As an amateur songwriter, who struggles with a computer far from powerful enough to run the necessary software to record vocals of good quality, I have looked for good solutions. And I've found a few.
In a short while you will hear songs that are totally computer made ? including the vocals. Yamaha made the technology, and licensed it to various companies. Vocaloid is the name ? remember it if you like music!
I have had the pleasure of testing Leon, the Virtual Soul Vocalist, from www.zero-g.co.uk.
The complexity hid behind the seemingly simplistic interface is astonishing. I hardly had to look at the manual at all while exploring ? quite atypical for music software.
You draw your vocals using the mouse, and then add lyrics on top. Then, add harmonics, vibrato, attack etc. as you want, tweak the phonemes (your words are automatically converted, and you can edit them as you wish using the reference guide in the manual) and go. Record the vocals as WAV and import them into your favourite sequencer to add music, or use the program as a VST plugin.
On their site, Zero-G describes Leon: LEON is a virtual male soul vocalist modelled on a real professional singer, and when he is installed into your PC he will literally allow you to create singing of superb quality and realism. LEON will sing ANY words you ask him to in English - literally anything - be they beautiful lyrics or comical trivialities, Monteverdi madrigals or manic chants. You can create vocal tracks of soulful singing in any lyrics you want. You just type in lyrics, and synthesize. Then add expression to taste. LEON is under your total control, and the really mind-blowing thing is - he can truly sound like a professional singing voice. With very little practice the results you get from LEON will completely fool your friends - they will believe they are listening to a real singer performing. The question you will hear will always be "WHO is that?", and not "What is that?".
I quite agree. Leon is astonishing. You need a powerful PC to run the Vocaloid programs. My 1 Mhz AMD Athlon with 512 Mb RAM had problems. (Windows XP, Pentium 4, 1.7 GHz +, 1 GB of RAM or more is recommended). But still ? I was able to use the program ? and the night I received my copy, I didn't get to bed until 4 am?
You can find a distributor for the Zero-G range at www.zero-g.co.uk. The retail price for both Leon and Lola is $329.95/£199.95/?289. More info on the technology can be found at www.vocaloid.com and a link to raving reviews in various magazines and newspapers (among them one from the New York Times titled Could I Get That Song in Elvis, Please?) are linked to from both sites.
I am now about to enter the vocals for one of my songs using Leon. Gotta go. Drop by www.haakon.nu to listen to the results!
Essential software
Band in a Box is the perfect companion to these plugins. Enter your chords, select the style (from hardrock to soft ballads and classic Mozart) and generate your music. Read more at www.bandinabox.com and buy it for $88 ($249 for the MegaPAK with a multitude of styles). BiaB 2005 also allows you to record vocals and to harmonize them ? in addition to a great variety of other features. If you wish, you can have BiaB 2005 create your whole song.
Haakon Rian Ueland is a former columnist of the Mensa International Journal, where this article was first published. smartsoftware.org is dedicated to various Cellphones and to his column. You can contact him at hueland (at) gmail (dot) com.
![]() Google News Updated : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:51:23 GMT Tigers still seeking QB to turn season around - SportingNews.com
SportingNews.com - AP Sports Wri AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- The Auburn Tigers didn't figure they'd be in this position: Unranked, desperately trying to salvage a once-promising season and still seeking a quarterback solution seven games into the season. Tuberville And Tigers Trying To Regroup A Pig Sooie Shocker in Auburn Publ.Date : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:13:08 GMT UPDATE 1-Tropical Storm Nana forms in Atlantic - Reuters Reuters - MIAMI, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Nana, the 14th of the Atlantic hurricane season, formed on Sunday in the Atlantic Ocean east of the Caribbean islands, the US National Hurricane Center said. Forecasters: Tropical Storm Nana forms in Atlantic Tropical Storm Nana Forms Publ.Date : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:29:57 GMT First Second-Generation Astronaut, Richard Garriott, Launched Into ... - AHN
AHN - Vienna, VA (AHN)-Space Adventures, Ltd, a company that provides space missions to the global community, announced that client Richard Garriott and his crew successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space ... Video: Raw Video: US space tourist begins journey US game designer blasts into space with DNA cargo Publ.Date : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:28:36 GMT Falcons' Ryan is not your typical rookie QB - FOXSports.com
FOXSports.com - by Alex Marvez Alex Marvez is a Senior NFL Writer for FOXSports.com. He's covered the NFL for 14 seasons as a beat writer and is the president of the Pro Football Writers of America. Falcons missed chances in red zone Bears rally late, fall to Falcons on last-second FG Publ.Date : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:14:27 GMT Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Cancer survivor shares her story - Naples Daily News
Naples Daily News - By LIANE SMITH (Contact) She felt pain in her breasts. One of her aunt’s died in February from breast cancer. Another aunt, in her 60s now, has battled it on and off for more than a dozen years. Pink And Purple Join To Help Women Breast Cancer Awareness Month Should Be Prevention Month! Publ.Date : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:31:44 GMT Palin talks economic worries in Appalachian Ohio - The Associated Press
The Associated Press - ST. CLAIRSVILLE, Ohio (AP) - Sarah Palin told voters in southeastern Ohio on Sunday that she and running mate John McCain would bring jobs back to this economically depressed piece of Appalachia. John McCain and Sarah Palin try new tactics US-POLITICS Summary Publ.Date : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:11:58 GMT Mighty Chihuahuas Eclipse DiCaprio and Crowe in Test of Star Power - New York Times New York Times - By BROOKS BARNES LOS ANGELES - This is how far movie stars have fallen in their ability to pull audiences into theaters, at least when the story revolves around Iraq and the messiness of the Middle East: A picture about talking dogs, “Beverly Hills ... Dogs rule: 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua' No. 1 again 'Chihuahua' fetches $17.5M, remains top movie dog Publ.Date : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:18:44 GMT Easy Work At Home Opportunity |
PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts,
Websites, and more... This months tip deals with micing kick drums.You wouldn't believe... Read More New bands looking to book gigs and establish contacts often... Read More Ann Powers said: "Don't censor the music and artistic... Read More Pop/Rock Recording Artist Amber, who has scored seven #1 Billboard... Read More Discover the phenomenonal complexity of music and reflect on the... Read More When I first began playing the piano and improvising, there... Read More You have to find radio airplay time if you're going... Read More That's a fair question!Basically, you can call music any noise... Read More The lyric writing side of songwriting is known to create... Read More "Live music." That common saying may contain some truth, but... Read More Virtually all of you have probably heard of the RIAA's... Read More CORRECT PRACTICE IS INDISPENSABLE!Your success or failure at the keyboard... Read More There are essentially two ways to learn piano - note... Read More While composers had already begun to write music for the... Read More ABA form is like a musical sandwich. You have the... Read More What in the world is "naked music?"You know it when... Read More "In human life, art may arise from almost any activity,... Read More The Ibanez SR400 bass guitar is very comfortable to play.... Read More Marshall Mathers, was born October 17, 72, and could be... Read More Songwriters dream of making their living by writing, and sometimes... Read More There are a lot of independent labels out there waiting... Read More My friend, guitarist Brian Hughes, toured with the Chieftain's in... Read More Throughout the past few years downloading music on the internet... Read More One of the rules of practicing we all hear over... Read More Rarely is a chord played with its tones contained in... Read More
Adsense
websites
Micing a Kick Drum
Does Your Band Need a Manager?
Dont Censor the Music and Artistic Expression
CD Review: Amber - My Kind of World
Top 50 Music Quotations
How to Get Past Creative Blocks
5 Sure Fire Ways to Get Radio Play for Your ?Independent? Music!
What is Music?
How To Overcome The Lyric Writing Hurdles That Are Keeping You Behind
Live Music!
Where To Download Music On The Internet
Automatic Control of Chords
Piano Lessons Can be Fun!
History of the Clarinet From the 19th Century
How to Compose Using ABA Form
How To Dress Up Naked Music On The Piano
Warner Music Executive Payments
Ibanez SR400 Bass Guitar
All About Eminem
Make Money with Your Music ? the Top 5 Ways
Five Steps to Protecting Your Music and Your Money
Celtic Music: The Japanese Connection
Is it Possible to Download Music Legally Anymore?
Play Piano As Fast As Possible!
How to Create Hip, Mature, and Lush Harmonies [correction]
What exactly is a Gong?The gong is a musical instrument... Read More
Learning to fiddle the Orange Blossom Special is not easy,... Read More
It's not what you play, it's how you play it.... Read More
Author Interview with Ryan Thomson, seacoast New Hampshire resident, and... Read More
Do you ever feel there is an inner voice speaking... Read More
You've probably heard the saying "practice makes perfect" and it... Read More
Let me guess, you love music and would do anything... Read More
"The difference between success and failure is information," notes Ritch... Read More
The Suzuki violin method has come to dominate the way... Read More
In the last article, the creation of a theme, its... Read More
Everyone has a talent. For Miami, Okla.'s, Brian Beauchamp, it's... Read More
Playing by ear is the ability to play a piece... Read More
Many artists are still confused as to what goes on... Read More
A New Breed of Aspiring Songwriters Is In The Making.... Read More
About an entire local music industry that's rarely heard from,... Read More
One of the most intriguing aspects of music is how... Read More
The music of Rush influences and inspires, at least that's... Read More
You CAN do everything.Repeat.You CAN do everything. What you cannot... Read More
Changing your guitar strings might make you feel a litte... Read More
As industry insiders, we sometimes forget that when discussing the... Read More
Here's the method I use every time I want to... Read More
It's really not your fault. You see, you've been taught... Read More
I met New York jazzman Tim Armacost in college almost... Read More
Three battles at the end of the 8 Mile movie... Read More
When I was 9 years old I played the Saxophone... Read More
Music & MP3 |