The Japanese R

ArcheKoeln

Momo's Minion
I'm hoping somebody can give me some tips on pronouncing the Japanese R sound correctly when recording. When I speak I seem to be able to make the sound just fine but in recording it never seems to come out right. So I've always opted for the alternative and just made an L sound instead, but I find when I do this that my VB tends to sounds a bit weab-ish.

So, I hope that somebody here can maybe give me some tips/advice/info on pronunciation when recording a VB.

Thanks in advance! :^)
 

Kiyoteru

UtaForum power user
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
It's a lot easier to pronounce that consonant in between vowels, like in VCV banks or CVVC banks. Perhaps you could try recording a CV bank like "ara" and just OTO the "ra" part.
 

Sors

Local Guppie & UTAU Korean Advocate
Tutor
Defender of Defoko
The pronounciation can actually vary, as hearable by different utaus. Ritsu's for example are clearly r's, however Meiji's actually depend on the vowel, tho can vary as well, however mostly her 'ら','る' and 'ろ' (ra, ru, ro), sound mostly like l's, especially 'ら', so its not really weeb-ish. However the general pronounciation is described as being "between r and l", which is mostly achieved by pressing the tongue against the upper teeth, like an l, and try to pronounce an r. I had problems with it at first, buut managed to produce accurate r's, like most have. What is also noticable is that if done right, it should sound like a 'd' after ん (n). This can be seen very well in KuroDelta's CVVC reclist, as the r-string has two 'ら', because the first comes after a 'ん', thus soundinh more like 'だ' (da) rather than 'ら'. If one can't pull of the japanese r's, I would recommend l's over other r types, as to me it kinda sounds more right. Some Vocaloids have their r's recorded as l's even, just listen to World is Mine e.g., when Miku sings "kokoro" it sounds more like "kokolo". Hope i could help ^^'
 

WinterdrivE

Ritsu's Renegades
Defender of Defoko
The most concise way I can think of to explain it in terms of English is keep your tongue in position for an R, but touch the roof of your mouth behind the teeth like an L, similar to what Sors said.

To elaborate, the tip of tongue is curled back like in an English R, but it also makes contact with the roof of the mouth as in an L or D. As Sors mentioned, whether its more like an L or faster like a D (or Spanish R) depends on the speaker and the vowel that follows it. (ro, ru, and often ra tend towards a longer l-like sound and re and especially ri tend towards a faster tap, like the tt in butter or a spanish r.)

The main thing is keeping the tip of tongue curled upward, rather than pointed forward as in an English L. If you alternately pronounce R and L, you may notice a little more tension near the tip of your tongue in R than L. Try to maintain that when pronouncing Japanese R.
 

ArcheKoeln

Momo's Minion
Thread starter
Thanks everyone for the tips! I'm starting to record a new CVVC bank later on today so hopefully I'll be able to apply some of the info you guys have given me!
 

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