Hatsune Miku V4 English

Hatsune Miku VOCALOID2 Append English VOCALOID3 Light & Vivid eVocaloid VOCALOID4 V4 English V4 Chinese SUPER PACK VOCALOID6 | Piapro Studio | Songs Albums Notable Originals

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Hatsune Miku V4 English
Product information
Catalog No.	MIKUV4E
Company	Crypton Future Media, Inc. Distributor: Big Fish Audio, Inc. YAMAHA Corporation
Release	August 31, 2016
Status	Released
System	Windows, Mac
Language(s)	English
Type	VOCALOID4 Updated voicebank
License	Proprietary
Affiliation	YAMAHA Corporation
Website	Product Page (Crypton Future Media, Inc.) 3rd-Party Retailers: Big Fish Audio SONICWIRE SONICWIRE (Free Trial) VOCALOID SHOP (Japanese)

This article is about the VOCALOID4 software known as a voicebank. If you are looking for the VOCALOID character then click here.

History

Most of the development was done in the process of steps that consisted of Saki Fujita being recorded, the sound being checked, and if needed re-recorded. The vocal required a lot of retakes but was a marked development status in Crypton Future Media English development. Yuu Asakawa was brought in to aid with the recording.

A lot of the issues stemmed from Saki not being bilingual nor a native English speaker and was still learning English at time of the production. She was aided by Yuu who was not a native vocalist herself, nor considered herself as bilingual. Yuu sat next to Saki throughout the recordings and tried to teach Saki English. She spoke about how easy it was to record a native Japanese voicebank, but to make one that was not her own would always be difficult for her, particularly as she had no idea herself how to pronounce English words or to imagine how to pronounce it. Thus, she thought teaching English would be better. She mentioned that Saki had many thoughts and feelings of frustration with English and Yuu tried to not think about those while teaching. Teaching Saki English was the same as general voice training (voice acting lessons).

Teaching Saki to be better at English would also teach "Hatsune Miku" to be better at English. Part of the support Yuu offered was trying to keep Saki positive and happy while recording the English vocal. She believed it was more important to teach how to speak English itself rather then getting the English pronunciation correct. Pronunciation, in her opinion, was like gym class and would repair exercise and experience to do so, and likewise, it cannot be mastered in a short time. Due to the pressure of those who can speak English well even in Japan, there was a lot of pressure on Saki. Yuu thought that teaching Saki English in the recording studio would be a happy and new experience, but noted she couldn't overdo things. The support included dealing with a personnel matters and when there had been cases where Saki had been offered bad advice, the consequences were a terrible bad recording session.

Yuu commented that Saki was very professional and did a good job despite the difficulties and issues recording them. She noted that the experience was a positive one for both. The final recording was very good and the results were much better.

2014

On August 24, 2014, Hatsune Miku was confirmed to have another English database in production. Whether or not this was an update of Hatsune Miku V3 English or an English Append was unknown at the time.

2016

On June 26, 2016, more details regarding Miku V4 English were announced via Wat's Twitter. He said that various aspects of Miku's V4 English voicebank were undergoing adjustments and being checked over. The tone of her V4 English voicebank would be aimed to sound similar to ORIGINAL ~ VIVID. The voicebank's bias of pronunciation depended, though it would have a bright/clear feeling.

Product Information

Demonstrations

Demonstrations

Sharing The World	YouTube
Our Broken Anthem	NicoNico YouTube
Melody	NicoNico YouTube

System Requirements

• OS:
  • Windows: Windows 7 (32 / 64Bit), Windows 8 (32 / 64Bit), Windows 10 (32 / 64Bit)
  • Mac: OS X 10.8, 10.9, 10.10, 10.11
• CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GHz or more
• RAM memory: 2GB or more (or more recommended 4GB)
• HDD:
  • Windows: 14GB or more of free space (NTFS format)
  • Mac: 14GB or more of free space (HFS + format)
• Installation Media:
  • Windows: DVD-ROM (1 sheet)
  • Mac: Download file
• Other: DVD-ROM drive, sound device, OpenGL 3.0 graphics board, screen resolution greater than or equal to 1280x768px, internet connection

Voicebanks

Product Information
Optimum
Genre: Pop, Ballad, Jazz  Optimum Range: B2 ~ C#4  Optimum Tempo: 80 ~ 135 BPM   Total Tempo (min-max): 55 BPM  No. of Keys: W ~ 9, B ~ 6, Total ~ 15
Versions
Trial/Demo Vers?: Yes  Starter Available?: "VOCALOID5 Plus" promotion only
Package details as noted:
This is the English version of the Hatsune Miku V4 software and an update of her previous V3 English voicebank. According to Wat, her English is cute. It can be purchased on its own or with the Hatsune Miku V4X range, though it cannot be bought bundled with the Hatsune Miku V4 Chinese voicebank. This vocal package comes with Piapro Studio included. The software comes with the Piapro Studio Edition of PreSonus's DAW "Studio One ARTIST", which includes various vocal effects and other tools. This includes also a resource pack with 200 virtual instruments. The complete package of Piapro Studio and Studio One ARTIST means that anyone buying this release can get started in music straight away with no need to purpose any further software, and all will work together with each other without any problems. This bundle is included in both the normal and English bundled versions of the software. Amazon also offered the following bundles: "Sakura Musical Instruments" starter set: Came with the Hatsune Miku V4x vocals as well. Included in the package was a mic and stand, as well as the UAS-366-SC unit. Also included was the KORG MIDI Keyboard "microKEY-25 Air", Stereo headphones, a music stand plus two microphone cables and popguard. This bundle was not intended for normal PC set up and were designed for a special set up. These offers were done as a promotion from DTM magazine.
Vocal traits as noted:
GWL added. Has a larger tempo range, allowing both more faster and slower genres of music. Has a larger vocal range then the previous version. Her cuteness is particular in the higher ranges. Increased clearness then her previous version. This voice sounds closer to the original Miku then the V3 English release. Due to sharing the same tempo and vocal range, it is suitable to use with the later Hatsune Miku V4 Chinese vocal within the same song, though tone matching issues may occur. According to DTM, the English vocal suits House, Techno and Crossover genres of music.
Phonetic notes as noted:
Most of her mispronounced phonetics were fixed and improved. However, the voicebank still has pronunciation issues in certain consonants, specially the [r], [l] and [l0] phonetics and the overall vocal performance maintains a notorious Japanese accent. A fuzziness can be heard on [@] and [r]. According to some users, her phonetics sound clear only when working inside the optimum vocal range; in higher notes, they crisp and shrill, while lower notes sound mumbled. Extra edition has to be done to avoid this. The vocal is an overall improvement on the VOCALOID3 vocal with both better pronunciations and more natural sounding tones. Focus was on teaching Saki to speak English better instead of being exactly precise while still maintaining the voice of "Hatsune Miku". The result is the vocal put less emphasis on being precise in English sounds themselves but sounded more natural which had the consequences of leading to more accurate sounds overall. An example of these improvements is that when dividing up vowels (splitting them from other linked sounds, pronunciation remains correct so long as the symbols used are correct. She has a habit of not linking consonant and vowels, causing a broken sounds.
Software issues as noted:
According to producer Cillia, using the voicebank was a "challenging experience". She also mentioned that the voicebank quality and clarity is heavily affected when any kind of effects or filters are applied, making it not suitable for particular ways of mixing. Although this vocal was created with a sound closer to the original Japanese voicebank, there's still a timbre contrast between both libraries and switching languages during a song will be notorious. Along with her English V3, she maintains one the shortest tempo ranges of any previous English vocaloids by Crypton Future Media (and English vocaloids in general).
Voicebank sample
Hatsune Miku V4 English Miku's V4 English voicebank singing in its raw state |-	Cross-Synthesis as noted:
Hatsune Miku V4 English XSY group This vocal is able to use XSY. Note this is a standalone vocal with no additional voicebanks released to accomply it. Users wishing to use Miku for XSY in her English version must acquire another voicebank from the "Hatsune Miku V4 English" XSY group. From Ver.4.3.0 of the Vocaloid engine, a XSY group "Miku V4 English" was added to Vocaloid. All vocals within the "Miku V4 English" group can XSY with each other. This vocal release is part of this group. If the User owns another vocal from the "Miku V4 English" group, XSY between the vocals can occur. In total the package offers the equivalent of 2 additional voicebanks achievable via XSY. The total tone variation offered by the package comes to a theoretical 4 voicebanks in total. Note that also "GWL" does not become viable for use with a V3 vocal used as the primarily vocal. Users need to take this in mind when using the Hatsune Miku V3 English vocal for this role. XSY is only possible with the full VOCALOID4 software. Compared to the Megurine Luka V4x English XSY group, this has more contrast between the vocals held within the group. Therefore there is a better impact on XSY within this English group then the Megurine Luka English group.
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