Your PC Is An Awesome Singer... If You Let It!

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.

---

Music Making as Spiritual Experience

If you've been playing piano for some time, you may... Read More

How to Be in the Moment when Playing Piano

Your best music will always come when you are in... Read More

Avoiding Injuries When Playing Guitar

To avoid any sort of injuries when playing guitar a... Read More

The Flower Garden and New Age Piano Music

If you've ever looked at a flower garden, not only... Read More

Greg Koch Fender Guitar History

The Greg Koch Fender guitar began to take shape all... Read More

50 Cent

More so than any other music since the blues, hip-hop... Read More

A Brief History Of Gibson Guitars

Gibson guitars have been around forever. It's funny, but although... Read More

Flaming Guitars! Minarik Fuels The Excitement of a New Generation of Musicians

From the Telecaster to the Flying V to the Iceman... Read More

The Acoustic Guitar

The steel-stringed acoustic guitar is usually credited with being developed... Read More

If Setting The Gain Correctly is So Important, Why Dont Mic Preamplifiers Have Meters?

When you first learn how to use a mixing console,... Read More

How to Find Musical Ideas

The Russian Composer Igor Stravinsky once said: " A good... Read More

Hip Hop History

Rap music originated as a cross-cultural product. Most of its... Read More

Taking iPod Culture into Clubs as Well as Cyberspace: Jonny Rocket Interviewed by The G-Man

Already making plenty of noise in the marketplace is a... Read More

Everything I Play Sounds the Same

Many students want to create music that has a certain... Read More

Music for Cross Cultural Accelerated Learning

The Search for the Right MusicEver since Georgi Lozonav, the... Read More

Interested in Improving the Sound of Your Stereo? Consider Records

Introduced in 1982, the compact disc was intended to provide... Read More

Defining The True Artist - Do You Have What It Takes?

"The real communicating artists seek unique expression. They are not... Read More

Creating Your Own Compositions

The idea of actually creating a complete piece of music... Read More

Rabbitt Productions - Up & Coming Atlanta Producer

When you think of music in Atlanta you generally think... Read More

How Many Guitar Chords Do I Need To Know?

Guitar chords, (chords played specifically on a guitar,) differ only... Read More

14 Ways Musicians Can Increase Their Tips

I was listening to NPR the other day when they... Read More

Make Money with Your Music ? the Top 5 Ways

Songwriters dream of making their living by writing, and sometimes... Read More

Where To Download Music On The Internet

Virtually all of you have probably heard of the RIAA's... Read More

Quick and Easy Violin Mute

One of the reasons I picked up the violin was... Read More

6 Tips for Organizing Your Music Files

If you're a digital music fan, you probably have problems... Read More

Piano Playing is Easier than You Think When You Understand Musical Form

Form is the key that unlocks the musical map of... Read More

The Various Countries - A Rant About Country Music

It is no secret that over the past couple decades... Read More

Musicians Injuries: OUCH, It Hurts When I Play (But Please Dont Tell Me To Stop!)

This article takes a look at musicians' injuries. For an... Read More

A Brief History of Fender Guitars

Perhaps no other guitar maker has touched the hearts of... Read More

A Brief History of Gongs

The gong is one of the oldest musical instruments in... Read More

Inspiration Wanted - Apply Within!

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for music students is... Read More

How to Make State-of-the-Art Video Singles Cheaply

When it comes to promoting their new music releases, I... Read More

Breathing Space in Music

While most students want to know when to play certain... Read More