Every once in a while, Japan releases something mindboggling. You see, its these vocaloids. Anyone ever heard of them? I have recently stumbled upon them, and they are suppose to be software singers. It appears to be no different from state-of-the-art choral arranger/samplers.
Apparently, they sample a singer and apply their sonic sculpting algorythms and such to create the end result. The end result, however, is simply a notch above the Delay-Lama, only having a Japanese monopoly on phonics.
You can browse youTube and listen to many concoctions; mostly featuring a vocaloid named Hatsune Miku that is apparently an a-typical J-Pop icon. It's definitely an icon: ready for cosplay with the silly, green hair color in pigtails, etc. Most of the songs are disgracefully cute, especially if you hate Anime (I personally like some, not all [see my avatar]). Some of these vocaloid productions are surprisingly good, but still retain a sense of computer-pitching or mechanical touch that gives the software more of a sense of novelty than some solution-finding technology for the starving producer.
Here's an example of the 'male' vocaloid:
gay looking... yeah, but it's an example... It's actually a neat sounding ballad if I could understand it.
In fact, I heard somewhere that it sounds terrible to get these vocaloids, at least the ones sampled thus far, to sing in anything other than Japanese. Here's an attempt to remake an Aha 80s euro-pop tune:
Yeah, the English just doesn't sound right. And the high notes sounded horribly like pitched 'speaking-text'.
Yeah... it's mindboggling. I can't say that the technology has solved anything yet OTHER than allowing a flood of bedroom producers to produce J-Pop anime remixes and other crap of the like. Part of me wants to praise the growth of technology, and part of me wants to shed a tear at how mechanical and impersonal everything has become (maybe it's just the mood I'm in).
Anyone remotely curious can listen to this vocaloid representation of this rather emotional tune and compare it to a cover done by a real person.
Vocaloid Original (Hatsune... whatever):
Human Cover (Choucho):
As you can see (I mean hear)... the vocaloids sound so grainy and raspy in comparison to a real person.
Technology is great... but for today, we win. All I can see this technology maturing to is for a producer to have a 'place-holder' in order sell the production to an aspiring vocalist... It still has a ways to go. But it is still mindboggling.
kadomony
i had a couple of them installed last year.
they're difficult to get used to at first, and it takes a lot of tweaking to get the syllables to sound smooth, but it's pretty fun :)
been out for a while, and there's english ones. i forget the name of the one i had installed that was really in-depth.
edit: just rememberd
it WAS vocaloid, with an english voice pack.
Vortex_SA
Im waiting on growlaloid... :)
It's still sounds like but can fit in with some of those 8-bit retro-style tracks...
Ghost Raver
Love Hatsune Miku :D Love her, don't really care about the rest at least yet.
B_man
quote:
Originally posted by Vortex_SA
Im waiting on growlaloid... :)
It's still sounds like but can fit in with some of those 8-bit retro-style tracks...
Not a bad idea... now every techno-goth can write industrial sung by vengeful androids. Hmmm... at one stab it's not a bad idea.
Vortex_SA
quote:
Originally posted by B_man
Not a bad idea... now every techno-goth can write industrial sung by vengeful androids. Hmmm... at one stab it's not a bad idea.
but i dunno, the program is shaping a recorded sound after all, so theoretically you can do this too with some editing, if they'll make an actual synthesizer that produces vocals, that will be amazing... and not that ty "sayit" style vocals :)
but nothing beats a real vocalist even if they suck... all the breathing and air coming from the throat in different velocities and style which give that awesome neuances to the vocal... its just like the immitations of real guitars... you can just not beat a real live guitar with real fingers playing, there are just too much nueances (sorry if i made a mistake in spelling tho :) )
thats just my thoughts about all those immitations...
B_man
Oh, I agree. That was partially my point in the original post.
The guitar technology is getting more advanced too. Check this out (not the same, because it is using a real guitar; the strings are used to generate the final output).
I give you the Moog Guitar:
Not really comparable to the original topic, except where technology is concerned. It sounds pretty sweet.
david.michael
Could easily be played off as processed vocals... I like it. I want to play with this. :)
Vortex_SA
quote:
Originally posted by B_man
Oh, I agree. That was partially my point in the original post.
The guitar technology is getting more advanced too. Check this out (not the same, because it is using a real guitar; the strings are used to generate the final output).
I give you the Moog Guitar:
Not really comparable to the original topic, except where technology is concerned. It sounds pretty sweet.
that...is...ing...hawt!!!! give me a piece of that and i wont go out for months!!! damn!
Mr Game+Watch
How did I miss this the first time?? I'm a big fan of vocaloid and own the whole of the Project Diva series. Megurine Luka being my absoulte favorite...
MSZ
quote:
Originally posted by meriter
Mother of pearl
Lira
Had never seen Hatsune Miku before, though I know she "existed".
