Help with pronunciation? ta, ti/ chi ,tu/tsu, te, to

[Akateresu]

I really need help on pronouncing the Japanese  "t ". I`m creating a VCV voicebank and every time I give my friend a WIP of the voicebanks he always complains it sounds too " American". Soo, so you guys have any tips on pronunciation ?

 

[faerimagic]

Well, I remember someone once saying that the Japanese 't' is more like the t's in "matter".

Well, I personally think that if you softly use a 'd' in the place of a 't' it would sound close enough... (I could be wrong, though)

2/5/2013 Edit: Ahaha, I got my letters wrong! They were talking about how to pronounce the Japanese 'r', not 't', and used "matter" as an example! Derp.

 

[Akateresu]

Well, I remember someone once saying that the Japanese 't' is more like the t's in \"matter\".

Well, I personally think that if you softly use a 'd' in the place of a 't' it would sound close enough... (I could be wrong, though)

Thanks!~ I think i`ll try that. ^ . ^

 

[shinami]

Yeah, Japanese consonants are similar to the English ones just without any air puff at all whatsoever. I'm going to try and describe it but it probably won't make much sense. Say "ta" like in English. Feel where in your mouth your tounge hits. Now, try to hit the same place with your tongue without that air puff - it is a lot like D, but you can put a slight harshness into it without air that can differentiate it better.

that made no sense didn't it

 

[Akateresu]

Yeah, Japanese consonants are similar to the English ones just without any air puff at all whatsoever. I'm going to try and describe it but it probably won't make much sense. Say \"ta\" like in English. Feel where in your mouth your tounge hits. Now, try to hit the same place with your tongue without that air puff - it is a lot like D, but you can put a slight harshness into it without air that can differentiate it better.

that made no sense didn't it

Sorry. but I don`t get what you mean by "air puff"

 

[Masa]

It's kinda hard to explain, I think you should pay attention to Japanese singers and Utau's pronunciation.
For your convenience I recorded a sample for you:
[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/masa-chan5320/pronounciation[/soundcloud]
Hope it helps

 

[Rokurin]

[quote author=shinami link=topic=4902.msg35827#msg35827 date=1359641619]
Yeah, Japanese consonants are similar to the English ones just without any air puff at all whatsoever. I'm going to try and describe it but it probably won't make much sense. Say \"ta\" like in English. Feel where in your mouth your tounge hits. Now, try to hit the same place with your tongue without that air puff - it is a lot like D, but you can put a slight harshness into it without air that can differentiate it better.

that made no sense didn't it

Sorry. but I don`t get what you mean by "air puff"
[/quote]

Well, english speakers use to exhale more than others when speaking so the T and D and whatever other consonants will sound more 'airy'.

Here's a comparison between the English T and the JP T: http://tmbox.net/pl/201785 (the first one is EN and the second one is JP/every languageever except EN). The consonant is clean and it's just a tap you do with your tongue.

 

[tady159]

I believe that the Japanese "t" is quite similar to the one that happens in "star", but without the "s" of course. The "t" is pronounced only with the very tip of the tongue touching right behind the front teeth.

 

[Asuka]

I don't know how to explain it other than t is a harder version of d...
When you pronounce "da," it's like a softer "ta." Notice that your tongue will touch your teeth when you pronounce "da." To make a "ta" sound, try with the tip of your tongue between your teeth, and pronounce "da" with more... umph!