Just, wow. I am so overwhelmed by the amount of news today especially. I've been trying to wait patiently for CeVIO update news for years and it's finally right around the corner. Plus Yukari used to be one of my favorite Vocaloids, so I'm interested in seeing what she's like on CeVIO. I always believed in the potential of CeVIO and it's nice to see some relatively big name Vocaloid characters make the "switch" to give it a boost. The main downside to the news for me is that it doesn't seem likely the color voice series will make the transition, and I *really* wanted to hear Kasumi and Minato on the new engine. To be fair though, in my opinion they (alongside ONE) play well enough with the old engine that I'm not devastated by the idea, just a little bummed. i kind of hope there's some sort of upgrade discount for previous version owners like the other synths but for some reason I'm a little skeptical? Might just be paranoid though
Speaking of discounts, HELP ME SOMEONE I CAN'T BE A REASONABLE ADULT WITH MY FINANCES AHHH my poor wallet is crying from all these synths coming out. I have a regular source of income now but I'm having a heck of a time budgeting. I've spent half my first month's payment already on more serious stuff, and I really wanted to keep a couple hundred in savings, but these Synth V and V5 sales are sooo tempting... Surprisingly (? to me at least) my position has practically flipped since I made that status a few days ago and I'm leaning towards Synth V. I came up with some headcanons for Genbu and Saki that helped me get a little more attached, heh heh. But honestly, I think I might be leaning towards holding off on actually buying any synths. Between not knowing if V5 will work on my computer and limited English options on Synth V... There's a big part of me that thinks I should be focusing more on studying music than synths. I don't mind making covers, but I really wanted to try to make original songs, and it takes so much time to learn I really feel like I shouldn't put it off anymore if I don't want to fully give up. I'm a little tempted to sign up for Andrew Huang's production class since I've seen glowing reviews from people who have taken it, but I'm still a little hesitant looking at the price tag ($270-something I believe). I thought about just subscribing to Musical U again since I was the most productive with studying when I was active there, but that was back when it was smaller and I'm not sure if it'd be the same now. There's also this site called Groove3 that has video classes with a monthly subscription option, and I already bought a membership to Gratuitous's site that has a bunch of tutorial videos. I should probably focus on his first, as well as going back through my notes in that Coursera class on beginning music theory. Plus I wanted to reread the Hooktheory books and type up my notes from them. I wish I could focus better, I've been saying I wanna do this for months;;;
I know I shouldn't be too hard on myself, since I've been so anxious about my health it's hard to concentrate on anything... I never got tested for COVID and at this point I doubt I'll ever find out for sure if that's what caused my intense discomfort I had two (?) weeks ago, where I was saying I might not be around much. I really need to find a new doctor but phone anxiety and insurance stuff keeps me from actually taking the first step. It's hard for me to remember to do even simple things, so naturally big stuff doesn't fare much better
On the bright side, I've gotten a new therapist and I'm optimistic about them, which is a big deal for me since I lean towards "realistic pessimism" hAH
I'd at least like to finish one cover before I buy a synth too, but I can't decide on a cover to do. I downloaded V2 Iroha's trial a day or so ago on a whim (I thought maybe I just "missed Vocaloid" but honestly I think it was more a sudden burst of "wow Iroha is great hey I don't think I've downloaded her V2 yet on this computer LET'S PLAY WITH IT"). I had been thinking about covering Yuzuhiko's "Amore" with her but between suggestive and negative themes and how much I dislike the limitations of the V2 demo (you can't save your work and it makes using the Singer Editor practically impossible since you can't have it open at the same time as Vocaloid it seems???) I'm not crazy about it as I was at first. I was kinda tempted to try editing the vocal in Vocalshifter... I've edited the vsq's lyrics like twice (I converted a UST but apparently V2 doesn't like the romanization the UTAU plugin uses and I have to edit it to make her sing the right thing) but then rage quit and lost all progress closing out lmao. Really the entire thing led me to toying with the idea of buying V4 Iroha DL since I don't know when/if I can ever buy her box (and the thought occurred to me that I don't like Soft's design so why do I want her box THAT bad?) last night. So there's yet another option to take into consideration for my budget I guess. I'm almost tempted to throw caution to the wind and reinstall my Vocaloids because my computer hasn't been acting up like it was for a while there *knock on wood* so it might be okay... but then Yamaha's FAQ showing they're unsympathetic/unwilling to help with hard drive crashes keeps me from taking the chance.
So that leaves Synth V and UTAU. I've been toying with a cover of "Goodbye to Alice" with Kaji Yumir for a while now that I wouldn't mind revisiting. I was also considering Makune Hachi for it because I don't dislike how she sounded when I plugged her in as a test. I recently finished the latest chapter of Higurashi on Steam, so I was considering a "(Dear) you" cover. I tried making Eleanor sing it (I posted the "wip" on Soundcloud to document the most time I've spent on synth work in ages rofl) but I was also considering Genbu. Another song I'd like to cover is "Retrospectre" but I have no idea who best to cover it with. I tried Genbu and the old web Synth V Saki, and I didn't think they sounded bad but I'm not sure how i feel about it. Another one I thought about is "WAVEFILE" because Mio's cover with KYO really cheered me up one day and I've since been super attached to the song, so I thought about trying it out with Genbu (because while I know I love him character wise I'm not 100% on his voice so I was looking for something to make with his free version to test the waters).
Phew, I think that's everything I wanted to cover. (Well i can think of a thing I didn't mention but I'm tired rofl Might post again later since I've still got a week-ish to think about it) Thanks if you read all/any of it, and replies are welcome if you wanna comment! (And as you've probably seen I included a poll about the cover thing so any votes would be appreciated <3)
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