Hi! How are you? Well, I'm quite a fan of NIAOniao, and I've noticed that there are very few tutorials for the program here, so I'm bringing one. I tried to make this one as complete as possible, so I hope you enjoy it! 
Well, NIAONiao was discontinued, I think, in 2023, with its entire page being deleted, although development of the program stopped in 2020. Fortunately, many things from the synthesizer were recovered, and it can still be downloaded.
To do this, we'll have to go to the deviantART page, which also offers the voice bank creation tool, but I'll tell you about that later.
The version we're downloading is 2.0; almost all voice banks are compatible with it. The reason we're using it is because it's the most popular and because it's translated into English, It also offers you NIAONiao for AISingers, which is a small program that allows you to use NIAONiao banks in the new AI Singers synthesizer, which is the predecessor of NIAONiao, but I won't talk about it today.
Obviously, we won't just stick with Yuu, as beautiful as her voice is. And for this task, we previously had the dsound page to download the voice banks, but it was deleted, so we only have to resort to the largest library of NIAONiao voices, the archive created by the "NIAONiao Archive" account (which, by the way, also includes AI Singers). In that archive, you'll find more than 500 voice banks (some lost) for the program. There are banks in English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and I've even been able to find German, although Chinese is the majority.
NIAONiao ARCHIVE
Voicebank Recommendations:
Dōng ruò dié (Japanese, various appendixes, demos are lost)
Qīng gē yǔ lán (Japanese, Korean, Chinese)
Rocky (English)
Shànqīng Zì (Japanese, Chinese, German, English)
INSTALLING
To install them, download the desired voicebank and unzip it. Finally, transfer the voicebank folder to NIAONiao/scr. Once in that folder, the vocalist will appear in the program.
Tools:
You can add notes with a pencil. By pressing them, you can edit the phoneme (important: the synthesizer doesn't tell you when you type the note if the phoneme doesn't exist like in Vocaloid; it notifies you when you start the sequence).
With the select symbol, you select them, and you can also move them.
With the delete option, you can delete notes.
With the symbol, which looks like a photo, you'll see an option to pitchbend the notes.
The tempo, beat, and measures work just like in UTAU.
The "Auto" option generates vibrato on the selected note.
With the "Batch Edit Lyrics" option, we can enter lyrics in Pinyin (Romaji) and Chinese. Outside of Chinese, the voice bank's support for hiragana or Romaji depends on the language, but most voice banks use Romaji.
The "Hide Lock" option allows you to move notes more precisely.
Play, stop, loop, move to beginning, move to end, and other similar functions are self-explanatory.
Save and open:
Sequences can be saved as ".nn"; if you don't save the sequence, the program won't be able to export it.
The "Open" option only allows you to open ".nn" files.
Import:
NIAONiao allows you to natively import .MIDI, .vsqx, and .ust files into the program. It's recommended to edit them a bit to prevent errors. However, as long as they're in a format other than CV, change the .ust to CV in UTAU using any plugin (e.g., autocvvc).
Voice Bank Section:
On one end, you'll have the singer's information. The first time you launch NIAONiao, you'll have Yuu. The program will also ask you to select her in that tab. If you click "Info," the singer's information will appear. If you click "Play," a random sample from the bank will play. If you click "Main," it will become the program's default voice bank and will be the one that will be played when you launch it.
Note Information:
With this feature, you can modify various aspects, such as note volume, note sensitivity, velocity, portamento, clarity, pitch, and more. Just select the desired note and that information will appear.
Singing Settings:
This section is very similar to VOCALOID; here you can draw the pitch, change the portamento, manage vibrato, and envelopes.
Voice Input:
When you give the program an .mp3 file, it can generate a sequence from it. It's basically like the VOCALOID3 plugin that allowed you to create a VSQX based on the program analyzing the audio. NIAONiao not only analyzes the MP3 file but also tunes it, but this is quite imprecise.
You can record your own mp3 in the program to use this option.
MP3 Accomp:
When you open an .mp3 file with this feature, it will be attached to the track.
To create a voice bank for NIAONiao we need the tool, which is in the same place where you downloaded the program, NIAONiao is handled in the CV format (Vowel Consonant) and almost any CV reclist for UTAU will work, NIAONiao does NOT accept multipitch, you will have to choose a single pitch to make a voice bank in the program.
Recording
You can record in OREMO, in the same way you record for a UTAU CV. It is recommended that you record with files in Romaji. The recommendation is that they be files of no more than one second, in WAV format, in MONO audio and 4100Hz. If you use STEREO or longer audio, NiaoNiao will distort it. Finally, the audio must be 16 bits.
Configuration
When you enter the voice bank creator, you'll open the folder with the files by clicking "Browse" in the "Source" section. After that, click "Refresh."
When you load it, you'll have the studio ready to start configuring.
edit .inf: This is in case you're editing an already configured voice bank and don't want to unpack it again. Once you're done reconfiguring a phoneme, you'll have to click this option to have it accepted.
Calculate AMP: Calculates the pitch.
Recalculate: Recalculates the pitch. This is useful if you added a phoneme to the voice bank.
Normalize: Normalizes the notes.
Generate 1 inf: Automatically generates the configuration for the selected phoneme.
Generate all .inf: Generates the configurations for all phonemes. It's like an audio ini generator in UTAU.
Paid Voice: This section doesn't matter, as it was never really used.
Check: Tells you the missing phonemes. NIAONiao has a default reclist, and that's what it displays.
Average: Tells you the average pitch of the phonemes.
Version: You can indicate the version of your voice bank.
Start: Where the phoneme starts; it works like the UTAU offset.
End: The same as Start, but at the end; it works like the UTAU cutoff.
Initial: Where the consonant is located; it works like the UTAU preutterance.
>: Plays the audio of the phoneme.
Unpack: Packages the voice bank and creates the files to run it on NIAONiao.
name: allows you to change the name of the phoneme.
Charactor.txt
Charactor.txt is a file where we put the voice bank information. It's like UTAU's character.txt. There's a template that NIAONiao provides for this file. Here it is translated into English:
The only thing 100% necessary in this form is the name, since without it the program crashes.
head.d.png
For your voicebank to have a profile picture, you will need to have a 100x100 PNG image, and call it "head.d" so that the program can take it.
Readme.tx.txt
It's like the UTAU readme.txt, it includes the voice bank information and its clauses. Here is the file translated by NIAONiao for this file:
1. DOWNLOAD SYNTHESIZER
DOWNLOAD LINKWell, NIAONiao was discontinued, I think, in 2023, with its entire page being deleted, although development of the program stopped in 2020. Fortunately, many things from the synthesizer were recovered, and it can still be downloaded.
To do this, we'll have to go to the deviantART page, which also offers the voice bank creation tool, but I'll tell you about that later.
The version we're downloading is 2.0; almost all voice banks are compatible with it. The reason we're using it is because it's the most popular and because it's translated into English, It also offers you NIAONiao for AISingers, which is a small program that allows you to use NIAONiao banks in the new AI Singers synthesizer, which is the predecessor of NIAONiao, but I won't talk about it today.
2. SETUP
NIAOniao does not require installation, just unzip and you have the synthesizer. To open it, simply double-click on NIAO.exe, and it will come with the Yuu NiaoNiao voice bank.3. DOWNLOADING & INSTALLING VOICEBANKS
DOWNLOADINGObviously, we won't just stick with Yuu, as beautiful as her voice is. And for this task, we previously had the dsound page to download the voice banks, but it was deleted, so we only have to resort to the largest library of NIAONiao voices, the archive created by the "NIAONiao Archive" account (which, by the way, also includes AI Singers). In that archive, you'll find more than 500 voice banks (some lost) for the program. There are banks in English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and I've even been able to find German, although Chinese is the majority.
NIAONiao ARCHIVE
Voicebank Recommendations:
Dōng ruò dié (Japanese, various appendixes, demos are lost)
Qīng gē yǔ lán (Japanese, Korean, Chinese)
Rocky (English)
Shànqīng Zì (Japanese, Chinese, German, English)
INSTALLING
To install them, download the desired voicebank and unzip it. Finally, transfer the voicebank folder to NIAONiao/scr. Once in that folder, the vocalist will appear in the program.
4. USING NIAONiao
Using NIAONiao is like using a mix of UTAU and VOCALOID. If you've used these programs, it'll be easy for you, but let's clarify a few things.Tools:
You can add notes with a pencil. By pressing them, you can edit the phoneme (important: the synthesizer doesn't tell you when you type the note if the phoneme doesn't exist like in Vocaloid; it notifies you when you start the sequence).
With the select symbol, you select them, and you can also move them.
With the delete option, you can delete notes.
With the symbol, which looks like a photo, you'll see an option to pitchbend the notes.
The tempo, beat, and measures work just like in UTAU.
The "Auto" option generates vibrato on the selected note.
With the "Batch Edit Lyrics" option, we can enter lyrics in Pinyin (Romaji) and Chinese. Outside of Chinese, the voice bank's support for hiragana or Romaji depends on the language, but most voice banks use Romaji.
The "Hide Lock" option allows you to move notes more precisely.
Play, stop, loop, move to beginning, move to end, and other similar functions are self-explanatory.
Save and open:
Sequences can be saved as ".nn"; if you don't save the sequence, the program won't be able to export it.
The "Open" option only allows you to open ".nn" files.
Import:
NIAONiao allows you to natively import .MIDI, .vsqx, and .ust files into the program. It's recommended to edit them a bit to prevent errors. However, as long as they're in a format other than CV, change the .ust to CV in UTAU using any plugin (e.g., autocvvc).
Voice Bank Section:
On one end, you'll have the singer's information. The first time you launch NIAONiao, you'll have Yuu. The program will also ask you to select her in that tab. If you click "Info," the singer's information will appear. If you click "Play," a random sample from the bank will play. If you click "Main," it will become the program's default voice bank and will be the one that will be played when you launch it.
Note Information:
With this feature, you can modify various aspects, such as note volume, note sensitivity, velocity, portamento, clarity, pitch, and more. Just select the desired note and that information will appear.
Singing Settings:
This section is very similar to VOCALOID; here you can draw the pitch, change the portamento, manage vibrato, and envelopes.
Voice Input:
When you give the program an .mp3 file, it can generate a sequence from it. It's basically like the VOCALOID3 plugin that allowed you to create a VSQX based on the program analyzing the audio. NIAONiao not only analyzes the MP3 file but also tunes it, but this is quite imprecise.
You can record your own mp3 in the program to use this option.
MP3 Accomp:
When you open an .mp3 file with this feature, it will be attached to the track.
5. CREATING A VOICEBANK
To create a voice bank for NIAONiao we need the tool, which is in the same place where you downloaded the program, NIAONiao is handled in the CV format (Vowel Consonant) and almost any CV reclist for UTAU will work, NIAONiao does NOT accept multipitch, you will have to choose a single pitch to make a voice bank in the program.
Recording
You can record in OREMO, in the same way you record for a UTAU CV. It is recommended that you record with files in Romaji. The recommendation is that they be files of no more than one second, in WAV format, in MONO audio and 4100Hz. If you use STEREO or longer audio, NiaoNiao will distort it. Finally, the audio must be 16 bits.
Configuration
When you enter the voice bank creator, you'll open the folder with the files by clicking "Browse" in the "Source" section. After that, click "Refresh."
When you load it, you'll have the studio ready to start configuring.
edit .inf: This is in case you're editing an already configured voice bank and don't want to unpack it again. Once you're done reconfiguring a phoneme, you'll have to click this option to have it accepted.
Calculate AMP: Calculates the pitch.
Recalculate: Recalculates the pitch. This is useful if you added a phoneme to the voice bank.
Normalize: Normalizes the notes.
Generate 1 inf: Automatically generates the configuration for the selected phoneme.
Generate all .inf: Generates the configurations for all phonemes. It's like an audio ini generator in UTAU.
Paid Voice: This section doesn't matter, as it was never really used.
Check: Tells you the missing phonemes. NIAONiao has a default reclist, and that's what it displays.
Average: Tells you the average pitch of the phonemes.
Version: You can indicate the version of your voice bank.
Start: Where the phoneme starts; it works like the UTAU offset.
End: The same as Start, but at the end; it works like the UTAU cutoff.
Initial: Where the consonant is located; it works like the UTAU preutterance.
>: Plays the audio of the phoneme.
Unpack: Packages the voice bank and creates the files to run it on NIAONiao.
name: allows you to change the name of the phoneme.
Charactor.txt
Charactor.txt is a file where we put the voice bank information. It's like UTAU's character.txt. There's a template that NIAONiao provides for this file. Here it is translated into English:
Name:
CV: (voice provider)
Gender:
Age:
Height:
Number of pronunciations: (this means number of phonemes)
Best vocal range:
Good rhythm:
Good music style:
Debut date: (this is basically the release date)
Birthday:
Zodiac sign:
Personality:
Hobbies:
Dislikes:
Representative: (representative item, like Tuna with Luka)
Catchphrase: "~~"
CV: (voice provider)
Gender:
Age:
Height:
Number of pronunciations: (this means number of phonemes)
Best vocal range:
Good rhythm:
Good music style:
Debut date: (this is basically the release date)
Birthday:
Zodiac sign:
Personality:
Hobbies:
Dislikes:
Representative: (representative item, like Tuna with Luka)
Catchphrase: "~~"
The only thing 100% necessary in this form is the name, since without it the program crashes.
head.d.png
For your voicebank to have a profile picture, you will need to have a 100x100 PNG image, and call it "head.d" so that the program can take it.
Readme.tx.txt
It's like the UTAU readme.txt, it includes the voice bank information and its clauses. Here is the file translated by NIAONiao for this file:
OOO Sound Library VerX.x
[Update History]
2012/XX/XX OOO Sound Library VerX.x
・Official Release
・Number of Pinyin: XX (including ? breathing sounds)
[Terms of Use]
・It is forbidden to modify the sound source files, text files and image files, and it is forbidden to re-publish.
・Please pay attention to the copyright issues of songs when making covers.
・It is forbidden to use this sound source to make songs that violate national laws and regulations or violate moral bottom lines.
・It is forbidden to use this sound source to make songs containing obscene, pornographic or violent content.
・When using this sound source or sound source name for commercial purposes, there is an obligation to inform and obtain the consent of the sound source producer.
[Disclaimer]
・When using this sound source, users shall not violate the law, endanger network security or damage the legitimate rights and interests of third parties, otherwise the consequences shall be borne by the user himself.
[Contact Information]
The ownership of the sound source belongs to ???XXX.
CV: ???
QQ: ???
Homepage: ???
Email: ???
[Update History]
2012/XX/XX OOO Sound Library VerX.x
・Official Release
・Number of Pinyin: XX (including ? breathing sounds)
[Terms of Use]
・It is forbidden to modify the sound source files, text files and image files, and it is forbidden to re-publish.
・Please pay attention to the copyright issues of songs when making covers.
・It is forbidden to use this sound source to make songs that violate national laws and regulations or violate moral bottom lines.
・It is forbidden to use this sound source to make songs containing obscene, pornographic or violent content.
・When using this sound source or sound source name for commercial purposes, there is an obligation to inform and obtain the consent of the sound source producer.
[Disclaimer]
・When using this sound source, users shall not violate the law, endanger network security or damage the legitimate rights and interests of third parties, otherwise the consequences shall be borne by the user himself.
[Contact Information]
The ownership of the sound source belongs to ???XXX.
CV: ???
QQ: ???
Homepage: ???
Email: ???
6. FINAL
And that's all, or well, I think so. I hope it was useful for you, and enjoy using NIAONiao. I hope that thanks to this I see more releases of the program, but anyway, thanks, and until next time, I will answer all the questions you have