Operation – Making VOCALOID3 Sing

Step 12: Save Your Sequence

3. Operation – Making VOCALOID3 Sing

The VOCALOID3 Editor has a more evolved and powerful interface than previous versions, and therefore requires a different workflow. If VOCALOID3 is your first contact with the program, then it should be straightforward to learn. But if you’re used to a previous version you’ll need to keep a few changes in mind until working with them becomes second nature … and then you’ll find that the new interface is more versatile and powerful than ever.

The main difference is that instead of just having a single musical editor window, VOCALOID3 has a Musical Editor window (very similar to the original) plus a new Track Editor window, the functions of which are interdependent. So before we get into actual note and lyric entry, let’s take a closer look at the new Track Editor.

3-1. Managing Tracks & Parts in the Track Editor

The Track Editor window is a new feature in VOCALOID3 that makes overall operation easier while providing greater power and flexibility for creating vocal sequences. The VOCALOID3 Track Editor window is where you can:

• Add new tracks to your project, up to a maximum of 16 tracks, and manipulate existing tracks.

• Create “Parts” within the tracks that will contain the vocal sequence data. Parts can be created, deleted, lengthened, shortened, moved, and copied around within the tracks as required. Parts provide an extremely convenient way to create and modify musical arrangements.

• The Track Editor includes a WAV (MONO) track that can be used to add short sound clips or effects to your sequence, and a WAV (STEREO) track that can be used to add high-quality stereo backing tracks to your vocal sequence.

3-1-1. Creating and Managing Tracks

Initial Default Tracks and Part

When a new project is created* the Track Editor window contains one vocaloid sequence track (Track), one WAV (MONO) track, and one WAV (STEREO) track.

A 32-measure Part (3-1. Managing Tracks & Parts in the Track Editor -> 3-1-2.

Creating and Managing Parts) is automatically created in the initial,

automatically created track. No parts are automatically created in new tracks that you create by selecting the “Add Track” command from the Track menu, so you’ll have to create an appropriate part before you can begin entering notes in a new track.

* When VOCALOID3 is first launched, when the “New” command in the File menu is selected, or when the [Ctrl] + [N] key combination is pressed.

85 Selecting a Track

Click in the track header (where the track name is) in the Track Editor Window to select a track.

Adding Tracks

To add a sequence track select the “Add Track” command from the Track menu.

If a track is selected when you do this the new track will be created immediately above the selected track. If no track is selected the new track will be created below the existing track(s).

Only vocaloid sequence tracks can be added. “WAV (MONO)” and “WAV (STEREO) tracks cannot be added.

Remember, new tracks that you create by selecting the “Add Track” command from the Track menu do not contain any parts, so you’ll have to create an appropriate part before you can begin entering notes in a new track.

Renaming Tracks

New tracks are simply named “Track,” with a color-coded track number to the left of the track name. If you start using multiple tracks you’ll almost certainly want to give them names that more clearly identify the data that they contain.

Select the track to be renamed by clicking in its track header (where the track name is), and select the “Rename Track” command from the Track menu (you can also directly double-click the current track name to activate the name edit mode). You can then enter a new name. Press the [Enter] key on your keyboard when done.

Track names can have a maximum of 256 characters.

The WAV (MONO) and WAV (STERE0) tracks cannot be renamed.

Copying Tracks

You can create a new track that is a full copy of an existing track by first selecting the track to be copied (click in the track header … where the track name is), and then either select the “Copy” command and then the “Paste” command in the Edit menu, or use the keyboard shortcut equivalents: [CTRL] + [C], and then [CTRL] + [V].

Deleting Tracks

Select the track to be deleted by clicking in its track header (where the track name is), then either select the “Delete” command from the Edit menu or press the [DEL] key on your keyboard to delete the track.

The last remaining track cannot be deleted (there must always be at least one vocaloid sequence track in the Track Editor window), but you can delete any parts it contains.

The WAV (MONO) and WAV (STEREO) tracks cannot be deleted, but you can delete any parts they contain.

3-1-2. Creating and Managing Parts

At least one track and one part must be available before you can begin entering notes via the Musical Editor. A 32-measure default part is automatically created whenever a new project is created. When you enter notes in the Musical Editor, you’re entering those notes into the currently selected Part.

Example: In this project three tracks have been created. The tracks have been renamed “Lead”, “Chorus” and “Chorus 2”. The lighter areas in the tracks are the parts. The “Lead” track contains just one part, while the “Chorus 1” and “Chorus 2”

tracks contain shorter parts that have been created to hold some short background vocals.

Note: Parts cannot overlap in the same track! To be more specific, you can position parts so that they overlap, but an error will be displayed when you attempt to play the sequence.

Creating New Parts

There are a couple of ways to do this.

1) Select the track in which you want to create a new part (click in the track header … where the track name is), move the song position marker to the point at which you want the new part to begin (click at the appropriate location in the Measure ruler), then select “Add Musical Part” from the Part menu. A new 32-measure part will be created in the selected track at the specified location.

2) The second method lets you create parts of any length you require. Simply use the pencil tool (2-2. The Tool Bars -> 2-2-1. The Edit Tool Bar) to click-and-drag over the area in the track where you want to create your part, from beginning (left) to end (right).

In either case the “Musical Part Property” dialog box will appear. However

“Musical Part Property” dialog box will not appear when the only one singer is available in the sequence file.

Here you can enter a name for your new part, add a comment if you like, and select the singer that will be used for that part (more info on selecting singers is provided in “3-2. The Singer”, below).

Selecting a Part for Editing

Whether you’re selecting a part that’s in the same track as a different part that’s being edited, or one that’s in a different track, you’ll need to double-click the part to select it for editing and bring it to the front of the Musical Editor piano-roll window. Notes in non-selected parts will appear in the Piano Roll as thin lines that can not be selected or edited.

Moving Parts

Moving parts around in the Track Editor is easy: simply click and drag with the pointer, pencil, or line tool (the cursor will change to a “pointing hand” when any of these tools are moved over a part in the Track Editor window). The current

“Quantize” setting determines which beats the part will snap to when you move it (2-1. The Menus -> 2-1-9. Settings). Just remember that parts cannot overlap in the same track. You can position parts so that they overlap, but an error will be displayed when you attempt to play the sequence.

You can move multiple parts on the same vocaloid sequence track simultaneously by first selecting them while holding the [SHIFT] key.

And you can also move multiple parts on the different vocaloid sequence tracks simultaneously by first selecting them while holding the [Ctrl] key.

Copying Parts

Copying parts in the Track Editor is much like copying text in a word processor, and there are two ways it can be done.

1) Select the part to be copied (single-click it so that it is highlighted). Select

“Copy” from the Edit menu or use the equivalent key shortcut: [CTRL] + [C].

Place the song position marker at the location where the copied part is to begin.

You can also select a track if you’re copying the part to a different track (click in the track header). The select “Paste” from the Edit menu or use the equivalent key shortcut: [CTRL] + [V].

2) The more direct and easy way is to simply click and drag the part while

holding the [CTRL] key. You can drag the copy to any point within the same track, or any other track. The current “Quantize” setting determines which beats the copied part will snap to (2-1. The Menus -> 2-1-9. Settings).

You can copy multiple parts on the same vocaloid sequence track simultaneously by first selecting them while holding the [SHIFT] key.

Resizing Parts

Move the pointer or pencil tool over the left or right edge of a part so that the red double-headed resize arrow appears, then click and drag to the left or right to resize the part as required.

Please note that you can move the right edge of a part to the left to shorten the part or to the right to lengthen the part, but the left edge can only be moved to the left to lengthen the part.

You can resize multiple parts on the same vocaloid sequence track

simultaneously by first selecting them while holding the [SHIFT] key. The selected parts will all be resized in the same direction by the same amount.

(V3.0.3 Additional Features)

You can optimize the length of the part by double clicking the right edge of the part.

Dividing a Part

If, for example, you’d like to move the second half of a part to a new location or track, or make copies of just that second half while leaving the first part as it is, you can simply divide the part so that what was once a single part becomes two independent parts.

However WAV part can’t be divided. You could only divide the musical part.

To divide a part first select the part to be divided (single-click it so that it is highlighted), place the song position marker at the point at which you want to divide the part, then select “Divide Selected Part” from the Part menu. Remember that the song position marker snaps to the currently selected Quantize value (2-1.

The Menus -> 2-1-9. Settings), so for really precise positioning you might want to turn Quantize “Off.”

89 Deleting Parts

Select the part to be deleted (single-click it so that it is highlighted), then either select “Delete” from the Edit menu or press the [DELETE] key on your keyboard.

You can delete multiple parts simultaneously by first selecting them while holding the [SHIFT] key.

Importing and Manipulating Wave Files

Wave files can be imported into the WAV (MONO) and WAV (STEREO) tracks to serve as sound effects and/or backing tracks as required. Only mono WAV files can be imported into the WAV (MONO) track, and only stereo WAV files can be imported into the WAV (STEREO) track. The WAV file import procedure is described in “2-1. The Menus -> 2-1-1. File”.

Although WAV files cannot be copied or moved from track to track, they can be freely moved around and copied within the same track in the same was as the parts in the sequence tracks. They can also be shortened and lengthened by moving the right edge of parts but the left edge of WAV parts can’t be moved to the either direction. Shortening a WAV file past the end of the data it contains effective “crops” the file, and hidden portion of the file will not be played back.

3-2. The Singer

The singer is a vocal “entity” defined by the VOCALOID3 Library that will sing the notes and lyrics you enter. The singer can be male, female, and speak just about any language, as defined by the VOCALOID3 Library you are using. You can add singers to your VOCALOID3 Editor by installing optional voice libraries.

Selecting a Singer

When a new sequence file is created the default singer will be automatically selected for the initial default part. The default singer, and any other singers that are available for selection, will depend on the VOCALOID3 package or voice library you are using. You can change the singer for the currently selected part to any other available singer by right-clicking in the Track Editor or Sequence Track Editor window and choosing ”Singer” from the contextual menu that appears.

This will bring up the singer menu with the available singer choices.

Click the name of the singer you want to use. A checkmark appears beside the active singer.

The name of the singer for the currently selected part appears in the Musical Editor title bar in brackets following the part name.

91 In this example the singer “Tonio(V2)” is selected for the part named “NewPart”.

Customizing the Singer’s Voice

Using the singer “as is” will produce characteristics most closely resembling the sound of the singer who created the databases you are using. You can, however, change a number of parameters to vary the voice over a fairly wide range via the My Singer Properties and Active Singer Properties editors that can be accessed via the Settings menu (2-1. The Menus -> 2-1-9. Settings). Most of the singer parameters can also be accessed via the control parameter and used to apply real-time variations that can “animate” your vocal tracks and simulate the expressive delivery of a live singer.

Refer to the “Active Singer Properties” and “My Singer Properties” descriptions in “2-1. The Menus -> 2-1-9. Settings” for details on editing, adding, and copying singers.

3-3. Entering & Editing Notes in the Musical Editor

Once you’ve created a part (or the program has created a default part for you when you create a new project) and selected that part for editing (double-click it in the Track Editor window), the next step is to begin entering the notes and lyrics to be “sung.”

Notes are entered at the desired locations in the VOCALOID3 Musical Editor piano roll (2-4. The Piano Roll) using the pencil tool. When the Length and Quantize parameters are set to “off” you can use the pencil tool to enter notes of any length at any location in the part by simply clicking and dragging the notes as required at the appropriate pitches. When a Length value is selected, notes will “snap” to multiples of the specified length as they are being drawn, and when a Quantize value is selected, the attacks of the notes entered will snap to the corresponding note alignment.

The pitches of the horizontal bands in the sequence track correspond to the keys on the graphic keyboard to the left of the track. Duration can be judged by

keeping an eye on the measure ruler across the top of the track, and you can turn on the grid (2-1. The Menus -> 2-1-3. View) for an even more accurate reference if required. The current position (measure:beat:clock) of your cursor is also shown by the cursor position indicator in the Cursor Position and Quantize toolbar (2-2. The Tool Bars -> 2-2-3. The Measure Tool Bar).

There’s also a “Fixed Note Length” item in the contextual menu that appears if you right-click in the sequence track area. The “Fixed Note Length” menu can also be accessed from the Settings menu (2-1. The Menus -> 2-1-9. Settings).

“Fixed Note Length” is “Off” by default, but if you select a fixed note length from the menu you can enter notes of the specified length by simply clicking briefly in the piano roll. The beginning of the note is placed at the point at which you click.

Enter the basic notes to be sung by your singer, leaving appropriate spaces for rests. Keep in mind, however, that notes in the same track cannot overlap.

You can continue entering notes in the Piano Roll that go beyond the end of the currently selected part in the Track Editor, but those notes won’t appear in the Track Editor window, and they won’t sound when the sequence is played back, unless you extend the length of the part in the Track Editor window so that the hidden notes are shown. You can lengthen or shorten a part by moving the cursor over the end of the part so that the red double arrow appears (the red double arrow will not appear when the eraser tool is selected), and then clicking and dragging the part to the desired length.

Deleting Notes

Notes you have entered can be individually deleted either by clicking them with the eraser tool or single-clicking with any other tool to highlight them and then pressing the [Delete] key on your computer keyboard. You can specify a range of notes to be deleted by clicking and dragging with the pointer tool to highlight all of the desired notes and then press the [Delete] key or just use the eraser tool and drag a range of notes to be deleted.

Stretching Notes

Individual notes can be stretched to make them longer (as long as doing so doesn’t cause them to overlap another note) or shorter as required. The Length setting (2-1. The Menus -> 2-1-9. Settings) determines the beats to which the note release will snap when a note is stretched. Position the cursor over the beginning or end of a note so that the red double-ended arrow stretch symbol appears

(), then click and drag the note to resize as required.

94 Moving Notes

Position the cursor over the body of a note and it will change to the hand pointer which you can use to click and drag the note to a different horizontal position (as long as it doesn’t overlap another note), or to a different pitch. You can also use this method to move a group of highlighted notes. The Quantize setting (2-1. The Menus -> 2-1-9. Settings) will determine to which beats the moved note(s) will snap.

Copying Notes

You can copy single notes or a group of highlighted notes to a different location (time and/or pitch) by grabbing and dragging with the hand pointer while holding the [Ctrl] key on your computer keyboard. As with the move operation described above, the Quantize setting (2-1. The Menus -> 2-1-9. Settings) will determine to which beats the copied note(s) will snap.

You can also use the standard edit commands – cut, paste, and copy (see 1-1. The Menus -> Edit) – to copy or cut and paste single or multiple notes. In this case the notes will be pasted to the current location of the song position marker.

Quantize vs. Length

At first the Quantize and Length functions (2-1. The Menus -> 2-1-9. Settings) may seem similar, and therefore somewhat confusing. Actually, they are very similar in that they align notes in the sequence track to the nearest specified beats, but the difference is in whether that alignment applies to the beginning

In document VOCALOID 3 Owner’s Manual (Page 87-138)