka worked mostly with his band and label instead of the Vocaloid software. During this time he'd composed and worked on the lyrics for "And I'm Home," featured as the ending theme song of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. The type to stay busy, he'd always had a project. Eventually he would be back with a bang in 2017, releasing the Vocaloid track: "Unknown Mother-Goose."

Not only did he get used to the software though, he was personal with the developers. Wowaka was friends with Hachi (Yonezu Kenshi) at one point describing their relationship as "close."

The associations list for wowaka are almost endless. From Toku, Oster Project and onward. If you look at any Project Diva game or best-of discography for Vocaloid you will see at least one wowaka song. If you play the games you know of his songs as almost always being the ones to get you stuck for a bit on the harder difficulties. They're so catchy that no one seems to mind.

Here's some of the ones picked from an extremely long list:

Rolling Girl

Two Faced Lovers

World's End Dancehall

SPiCA -nopq remix-

Romeo & Cinderella

Unhappy Refrain

Prism Cube

Reversible Doll

Brother-P (ブラザーP)

Unlike the others on this list; Brother-P was not a musician, and a bit more recent. His specialization was the animations associated with some of our favorite songs. It's likely you've seen at least one of them, with Sony having his work included in a DVD release for Vocaloid content.

A few of these Music Video compilations have been released over the years, with many making it to Youtube. With inclusion of 2DMV's, his work has been included in everything from DVD to Video Games. Modders especially have used his content in Megamix+ to bring life to songs.

Like wowaka, I've had a deep feeling of sadness when playing certain songs. Namely Viva Happy and Odds & Ends. Today actually, I had to pause playing Odds & Ends. (using the Brother-P MV actually.) Before I had learned of this information this had happened with me sitting at my desk feeling oddly empty. That's when I had started working on this, as I felt like I had to work on something important to me. It lead me to this information. I feel strange about it. Especially with how odd the timing is. But, It shows how deeply the PV's do make a difference.

Some of the ones I specifically want to pick out:

Change Me

Viva Happy

Mr.wonderboy

Odds & Ends (fanmade, but brilliant)

SHIKI

Already popular before working with Vocaloid2, SHIKI crossed over into composing and arrangement on the new platform with Harmonia in 2008. It only took two songs for him to grab attention. You'll find him on the 2010 Sony DVD ~memories~, as well as the September 2010 Exit Tunes Presents Vocaloanthems album.

SHIKI lead and worked with a Visual Rock group "GILDA" until his departure in 2016. Before this he worked with Be-Music Source files (BMS) form 2002 until his passing in 2021. His legacy includes tracks for DJMAX, Sega's maimai, and オンゲキ series, and Albums for any kind of enjoyment type. He really was prolific.

HIs credits also included Lapis, Air, Ruby, and Setsuna. Love went into his creations at every step and it showed.

Some of his memorable credits include:

Triangle☆Girl's Heart

Prism Door

Endless Dream

Blue Ray

MEMORIES

Saturation

So, with all due respect.. I did find the deceased page while re-checking things. I did look at it. It's much longer than I originally thought it would be. Again, I implore others to add to this. Pay respects to those they enjoy the works of. Include the artists they care about. Drama in Vocaloid has been happening for such a long time. Let's turn that around. Make it a more hospitable group to be a part of.

[speeshularts]

NAME: YUUMA HIRANO

STATUS: Prisoner 004 BIRTHDAY: May 4th (Taurus) GENDER: Male HEIGHT: 172 cm AGE: 20 years old BLOODTYPE: A VOICE: Forte (Utaite)

BIO: A soft spoken and gentle prisoner with a lonely expression. He takes care to avoid other prisoners when venturing out of his cell, oftentimes pushing the curfew limits and leading to accidental trouble with the Warden. He is a shy wallflower that may be reluctant to open up its petals but—if given the right kind of care—could truly bloom into something beautiful.

From his first meeting with Es, it’s clear that Yuuma feels that he deserves to be in MILGRAM. Unlike other apathetic or aggressive prisoners, Yuuma expresses sincere remorse. A guilty cloud constantly looms over his head …But how could someone like him be capable of something extreme like murder

[yumeko2sevilla]

Namiya Sunoberu_ autumn witch

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮

ᴀᴘᴘᴇᴀʀᴀɴᴄᴇ

Full Name: Namiya Sunoberu

╰┈➤Namiya: The name of the general store in "The Miracle of The Namiya General Store". According to the book, Namiya was supposed to mean "Hearing".

╰┈➤Sunoberu: The pronunciation of 'Snow bell' in Japanese.

Other Name(s):

╰┈➤Sunomiya (Alias)

╰┈➤Miya-chan (Mochizuki Marlais)

╰┈➤Autumn Witch

╰┈➤Miss Namiya (Asterine Marlais)

Title(s):

╰┈➤(Currently) Owner of the Clockwork Store SEKAI

╰┈➤The Phantom Witch of Autumn.

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮

Gender: Transgender MTF (She/Her)

Species: Witch (Half-Phantom)

Status: Alive(?)

Height: 190 cm

Birthday: Entire of December

Hair Color: Pink-ish Red

Eye Color: Crimson

╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯

┌──═━┈━═──┐

ᴘᴇʀsᴏɴᴀʟɪᴛʏ

"I'll be fine if I go to hell, as long as I dragged you along with me."

╰┈➤A Telling Lullaby: As the Autumn Witch, Namiya is a kind and gentle woman. She, who is intelligent and cunning, but has a heart of gold that will pull others up.

╰┈➤Our Telecommunication: Although her appearance may cause misunderstanding, Namiya is someone you can talk to. No matter how busy she was at the moment, she would clear her schedule just to hear you talk.

╰┈➤Sound of The Wind: Namiya may seems friendly, but she's quite distant to those around her. She can be hesitate when it come to herself. I wonder what happened...

╰┈➤All Connected With Eachothers: Namiya, while is an introvert has wide connection with almost everyone in Devildom. Anger her is a pretty nasty move, for Namiya can use her connection and fans to attack you.

└──═━┈━═──┘

┏━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━┓

Likes: Covering songs, fashion designing, composing, baking with Luke, the Devildom, Asterine Marlais, mint soda, lemon candies, most of her fans, her father, Mochizuki Marlais, playing games

Dislikes: Some of her fans, bitter food, her voice, social events, scandals, using her voice for AI.

┗━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━┛

╰┈➤Backstory: °•° [May Us Always Be Together]°•°

╰┈➤Currently, Namiya is an utaite under the alias 'Sunomiya'

╰┈➤Her signature animals are starfishes

╰┈➤Her main color is red-ish purple, within her nails being white and light red.

╰┈➤Namiya is Asterine Marlais's godmother. She was also Mochizuki Marlais's best friend.

╰┈➤Namiya has the ability to see everything, including those from the future.

@achy-boo @starry-night-rose @writing-heiress

[bmpmp3]

*said like im a dracula* good evening. im a bit of a ghoul rn because a bit of rainy weather and distant fireworks have migraine'd me like im some kind of dying victorian child so this week's cover feature will probably be a little bit shorter, but there's still some good tunes to be heard!!

This weekend we're gonna talk about our first non-vocal-synth-original song: Kaibutsu (怪物) by YOASOBI.

Like I explained in my first of these posts, while there will likely be a vocal synth focus because of the sheer size of the cover community. anythings on the table! Plus this is vsynth adjacent as half of the duo, Ayase, produces Vocaloid music as well.

Kaibutsu!!!! Love this song, it's the opening for Beastars and while I've never seen the anime (nor have I finished the manga orz still working on it) there was a lot of great music put out for it! The different parts of this song are so fun, I love the verses with their low-bass-y synths under some quick vocals that lean into piano bits in the chorus later on. Ayase's composition is wonderful and of course Lilas Ikura's singing takes it to the next level: she has such a clear voice but she still manages to push so much expression into it, I really love the "oshietekureyo"'s right going into the bridge.

The first cover I want to highlight is a vocal synth cover, this KAFU cover by shinomattya:

A moodier take with KAFU's moodier, breathier voice, I really like it! I've mentioned before how KAFU was the first vocal synth to actually pass my own personal turing test LOL I didn't realize she was a synth when I first heard her! Which, based off how hit or miss she is in the English-speaking vsynth community, might be kind of a surprise. I thought she was like some up-and-coming utaite who uses edges of pitch correction for stylization or something... ANYWAY this was one of the first covers I heard using her after I finally figured out she wasn't a real person LOL and it's really nice! I think her more pronounced breaths really work nicely, and I like the mix levels!

Next cover is an actual human being (no making mistakes this time!!), this cover by まきの (Makino):

Pitched down really nicely, I'm like, scared of pitching down instrumentals because if you're not careful it can sound kind wack but this worked so well I think! His vocals are also nice, he's got this slightly soft low voice with hints of nasal which all together sounds very rich. I like his softer falsetto-y parts in the chorus with the more chest voice-y sound on the low notes.

And another human cover, actually four humans - Lambsoars acoustic cover!

Really fun, they all have nice voices of course but the snapping, piano, and guitar bring it all together so well. The four guys different textures in their voices also adds a lot of dimension.

AND ONE MORE, but last is definitely not least, actually I think this is my absolute favourite cover of this song: JuanMo's pipa cover!!

This fucking rules you guys have no idea. I wasn't super familiar with the pipa a couple years ago so I was googling around listening to all kinds of videos as one does when they are curious about an instrument and when I clicked this one my mind was BLOWN wide open. The articulation on the melody... that thing SINGS like holy shit. Awesome.

And that's all, I hope you can enjoy whatever holiday this is. The Canadian one with like the fireworks. The reason I have no class tomorrow. I have a migraine and I forgor u have to be nice to me <3 *turns into a mysterious beast and runs into the night never to be seen again*

[merakiui]

Spanish? Entonces, ¡Saludos desde Latinoamérica! Did you learn at school? :o It's always cool to learn one of your favourite blog owner can speak another language!

And dang, I take my hat off to you, about you teaching yourself japanese! I tried (although in a very obnoxious way hehe) to learn by myself, but boy that there are a lot of kanjis can combination that change the meaning!

¡Saludos! (*^▽^*) y si aprendí en escuela, pero viajé a España una vez y también practique allí. ¡Me encantó mi tiempo en España! Omg y tapas… muy rico aaaaaa!!! >0< tortilla de patatas es mi favorito. Tortilla de patatas mi amor!!!!! <3

There are so many indeed! But I’m determined to learn! I practice with reading in Japanese and it’s always exciting when I can understand some of the words! Sometimes I also read the lyrics to Japanese songs that I like, and when it comes to listening exercises I usually watch my favorite utaite videos in which they are doing fun things. I hope to learn enough where I can hold a proper conversation in Japanese with my fluent friend. We teach each other parts about our languages sometimes, so it’s nice to have someone who is fluent and can clear up any mistakes! :D

[welcometomy20s]

May 23, 2023

I don’t… know what Jaime Brooks is getting here. Brooks uses Vocaloids and the recent surge of AI music to paint a very dangerous picture. The problem is that I don’t think… Brooks knows a lot about Vocaloid culture? I mean it’s not like we twiddled our thumbs for just under 20 years and not made progress with how to thrive in this new environment.

Brooks goes on the account of the early history of Vocaloids, which is a well-tread topic for us. Brooks is mostly fair, though I think he underplayed the relative success of Meiko.

There’s a sense that Brooks thinks that using Vocaloids somehow diminished the need for good singing chops when, in reality, Vocaloids pretty saved Japanese music from oblivion. 

The biggest problem with Brooks contention is to notice that Miku created fertile grounds for secondary creations, or niji-sousaku, and not notice that those secondary creators went on to create primary creations, some which are quite popular in their own right.

Warren’s shift in music made in the ‘60s strangely tracks with shift Vocaloid made in ‘10s, and considering that Brooks seemed fond of this change… why does he feel so jaded now?

Most of Brooks’s post concerns Drake, his fallout with the corporate sphere (which seems to be more of the problem in my eyes, and which ‘secondary culture’ would likely fix rather than hinder), and the recent surge of AI voicebanks, which have been a thing in Vocaloid community since Hatsune Miku was a thing. Again… It isn't like popular Japanese artists don’t have voicebanks and those popular artists have not ceased to become recording artists.

People like Drake because he’s Drake, for better or worse, much like how people like Rhianna or Taylor Swift. It is especially odd where celebrity is more of a measure of a single’s success rather than talent that AI is going to somehow disrupt that instead of fueling it.

Let us go through the five sources of music income and see how reality stacks up.

Recording - Numerous versions of AI artists have never outcompeted the original artist and most don't want to. The popularity of AI covers of famous artists depends on the fame of the original artist itself and if the original artist doesn’t create more works then no one would care if this particular artist is singing new songs. As a saying goes, the tail can never outrun the head, that just wouldn’t make sense.

Publishing - I agree there wouldn’t be any changes, although ‘secondary creations’ also contains remixes and parodies which can be monetized through this avenue.

Touring - Well, I mean… let’s look at Hatsune Miku. Yes, Miku tribute bands or really singers, the term is utaites, did make careers in touring singing Miku songs… but then they went onto sing their own singers and became artists in their own right. And remember the contention in the first bullet point - AI Drake is cool, not of itself, but because it’s Drake, hence it would rarely be more popular than Drake.

Merchandise - As if Miku merch isn’t attached to specific recordings of Miku songs… Drake is not going all in on the platform route and so there is no worries here.

IP rights - I agree with Brookes? Not really sure on this point.

Brookes is correct - The artist model and platform models are opposed to each other, which is why platform models will never overtake artist models. We are considering as if the artist models will transition into a platform model, but because of this opposition, that transition won’t happen.

The fear that Brookes might be thinking of is more akin to QT, as in, various corporations will create virtual artists or platforms that can be fueled through secondary creations. But platforms are hard to maintain and foster, corporations are much more likely to just use the brands of artists like they do now, letting the artists do the hard work of cultivation.

In the near-twenty years that Vocaloids have existed, one thing has become very clear. Vocaloids are not going to overtake artists any time soon, but Vocaloids and the surrounding culture has been fertile grounds for up-and-coming producers and artists to showcase their chops. Yes, Vocaloids are a platform but it is also a springboard, and without the advent of Vocaloids and surrounding media, Japanese music would have had a quiet death.

Similar occurrences have been made in the Western media with more traditional platforms like YouTube and TikTok, where many upcoming see the platform as a springboard. As Brookes opines, the rise of recording media led to a rise of a generation of artists which shaped the popular culture of the times, it seems much more likely that these new platforms will provide a similar rise of new generations of artists rather than killing them outright.

In the end, Brookes goes around the recording industry, pointing out that the streaming industry is mostly a scam, and that people are tired of artists (which is not true, but rather the opposite) and envisions a future of ground-up performers wholly depended on artist’s needs, as if Japan did not experiment on this concept long before Vocaloids were even a thing.

One of the most popular songs in Japan right now is called ‘Idol’ by YOASOBI. YOASOBI is produced by someone who used to make music for Hatsune Miku. This is true for many of the top acts in Japan right now. The song is about and is the opening to show about the promises and the failure of this exact concept. You cannot create ‘eternally youthful teenage pop idols’ that would always satisfy the audience’s demand because it does not exist.

As Brookes goes on about Louis Armstrong and positing that the invention of the ‘recording artists’ was due to the intimacy that the technology provides, this is more true as age goes on. Hatsune Miku does not exist. It’s kind of obvious, but since Hatsune Miku does not exist, it could represent whatever we want it to. Instead of creating a unified image, Hatsune Miku is a highly fractured one, and that fracturing leads to more artists providing more of the intimacy through the platform that is Hatsune Miku and beyond, becoming that ‘recording artists’.

It seems the bigger problem in my eyes is that the overwhelming inequality in our world has created corporate capture of creative media, and creations of platforms which are open to the public would induce a sense of creativity necessary to defeat the capture or at least stop the capture from draining our creative potentials to the bone.

In that sense, voice platforms like Vocaloids are not to be feared but welcomed.

[kyaramaru]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Thanks....

From all media man... that's too hard on me lmao. To make it easier on me I'll do my #1 in all the media I'm currently into. I don't really have a top 10 overall so I hope you understand!

Mizuki Akiyama (Project Sekai)

Muu Kusunoki (Milgram, Deco*27)

Hina Hikawa (Bandori)

Albedo (Genshin Impact)

Hirano Taiga (Sasaki to Miyano, Hirano to Kagiura)

Kanna Kizuchi (Your Turn to Die)

Tachihara Michizou (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Hanamaru Kunikida (Love Live Sunshine)

Noel Levine (Witch’s Heart)

Ray “Rachel” Gardner (Angel’s of Death, Game Ver.)

I don’t know if IRL media like Vtubers and Utaites count and all but if you want to know who I enjoy watching/listening too I like Sou, Nqrse, and Amatsuki for Utaites and Fuwa Minato, Saegusa Akina, Mashiro Meme, and Sasaki Saku for Vtubing (I think it’s clear I’m a pretty big Nijisanji JP Fan Lmao).

As for why I like all these characters, I usually like characters with more lore or development built in them overtime (Mizuki, Albedo, Kanna, Noel, Tachihara) as I’m a huge lore nerd overall and love even the tiniest of details. Other characters I like because of how morally right or wrong they may be (Muu, Ray), again with the whole lore and character building. Some I like due to their antics and just how entertaining of a character they are (Hina, Hirano). And then some characters I just relate to a personal level LMAO (Hanamaru).

Sorry this post was on hold for WAY too long, not only was I kinda busy with life in general but also cause I have no clue how to respond too this lmao, but thank you so much for the ask!

[justbeasdreamz]

BL8M has such an angelic voice I'm dying

Casting him as Luka is such a good choice even though I kinda dislike the character lmaooo

His voice is seductive, clear, oh, God, am I going back to my Utaite era???