English VCV reclist (wip) and issues regarding VCC+ samples

[Kassandra]

So I've made my own VCV reclist based off of VCCV phonetics (and symbols).
Here are some screenshots + demo acapella my friend Misha made: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mfu4ys3tyhu6q8q/main vocals eku.wav?dl=0 (it was on soundcloud but misha took it down so i reuploaded it to dropbox cuz i needed a demo and will take this down when i record more of my bank)

(the list)

Voicebank (so far)

examples of what the samples look like;

My issue is getting 'vcc' or 'vccc' or whatever to play in utau/sound right. Like "iznt" usually gets shortened to "int" or "nt", idk why. I'm not sure if it's an oto or consonant velocity problem. If you've gotten samples with a lot of end consonants to work and play correctly, how did you go about it?

I'm also of thinking of adding actual VCCV samples/CCV samples and experimenting for other transitions like ending consonants into beginning ones, idk how it would play out.

The thing that I'm certain of, is that my list is about the equivalent of 5 VCCV pitches so far. I may edit it if VCC+ samples don't really work though (even though they only make up 1/5 of the entire list).

Honestly though, I think the VCV parts are a great addition (as well as the VV) to a regular VCCV list. The only real problem I've noticed is that my list is 5,763 samples so making a multipitch probably wouldn't work.

I eventually do want to release this list, but it'll have to wait until I finish my VB first, and there's issues it faces (along with my own recording issues) so it'll be a while.

 

[Kiyoteru]

A sample like "iznt" is really two syllables, with "n" being sort of the "vowel" of the second syllable (or you could transcribe as "i-zxnt")
Though with an ending like "ksths" I think it's just a matter of making sure there's enough space in the UST for the whole note to play out, raising the consonant velocity, etc.

Also, a way to reduce the samples/file size is to just do VCV for single consonants, and maybe some essential clusters. The rest would be in CVVC. That's the approach I usually take.

 

[Kassandra]

Yeah like if I extend the note it'll play the whole sample, the syllable thing you're talking about makes more sense now that you put it that way. I might just try to stick to VCs instead of VCCs in general, but if I can make some of them work, like"ksths" and just extend the note, it can stay, but I guess they're a lot more like extras anyway since stretched out consonants don't sound too good in utau in general. I may play around with consonant velocity, sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. "iznt" is a really annoying sample so idk, might just cross that off the reclist as a whole sample.

I mean, that's true, cutting down some of the multiple consonants would shorten the list, but I'd prefer if they were included. Taking some samples out like "iznt" and whatever ones may be 2 syllables or just flat out not work, will reduce the size but not by much. I mean after I release the list, people are free to cut down whatever they want if they want to use it for multipitch.

I forgot to mention I also cut out a couple of vowels like "eye" sound and the sound that was labeled "x" since both of them seemed like extras. There's 17 vowels total, if I remember correctly.

 

[Kiyoteru]

You mean the capital I vowel in cz's phonetic notation? That's one of the essential diphthongs in english. I agree that the schwa is extra though, and it's only really useful when people record it correctly, heh.

 

[Kassandra]

Yeah, but when you use "I" as a stand alone it doesn't work, it just comes out like "ah" and if you use it for transitioning, I mean, it'll work better that way, but "ah" and "ee" makes the "I" sound, so I figured I could take it out, and if you've ever made "engrish" covers/songs, you know the "ah" + "ee" theory works to create the "I" sound anyway. Like said, people are free to do what they want, add/take out anything after the release. I'm just not including it because it's extra, in my opinion.

 

[Kiyoteru]

If you're taking out diphthongs, you should remove I 8 A Q O &.

 

[Kassandra]

I should've, really, and if the list itself ends up being too long, I might go back in and remove those or at least some of those. Or I could add the "I" if it helps so the list makes more sense.