Delivering Vocaloid news, facts, and reviews.
If you want to chill, then do I have the song for you. This song will put you in the November mood, perfect for a stroll through the park. Even if you can’t get out, if you just close your eyes, this song will paint the image of beautiful orange and red leaves in your mind. I think Kuukaigetsu did a remarkable job of capturing the wistful feeling of watching the seasons change.
Sub: Youtube
Lyrics: Dreamwidth
Today’s song is by OtsuP. You might know him from the classic (and rather dirty) Vocaloid song “Oman Ko”. This song, however, is quite different and takes on a more serious tone.
This is a tale of the forbidden love between a heavenly being and a human. As you can probably guess from the title, this is just the prologue in a series. Most of the story is told through the text that appears in the video rather than the lyrics – of which there are few. This one will benefit greatly from having subtitles now. Some of the text goes by really quickly, so you may have to pause to read it all!
Sub: Youtube
Lyrics: Dreamwidth
Hi, folks! Long time no see.
When I first started my Vocaloid Youtube channel, I didn’t have any particular plans for it. I was just using it as a place to upload videos I liked so I could share them easily with my friends who didn’t have Nico Nico Douga accounts. I still enjoy the songs I uploaded way back then, so now I’ve decided that I should take a swing at translating and adding captions to some of them (if not all of them).
First in this foray is Zanzou (Hikari), a Kaito cover song by matsuryuu, one of my favorite Vocaloid producers. They’ve produced a multitude of excellent Vocaloid and Utau covers. You should check them out.
I admit, this cover was my first introduction to this song — as is frequently the case. Apart from Vocaloid, I’m not as up-to-date with Japanese music as I used to be. The original song is by the band Flumpool. It’s a great, very emotional song about what it’s like to struggle with letting someone go. Although the original is very good, I think I still prefer matsuryuu’s masterful tuning of Kaito’s voice. He sounds so warm and full of emotion.
Sub: Youtube
Lyrics: Dreamwidth
A few years ago, I made a post about an extension for Chrome called the NicoNico Audio Extractor. At the time, NicoSound had just gone out of service. NicoSound (similarly, NicoMimi) was a site where you could directly download the audio from any video on NicoNicoDouga. That site had to be taken down due to serious copyright claims. No similar sites have appeared since then to take its place. However, the Audio Extractor extension made it simple to download songs with the click of a button.
Unfortunately… It seems to have stopped working. I’ve heard of people having issues with it in the past, all of which seemed fixable. This time, I’m not sure it can be fixed.
When I attempt to download a song, the error message I receive now is this:
“Error: Cannot read property ‘bytes’ of undefined”
Apparently this is a regular/common github application error message. I had gotten it before on a few videos in the past. Very few. Suddenly, every new video posted from June 28th and onward has been yielding this error for me. I don’t have trouble with any videos that were posted before that date which leads me to believe that this error is a result of a change made to the NicoNicoDouga site itself and the way new videos are uploaded and/or implemented.
If anyone knows of a way to fix this, please let me know. Leave a comment. I feel like I’ve tried everything no matter how ridiculous. I’m not knowledgeable when it comes to coding at all, however, so I haven’t tried anything “direct” with the extension itself.
In the meantime, if you’re also experiencing this error, I’m not sure what I can suggest. I’m also at a loss right now.
I found an extension called Chrome Audio Capture which will capture the audio from one of your tabs, but you’ll have to listen to the whole song without pausing. The quality will be iffy because it will also capture any hiccups that occur due to loading, freezing, etc. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend it for extended use, but it has its uses nonetheless.
If you happen to know of any sites that can quickly and reliably rip audio from ANY site (including NND, obviously), lemme know!
EDIT: You know what? That method I listed above using the Chrome Audio Capture is basically garbage. While, yes, it will capture the audio for you, I found the resulting audio files to be so riddled with glitches, I needed to find another alternative.
I went back to the basics. This method is easy. It takes more time, but I think the time is worth the better result.
To begin, what you’ll need is Firefox and the Niconico Downloader add-on. All you do is go to the NND video you want to download and click on the green puzzle icon that appears in the URL bar. That will download the whole video.
Once you have the video, you can convert it using your method of choice. Personally, I like using the RealPlayer Converter because it will convert just about any video file type to MP3. It isn’t going to provide you with the BEST audio quality, but it also won’t be the stuttering, garbled garbage I got using the Chrome audio capture extension.
So there you go. Hope that one helps anyone else.
EDIT #2: An update for you… As of July 27th, the niconico audio extractor mysteriously seems to be working for me again. I have no idea why. If anyone can even attempt to explain this phenomenon, that’d be great. Regardless, I hope that the alternatives I described above are helpful for anyone else who runs into unexpected difficulties with the extractor.
EDIT #3: It’s September 24th now. It stopped working for a while, but now it’s back! …With an update, it seems! I was confused at first because they removed the pop-up window. Now, when a video is downloading, there’s a small notification in the lower right of the webpage. Just make sure you don’t close your tab and you should be good to go! (I still get an error here and there, but I’ll accept that.)
Long time no see! …I don’t know how I let myself fall so behind with this blog. Well, actually, I guess there is a legitimate reason. Rather than posting about the songs I was interested in here, I’ve been investing a lot of time in translating and subbing my favorite songs.
Go check out my YouTube channel, MatsuSubs! (a.k.a. “soundslikematsuda”.) You’re bound to hear a lot of great Vocaloid songs you haven’t heard before, all subbed in English. I occasionally upload MMD videos I’ve made as well, so it’s a good time all around.
Right now, I’ve been trying to work on some holiday songs.
(Don’t worry, I’ll still try to post here as well. I might share additional thoughts on the songs I translate.)
Before I begin, remember that this is a list of my personal top 10. This doesn’t reflect the actual popularity of any songs that are or aren’t on the list. It’s just my choice of the songs that interested me the most in 2014.
For this list, I’m going to be ranking the songs based on which ones have the most personal lasting power. That is, the ones that I feel like I’m going to be listening to for years to come.
With that said, onto the list!
10. I’m Happy Girl
Galaco – KagomeP
It was difficult to pick what should be #10 on the list. I have so many other songs that I loved that were also in competition for this spot, but this song won out for a few reasons. I love KagomeP’s style. His music is always sexy and dance-worthy, but this one feels a little cuter than some of his others. It also scores points for uniqueness, having Galaco as the vocal. You just don’t see her very often and it’s a shame. I hope that he’ll use her a little more because he made her sound really nice here.
09. 正弦のセレナーデ | The Serenade of Restriction
Hatsune Miku – okameP
While all of the other links on this list go to the original NND location of the songs, this one goes to YouTube. That’s because the original was deleted. I’m still not entirely sure why it was removed from NND. This song made it onto my list for a reason and I’m glad that I still have it because I think it’s absolutely breathtaking. I even went as far as to translate it. Its lyrics are just so delicate and loving. It always makes me feel something every time I listen to it.
08. REFLEXIVITY
Hatsune Miku – daniwellP
DaniwellP is one of my absolute favorite producers; certainly in my top 3 if not my #1. His songs are usually the catchy earworm variety, but they’re usually extremely cute. I wouldn’t say that this song is as “cute” as what he normally does. It has a cool, intense kind of feeling to it, especially with the video. It was a nice change from the usual, but it still maintains all of daniwell’s characteristic charm and appeal at the same time.
07. キマシタワー！ | Kimashitawa!
Hatsune Miku & Megurine Luka – satsuki ga tenkomori (さつき が てんこもり)
This song became the thing I always listen to when a new chapter of Tokyo Ghoul comes out, so I guess it has more personal value to me than anything else. It’s great for any scenario where you’re just EXCITED that something has happened. Of course, I love its original context, too; being excited that two girls look like they’re about to kiss or get involved.
06. Drag the ground
Hatsune Miku – Camellia
Okay, I guess I have to link to another one on YouTube. As far as I know, this song was never uploaded to NND because it was released as a single. This song always gets me pumped up. When I play handheld games, I prefer to keep the sound off and I listen to my own music, so whenever I started a wifi battle in Pokemon XY, this was what I listened to. I kind of consider it my own personal battle theme now.
05. オノマトペメガネ | Onomatopoeia Glasses
Hatsune Miku – nekobolo
The lyrics of this song blow my mind. It’s about something I’ve thought a lot about as a writer; the way that words can be deceiving. Essentially, each person will hear and perceive something differently because of the individual meanings they’ve placed upon words. At least, that’s the meaning I take away from this song. That aside, I find it so easy to fit myself into the somber atmosphere of the song. Every time I listen, I find myself feeling it.
04. by your side
Hatsune Miku – Ogawa Daiki/BabelP
Pure emotion – that’s what I get from this song. BabelP always has this incredible way of tuning Miku’s voice to make you really feel what she’s singing. There’s so much longing and desperation behind her voice. She knows that the relationship is messed up, but she can’t help but cling to the person she loves, hoping that she can still at least remain beside them. I subbed the song here, so you can enjoy it to its fullest.
To find out what made my top 3, follow me below the cut!
Believe it or not, I have come up with an alternative. Rather, I suppose I should say that it was handed to me by a friend of someone else, so… It’s been passed down through the grapevine. If you’ve been listening to music from Nico Nico Douga for a while, then you would have likely been familiar with the sites Nicomimi and Nicosound, which were both used for converting the audio from NND videos for your downloading pleasure. After Nicosound ran into the law, Nicomimi also went down in fear, causing many fans to wonder where they were supposed to download their music. Legal alternatives exist, but there are also many songs on NND that aren’t available for download through any means. That was one of the main reasons why people loved those sites so much for their services. If you’re a new fan, then you’re also probably scrambling to find a way to download these treasures.
While there have been certain sites and programs to assist in downloading and converting in the interim, many of them weren’t very satisfactory, outputting audio at lower quality than their originals.
But I have the perfect alternative for you today. It’s a little thing called Nico Nico Audio Extractor. If you use the Chrome web browser, you can download it as an extension and start using it right away.
First, before you even start using it, let me tell you some of its conditions. It works perfectly, but it took me a little bit of playing around with it to figure out its quirks. First of all, it reads the data in your cache to be able to download the audio off of videos. It will work with any video on NND (including those with “nm” numbers; ie, videos uploaded in Flash format), but the videos need to be completely loaded. Not only that, if you leave a video up for too long, it might encounter an error and you’ll have to start over by refreshing the video page. You also need to have your tabs open in one browser window. For some reason, it will fail if you are trying to use it from multiple windows. That’s about it, though. It might take a while for it to convert some videos, but many will be ready to download instantly. The audio quality it outputs as is exactly the same as what it was uploaded as, too, which is incredible.
This is definitely the best alternative I’ve found and I’ve been enjoying it immensely, so I hope this helps all of you who have felt lost without the conversion sites!
I decided to impose a challenge upon myself today. I feel absolutely crazy for doing such a thing now. I’m sure you can gather what that challenge was, based on the subject title of this post. For some people, this may be an easy task, but I currently have 3,810 songs featuring Miku on my harddrive. 147 of those are marked with five stars to identify them as ‘favorites’. You see my dilemma? How to do you whittle 147 down to 10?
As I went down the list, rather than pulling out ones that I saw, my memory started to throw songs at me, reminding me of which ones I valued most. Bear in mind, however, that I still had to make many tough cuts and hard decisions to narrow it down to 10. I wasn’t going to let myself get away with 11 this time. That said, I was able to put them in some semblance of order from ‘most important’ to ‘very slightly less important’. Starting with #10…
#10 Splatter Party by camellia Nico Nico Douga | YouTube (sub) It was a coin toss between this and one of camellia’s other songs, Drag the Ground, but this one came out on top. From the first second, this song has so much atmosphere. It feels dark enough to count as an unofficial Halloween song to me. I’ll admit to something silly – it’s one of the songs I put on while I battle people online in Pokemon. DESTROY THE CUTE WEAKLINGS. A-ahem… There are infinitely many sides of Miku, and I love them all, including her evil, blood-thirsty side.
#9 Melody Line by SmileR Nico Nico Douga | YouTube (sub) Melody Line is one of those kinds of songs that isn’t necessarily about anything. Its lyrics are kind of generic, and yet, it knows how to make even the most cliché lines strike you directly in the heart. SmileR is really good at doing that. I considered Highway for the list, but Melody Line still remains, in my opinion, his best song. If you can listen to this and somehow not feel happy, then I’d be worried that you have the devil in you.
#8 恥ずかs××× (Hazukasxxx, “Embarrasxxx”) by LamazeP Nico Nico Douga | YouTube (sub) “More than Po Pi Po?” you ask. Yes. Much more than Po Pi Po. I adore this song. It depicts Miku in a way that aligns well with the way I would see her if she had a specific personality. I love the type of character who’s always embarrassed and awkward and clumsy and thinks about the person they like to the point that they’ll fall over. It’s just… cute. Many of Lamaze’s songs are cute, though, and often lack a point, but this one illustrates one specific thing so well. Every line gets you closer to knowing this Miku. I even love the video. All of the illustrations were done by Lamaze in that familiar style of his. It’s all perfect. IT’S PERFECT.
#7 Undefined -End of Sorrow- by Tiara Nico Nico Douga | YouTube (sub) Now for a total change of pace. Melody Line and Hazukasxxx look like sunshine and rainbows compared to this song, but many of my favorite songs are ones that move me. If it’s powerful enough to make me shed a tear or two, then it’s an instant fav. Undefined is hard to define. It feels like Tiara had something very specific in mind while she wrote this song, but I still can’t wrap my head around what the story was supposed to be. It’s clear that it’s about someone who can’t move forward because of themself. That much makes sense. As for the rest, I’m not sure how much of it I’m supposed to take literally. Whatever it’s supposed to be, it’s beautiful. That’s all that really matters to me.
#6 paranoia by MezameP Nico Nico Douga | YouTube (sub) I feel like this song goes well when paired with Undefined. There’s something about them that feels similar to me, but I can’t place my finger on what it is. Fortunately, it’s a lot easier to discern what this song is about. The singer is in a relationship with someone. She loves them, but she knows that their relationship can only be a bad thing (for unspecified reasons), so she tells them that they need to part and bids them farewell. It pains her to leave them, and, even though she tries to make herself hate them to forget about the love she has, it just won’t work. One could say that it sounds like a tribute to Romeo and Juliet, as it sounds like she’s considering killing herself (or both of them) so that they can be together. I also happen to hold this song close to my heart because it strongly reminds me of two of my own original characters.
Now, to keep this post from getting out of hand, follow me below the cut to see which songs made my top 5. Read the rest of this entry »
Zunko (left), flower (right)
It seems like every time I turn around, there’s a new Vocaloid being released. It makes me groan sometimes when they don’t sound like they have potential, but I have a lot of hope for these two new ladies.
First, let’s discuss v flower, a new gender neutral voice from YAMAHA who was released on the 9th of this month. I was a little confused by this Vocaloid at first. I think it’s safe to call flower a ‘she’, but the voicebank is technically labelled as ‘unisex’, same as VY1 and VY2. It seems like they may have added the character to the software later, as ‘v flower’ is the name of the software, while the character is simply known as ‘flower’. And, yes, it’s all lowercase for stylistic purposes. Just go with it. As you may have noticed with my links, even the Vocaloid wiki made sure to keep the character separate from the software page.
flower has a very interesting, androgynous voice. I first heard her in the HoneyWorks song “Inokori Sensei” (イノコリ先生). I gathered that it was a new Vocaloid, but I couldn’t figure out whether it was a male or female voice. I sort of preferred it that way, but I’m alright with her character image. I think I still would have preferred a more androgynous character who didn’t have a specific gender assigned to it, but I find the design appealing enough to forgive it. She doesn’t follow many of the typical Vocaloid design cliches. The hair is always the most important feature, and I personally like hers a lot. It’s unique and pretty daring, since I wouldn’t expect black and white to be very popular among a rainbow of other characters. Her official page describes her as being “kuudere”, which means that she can seem distant, but is actually very gentle at heart. (It’s the same personality type as Matsudappoiyo, for comparison.) As for her voice, I find it pleasant to listen to. It reminds me a little bit of Iroha, but I know it’s not fair to compare. I already hear it as a distinct, unique voice that I would probably be able to identify without being told. It helps that HoneyWorks gave her a boost, so I hope to see more popular producers bumping her up into the top 100.
Next up is Tohoku Zunko, a Vocaloid by AH-Software Co. Ltd. (AHS) who hasn’t been released yet. There have already been a handful of demo songs uploaded to NND by some fairly well known producers, however, so I’ll link to those below for you to listen to. Tohoku is one of the regions in Japan that was affected by the tsunami that occurred in 2011, and Zunko was created to raise awareness and provide support. Her green design is based on zunda mochi, a sweet green soybean paste that is a specialty of the Tohoku area. It’s also what her name “Zunko” originates from. I really enjoy her design. Aside from VY1 and possibly Gakupo, she’s the only Vocaloid we’ve seen with a design based on traditional Japanese clothing. She’s also one of the few Vocaloids to have specific personality traits. The guard she wears on her chest represents her love of archery, and, according to her official page, her dream for the future is to own a cafe in the Tokyo area. What a dream! Even if she can’t make it to our world, I’m sure AHS could fulfill her dream and make a cafe dedicated to her.
Her voice provider is Satou Satomi, known for her role as Tainaka Ritsu in K-On!!. Personally, I can barely hear Ritsu in Zunko’s voice. I like what I’ve heard so far, so I’m going to stay positive about her. AHS seems to be doing a good job.
v flower
Melancholic Shoegazer (メランコリックシューゲイザー) by ANDRIVEBOiz
Inokori Sensei (イノコリ先生) by HoneyWorks
Tohoku Zunko
Pastel Imagination (パステルイマジネーション) by Shir
Zung! Zung! by DaisukeP (だいすけP)
Uruwashiki Ōyashima (麗しき大八洲) by tamachang
don’t disappear by Ayano/MedicP
Following my post about Pharrell’s remix of Last Night, Good Night, I decided to do a little test of sorts. I muted his video on YouTube and put on a number of different Livetune songs, trying to find one that matched with it. In the end, I decided that Pink or Black fit the best, and I took it into Premiere to remix it.
Pink or Black was the song used to promote a cosmetics line by Shu Uemura called “Six Hearts Princess” (6HP), and its video was created by Murakami Takashi. Sound familiar? Same guy again. Murakami has a bit of history with Livetune at this point. He may also ring a bell as the guy who did some work for Kanye West, including his video for Good Morning. The original video for Pink or Black never featured Miku in it, though. When I finished editing the video, it felt refreshing to see Miku dancing along with this song.
It was just a quick edit on my part, but I hope that you can enjoy Murakami’s visuals and amazing Miku model now without having to suffer through Pharrell’s remix. You might wanna check it out as soon as you can because there’s no telling how long it will be there before YouTube decides that it shouldn’t be.
Vocalogy 