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shimmerloid-ai · 10 months ago

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Preliminary Considerations - Which Vocal Synthesizer Software is Right for You? - Free Softwares

Although this blog puts a major emphasis on the VOCALOID 4 editor, it, or VOCALOID in general, is not the only vocal synthesizer that exists. There are tons of other software that have the same function and a variety of different voicebanks, with some being cheaper and of higher quality than VOCALOID, or even free! That’s right, there are quite a few free vocal synthesizers out there (however the lack of frills may come at the expense of some missing features or difficulty of usage), which I recommend trying out before pouring your hard-earned savings on a program that you may not even use. What if you learn that you do not enjoy tuning or do not have the time to use the software? It would be a huge waste of money that could be invested in other stuff, such as basic necessities (GOOD FOOD) or other leisurely items, like video games, clothing from your favourite bands, art supplies, or merchandise. In addition, there has been a rise of a lot of smaller companies coming out with vocal synthesizers with incredible UIs that not only look appealing but are easy to navigate, and voicebanks that sound far too human and advanced than hATsUnE mIKU (don’t worry, I love Miku with all my heart, I am just trying to prove a point here). There are also some really sick features that you may not find in the franchises with bigger names.

In this post, I will be describing the features of different free vocal synthesizers and their advantages and disadvantages so you can find the one that meets your vocalo-p needs. Please note, I do not own all of these synthesizers, some of these are from reviews on Reddit and VocaVerse Network. In addition, some cons like lag could just be a me problem and better computers may not experience such issues. Also , I will not be covering every single singing synthesizer in existence, just the well known ones and those with proper UIs because there are so many. I am omitting NEUTRINO because it does not have a UI despite having such high-quality vocals, along with ALTER/EGO, as it does not have a piano roll.

UTAU

(Song: Meltdown by iroha(sasaki); UST: Tanjiro Taidana)

UTAU was designed to be the free sister software to VOCALOID. Not only can you use it without spending a cent, but it allows you to make your own voicebank as well! There are tons of popular voicebanks out there, including the Vipperloids, Gahata Meiji, Kohaku Merry, Matsudappoiyo, Denatsu Sora, Shuu Mawaine, and my personal favourite, SUZU.

Pros:

Almost every single voicebank is free to download

Different types of voicebanks (CV, VCV, CCVC; Monopitch vs. Multipitch; Power, Weak, Soft, Whisper, Growl, Screamo; tons of languages)

Can make your own voicebank right in the software

Pitch bending on the piano roll instead of a parameter box!

Variety of job plugins to make usage easier

Credited for its growl and vibrato handling

Cons:

EXTREMELY dated, UTAU has not been updated since 2013

Not friendly for beginners, especially due to its old UI

Need to change your system's locale, and installing voicebanks can be frustrating

Most voicebanks (namely Japanese) can only read Hiragana phonemes and not Romaji ones; but job plug-ins can fix this issue

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Open Utau

(Song: The Lost One's Weeping by neru; UST: Tanjiro Taidana)

If UTAU is the sister software to VOCALOID, then Open Utau is the younger sibling to normal UTAU. Open Utau is an open-sourced vocal synthesizer on GitHub with every feature in the original software while being easier to use.

Pros:

Dark mode with a sleek, easy-to-navigate UI!

Pitchbend with a click of a button; piano roll tuning is still consistent

Splice tool; useful for note-bending

No need to switch locale to Japanese

Easier to get the hang of

Frequent updates

Can use VSQXs and svps. without needing to convert them into USTs

Cons:

No Defoko…

Choppier and buggier than classic UTAU

Slow with rendering wav. files and launching the software

Phonemizers are tricky to work with, you don’t always get the same output as the same phonemizers in normal UTAU

External resamplers can cause overheating and slow down the software

Tuning is more dependent on job plugins than the original UTAU

Many users claim that otoing is easier in classic UTAU

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SynthesizerV Studio Editor R1

(Song: Tengaku by Yuuyu; VSQx by Adam Edmond)

This preliminary edition of SynthesizerV was a major breakthrough for the vocal synth community when it was first released. With its realistic-sounding voicebanks and minimalistic aesthetic, this software has changed the game by a landslide for synth users. Although it's quite limited, R1 was an amazing start for what will become a godly program in the future. Pros:

Pitch bending on the piano roll and in the parameter box (very smooth, I experienced no lag when using it nor did I have to make pitch points or pause while editing the parameters)!

Voicebanks sound quite human

MIND BLOWING GLOTTAL EFFECTS (nine different growls, two screams, and a vocal fry that do not sound robotic!)!

Really simple UI, easy to pick up, great for beginners!

Cons:

Outdated; is no longer being updated by Dreamtonics

Needs a recording license for commercial use (though I highly doubt it is still being upheld)

Only four voicebanks are available; Eleanor Forte, Yamine Renri, GENBU, and AiKO - who is paid and an outdated version of her R2 voicebank (R2 versions of the same voicebanks sound much cleaner and realistic)

A little too minimalistic; aside from the addition of glottal effects and the typical pitch deviation, loudness, tension, breathiness, voicing, gender, and vibrato parameters, there is not all that much you can do in this edition of the editor

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SynthesizerV Studio Basic

(Song: Antibeat by Deco* 27; UST: Mayu Sama Desu)

Also known as SynthV R2, this is the free edition of the software that is currently being updated, despite having fewer features than its complete, paid version.

Pros:

Ready to play with as soon as it is installed

Twenty-five free voicebanks; sixteen Japanese, seven English, and two Chinese; all with unique sounds

AI voicebanks!

Instant mode; allows you to automatically tune the pitch of an entire track with the press of a button, although it may make the voice sound too pitchy

Waveform that allows you to see the volume and pronunciation of certain notes

Can use paid voicebanks in the free editor!

Just as easy to figure out as SynthV R1!

Cons:

Can only have a maximum of three vocal tracks in a single svp. file

Pitch bending is a lot more finicky compared to SynthV R1

Lite voicebanks sound mono-pitch

Lacks a ton of features that are available in SynthesizerV Pro; scripts, auto-pitch tuning, rap vocals, cross-lingual synthesis, vocal modes, alternate phoneme choices, and many other features are not included in the basic edition (even paid voicebanks can not use cross-lingual synthesis, vocal modes, etc)

The glottal effects parameter that was in SynthV R1 is sadly not included in both the Basic and Pro editions of the current program

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VoiSona

(Song: iNSaNiTY by Circus-P; VSQX: Cirty_09)

Previously named “CeVIO Pro”, VoiSona is a vocal synth that uses AI technology to create beautiful vocals with characters that originated from a variety of other vocal synthesizers (such as VOCALOID!) and are created with the recordings of talented singers and voice actors. CeVIO project has also launched a trial speech vocal synthesizer called “VoiSona Talk” for their first anniversary.

Pros:

Users get Chis-A’s full voicebank upon downloading the synthesizer!

The program itself is entirely free to download

AI technology makes tuning easier

Piano roll pitch-bending

Has some features that are missing in its sister software, CeVIO AI

The “husky” parameter is great for making whispers

Can be used as a VST plugin in most DAWs or a standalone editor

Cons:

All other voicebanks are paid; either you purchase the entire voicebank once, or get a subscription to use all of them

HEAVY LAG; the program is quite slow with processing commands

Free-hand pitch-bending is not as easy to perform compared to UTAU or SynthesizerV; can be quite sensitve and the AI may not always yield the desired result

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DeepVocal

(Song: New Darling by MARETU; UST: Mimisan15)

The successor to the Sharpkey Galaxy software, this vocal synthesizer was designed for Chinese voicebanks. Its UI is a combination of VOCALOID4 and UTAU, giving it a sense of comfort and familiarity. Speaking of which, you can create your own voicebank in DeepVocal as you can in UTAU and OpenUtau, and there are some pre-made voicebanks of popular UTAUs, including Namine Ritsu, Inari Akane, and Kuro Bousuka. In addition, there is also a Kiana voicebank commissioned by MiHOYO and based on the protagonist of Gun Girls Z and Honkai Impact 3rd!

Pros:

Ready to use as soon as its out of the box

Great engine for Chinese voicebanks

Can create your own voicebank

Runs smoothly

Has all of the necessary parameters needed to create songs and covers

Cons:

Voicebanks can be kind of shaky, choppy, and more sensitive to pitch changes compared to other engines like UTAU and VOCALOID

Pitch bending can be quite clunky

Voicebanks may have difficulty reading certain phenomes from converted USTs; you may need to edit them if you don’t want lyrics being read as “a” or “ra”

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These were all of the major free softwares I found, but if I come across another vocal synthesizer in the future, even if it is not talked about in the vocal synth community much, I may make a post about it.

I know there are a ton of cons I found for much of the vocal synths on this list and they sound like nitpicks on my part, but as I stated at the start of this post, some of these issues could be a Shimmer Thing™ and they may not arise for you when using these softwares. I won't be surprised if you read through this post and are now feeling thrown off by the various features and pros and cons of these programs, so here's my two cents on what I think beginners should go for:

If you like realistic voicebanks and want a very simple software to start with, get either SynthesizerV Editot (R1) or SynthesizerV Studio Basic (R2). If you would like to experience them (spicy) glottal effects and very kind pitchbending (like it does not make you want to bash your head against the wall because Renri won't cooperate) along with unlimited vocal tracks, then try out R1, and if you want more features, voicebanks, and continous updates, go for R2. Or even better, try out both and decide which one suits your interests better.

If you have a preference for robotic voicebanks, would like a variety of vocals to play with, and find plug-ins interesting, then UTAU may be for you, especially if you want VOCALOID but you can not afford it at the moment. Although I shitted more on Open Utau than I did on regular UTAU, I recommend the former over the latter as it is still being updated and the UI is signifcantly easier to navigate, along with its phenomenal pitchbending function.

Finally, please take my words with a grain of salt. If you like the voicebanks or are interested in a specific software, or discover one that is even better than any of the listed vocal synthesizers, by all means, go for it! This is just a surface guide by an idiot who spends most of their time trying to make Fukase not sound like a computer dying, and I have not used any of these softwares as much as I have messed with VOCALOID. Plus, my computer is an absolute bitch, so you guys will probably have much better luck than me.

I hope this guide was of use and provided a better insight on the various engines out there. My next post will compare different paid vocal synthesizers, including CeVIO AI, Piapro Studio, and of course, the various VOCALOID softwares. Don't worry, I'll get to the actual tutorial bit very soon.

Also, feel free to ask any questions about vocal synthesizers, or... literally anything! I'm practically starved for asks-

Thanks for reading!