How would one go about making a Lao voicebank?

dezzydream

cv bank enthusiast
Defender of Defoko
So, if you don't know what it is, Lao is the official language of the Asian country of Laos. Because it has tones, I figured I could make it like a Chinese voicebank. The only thing is, there are beginning sounds that would possibly need their own notes, such as "ph" like in "phai." How can I do that without making the voicebank full of strings?
 

Kiyoteru

UtaForum power user
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
Unless it's traditional music, linguistic tones are generally disregarded entirely when it comes to singing. (This is why Chinese music videos always include subtitles.) I'm not familiar with the language, but you'd probably be better off writing a reclist from scratch than trying to edit one for a different language, if you're making your own voicebank.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_language#Phonology

This section of the article lists out phonemes (sounds) and phonotactics (rules for arranging sounds). Using that, a basic reclist can be constructed, and then it can be further refined through your own knowledge, research, and testing.

The article mentions that it's phonetically similar to Thai- perhaps you could try to find UTAU work in that language and see if it's helpful.
 

Alessandra

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
I think that:
Lao is not a common Language, so the provider must be from Laos, and may pronounce this Language wel
 

dezzydream

cv bank enthusiast
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
I think that:
Lao is not a common Language, so the provider must be from Laos, and may pronounce this Language wel
I know someone who speaks Lao natively, but I lost any way to contact her. I do have a friend through which I can get in touch, but updates on the project would be very slow.
 

Alessandra

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
So, if you don't know what it is, Lao is the official language of the Asian country of Laos. Because it has tones, I figured I could make it like a Chinese voicebank. The only thing is, there are beginning sounds that would possibly need their own notes, such as "ph" like in "phai." How can I do that without making the voicebank full of strings?
Maybe you could contact a cultural association regarding US and Laos. What do you think?
 

FelineWasteland

Feral Catboy
Defender of Defoko
If you're interested, I could probably draw up a reclist for you; it seems pretty simple phonetically. Are you looking for CVVC or VCCV?
 

dezzydream

cv bank enthusiast
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
If you're interested, I could probably draw up a reclist for you; it seems pretty simple phonetically. Are you looking for CVVC or VCCV?
CVVC would be great. I'll just have to see if I can find someone willing to voice her who is a native speaker of Lao.
 

FelineWasteland

Feral Catboy
Defender of Defoko
CVVC would be great. I'll just have to see if I can find someone willing to voice her who is a native speaker of Lao.
One Lao CVVC reclist coming up. I wrote it in X-SAMPA, with notes on some specific pronunciations. If you remove the notes, the reclist is Oremo compatible. I didn't include vowel blends or glottal stops, since those are pretty tricky, espeically labialized glottal stops; I've never even SEEN those before, but I was eventually able to get the hang of pronouncing them. Regardless, they can be achieved through using rests in USTs so aren't really nessisary as core recordings.

Other than a few unusual sounds for English speakers, Lao is pretty basic phonetically. It doesn't really have any consonant clusters (unless you count the voiceless alveo-palatal affricate), and the vowels, labialized consonants, and diphthongs ending in schwas are fairly easy to get used to.

Now, I likely will never use this list since I haven't the foggiest idea about the cadence nor the grammar of the language, but it was fun to make. I'd be curious to see the results of anyone who tests it.

_77
_EE
_MM
_OO
_aa
_ee-
_ii
_oo-
_uu
_MM@
_ii@
_uu@

J7
JE
JM
JO
Ja
Je-
Ji
Jo-
Ju
JM@
Ji@
Ju@

N7N
NEN
NMN
NON
NaN
NeN-
NiN
NoN-
NuN
NM@N
Ni@N
Nu@N

Nw7 [labialized /N/]
NwE
NwM
NwO
Nwa
Nwe-
Nwi
Nwo-
Nwu
NwM@
Nwi@
Nwu@

b7
bE
bM
bO
ba
be-
bi
bo-
bu
bM@
bi@
bu@

d7
dE
dM
dO
da
de-
di
do-
du
dM@
di@
du@

f7
fE
fM
fO
fa
fe-
fi
fo-
fu
fM@
fi@
fu@

h7
hE
hM
hO
ha
he-
hi
ho-
hu
hM@
hi@
hu@

j7j
jEj
jMj
jOj
jaj
jej-
jij
joj-
juj
jM@j
ji@j
ju@j

k7k [coda is unreleased]
kEk
kMk
kOk
kak
kek-
kik
kok-
kuk
kM@k
ki@k
ku@k

kh7 [aspirated /k/]
khE
khM
khO
kha
khe-
khi
kho-
khu
khM@
khi@
khu@

kw7 [labialized /k/]
kwE
kwM
kwO
kwa
kwe-
kwi
kwo-
kwu
kwM@
kwi@
kwu@

khw7 [aspirated + labialized /k/]
khwE
khwM
khwO
khwa
khwe-
khwi
khwo-
khwu
khwM@
khwi@
khwu@

l7
lE
lM
lO
la
le-
li
lo-
lu
lM@
li@
lu@

lw7 [labialized /l/]
lwE
lwM
lwO
lwa
lwe-
lwi
lwo-
lwu
lwM@
lwi@
lwu@

m7m
mEm
mMm
mOm
mam
mem-
mim
mom-
mum
mM@m
mi@m
mu@m

n7n_
nEn_
nMn_
nOn_
nan_
nen-_
nin_
non-_
nun_
nM@n_
ni@n_
nu@n_

p7p [coda is unrelased]
pEp
pMp
pOp
pap
pep-
pip
pop-
pup
pM@p
pi@p
pu@p

ph7 [aspirated /p/]
phE
phM
phO
pha
phe-
phi
pho-
phu
phM@
phi@
phu@

s7
sE
sM
sO
sa
se-
si
so-
su
sM@
si@
su@

sw7 [labialized /s/]
swE
swM
swO
swa
swe-
swi
swo-
swu
swM@
swi@
swu@

t7t [coda is unrelased]
tEt
tMt
tOt
tat
tet-
tit
tot-
tut
tM@t
ti@t
tu@t

th7 [aspirated /t/]
thE
thM
thO
tha
the-
thi
tho-
thu
thM@
thi@
thu@

thw7 [aspirated + labialized /t/]
thwE
thwM
thwO
thwa
thwe-
thwi
thwo-
thwu
thwM@
thwi@
thwu@

ts7 [altered from /ts\/ for use in file names]
tsE
tsM
tsO
tsa
tse-
tsi
tso-
tsu
tsM@
tsi@
tsu@

tsw7 [labialized /ts\/]
tswE
tswM
tswO
tswa
tswe-
tswi
tswo-
tswu
tswM@
tswi@
tswu@

w7w
wEw
wMw
wOw
waw
wew-
wiw
wow-
wuw
wM@w
wi@w
wu@w
 

dezzydream

cv bank enthusiast
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
(Quoting that just crashed Firefox, so I won't quote it.)
Thank you!
I just need to find someone willing to voice them who also speaks the language decently.
I don't speak it great, but I can remember simple phrases like,"sabaidee ton laeng" meaning "good afternoon."
 
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Alessandra

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
So, if you don't know what it is, Lao is the official language of the Asian country of Laos. Because it has tones, I figured I could make it like a Chinese voicebank. The only thing is, there are beginning sounds that would possibly need their own notes, such as "ph" like in "phai." How can I do that without making the voicebank full of strings?
It's the first ever Lao voicebank, so I strongly recommend you to contact a cultural association between your country and Laos. They could suggest someone!
 

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