OK, this takes a little bit of explaining. Vocaloid is a bit of Yamaha patented software which can sing - input the notes and the lyrics and off it goes. It's not sold by Yamaha, but in various different versions according to the voice. So, PowerFX have a version called Sweet Ann. Now you can buy an anime version where Hatsune Miku (some kind of schoolgirl sexbot) sings the words you've typed in. People have been making singing robot software for ages, but it's always just been a novelty. However, Vocaloid 2 / Hatsune Miku has been a huge hit in Japan (as I write, it's the best selling software on Amazon Japan). There are now tons of Vocaloid clips on Nico Nico Douga, the Japanese YouTube. The sample above is (as I'm sure you're now enjoying) a bonkers high-energy track with vocals from Hatsune Miku.(The original Finnish folk version is Leekspin by Loituma). The singing robots are here, and they're annoying. More on Hatsune at Gamersweb.it and Canned Dogs. Want more videos? this one is awesome, this girl seems to be really into it and this one should be on the Blade Runner soundtrack.
Posted by Tom Whitwell.
Comments:
This is without doubt, the best one I have heard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvM44DytTyE
The guy even maps out the breath between words. Truly impressive.
The bright side of this is that maybe it will get more electronic musicians really thinking about being more creative with vocal melody, when it's common for singers (or "tuned rappers") to sing within a range of maybe 2 or 3 notes and run it through autotune.
The blurb above the one that you sy should be on the blade runner soundtrack says that it's actually a rendition of the princess mononoke theme song.
The software is quite impressive, but I think the reason it actually sounds so much like japanese pop is that the pop singers are so autotuned that they basically sound like vocoders anyway these days.
: 2:11 am