English UTAUloids

Trem

Here's an English UTAUloid. One of the first ones I ever learnt of.
Like Stormy mentioned, I remember Kikyuune Aiko has a English voicebank; whether or not it's for download is beyond me. The same goes with Neko Kanochi; I think both of them have been removed.
Bekkie Faito has is able to sing in English.
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Daatura is very nice and has a bank for english

Nobody, Ariella (I think), Blytha ANAKA, Niji Shinfonii, Foley Eika (I think), I have an English capable one as well (Fukai Nekone).

Upa Awami can sing English. Katarina Sokkyoune can sing English. There's Cz, of course... There's Nal too, and Tony Yonne.

http://utauseinedashi.blogspot.com/2011/12/seine-ran-english-beta.html

Seine Ran also has an English CV VC beta (and is also japanese compliant)! ouob But he uses an x-sampa list and is a tad tricky getting used to.

I'd consider the following things before you buy a vocaloid: Firstly, you will want to get a feel for which UTAUs you prefer using before jumping into Vocaloid. However, I think really wanting one and not buying one would be worse than having paid for one and failing to use it.

I bought Sweet Ann with V3 editor two weeks ago...and right now I prefer using UTAU, whether that be for comfort, because of it's simplicity, or because I like the variety of voices. The main difference between VOCALOID and UTAU is flexibility of pronunciation and being able to edit flag-like parameters in real time (and pitch bends/vibrato are dealt with differently). It's much easier to time lyrics, and it's much easier to get them to pronounce english than in  UTAU. The interface I found very alien after being so used to UTAU, and there was an adjustment period...I'm still in the middle of it right now, actually. I'd compare it to switching from a PC to a mac.

Sweet Ann is much softer than any UTAU I've used...I think it's the same for the other VOCALOIDS, even Big Al. Whether that's a plus or not depends on your preferences, I find it a little annoying to work with personally (it only means you have to engage the gain a bit more than usual, really XD)

I know you're calling for 'loids for english use here, but if you plan on any japanese use (like an untranslated cover or whatever), then I hear that engloids actually have pretty terrible japanese pronunciation.

Cdra link said:

[quote author=KitWistful link=topic=1222.msg10052#msg10052 date=1334110507]
I'd consider the following things before you buy a vocaloid: Firstly, you will want to get a feel for which UTAUs you prefer using before jumping into Vocaloid. However, I think really wanting one and not buying one would be worse than having paid for one and failing to use it.

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WELL THEN LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS :D  I have Big Al with the V2 engine, and do plenty of English UTAU.

VOCALOID is a very different program from UTAU.  The tuning, setup, everything is quite different.  However, it definitely has its advantages--specifically the parameters.  You'd have the perfect vocal synth (imo) if you took those and threw them (along with the lack of R notes) into UTAU's design, specifically the pitchbends and vibrato.

Indeed, VOCALOID English is easier out-of-the-box--but it's harder to edit in a lot of ways.  While they mostly pronounce right without any editing, they sometimes DON'T, and that is a pain to fix (plus you have to watch for it).  Plus, they're given to incredibly hard consonants, which I find kind of annoying.  Tuning VOCALOIDS is totally different from tuning UTAU because of the interface.

So, about that "softness".  VOCALOIDS render incredibly quietly compared to UTAU, so they require much more careful mixing.  Honestly, you can't properly mix a VOCALOID in Audacity--you need a more capable EQ and compressor module.  Well, I guess you can, but it's going to be really hard comparatively. ;;

And yes, Engloids can't Japanese.  Neither can fully English UTAU. *nod*

So, what are the pros and cons to each, for me?


So yeah.  Both have their strong points, and the interfaces are very different.  But I love both--Big Al has his charms and he has those PARAMETERS HNG (I love them so much--so much flexibility there) and his naturally great synthesis engine (higher quality output)... but good God I hate VOCALOID pitchbending.  And I feel like I have no control over the phonetics... With Halt and other English UTAU, well, there's pitchbending for sure.  I also love how much control I have over the phonetics--and generally I feel more confident about using them.

In the long run, it's up to you o3o
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Pitchbending is a big big biiiig plus. VOCALOID expects me to be able to draw sine waves with the steadiest of hands =w= (even accounting for a smoothing function, which is a thing that it apparently has).

I gotta say, though, I'd say it's much easier to get a VOCALOID to pronounce. Although you can't expect whatever you type in to come out perfectly, it's easy to adjust the pronunciation, and the convenience of typing out "a word" initially as opposed to "e yu wo ru do" is just priceless. Additionally, almost every VOCALOID (excepting SeeU, I think) shares the same syntax for pronunciation. X-SAMPA (or whatever it's called) looks a bit intimidating but it's pretty easy to get the hang of, I never had any issues retaining/learning it (But a good guide for looking up consonants/vowels is your friend! There'll be one in the help guide and on Vocaloid Wiki.)

Compressing and Equalization I've never found much of a headache, it's just an extra step. Ah, you've probably seen this but I'llSeeU-P made a pretty convenient Kolumn on it (speaking as somebody who has no training in that sort of thing).

After using UTAU for so long I found working in VOCALOID to be a pain in the ass to get used to. The only convenience was the lack of rests, and that's really only convenient for timing...other than that I agree that UTAU with the addition of Vocaloid's pronunciation options and real-time editing parameters (with flags intact! and more flags. I'd love it if Brightness/whatever had equivalent flags...) would be the PERFECT PROGRAM ;O;

EDIT: OH yes, by the way: three things I love about Vocaloid 3!

1. You can set the timing cursor-bar thing up so that whenever you press play, you start there.
2. You can load up an onvocal and an off vocal to make timing SO MUCH EASIER (although I think for cover songs I think...I think vocalistener is a thing? I dunno).
3. You can edit pronunciation without going into another window and there's a toggle button to switch between editing the "label" word (which are just ordinary words like "apple" and "the" that help to identify a syllable) and the actual pronunciation (like "{ p l" and "T V"....I almost certainly got that wrong. I haven't done this in a little while.)

Cdra link said:

I think I got confusing about vocaloid and pronouncing.  Vocaloid is easier out-of-box--entering a word is way nicer than entering phonetics.  However, if the Vocaloid decides to pronounce the word wrong, you then have to argue with it about how you actually want it to pronounce.  Typing \"the puppy\" and having it pronounce right is easier than \"tthu pu pE\", but... if you type \"the orange\", it'll pronounce it wrong (the as \"thuh\" instead of \"thee\").  So I like that I can just say \"tthE Or &nj\" and not have to go into the stupid little phonetic editor.  Also words like \"tears\".  It defaults to \"tears\" as in \"she tears through the paper\" rather than \"tears\" as in \"my tears are falling\".  Derp.  Though V3 having that phonetic mode has a setting would be -extremely- useful :U //another reason to consider buying V3 engine

But then there's those hard consonants, which I feel like I can't control at all.  I end up futzing with the openness to get Al to muffle them enough to sound reasonable, but it's still annoying compared to in UTAU where I can just change a quick note length.

I hate X-SAMPA, by the way. :U  It's not too hard, but it's silly and counterintuitive and I hate typing in it. 

I'llSeeU-P's column is nice for sure, but some of those settings will make the voice sound kind of blegh in my experience o3o;  It's a matter of personal preference.  I like compressing on an individual basis...

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Ah, that makes a little more sense. I thought you meant that Vocaloids were easier to use in general when you said "out-of-box" XD

I don't know much about compression or equalization or anything...hahaha. As long as it's not too gritty and it ain't hard on my ears I can't really tell the difference...I'm hoping my ears will improve with experience.

Illisandria Carthain link said:

So the point is that there are pros and cons to both and I should really decide whether or not I want (because I don't NEED) a Vocaloid.

I have to say one thing about UTAU: with it being a freeware and allowing everyone to add their own unique voices to the mix, it makes for a nice piece of work. Granted, they (specifically the English UTAUloids) don't all work the same way, but they all have unique voices and personalities that make them special. (And them being free isn't too bad either... ;D)

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Yes, free is definitely pretty nice XD

If you ever feel your workflow is missing something, or you're interested in releasing an album for bandcamp or something, or you just feel that IT IS TIME *thundercrackle* *drama* then...then you'll just know.