Last Updated 1/4/2011
Nearly two years ago, a post on the NPF led me to a youtube vid starring a virtual voice and idol named Miku Hatsune. This was the last good thing the NPF ever did for me, and it made me realize that synthesized voices can sing apparently. For a good time, I was listening to Vocaloid songs whenever I could, sampling this brave new sound.
After a while, I ran out of songs to listen to, but now, out of sheer boredom, I am back on the Vocaloid scene. Things sure did explode between then and now. Now there's a shit ton of songs, and I don't even know where to start. The tvtropes entry is longer and more comprehensive than I thought it would be. Miku herself has performed live thanks to the power of holographic projection. (3D projection; it's everywhere now.) New Vocaloids are out, both in English and Japanese, but mostly Japanese. There's fanart, fanvids (obviously), fanfics, and an amateur market that will probably rival Touhou in terms of fan material in the near future. Lucky Star even referenced Miku in the OVA episode. These digitized celebrities are taking over.
But, where does my opinion stand on the Vocaloid trend? Obviously, I like them, since I have a few vocaloid songs on MP3. However, is it all that it's cracked up to be? Allow me to analyze the Vocaloids one by one.
VOCALOIDS IN GENERAL.
As I pointed out in an earlier article, vocaloids can't mimic human emotion. That's a big turnoff for me. However, vocaloids are programmed to perform in ranges that organic human voices can't reproduce; this gives a songwriter the potential to create a sound that no other technique could reproduce at the moment. Also, if a producer wanted a singer in a song, but couldn't find or afford a good enough singer, said producer could just acquire a vocaloid instead. The programs aren't super cheap, (I think they average around 200 bucks, last I checked) but someone dedicated enough could use that.
Also, vocaloids are synthesized voices. I've heard songs in a wide variety of genres. Perhaps not coincidentally, most (not all), but most of the best vocaloid songs are techno, as in, synthesized voices in synthesized instrumentation. This isn't always the case, but vocaloids seem to work best when the music itself was also done on a machine. (I should ask my best friend from high school about this; he was into techno more than me.)
MIRIAM
Unfortunately, Miriam is very primitive-sounding. This may be because she is a Vocaloid1 program instead of a Vocaloid2 program, but when I hear her or another Vocaloid1 sing, I keep thinking the War Operation Planning Response supercomputer from Wargames is taking up lounge singing. Also, combine with the fact that English vocaloids aren't that popular, and you'll understand why Miriam isn't super popular.
SWEET ANN
Ann sounds way better than Miriam, and like other Vocaloid2 programs, she can sound almost as good as a flesh-and-blood singer. Sadly, again, since English vocaloids aren't very popular, the only song of Sweet Ann that I recommend is a song linked to the tvtropes page. Come on, America! Why be so scared of new technology!? Wave of the future, dude! 100 percent electronic! (that, and the sample I listened to for all of the Vocaloids. Seriously, where's the love!?)
Favorite Sweet Ann song(s): @your Side.
LEON
Okay, I take back what I said; not all vocaloid1 programs suck. Leon is cool! Okay, granted, he would only sound cool in entirely synthesized music, but if that's your thing, Leon is the one to go for!
LOLA
Lola sounds like a normal singer, but one who is using the auto-tuner to maximum effect. If you're doing a song wherein it would sound best if the singer was heavily auto-tuned, then Lola's a good pick. Otherwise, nevermind.
PRIMA
Prima is designed to sound like a female opera singer. As far as that goes, she's pretty good. Unfortunately, I don't like most opera music; too overdramatic for my liking. But, if you need a synthetic soprano, look no further than Prima!
SONIKA
Sonika is . . . weird-sounding. Her voice didn't sound as clear as most of the other English vocaloid2 programs, and . . . also, the sample song was kinda crappy. I hear she can be "tricked" into singing other languages fairly easily.
BIG AL
Big Al is awesome! Possibly the best male English vocaloid2 program yet!
TONIO
Basically like Prima, but for a male singer. Need a synthetic tenor-baritone singer for your opera? Look up Tonio!
MEIKO
She is a vocaloid1, and, like Miriam, sounds too primitive for my liking. She is manly only used as a novelty because of her very obviously fake voice. She tends to pop up in songs featuring more than one singer, but you tend to only see Meiko as a backup to a Vocaloid2, never the lead.
KAITO
Alas, poor Kaito. He is a vocaloid1 and is hard to listen to seriously. Since he was the only vocaloid done by a male Japanese voice for the longest time, he's fared a little better than the other vocaloid1 programs, and I have heard at least one song where he sounds really good, so apparently, he is useful for something. For what its worth, he is better than Meiko.
Favorite Kaito song: Cantarella.
MIKU HATSUNE
Oh yes, the popular idol princess herself. Her voice is the highest pitched, so much so, she may have the highest pitched voice in the galaxy. I once said she can hit the high notes; it's my belief now that she can only sing high notes. (I know I'm generalizing; good programmers can make her sound deeper, and a high-pitched wail is appropriate for some songs.) Still, she was the first Japanese Vocaloid2, and is apparently the easiest one to program. Because of this, she has more songs than any other single vocaloid program. However, her pitch can get out of control in the wrong hands, and capable programmers can use newer female voices more effectively. Nonetheless, she is the one who 'codified' the vocaloid phenomenon, and she introduced me to vocaloid, so yeah.
Favorite Miku Hatsune songs: Light Song, Miracle Painting, Dreaming Leaf.
REN AND RIN KAGAMINE.
The twin/duet pair that could. Rin sounds like Miku, but slightly lower pitched, but more advanced than the green-haired girl at the same time. (Compare the Miku and Rin versions of the Leek song.) Ren, despite being a boy, was done with the same recorded voice of Rin, and sounds rather girlish, only sounding slightly lower pitched than Rin. That's not a bad thing, though; Ren and Rin sound better than the previous Japanese vocaloids, and have become the second most popular Vocaloid program for a reason. Having been around for nearly as long as Miku, Ren and Rin have nearly as many songs.
Favorite Ren and/or Rin songs: Kokoro, Drive Me Flat, The New Millenium (With Miku).
LUKA MEGURINE
Luka is bilingual, capable of singing in Japanese and English, although considering that Luka tends to only be used by Japanese artists, I haven't heard her sing in English much. Her English vocabulary is not as extensive as that of an English vocaloid, so perhaps it's best to use her where a J-pop song suddenly inserts English into the lyrics. Her voice is deeper than the other female Japanese vocaloids, sounding more "womanly" than them. This makes sense; Miku, Rin, and Megupoid looks like teenagers, while Luka looks a little more mature. Meiko is also a more mature female voice, but Luka does not suffer from her limitations. She does have a great voice, and while it can't go as high as Miku or Rin, she is more than capable of producing a beautiful sound in capable hands. Sampled by Yuu Asakawa, the Japanese voice of Sakaki, who thankfully doesn't freakishly sound like a man as Luka.
Favorite Luka songs: Rip=Release, Just be Friends, Double Lariat.
GAKUPOID
Finally, a proper male Japanese vocaloid2! Sampled by Gackt, AKA, the guy who had songs in FF7: Dirge of Cerberus. I'll be forthright; Gakupoid is my favorite male vocaloid. Compare him to Kaito and you'll see why. Sure, I like the sound of a woman's voice, but it's nice to be able to hear a man sing too, even if he has a digitized voice. However, he doesn't have as many songs as most of the other Japanese vocaloids; why is that?
Favorite Gakupoid songs: Dancing Samurai, Go Google It (with Luka), Breath.
MEGPOID
Megpoid, or Gumi, has the same voice actress as someone from Macross Frontier . . . whatever the hell Macross is. Gumi is my favorite female Vocaloid; she doesn't have the insane pitch of Miku, and while she's not fluent in English like Luka, she sounds more nuanced than every other one I've heard so far. Actually, scratch that; Megpoid is my favorite vocaloid period. Her cover of Bad Apple is frighteningly good. Oh, also, fuck you fuckers who don't like her image; she's cute! In fact, if I were in charge, Gumi would be the most popular, not Miku! ALL HAIL GUMI!
Favorite Megpoid songs: Drive to the Moon, Megu Megu Fire Endless Night, Sorry to You.
Hiyama Kiyoteru
He kind of sounds like Gackpoid, but more subdued, it's hard to describe.
KAAI YUKI.
KYAAAAAAAAAA! KAWAII DESU! Er, sorry,her visual design may be adorable, but her voice sounds . . . off. Not getting a good vibe from her sample.
MIKI
Miki doesn't try to stand out like the other Vocaloids, but rather, seems to be designed to mimic the capabilities of most of the Japanese female vocaloids that came before her. Because of that, she sounds, to me anyways, like a cross between Rin and Gumi. This isn't to say she's bad; if anything, she's the most versatile of the Japanese vocaloids.
Favorite Miki songs: Lience, Satellite.
MIKU APPEND
People love Miku so much, the developers released an expansion of sorts that gives Miku six new voices, even though they were all developed using Miku's original voice actress. Allow me to cover them now.
Soft: It's . . . very soft. She doesn't project much with this voice, though.
Sweet: It's basically her normal voice, but cuter sounding. The song I heard her sing this in was . . . must . . . not . . . gush . . . very kawaii, yes.
Dark: Uhh . . . I honestly can't tell this voice apart from the standard one.
Vivid: Sounds like her normal voice, but a little more energetic. It is vivid.
Solid: It's a little deeper, but has more presence than her standard voice. Good for rock songs. My favorite version of "Love Is War" is Miku's Solid version.
Light: This is supposed to be a "heavenly" voice. It's really just her normal voice, but more echo-y.
Miku English version. ("OMGWTFBBQ! She's being dubbed in English!? PHUK THUH ENGLISH LANGUAGE!!!! Everything should be Japanese, desu!") Miku-chan is currently learning English and about to be released to the English-speaking world. I will have my thoughts . . . right after it comes out. I only hope her pitch doesn't get out of hand in the English version.
LILY
Lily is said to be a mature female voice, but . . . she just can't compare to Luka or Gumi, based on the sample. Also, lol stereotypical punk rock girl appearance.
VY1
Mysterious . . . no avatar. The voice is nice; pitch isn't extreme, clarity is there . . . I like it! Now if I could just find more songs.
GACHAPOID
Ugh, ugly visual design! Also, that voice . . . oh god, it's like listening to the first season of Pokemon by 4Kids all over again . . . MAKE IT STOOOOOOP!!!!!!
IROHA NEKOMURA
She's got a deeper voice than the other female Japanese vocaloids, but can hold her own against the earlier vocaloids. I like her!
UTATANE PIKO
Piko is a guy . . . that sounds like a girl. You know how in animation, actresses sometimes fake a little boy's voice, sometimes to great effect, sometimes to poor effect? Well, Piko can fake a teenage girl's voice really well; reverse cross-dressing voices! He is pretty good, so, picking up Piko would be a good call.
Oh yeah, in case you didn't notice, some of these writeups were based on this, a sample of all the vocaloids.
So there you have it. I get the feeling that more Vocaloids are on the horizon. If people keep buying them, the makers will keep making them. Oh also, there is a vocaloid wiki, if you're that obsessed.
