your opinions on pitching...

[ayatonic]

SO,
it's no surprise seeing me write a post on this topic... i mean, ive already done it before in other places-- but i'm just searching for some validation, man,,,
i want to know what you guys think about banks that have had their pitches slightly altered OUTSIDE of utau.
this has happened to me before, but lately, i've dealt with some users that blatantly disrespected my work upon just learning that my primary bank of the time has had its pitch manually altered.
they didn't even listen to my other NON-PITCHED utaus, since i have others, they simply ruled me out as "cringey" for only that information.
ive been around long enough now to know that , ya,, altering banks for any reason is considered taboo asf here, but before anyone starts to type out a novella as to why its wrong, i just want to say that i do NOT advocate for these processes lol. i have only done them before to achieve specific sounding voices.
however, i have also done my own research (through experience) to conclude that there are certain flags in which alter these things the exact same way as doing it in audacity would. (rocket science, i know)

the g flag directly changes the pitch. it is not a "gender flag", it's a pitch flag. shocking.

people have disrespected me for doing what could technically be considered to be "applying a permanent g flag" to my bank by slightly lowering the pitch in audacity where i recorded it. i am very well aware that most people screw this up, and that's why it's controversial, but i'll be honest, barely anyone even puts the right flags on my bank- so am i really so wrong for trying anything i could to correct this?
(btw,, its not even a drastic pitch change- its honestly hardly changed at all.)
i'm not trying to seek sympathy for this kind of thing, but it's incredibly annoying that (even if you arent a fan of it yourself) using a pitch flag like g is acceptable, but doing the EXACT SAME THING before even entering utau is not. i just want to hear what others think of this lmao

lastly, just want to say that again, im not advocating for this- my point is that i feel like i wouldnt get "trashed on" if people never knew the bank was altered to begin with (also saying because the exact same result can be achieved in utau) i just hate the bias that i feel is over my head for it.
i find myself with a voice that is pretty well suited for this kind of thing, so i've done it. i dared to be different, whoopdie do.
well, i'll try not to be too salty about it-- but like i said,, am i wrong?? i really can't understand it. pls tell me what you think--

and, lastly, because i feel like maybe someone will take this the wrong way and possibly lecture me idk (saving your time) i didn't pitch my bank with this knowledge- so yeah, i could just put flags on it without even pitching it at all since theyre the same, but personally it just works better for me not to. but i AM aware that i could just do that, ik. lol
so, i'll go now,
thanks again for reading, see you around.

 

[Arissa]

Tbh idrc, was even considering it myself since it's difficult for me to sing low for my Utau without things being off. So long as the quality has not been affected it's no technical issue. However I think a lot of people believe this to be lazy and not earnest and whatnot, not putting in the hard work of recording more pitches manually and all. A lot of ppl in the community can be quite critical or certain things, this being one of them, it seems. It's fine to disagree but trashing on someone is just unnecessary, especially for something as trivial as that. There's no real one right path to doing Utau, so it's not really necessary to dictate what's the way to do things and how people should do things. At least that's how I feel.(Now if the UTAU were a racist Nazi character or something then there may be cause for concern)

 

[Fif]

Hmm, I never though of pitching it slightly in audacity to get a perfect tone, I think I might find this useful one day :O

 

[ayatonic]

Tbh idrc, was even considering it myself since it's difficult for me to sing low for my Utau without things being off. So long as the quality has not been affected it's no technical issue. However I think a lot of people believe this to be lazy and not earnest and whatnot, not putting in the hard work of recording more pitches manually and all. A lot of ppl in the community can be quite critical or certain things, this being one of them, it seems. It's fine to disagree but trashing on someone is just unnecessary, especially for something as trivial as that. There's no real one right path to doing Utau, so it's not really necessary to dictate what's the way to do things and how people should do things. At least that's how I feel.(Now if the UTAU were a racist Nazi character or something then there may be cause for concern)

that's interesting, actually- i never thought of it as being a "lazy" thing to do-- well oops lmao
but also, exactly my thoughts... it's pretty unfair to me how people judge each other so easily, and this is coming from someone who is admittedly very judgmental... lol
thanks for your input!! i appreciate it!

 

[RaccoonButler]

I don't see why not, as long as one doesn't pretend they're just a great voice actor and did it all on their own. I understand some people don't really like the sound of a pitched bank, myself included, but that's personal preference.

 

[partial]

I don't see anything wrong with it. honestly, as long as it isn't done to such extremes that the end result doesn't sound human.

 

[IrisFlower]

So long as it's your own voice you're pitching or editing and you're not going around pitching other people's vocals outside of the UTAU program, I don't see a problem with it other than the quality of the bank being affected. And at the end of the day that's on you, friend, and nobody else.

As far as people being jerks about it, again part of the stigma comes from the quality dropping or being negatively affected and then in turn maybe making the bank difficult to use for other people. Like if you pitch a vocal outside UTAU and then someone using the UTAU tries to use the g flag, it might sound off. Or in regards to your "permanent g flag" idea, what if someone doesn't want to use a g flag on the bank at all when they use it? Part of the neat thing about UTAU and VOCALOID are using the flags and parameters to get the vocals to sound the way you, the specific user, wants them to and that there really are no "correct" flags per se. Just highly recommended ones from the banks creator. Just because I think my UTAU Iris sounds good with a certain g flag or breathy flag amount doesn't mean people HAVE to use them. Because they may feel otherwise about her and if I want to share Iris with the world it's just nice to give people the freedom to choose and not necessarily lock them into something.

Another, and much bigger, part of the stigma can come from people pitching banks in order to steal them and claim them as their own. Which, honestly, happens more often than any of us would like it to. So, most people take ANY sort of pitching outside UTAU as a red flag of sorts because "What if". They don't know for 100% if that's really your voice and nobody likes the idea of using a stolen bank or seeing their fellow user ripped off. Nobody with a sense of artistic integrity anyway.

Both of these points are more so about extreme pitching rather than the more mild stuff, but they can still apply.

Regardless, as long as everything on your end is on the up and up I don't really care one way or the other if someone pitches their banks. It's their bank and their voice so, unless they ask it of me, I'm not going to tell them how to make their UTAU. It'd be akin to me telling someone they aren't allowed to use filters on their own art that they drew or a photograph that they took. And it's definitely not a reason to be disrespectful to people in my opinion.

 

[partial]

@IrisFlower does pose some good points as well.

Please, do make sure you're only pitching your own samples!

That's also the reason why I don't care for banks that are released with a specific flag; I am far too forgetful (and sometimes even lazy?) to remember to apply it to X bank every time I use it.

 

[ayatonic]

@IrisFlower @partial

oh, yes, i agree completely !! i've only ever pitched my own bank lmao, and i understand the flag use thing- freedom of expression is important!
i, too, am not fond of the idea of altering banks, of course. there certainly is that risk of a "stolen bank" and whatnot.
for me-- about recommended flags and such... i can't say i'm not guilty of expectations on this one, LOL.
my bank, in particular... sounds... not so good without his flags. (this is more of an issue with his older ones though, i've started to not care as much, because ((well i mean its pitched so if it sounds good low, it technically could probably sound okay higher too)) my ear has become used to him enough that i barely notice how different his voice sounds at certain octaves.)
the thing is that i usually optimize my banks for lower octaves... its just kind of weird when people don't put him in the "correct" range lmfao. even with it being pitched, it still sounds.. strange, when higher.
BUT, this is just me ranting on- i understand your points. thank you for taking your time to reply to me! i feel a lot better about myself, haha

(tis a challenge though... if someone could make my utau sound nice in a higher range... i'm up for it !!)
[doublepost=1507946119][/doublepost]

I don't see why not, as long as one doesn't pretend they're just a great voice actor and did it all on their own. I understand some people don't really like the sound of a pitched bank, myself included, but that's personal preference.

ooh, yeah, i also haven't thought of that much.
i mean, its not a secret that i've pitched my bank-- if you research a little bit, ive said it myself like.. everywhere.
cant say it doesnt warrant any giggles though when i get on a voice call with someone new and theyre all shook because my voice isnt as low as they thought lol!!
and i still agree, thank you for your input !

 

[partial]

oh, yes, i agree completely !! i've only ever pitched my own bank lmao, and i understand the flag use thing- freedom of expression is important!

Good! I really do think as long as it is your own bank then really there's,no harm in it. I personally can't,understand why someone would rather steal an UTAU bank and alter it as opposed to the fun and experience gained by making one yourself.

for me-- about recommended flags and such... i can't say i'm not guilty of expectations on this one, LOL.
my bank, in particular... sounds... not so good without his flags. (this is more of an issue with his older ones though, i've started to not care as much, because ((well i mean its pitched so if it sounds good low, it technically could probably sound okay higher too)) my ear has become used to him enough that i barely notice how different his voice sounds at certain octaves.)

Oh, no, I definitely thing flags are a good,thing for helping to expand the range of a voicebank a little! It's just that for me personally, I have a hard time remembering which banks have specific flags and which do not, unless it's included in the readme, and even then I don't read the readmes every single time I open UTAU. Hoh.

BUT, this is just me ranting on- i understand your points. thank you for taking your time to reply to me! i feel a lot better about myself, haha

I also understand your points. All I can say really is, do what works best for you! It would be super cool if we could have a flag file of some kind that makes UTAU enter a default flag for a selected bank!

 

[ayatonic]

Good! I really do think as long as it is your own bank then really there's,no harm in it. I personally can't,understand why someone would rather steal an UTAU bank and alter it as opposed to the fun and experience gained by making one yourself.


Oh, no, I definitely thing flags are a good,thing for helping to expand the range of a voicebank a little! It's just that for me personally, I have a hard time remembering which banks have specific flags and which do not, unless it's included in the readme, and even then I don't read the readmes every single time I open UTAU. Hoh.

I also understand your points. All I can say really is, do what works best for you! It would be super cool if we could have a flag file of some kind that makes UTAU enter a default flag for a selected bank!

ahhhhh, YES.
making my banks, i honestly knew nothing about how to do it right. i was basing my method off of 2012 knowledge... -u-' but that's why its fun! no one told me WHAT TO DO, and i enjoyed it!!

for flags, i agree-- i don't always remember, but i do look at readmes if i can. (usually because i actually don't do much with a lot of utaus other than my own... sounds crappy of me, but i'm not really famous so... ^_^' have plans for it in the future, ofc! i'm just cautious ahaha) i honestly put his flags everywhere tbh (wiki, readme, etc)

and omg,, if there was a file like that... sign me UP.

 

[partial]

for flags, i agree-- i don't always remember, but i do look at readmes if i can. (usually because i actually don't do much with a lot of UTAU other than my own... sounds crappy of me, but i'm not really famous so... ^_^'

It's ok. I think all of us naturally are drawn to our own creations, especially when you get to hear yourself, hoh.

 

[Neku]

I don't think there's anything wrong with it as long as it's your own voicebank. I even have a voicebank on my group of UTAUs that it's pitched cuz his voicer (who's a girl) and me decided that it was the best solution because no one could get the correct flags right.

So, yeah, I don't think there's anything wrong with it