The VCCV English Discourse

[partial]

When using other VCCV USTs, do you edit them at all or just plug and play?

 

[kimchi-tan]

When using other VCCV USTs, do you edit them at all or just plug and play?

Always edit them. Some voicebanks pronounce things differently from what you want and you can't always trust the ust maker to be accurate in the lyrics inputted because of how flexible English words can be pronounced . For example, the word "the" can be inputted as dhE, dhx, dhu, dha, thE, thx, thu, or tha are all acceptable depending on the style of the song and voicebank's accent.

 

[partial]

Always edit them. Some voicebanks pronounce things differently from what you want and you can't always trust the ust maker to be accurate in the lyrics inputted because of how flexible English words can be pronounced (for example, the word "the" can be inputted as dhE, dhx, dhu, dha, thE, thx, thu, or tha and are all acceptable depending on the style of the song and voicebank's accent.

Indeed.
I like Makkusan's USTs but I can't just plug and play them with my bank (or others). I will always edit the pronunciation to match how I personally say things, even if it may sound strange to the ears of others. I'm quite slurry and honestly I often swap out t's for d's.

 

[OngakuCD]

When using other VCCV USTs, do you edit them at all or just plug and play?

If the pitch-bending is really good, then I usually just plug and play (of course, I fit the ust to my bank and edit pronounciations). Sometimes I like to play with notes, especially harmonies. Other times, if I have my own idea of how I want my utau to sound at a certain point, I'll edit the pitch-bends

 

[Yoichi-Masaki]

If the pitch-bending is really good, then I usually just plug and play (of course, I fit the ust to my bank and edit pronounciations). Sometimes I like to play with notes, especially harmonies. Other times, if I have my own idea of how I want my utau to sound at a certain point, I'll edit the pitch-bends

same

 

[partial]

I have to admit I am so guilty of using dd all the time in every day life.

I generally try to retune things myself unless I can't convince myself to do it, like if I'm really excited about a release or something.

 

[kimchi-tan]

Speaking of lyrics, what lyrics changes that are different from the "supposed" lyrics changes do you guys like to make? I sometimes change d to dh, t to d, dh to th, k to g, and sometimes take advantage of ll, mm, and nn to emphasize consonants more.

 

[Yoichi-Masaki]

Speaking of lyrics, what lyrics changes that are different from the "supposed" lyrics changes do you guys like to make? I sometimes change d to dh, t to d, dh to th, k to g, and sometimes take advantage of ll, mm, and nn to emphasize consonants more.

sometimes usts skip r's or they sound odd and I usually replace it with a 3.

like in heart
-ha ar rt-
-ha 3t-
it usually works better

 

[OngakuCD]

Speaking of lyrics, what lyrics changes that are different from the "supposed" lyrics changes do you guys like to make? I sometimes change d to dh, t to d, dh to th, and sometimes take advantage of ll, mm, and nn to emphasize consonants more.

My ending t's turns into d/dd depending on how fast the song, and how I would normaly sing it. I'm from texas, so I never pronounce the t unless I'm being articulate. I say water as wader, ninty as nindE, ect. But I think most people Americans use the d in place of the t. Also, I can sometimes fall on AAVE phonology and completely ditch consonants for vowels (which is my abbys' new back is going to have a lot of vowels available)

 

[RaccoonButler]

The word "discourse" in this thread's title led me to think this thread was about some sort of heated argument but I'm pleasantly surprised to see it's just people being generally polite and helpful, carry on.

 

[partial]

The word "discourse" in this thread's title led, me to think this thread was about some sort of heated argument but I'm pleasantly surprised to see it's just people being generally polite and helpful, carry on.

should i make a "which english reclist is best and why: hardcore edition" thread?

 

[Sors]

should i make a "which english reclist is best and why: hardcore edition" thread?

Yes

 

[Kiyoteru]

should i make a "which english reclist is best and why: hardcore edition" thread?

Please don't.

 

[partial]

Please don't.

It was a joke. OTL I wouldn't purposefully bring about something that toxic.

 

[Nohkara]

Speaking of lyrics, what lyrics changes that are different from the "supposed" lyrics changes do you guys like to make? I sometimes change d to dh, t to d, dh to th, k to g, and sometimes take advantage of ll, mm, and nn to emphasize consonants more.

It depends on the song but sometimes I switch any vowel beginning word (the most commonly “I”) into “-hI” instead of “-I”, extra h sound makes it sound like singing more airy/softly/emotionally.

An another common thing is that I try dropping some CC’s out - if possible - because some CC are not very pleasant natural sounding. For example, I didn’t like Kazehiki’s English “dr” “_rE” when he said “dream”, so I made him say “du” “rE” instead (I dropped rE’s consonant velocity to 30 to make it sound a legit “drE”).

Ummmhh, IDK if this is cheating but if CC or ending VC is absolutely necessary but doesn’t sound pleasant to my ears, I might make “C -“ setting like in Arpasing to fix a pronouncing error for example.

“But I” is often “bu” “ud” “dI” “I-“, chaiging T to B sometimes.

 

[PeriodicalUtau]

It depends on the song but sometimes I switch any vowel beginning word (the most commonly “I”) into “-hI” instead of “-I”, extra h sound makes it sound like singing more airy/softly/emotionally.

An another common thing is that I try dropping some CC’s out - if possible - because some CC are not very pleasant natural sounding. For example, I didn’t like Kazehiki’s English “dr” “_rE” when he said “dream”, so I made him say “du” “rE” instead (I dropped rE’s consonant velocity to 30 to make it sound a legit “drE”).

Ummmhh, IDK if this is cheating but if CC or ending VC is absolutely necessary but doesn’t sound pleasant to my ears, I might make “C -“ setting like in Arpasing to fix a pronouncing error for example.

“But I” is often “bu” “ud” “dI” “I-“, chaiging T to B sometimes.

I also do this, mainly with the - t's - s' or basically ALL of the ending consonants. ESPECIALLY THE - B
edit: Arpasing is what I'm talking about because sometimes the (for example) ah b phoneme isn't loud enough at the end for something like "kebab" (k eh eh b b ah ah b <-)

 

[Chianachini]

An another common thing is that I try dropping some CC’s out - if possible - because some CC are not very pleasant natural sounding. For example, I didn’t like Kazehiki’s English “dr” “_rE” when he said “dream”, so I made him say “du” “rE” instead (I dropped rE’s consonant velocity to 30 to make it sound a legit “drE”).

Thank you so much for this tip. I always struggle with these and it's even made me rage quit a few covers.

 

[OngakuCD]

Sometimes I use [j3][3 r][rE][Em] rather than the dr CC depending of the speed of the song. With slow songs, I like to have those consonant present, but fast songs, they sound forced and weird. When I say dream really fast, it comes out like a j anyways.

 

[Nohkara]

Uuuuhhh, an another tip for CC, this is super handful for VCCV AND Arpasing: Flag P

Because UTAU is coded originally to work for Japanese, it normalizes sounds in a specific way: because of this, some CC can sound hyper loud (super commonly “ks” “ts” “kt” or some “C -“ in Arpasing). If an ending or beginning CC sounds too loud, try to use P flag. The defaul setting of P is P85, I set it often P60~P30 to a CC note to make it sound less like an explosion - my ears thanks me at mixing stage :”D

P flag is is a MUST flag for English UTAU VB users, it’s like a gift sent from a god. I recommend to give it a shot~~~

 

[partial]

Oh my goodness, I didn't know about the P flag! Someone once mentioned it to me in passing but I never had usage explained before. I'll have to try this.