Yume twin update (Better recordings, future VCV?)

As you know, WAKING is in the process of being oto'd. Next on the agenda of recording is SHATTER, LULLABY, NIGHTMARE, and MIRAI. I have good news that will affect the quality in the twins' later appends---we've bought a tabletop mic stand AND a popfilter! I use a handheld singer's mic, plugged into an old soundboard to record my voice acting, singing, and of course the twins' samples. However, since I have to hold the mic, movement of the wire causes interference and unwanted sound getting into the recording. Other problems is clipping, "wind" (breath), and distortion. Having the mic on a stand means I no longer have to hold it, which also makes me more confident and feel less nervous as I record ('cause I am always afraid I will cause a recording to clip and etc, etc!) and the popfilter helps aid against a lot of things as well. This will make much higher quality recordings, which definitely SHATTER will need due to its volume and power. I am happy that the samples I do have of their current appends are clear enough, especially WAKING since I had to record that on my backup computer which has a loud harddrive. For the packaged versions of the twins, I will attempt to clean their samples on the original appends to try and boost their quality (after all, if you're going to have a paid version, might as well make it worth it). If it hurts the quality, then I'll have to leave it alone. This is also good news for when I re-record their appends for ACT 2.

Now, for ACT 2, since it will be a complete re-record, this update will be conditional. Now, ACT 1 will always remain supported, since re-recording can be both a loss and a gain, so it will remain available both free and packaged for this reason. But anyway, to the point....for me to even consider an ACT 2 release (which will come sometime after ACT 1 is a complete set), I will set a condition by how often the twins are used to determine the demand. To be fair, I won't ask for originals (though that is nice too), this will be in general whether covers (pre-made or scratch .ust) or originals. Basically, usage amount...like say I want to see x amount of songs featuring the twins (cover or original). Because if they are not being used enough, I don't feel the need to labor in re-recording their appends (because when I say ACT 2, I don't mean fixing broken samples, I mean a whole re-record of all their samples for every append that is and will be released). So this means that the twins will remain in ACT 1 until this condition is met, which can be soon or can be awhile. The condition will be officially set after all the twins' planned appends have been recorded and released. I am hoping to have all the twins' appends done before the year is up, especially since there is a certain con I would love to go to. However....even if the condition is not met, I will probably still consider releasing ACT 2 of LUCID at least. For the other appends, they will need the condition met. ACT 2 of LUCID is slated for sometime next year (Spring most likely, or before Winter ends after their birthday). 

Aaaand....I am considering another voicebank I have not considered before, but this one I have to make a stricter condition due to the difficulty and fact that I am going to have to learn how to even record this. I was asked if the twins were going to get this kinda VB, and I pretty much said no at the time due to the complexity, but...I *might* change my mind if the "demand" is high enough. Would any of you guys be interested in a VCV of the twins? It will still be Monopitch for now, and I will need to hire an oto'er for this one. As you know, the twins are a CV Monopitch, the easiest to not only use but to configure UTAU voicebank style. CV stands for "consonant-vowel", meaning all sounds (aside for stand-alone vowels and n, m, l) begin with a consonant and end with a vowel. Each sample is their own file. VCV, also known as constant sound, stands for "vowel-consonant-vowel", and a file will contain multiple samples. The way it strings makes for a constant sound, making more natural voices. CVs can accomplish a natural sound, but take a bit more work with custom crossfades, preutterance, overlaps, and STP settings (which differs from UTAUloid to UTAUloid). So the major difference from a CV and VCV is smoothness. Also, what makes them more difficult aside for recording, is using. Lyrics need to be typed in both romaji and hiragana. The first hiragana is the ending vowel of the previous sample, so it is definitely for more advanced users. Primarily, the twins will remain CVs, but I am willing to try making a normal pitch VCV if the demand is high enough. The condition for the VCV, though, will have to be originals. I won't set the original amount high, though. VCVs are typically for advanced and serious users, and making original songs to me shows how serious a user actually is. So if people really are serious about using my twins to aid in their music making and would like a smoother voicebank, then I'm willing to try. Because it doesn't look fun to record at all, and I won't be able to oto it myself, so I at least want going through the trouble worth the effort. BUT! I am not setting the condition yet, because first, tell me if any of you even have an interest in a VCV bank to begin with. I know one of you are, but how about the rest of you? 

That's your updates for now. I am hoping for WAKING to enter beta stage late June or sometime in July. Hikari's demo, as you know, is wowaka's "Rolling Girl" (originally Hatsune Miku) which I have posted a WIP of. Yami's will also be a wowaka song, "Unhappy Refrain". And then...on release day of WAKING Append, I'll have the twins cover Hitoshizuku-P's "Karakuri Burst". So look forward to that, if you have any questions, comments, etc.! post them below. Sorry for making such a long post, I hope it all made sense as I am kinda excited about having the new equipment! The twins mean a lot to me, so sorry about having to place all the conditions for certain VBs. Mainly on the VCV one, but my main reason is not just difficulty, but the fact I will have to entrust somebody else to oto them. That's a little hard for me, since I always configure their oto.ini myself. Feel free to give me your opinion on this, I promise not to set the condition too high either way. Just keep everything civil xD