VSQ is off-key in both V2 & V4 but PIT is at zero (+VSQ)

[Vegetaljuce]

Hi all. Let me start off by saying I've been a Vocaloid user for over 3 years, and have never run into a problem like this before. I'm completely lost as to what could possibly be happening. Here is a run-down of the issue:

1. I make a midi file in cubase that goes along with the vocals of a song
2. I import this midi file into Vocaloid2 AND Vocaloid4
3. The PIT parameter on both the Vocaloid2 & Vocaloid4 files is set at zero*, as it should be. Additionally, I pitch rendered it in V4 and it showed everything was exactly on pitch.
4. I export the V2 and the V4 files as .wavs
5. When I play these .wavs with the instrumental, they sound slightly off-key
6. Confused, I import .wavs into a pitch visualizer software (vocalshifter)
7. Pitch visualizer software shows that both .wavs are indeed off-key, & are shifted down a half-note (e.g, between/in the middle of two pitches)
8. In order to check that the pitch visualization software is accurate, I import a .wav of a piano playing the musical scale since I know this will not be off
9. The software shows that the piano .wav is correctly on-pitch.
10. Again, to check, I import another .wav of some vocaloid vocals I did for another song. Pitch visualization shows that this .wav is also correct.

I recently purchased Miku V2 and was originally just doing this song with her. When I noticed the off-key issue, I decided to also try it in V4 to make sure it wasn't a glitch with my copy of V2 (which is what I originally assumed). I know that this is not a case of me not getting the correct notes when creating the midi because:

A) when the original midi is played back in cubase (with the instrumental) it sounds correct
&
B) none of the notes are even on a solid pitch, they are actually in-between notes.

Beyond baffled that I'm having the same issue in both programs. I could pitch-shift everything up a half-note to fix things, but I'd rather get to the root of the problem than just apply a band-aid solution.

Any ideas or theories are more than welcome.

Here's the V2 VSQ and here's the V4 VSQx. Curious to see if you guys have the same problem.

Thanks!
________________________________
* the v2 one has sections that are ~1 pixel above 0 PIT (literally) but that shouldn't be enough to cause such a drastic change in pitch. The reason it's like that is because the eraser tool doesn't work 100% correctly, and I can't fix it by dragging the line tool bc v2 crashes for me if I click too long in the parameters. Really fun. Anyway, the v4 VSQx is exactly at 0 PIT & has the same issue, so.

 

[DefiantKitsune]

does miku v2 have pitching issues?
or i'll ask, did you have this problem with other vocals?

 

[Vegetaljuce]

does miku v2 have pitching issues?
or i'll ask, did you have this problem with other vocals?

Yes, that's what I thought at first too. Which was why I decided to try it in V4 (miku V2 can no longer be transferred to V4, so the voicebank I'm using in v4 is Gumi's) and the problem persists.

 

[DefiantKitsune]

?
Miku V2 can be transferred to v4, unless you aren't able to register it.

I can try to check how it renders for me for you, but i'm not sure if i'll be able to tell w/o the original.

 

[Vegetaljuce]

?
Miku V2 can be transferred to v4, unless you aren't able to register it.

I can try to check how it renders for me for you, but i'm not sure if i'll be able to tell w/o the original.

There used to be an option to transfer V2 banks to v4, but support for this service ended in 2016, which is a shame since V2 is insanely buggy for me.

Source: Can I use VOCALOID2 Voice Banks in VOCALOID4 Editor? | faq details | support | VOCALOID

You'll probably need a pitch visualization software to check it unless you have cat-like hearing, hahaha. I use Vocalshifter, which is free. Alternatively, if you render it to a .wav and link me to the file, I can analyze it myself.

 

[DefiantKitsune]

It still works, it just won't automatically pull a code from Yamaha for it. I literally just imported Miku Append into V4 the other month (and i could have done miku v2, i just didn't.)

There's a guide under "resources" on how to do it!

 

[Vegetaljuce]

damn for real? you may have just saved my life LMAO. This pitch thing is still a mystery tho. Just gonna have to settle for pitch correcting it in Vocalshifter for now :/

 

[Kazumi]

So I just checked it on V2 and it was on pitch for me, but just in case, I saved over it, and re-uploaded it. im sorry im not honest2.vsq

See if it works!

 

[DefiantKitsune]

I'll also try to render it, when i get home (at school rn and can't exactly open up Piapro lol)

 

[Vegetaljuce]

So I just checked it on V2 and it was on pitch for me, but just in case, I saved over it, and re-uploaded it. im sorry im not honest2.vsq

See if it works!

The pitch is actually still off in the version you linked. I think that unless one has perfect pitch, it's nearly impossible to notice that it's off when listening to the vocals alone (without the instrumental) because the notes are only a half-pitch off, and this shift is uniform throughout the entire vsq. This is why I didn't notice it was off the entire time I was working on the vsq, and only realized there was a pitch discrepancy when I went to mix it with the instrumental.

Also, here's an interesting new development (or rather, a new realization.) I created a simple test VSQx in V4 and pitch rendered it:

Notice how the pitch line falls in the center of the bars.

Now take a look at the problem VSQ when it's opened in v4 & pitch rendered:

See how the line is way down at the bottom? This indicates the pitch is about a half-note off.

I was mistaken in my original post when I said that the pitch was "correct" when I pitch rendered it. At the time, I was looking at the bottom image, and just assumed that the pitch line was suppoesed to fall at the very bottom, which I now know is incorrect. The line should be near the middle.

Additionally, I exported a .wav from the file you saved over and opened it in vocalshifter:
In this program, the pitch is actually supposed to fall on the grey lines (not in-between them, like in vocaloid). The orange line is the pitch from the .wav exported from the VSQ you provided, and the yellow line is the result of me manually shifting the pitch up a half-note.

I exported this shifted up version to a .wav file, and then imported both that and the original .wav into cubase and lined them up with the instrumental. Just as I predicted, the shifted up version sounds perfect, while the original sounds off.

I hope my explanations make sense here, lol.

What in the fresh hell is going on with this cursed VSQ?

 

[DefiantKitsune]

What, me? forget about doing something? Never.....

I rendered it with both Miku Vivid (V2) and CUL in Piapro to see if they were on pitch with each other (using the vsqx)

The note at the beginning is A5, ftr. My DAW wanted something in the project to render.

 

[npnpnp]

So, I download the VSQx and immediately knew what the problem was.

The reason why the pitch was off-key was because the pitch control wasn't set to default.

How to fix this:
1) go to 'Settings(S)' located on the toolbar
2) go to 'Singing Style(D)'
3) set the 'Template(T)' to normal
4) click on 'Apply to current part(C)'
5) select 'Yes'
The pitch should be normal now

[In the VSQx, the 'Pitch Depth(B)' was set to 20% (the default is 0%)]

You should always set the Singing Style to normal when importing a MIDI file

Hope this helped :D