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Vocaloids! Singing computers!
halkun
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Ok, most likely you have never heard of this interesting little piece of technology from Yamaha, so I'd thought that I'd introduce you.
A vocaloid is a text-to-speech voice synthesis program with one major difference, it sings. As opposed to writing out text and have the computer repeat back what you wrote, this program takes both text and a melody, and the computer sings back what you have created. The results can be absolutely astonishing and sometimes indistinguishable from a human.
The box above is Miku Hatsune (初音ミク) and she the first release of the second generation technology. (There are going to be three new Vocaloids that use version 2). She has quite a cult following in Japan.
So what does a vocaloid sound like?
Well, Japanese first of all. The language has almost a 1:1 representation between their phonetic alphabet (kana) and the sounds the letters make. (As opposed to English, where our alphabet is understaffed). So it transcribes Japanese out of the box. English, not so much. There is an English version of the Vocaloids, which I will get to later.
To give an example of what they sound like, here is the opera scene from Final Fantasy 6, re-done with a vocaloid singing. In this case, it's a first generation vocaloid named Meiko.
Another example of Meko, (and the interface to the Vocaloid system), can be seen and heard here.
The vocaloid system isn't without a bit of controversy. JASRAC, (The Japanese equivalent of the RIAA, but much more corrupt) is having kittens over this. There was a stint where Google was found censoring the technology from the web searches. This rather weird turn of events was never really explained by Google Japan, it it happened right after a TV show tried to show the Vocaloid technology in a very bad light, and showing the users as nothing but talentless pirates "copying" music. Irregardless (yes, that's a word), Miku here has been the #1 best selling software package in Japan.
Now, you can, with a lot of work, have Vocaloids sing in English. An example of Miku singing the ending theme to Portal (Still Alive) can be heard here which is filled with awesome and win.
The actual English vocaloid, named "Sweet Ann" can be seen here singing Crazy and Making Whoopee. It's cute, but seems to be missing the "fun" of the original Japanese vocaloids.
The program's about $150, which is dirt cheap for what it does. I can easily see this as costing upwardly for a grand or more.
I'd thought I would just share this with you guys.
A vocaloid is a text-to-speech voice synthesis program with one major difference, it sings. As opposed to writing out text and have the computer repeat back what you wrote, this program takes both text and a melody, and the computer sings back what you have created. The results can be absolutely astonishing and sometimes indistinguishable from a human.
The box above is Miku Hatsune (初音ミク) and she the first release of the second generation technology. (There are going to be three new Vocaloids that use version 2). She has quite a cult following in Japan.
So what does a vocaloid sound like?
Well, Japanese first of all. The language has almost a 1:1 representation between their phonetic alphabet (kana) and the sounds the letters make. (As opposed to English, where our alphabet is understaffed). So it transcribes Japanese out of the box. English, not so much. There is an English version of the Vocaloids, which I will get to later.
To give an example of what they sound like, here is the opera scene from Final Fantasy 6, re-done with a vocaloid singing. In this case, it's a first generation vocaloid named Meiko.
Another example of Meko, (and the interface to the Vocaloid system), can be seen and heard here.
The vocaloid system isn't without a bit of controversy. JASRAC, (The Japanese equivalent of the RIAA, but much more corrupt) is having kittens over this. There was a stint where Google was found censoring the technology from the web searches. This rather weird turn of events was never really explained by Google Japan, it it happened right after a TV show tried to show the Vocaloid technology in a very bad light, and showing the users as nothing but talentless pirates "copying" music. Irregardless (yes, that's a word), Miku here has been the #1 best selling software package in Japan.
Now, you can, with a lot of work, have Vocaloids sing in English. An example of Miku singing the ending theme to Portal (Still Alive) can be heard here which is filled with awesome and win.
The actual English vocaloid, named "Sweet Ann" can be seen here singing Crazy and Making Whoopee. It's cute, but seems to be missing the "fun" of the original Japanese vocaloids.
The program's about $150, which is dirt cheap for what it does. I can easily see this as costing upwardly for a grand or more.
I'd thought I would just share this with you guys.
halkun on
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Damn you.
This is so Japanese it almost hurts.
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For some reason I see Apple ripping this into their next iteration of 'garage band'. Although, that may not be such a bad thing. The Japanese is definitely more fluid sounding then the english vids, but I think that may 50% due to the skill of the composer
Lol.
So Japanese.
"Hollow" from Fate/Hollow Ataraxia
Bouken Desho Desho from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Possibly the most famous Miku song, Ievan Polka
And something for anyone who's seen Full Metal Jacket
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I just found 'Fly Me To The Moon' on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bze1ZczI-0&feature=PlayList&p=6FC8994FE049A525&index=4
It's.. I mean.. Well, it would be awesome if it could handle English better, but it sounds pretty true to a japanese individual with a rough handle on english phonetics giving the song a go. I'm relatively impressed.
Vocaloid is nifty, but unfortunately the current releases are limited to the phonetics found in Japanese only. Even the most careful tuning leaves a heavy accent over any non-Japanese song. Also it's always bugged me that the Ievan Polkka one is just a loop of nonsense rather than the real song.
*Not really
Old PA forum lookalike style for the new forums | My ko-fi donation thing.
They're pretty neat.
There's a link to it in the OP, if you're interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei04JiJ1F0A
This one, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxJQRMqVB8Q
There're some pieces I've found that contain really nice, natural sounding parts. It's kind've hard to tell what's an actual limitation of the program and what just stems from lack of effort. It would definitely be entertaining to tinker around with.
And they certainly hit the marketing dead on.
This is a sample of my computer singing Green Day. Sorry non-Green Day fans. When I finish, I'll post the whole thing (and possibly change the background to a midi because I'm pretty sure that more than a clip like this and I'm pushing the limits of fair use or whatever stops people from doing cool stuff with copyrighted material.
http://zacks.selfip.net/Boulevard%20By%20Fred%20(Sample).mp3
So yeah, singing computer not in Engrish.
Edit: By the way, my workflow on this one involved no guiding voice samples. I took the vocals track out of a midi, set it to flute, and imported that as a guide sound file, then hand-tweaked it. The results were better and cleaner and I didn't have to look like a dork, singing into my computer. Also of note: all the software used came free with my computer.
That (and "Fly me to the moon" above) are beyond awesome
Can you do it again with Alex*? Would possibly sound better.
*Assuming you have Leopard
I do have Leopard. I sounds simply awful with Alex. Alex is a voice meant to set its own pace and intonation.
Oh hell. Oh christ.
Leekspin vocaloid.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Done. :P
Still a bit rough in parts but I like it.
Also, vocaloid looks like a really awesome program... watching a video, I saw how pitch worked, cresendo/decresendo worked, etc etc, it was really interesting. I might give it a whirl sometime.
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Yes. I would. Sir.
Er, he should be hitting the same notes. Maybe it's the shallow sound of the synthesizer throwing you off.
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