Song 1 WIP

[mobius017]

So I've been putting together the first song that I'm bound and determined will actually become a released, finished product (Yay! ). I've run into a question, and I'm hoping that someone here might have an idea about it.

The question: I'm using Miku V4X English XSYed with Miku V3 English in Piapro, hosted in Studio One. I'm getting little popping noises every so often. Not major things--they're pretty quiet/subtle, and sort of sound like a cross between a bubble popping and a piece of plastic/PVC pipe tapping on the ground. If you listen to the WAV of the rough version of the first verse in the folder I shared below, you can hear them in the word "apart" ("a"-*pop*-"part") and in the beginning/middle of the word "pains," and in a few other places.

Here is a link to the shared folder: shared folder. My VSQX is also in there so you can see what I'm doing. It's really nothing extravagent, just some phoneme replacement for the words "our," "apart," and "voices" and some flat adjustments to GEN/BRI.

I've never been clear on exactly what engine noise is, but I'm pretty sure this is it. It's not the high windy/breathy stuff, but is just little distortions that crop up every so often.

Here are some things I've tried so far to remove/lessen the little popping noises:

• I've tried using Vocaloid 5 (where I think it's less noticeable, though it's possible the settings are different there by default; I also think the volume is louder, and the sounds from Piapro get more noticeable when I boost the volume in Studio One).
• I've also tried tweaking the parameters, but the only thing I've found so far that helps is turning down DYN, which is essentially just turning the volume down. Since DYN is useful for making the voice rise/fall in the song, it doesn't seem like you'd want to waste it on something like this if you could help it. Not that I'm opposed to doing so, potentially.
• Letting Miku choose the phonemes herself (i.e., no phoneme replacement to improve her pronunciation). This didn't seem to make any difference.
• Removing XSY/the other parameter automations--this made no difference either.
• I've also tried a few noise-reducing plugins. These actually seem to help a bit...provided I'm not deluding myself. (Honestly, it's like I can get the plugins to make me think they're getting the sound better, and then I bypass them and think that it wasn't really so bad to begin with.)

In any case, I'd be really happy to hear some opinions. I've not heard sounds like these in the other songs I've listened to, so I think there must either be a way to tune to avoid them, a plugin to clean them out, or maybe they're there and I just don't hear them because I'm not listening as closely/the volume isn't as loud/etc.

(Hopefully everything above is complete and clear; it's late and I'm not sure I'm thinking entirely straight. So if anything doesn't make sense, please ask!)

 

[GreenFantasy64]

I listened to the clip, and at the moment I can't really hear the popping sounds (I even had to increase my sound volume loud just to hear her voice ) but what I am mostly noticing is she is saying her consonants more harsher (?) more on her 't's' and 'k's' and I think "part" sometimes sounds like "farts" forgive me Miku At the moment, I don't know so I'm going to check out the vsqx.

EDIT: Also congrats on trying to make your first song!!

EDIT II: Also I just realized, but on the problems you are having.... lower the Cross Syn from Miku V3 on them. More Miku V4. Miku V3 isn't perfect and I think I recall that she gives problems to Miku V4 somehow... it was probably the popping effect and something else.

Check it out in google and found this on the wiki page:

Furthermore, if a sound is missing in the secondary library then the XSY function cannot reference it for XSY use since it doesn't exist

Sometimes, it is a simple case of a glitch exists in the secondary vocal, which when used for XSY, causes that glitch to appear in the primary vocal or because that pairing causes a glitch to form that was in neither. Incorrect phonemes, unlinked sounds, and random crunches all can be added to a vocal that didn't have them before. This is also notable to occur between a V3 and V4 vocal such as the versions for Gackpoid or Megpoid

Other times, due to the extreme results of the secondary vocal, this results into a lower quality sound overall with new glitches added altogether that were in neither vocal. This mainly appears when using cross-character XSY as it is uncertain what impact a second vocal like CUL, kokone or Gachapoid as these vocals tend to have great impact on other vocals. The glitch is a flaw added by the XSY process itself.

These particular issues can be quite of a problem for inexperienced producers and veterans alike. In both cases, it can go unnoticeable as it has already been noted some producers fail to notice glitches in non-XSY results, especially if they are short or barely noticeable. It adds a poor quality sound to a result that otherwise would have been high quality. Often, since the VOCALOID software created the glitch, it must be edited within VOCALOID itself and cannot always be fixed by additional software. The issue almost always lies with the secondary vocal used and the fault lies with the second vocal used in the pairing and switching vocals or lessening the strength of the second vocal are options to fix this problem.

See more

Sorry for the long read. Also, I am kind of working on the vsqx you shared. I changed a few 't's' to 'd's' for a softer end and the phoneme for "Our" I changed a few, but even if I make a few changes I don't own Miku V4 nor V3 English so I don't know if they will work for her... with that said...Off my laptop and time to hit my bed! Night and see you tomorrow!

 

[mobius017]

EDIT: Also congrats on trying to make your first song!!

Thank you!

Thanks so much, @GreenFantasy64! I tried bypassing the XSY before, but I'll take a shot at removing it entirely or turning it down; that article does sound a lot like what I'm seeing, or maybe I didn't do something right.

(Between OT and the song, I'm working on < 4 hours of sleep at this point. You're going to appreciate my part in this, right Miku? ;) )

I noticed the way she's kind of spitting out some of her consonants, too. I tried turning down VEL, but that didn't seem to help, so your suggestion about switching the phonemes might help. I'll give that a try, too. How did you change the phonemes for "our?" I tried a number of things with it ("@r", just "@", "Ur". You can also split the note and let Miku set the phonemes, turning "our" into a two-syllable word, which honestly sounds no worse than "@" or "@r".). Thank you so much for taking so much time at helping me out!

Thank you very much again!

 

[GreenFantasy64]

or (before) @r = (after) @r
Our (before) @ = (after) @r
Our (before) @ = (after) Q r

For the single notes I have that right now and Rin and the others sounds fine as that. (expect for Kaito on part changes) @r on "our hands as one" sounds fine as it is. : 3
Also if you like,
Apart (before) @ {p Q@ t} = (after) {V} {ph Q@ th} ( or d instead)
pains (before) ph eI n z = (after) {ph e} \ split the note in the middle: / { eI n z}

It's good to also work a bit on the Opening.
That's mainly it that I changed up.

If Miku doesn't sound right, then a few more changes it is needed, but it should work. Where Miku is popping lower down the XSY until you don't hear it or do a huge dip where that part is empty and raise it back up. But you should lower it down overall to at least 25 instead of 50. If you like also, there is a vsqx of Scattered Glass cover with Meiko where one person worked amazing on the XSY that maybe you can study it. I used to try my best on messing around with it, but since I'm working on English Vocaloids with their single banks... Oh well.