Anyway hey guys! I wanted to ask you guys your opinions on different English UTAU styles and your thoughts on UTAU English overall!
I mean no disrespect to reclist creators such as CZ, Delta, etc. I understand that many reclist creators in general have worked really hard to create effective, clear, and realistic reclists, and I have really high respect for these people. I just want to discuss the differences of styles and see what people personally think, and what the hype of UTAU English is really all about!
That being said, this is my thought on UTAU English.
I personally am not a huge fan of voice synth English as a whole. It's really quite difficult to make sound good due to the languages phoneme complexity. Japanese is simple phonetically and can be made to sound realistic with much more ease. That being said, good synth English isn't impossible. English banks keep on evolving to improve on what we already have.
In terms of reclists, CVVC makes most sense to me technically. I've worked with Aiko a bit, and I've found that it's really easy to use a CVVC reclist with English because the reclist is most phonetically similar to English. I personally don't think VCV is as effective for English. I've heard it done really well, like here for example, but I think VCV should primarily be left for the simplistic phonetic nature of Japanese.
Then there's VCCV, which I have a whole other opinion on. First off, I have a LOT of respect for CZ for making a really accessible, clear way to do English UTAU. That being said, I don't see the hype. I think that it's basically the same thing as Delta's CVVC but with a prepared oto. It's quite convenient, but people seem to rely on the oto too much.
UTAUloids like CZloid, Al!ce, etc. sound awesome with VCCV. They rock that. But I've heard other UTAU banks that are VCCV banks that sound choppy, unotoed, and not understandable because they rely so heavily on the base oto even though their samples aren't the same as CZ recorded hers. I of course understand that otoing English is a real challenge, but there's always room to edit otos to make them better.
I honestly think the type of reclist (of these three kinds) determines the quality of an English UTAU bank. I've heard some really incredible VCV and CVVC banks in my day that still sound better than a good amount of VCCV banks. To my understanding, CZ's intention was to create an easier way to achieve clearer UTAU English for all, and she has done that, assuming that VCCV users make their banks following her tutorials, and editing otos.
Please reply to this and let me know what you think! I want to hear your opinions! ouobIn terms of reclists, CVVC makes most sense to me technically. I've worked with Aiko a bit, and I've found that it's really easy to use a CVVC reclist with English because the reclist is most phonetically similar to English. I personally don't think VCV is as effective for English. I've heard it done really well, like here for example, but I think VCV should primarily be left for the simplistic phonetic nature of Japanese.
Then there's VCCV, which I have a whole other opinion on. First off, I have a LOT of respect for CZ for making a really accessible, clear way to do English UTAU. That being said, I don't see the hype. I think that it's basically the same thing as Delta's CVVC but with a prepared oto. It's quite convenient, but people seem to rely on the oto too much.
UTAUloids like CZloid, Al!ce, etc. sound awesome with VCCV. They rock that. But I've heard other UTAU banks that are VCCV banks that sound choppy, unotoed, and not understandable because they rely so heavily on the base oto even though their samples aren't the same as CZ recorded hers. I of course understand that otoing English is a real challenge, but there's always room to edit otos to make them better.
I honestly think the type of reclist (of these three kinds) determines the quality of an English UTAU bank. I've heard some really incredible VCV and CVVC banks in my day that still sound better than a good amount of VCCV banks. To my understanding, CZ's intention was to create an easier way to achieve clearer UTAU English for all, and she has done that, assuming that VCCV users make their banks following her tutorials, and editing otos.
- Jay