Hands-on: How to get vocals without a singer
Crypton Future Media Hatsune Miku
Hatsune Miku‘s performances are among the most spectacular the music industry currently has to offer. Accompanied by a perfectly rehearsed band and embedded in a maelstrom of special effects, the 16-year-old puts on a performance that fluctuates between hard metal passages and sweet pop moments. As if it were part of the choreography, the audience waves the glow sticks, screams along with the lyrics and is thrown into a collective frenzy of joy. One already knows the radical breaks in style and the anime-like aesthetics from other Japanese acts like Baby Metal. But Miku makes even these look old-fashioned.
The most insane thing about the performance: Hatsune Miku doesn‘t exist. At least not in physical form. Her body is projected onto a huge glass wall, her voice comes from a speech synthesizer, and it‘s available as software for everyone!
Creating dream vocals artificially is something Yamaha has been pursuing since they introduced their first speech synthesizer in 1998 with the FS1R. In 2003, the software Vocaloid followed, which is now available in version 5. The singer library Hatsune Miku is now also available in its fourth generation - after its debut in 2007 and the Append version in 2010 - and is delivered with an extensive bundle.
Hatsune Miku has a bright, innocent voice that sounds futuristically modern. Using Gender Factor, it can also be made into a cheeky child‘s voice, for example. Simply entering lyrics and melody led to rather sterile results in our case. However, if you invest a little editing time, you can achieve good and relatively lively results that are ideal for electronic projects, as background or vocal part demos. However, they are no substitute for real singers.
The manufacturer puts together a package here that is worth its price:
The included tools even allow complete arrangements in addition to p rogramming Hatsune Miku. Small compromises in the operation fortunately do not prevent the user from creating good-sounding and even polyphonic vocal arrangements with a little effort.
www.bestservice.de | from 139 euros | Win, Mac