Tips on voicing UTAU of the opposite gender?

RaccoonButler

Founder of The Church of Mawarine Shuu
Defender of Defoko
Have any advice for girls trying to voice male utau/ boys trying to voice female utau?

Originally my first utau was going to be a girl but they came out more ambiguous/13-year-old boy sounding (which is funny since I'm actually a girl, lel) So that's why I thought I'd ask.

Also I thought other people might find it helpful

uvu)/) thanks
 

danlof99

Ritsu's Renegades
Defender of Defoko
For a boy who tries voicing a female falsetto can be useful... I'm recording a female vb at the monent lol
 

DayDreamerStratus

Teto's Territory
find a comfortable place in your range to voice your utau. Don't force it. I recommend trying to do an Alto range in either cases, since I think both boys and girls can typically get there. Then again I'm a metzo-soprano (I can sing both soprano and alto) so I can't say for other people PERFECTLY. But there are both alto males and females (an alto male that's an adult is called a countertenor, and jesus christ is a good counter tenor in the classical scene wonderful) So that's where'd I start for a vb of an oppsoite gender. Obviously for a female vb you want to go higher into the alto range and for a male vb you want to go as low as you can in the alto range... Maybe you can hit tenor. That's the best for a guy voice. Soprano doesn't always work well for female vbs though and isn't too necessary, but there's nothing stopping you from trying it!

Also, I'd probably stick to a monopitch vb for a vb that is meant to be the opposite gender, but if you can pull off more pitches without reverting to your biological gender go for it! I find that UTAU treated my more masculine range really well when I tried to do a male vb, and I didn't even go that low. But I am no UTAU expert so.. :P
 
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PrinceofHades

A wandering soul
Defender of Defoko
From personal experience, for a girl trying to record a male voice, two helpful things are:
1. Find your lowest pitch that you can do COMFORTABLY. Straining your voice is not helpful, and makes the voice you end up with sound very forced.
2. Voice act. Try to not just record at that low pitch, but try to make yourself sound like a boy at that pitch, if that makes any sense.

I'd actually recommend for boys trying to record female utau a variation of my two suggestions for the girls. That would be:
1. Find your highest pitch that you can do COMFORTABLY. A falsetto doesn't always work, although it can be helpful.
2. Try to make yourself sound like a girl at that pitch, or voiceact at that pitch. If that makes any sense. I don't know if it does. OTL

I have no idea if this was at all helpful, but. It's my 2 cents. XD

I'm female, but because I'm a contralto, my utau tends to sound rather boyish. (Or rather, in some songs I'll go "eep this sounds like a little boy! ;w; " while in others I'll go "what the heck this actually sounds like it might be a mature female??" and in still others I'll just go "**** it, I have no idea what gender this is OTL" So my solution for that was just to make my utau androgynous/have no official gender. o3ob I don't know if that helps you with your utau problem. ^^;
 

Kiyoteru

UtaForum power user
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
I'm using an English voicebank that has extremely convincing voiceacting, and I think that this was somewhat how it was done.

Find an existing voicebank with the target tone. Make notes in UTAU within your own range. If using a male in female range or vice versa, it's bound to sound strange. Take note of this strangeness. This is the voice you use when recording. That way, once you pitch the notes back to the intended range, it sounds as intended.
 

sailor _ravioli

Ritsu's Renegades
Defender of Defoko
As some people have said above record at the lowest pitch you are comfortable with
also if you have a "morning voice" that is typically deeper you can try to record sometime in the morning or after you wake up (thats what i did)
when using a ust you can also move it down an octave (which usually helps)
gender flags can help but too much gender flags usually sound weird
hope this helps!!
 

Mougeki Mero

Defoko's Slaves
Defender of Defoko
Sorry for kind of reviving this, however....

Been trying falsetto lately and I found it very strange I could sound girlish O.O

Anyway, I need tips: if I ever record an UTAU, should I make an Falsetto append or a separate female falsetto UTAU?
 

danlof99

Ritsu's Renegades
Defender of Defoko
Sorry for kind of reviving this, however....

Been trying falsetto lately and I found it very strange I could sound girlish O.O

Anyway, I need tips: if I ever record an UTAU, should I make an Falsetto append or a separate female falsetto UTAU?
It depends on your falsetto... mt falserto sounds like a very girly voice so I made a female one lol
 
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수연 <Suyeon>

Your friendly neighborhood koreaboo trash
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
Sorry for kind of reviving this, however....

Been trying falsetto lately and I found it very strange I could sound girlish O.O

Anyway, I need tips: if I ever record an UTAU, should I make an Falsetto append or a separate female falsetto UTAU?

depends on your voice and how the falsetto and your natural head voice blend when transitioning in a multi-pitch situation. some voices blend seamlessly (len - voiced by a woman, piko- voiced by a counter-tenor) while other voices have drastic changes in tone (yohioloid suffers from this where the voice sounds more feminine and doesn't transition well within a single bank).
 
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Oz_

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
We had the exact same result! Me, a girl with a very deep voice into MOCHIZUKI, my utau, who sounds like a guy. But I decided not to give it a gender because freedom.

I think what made it sound like a guy's is because of my own deep voice. I recorded the normal pitch in A3 (or at least only the 'あ' since I am not constant with the pitches...), and the lower pitch... yes lower, an even lower pitch, but not so low, in F#3 or F3...

Based on my experience, most female-sounding UTAUloids are recorded way up in the 4th octave or even 5th.
Fun fact: Defoko was recorded at G#3, and still had a feminine sounding voice bank... 0_0 All hail the goddess Defoko(Utane Uta).
 

ExistenceReaper

Procrastinator
Defender of Defoko
I'd say practice with it for a while, but definitely don't go out of your comfort zone. Your lowest notes are gonna be your best bet, but your limit depends on your voice type.
Find your comfortable range, figure out your voice type, and see what works best with it.

Also, high notes do not always equal feminine for the of you thinking that.

I apologize for taking up space without actually being helpful.
 

RaccoonButler

Founder of The Church of Mawarine Shuu
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
Ayy I feel bad for kicking this thread up again but I thought this might be useful:

I've gotten advice from some voice actors, and actually they say that sounding like the opposite gender is not really dictated as much by pitch, but more by pronunciation. Speaking lower doesn't guarantee you'll sound masculine and speaking higher doesn't make you sound feminine.

The same it seems goes for singing, as there are banks with high voices that sound more masculine than female banks with lower voices and vice versa.
The real difference is the way words are pronounced and whether you're speaking from the head or the chest.
 
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Lee / Sambutt

Apollo's Polka-Dotted Socks
For females recording male VBs:

- Sing at the lowest pitch you can comfortably reach and try to project your voice from the back of your throat.

- Use your chest voice.

- Use masculine pronounciation.

For males recording female VBs:

- Sing at the highest pitch you can comfortably reach and try to project your voice from the front of the mouth.

- Use your head voice/falsetto.

- Use feminine pronunciation.

Gender flags can also help.
 
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wobinbug

Ritsu's Renegades
Defender of Defoko
Bleh, sorry to revive this thread once again, but you could try some exercises to help increase your vocal range, so that you can comfortably hit higher/lower notes. They're easy to find with a quick google search, but I don't know how effective they'll be, lol, or how long it'll take to see results. Also, I believe some of them are exercises you should do just before recording, as they aren't permanent, so take your pick.

Also, pronunciation is key, so my advice would be to try listening to how the opposite gender speaks and try to replicate it. It may be best to do it with an UTAUloid that has the vb you want to record, so it's in context as well. :smile:
 

Flavio Riama

Teto's Territory
I tried using my falsetto once and I still sound boyish. :/ I sound like a little boy on my falsetto. Does anyone know if in those cases the only solution is to pitch up our voice on AutoTune or other program?
 

Animé Fan

Head of the Shonen Academy
Defender of Defoko
It also kind of depends on the UTAU itself. I'm sure a tomboyish female UTAU would sound different compared to a girlish female UTAU and a more masculine male UTAU would sound different compared to a more feminine or childlike male UTAU and I don't just mean bishonen neither. When recording UTAU, I try to pick a voice that suits the UTAU's appearance or age range more than whether they're male or female. There are female UTAU who are good at low ranges and male UTAU who are good at high ranges and many of them turn out well.
 

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