Concert at SkeCon

This is the video of the concert by Synthesized reality Productions (SRP) at the recent SkeCon event in Sweden. It's a single fixed camera, which could have benefited from being zoomed in a little, but it will do. It isn't shaky, unfocused, distorted or any of the other audience-recorded efforts' failings, and is of high video quality.

The event starts off with SRP's Yume introducing the show, in English, followed by Miku and 'Viva Happy'. Later, Gumi, Rin and Len appear – all three at once for one item – also Luka for 'Just Be Friends'; and near the end we also have Miku's now famous 'Senbonzakura' in her correct outfit for this song. The show is rounded out with Yume re-appearing to dance with SkeCon's own mascot Rosu to dance to 'Happy Synthesizer'. Plenty of goodness is in there for just about any fan!

The whole video is almost an hour long, but I found it better to view in three or four 'chunks', simply because of that fixed, slightly distant viewpoint from which I needed to take an occasional break...

NicoNico Mega Party 2014

This year's Chokaigi (Mega Party) event was really good much of the time, with some very good and audience-grabbing DJ-ing. It was, though, the Vocaloid concert that was the highlight for many, myself included – and then I forgot to post it here!

Well, thanks to a memory jog a few minutes ago, that is remedied now. This year's concert was just half an hour long, but with so much (thirteen songs) crammed into its almost non-stop format that there is plenty for everyone, including original staging, new band arrangements, and Luka playing the harp (very accurately!)

Lots of vocaloids were featured, as is the norm at this event, including the four Crypton Character Vocals (Miku, Luka, Len and Rin), IA, Gumi, Gakupo, Lily, Teto and more.

This is best viewed full screen, and listened to via headphones if possible...

Happy New Year – Ushering In 2014

My composer/producer friend 'Mr Neutrino' (as I often call him) has just produced this cover of the classic ABBA song Happy New Year, featuring Gumi on the vocal. The visuals are the local fireworks in his part of Romania, as viewed from his balcony at this time last year.

May I take this opportunity to wish all of us a really good year to come. I know it has been a difficult time for many during 2013, for all sorts of individual reasons, and it is my very strong hope that all will change for the better as year 2014 rolls in and throughout those twelve months...

Voc-Xmas 2013 – How Many Nights Until Christmas?

Not many now; but here's Vocalekt Visions' original song of that title from two years ago, featuring GUMI and CUL and lead vocalists – and don't they go well together? There is also a chorus of SF-A2 Miki, Iroha Nekomura, Miku and Gakupo.

No English words are provided, unfortuinately, though there are some obvious ones actually in the song. As it happens, with this song, it isn't essential (though it would be helpful) and it is essentially a getting-in-the-mood number, which it does well enough as is, complete with cartoon-y graphics.

This is also yet another reminder of just how good the two primary driving forces of Vocalekt Visions – Tempo-P and neutrinoP – were as a composing team, and it is so good that the bond between them has just this past few weeks been re-established, after a period of several months when they were going separate ways. Perhaps, in a way, that 'mending of fences' is the best Christmas present the Vocaloid community will have this year...

Voc-Xmas 2013 – Jingle Bells

With the voices of (alphabetically) Gakupo, GUMI, Iroha, Miki, Miku and Yukari, it's Jingle Bells as produced by my composer/producer friend neutrinoP, whose real name also happens to be Miki, and whose home town this is – Hunedoara in Romania – and where these scenes were shot (by someone called Pixelino) last Christmas (2012).

I think those responsible for the decorations in Hunedoara did a splendid job, much better than we tend to do in similar sized towns here in Britain. Perhaps our local council might like to watch this and have a bit of a think about their own offerings...

The PMX 2013 Concert

As better quality video has been promised, I had hesitated to put up the interim (lower quality) videos here; but it is getting a little long for me to not post anything substantial from the Synthesized Reality Productions (SRP) Vocaloid Concert at PMX 2013 earlier this month.

Therefore I have relented, and here is the first part of the concert (starting at 2 minutes 50 seconds in), with the four other parts easy to follow on to from the end of this clip.

The first part of this six-part suite of clips was all pre-concert, so I have gone straight to part 2. It does give a fair idea of what happened.

As it starts with GUMI, and the first song is by Mitchie M (Freely Tomorrow), and Miku's first song is Neutrino, I strongly suspect a neutrinoP influence at work, though I could be wrong and it's all just coincidence that it's his favourite performer and favourite producer right at the start.

For some reason, Rin sounds especially nice in her opening duet with Len, Remote Control.  I felt quite 'awww' toward her, yet again!

If you don't mind your jaw dropping, just wait until you get the Wonderful Nippon trio, including CUL and Lily (I didn't recognise the amazing lady in the middle, but probably should have). I doubt anyone in the audience was expecting anything quite like that!

It was great that Miku was in her Senbonzakura outfit for that closing song – though I don't envy the person who had to sweep up all those cherry blossoms afterward(!)

One oddity is that Yukari seems somewhat anorexic, and is also mirror-imaged, as is Gumi (note which side the former's hair adornments are on, and the latter's garter, also Miku and the others' waist straps). Saddo that I am, I notice these things. Hopefully it is only this video that is (apparently) back to front, and the concert was presented the right way around...

Reflection In The Snow – Take 2

The ever-excellent Mr Neutrino has managed to fix some problems in Kaito's English voicebank, so here is the re-mastered version of the new song.

Incidentally, the reasons for both the title and the perhaps unexpectedly sudden end are that we decided to leave out the last four lines of the lyrics, so it isn't quite as I originally wrote it. It has also lost some of the punctuation in the transcription to the lyrics provided in the video, but that's very much a minor matter.

I've left the original version on the 'blog to enable comparison; and if you did so you'd notice quite a few improvements in clarity in this new version, and previously almost-missing sounds now pronounced properly...

Reflection In The Snow

The latest song for which I wrote the lyrics (and the title this time!) is now up on YouTube. It's been made into a nice duet featuring Gumi and Kaito – though the latter's English is somewhat lacking in some respects. Fortunately Mr Neutrino is very good at 'tuning' pronunciation, so it comes out well despite that quirk...

VocaJazz – Stamp by Gumi

We've never had Gumi in the VocaJazz slot before, so although there are no English words with this, it's just so pleasant and relaxing that I think most people will enjoy it just as is.

There are some small images that appear from time to time, but I have no idea how they relate to the song(!) Perhaps one day I'll find out and be able to explain it all...

GUMI Reception Mini-Concert

Just appeared at YouTube today! A few weeks ago, the ASEAN Conference had its dinner party, and Gumi performed (with live musicians) a short concert lasting just twenty minutes. Here it is, in full. It's actually very good and even features some English (Gumi is bilingual) and a couple of costume changes.

Although the projected image isn't quite as realistic as the SEGA/Crypton events achieve, it is certainly good enough. I think many visitors here should enjoy this.

There was an earlier version of the event on video, with just one camera position, which really wasn't good enough for posting here;but this is the multi-camera edited version and it's genuinely very good, with interesting accompaniment including Japanese traditional drums, unusually. The English songs are particularly well done. Tick ti-ti tick...

UPDATE: Here are the song titles...

1. Setsuna trip
2. Miraculous Encounter
3. Country Road
4. Maigo no boku ni (I've been lost)
5. Yume Chizu 

Precious Things

The latest song for which I composed the lyrics is now out, and here it is in a video form. Just a still image (a very striking one, too) with the words presented on the left; but it's all in (immaculate, hopefully) English, and easy to follow.

As always, very well done by neutrinoP whose inspiration it all was, and who put in something like nine-tenths of the work, probably more. Here, then, is Precious Things, sung by GUMI...

Let's Have Fun A Little (I Am Yours)

(Updated and corrected) That's what was given as the apparent title of neutrino's latest song, again sung by GUMI, coming hard on the heels of the much more profound song for which I wrote the lyrics and featured here just last week. The actual title is Watashi no Anata ('I Am Yours'), the composer tells me in the comments.

This is altogether a much lighter and more mainstream number, and is in Japanese, so here is a link to the English words. I wasn't involved in this one at all: I come in only when it's in English – though I could have been used to proofread the English lyrics, as there are a few minor 'sillies' in there...but it's fairly obvious what was meant!

On My Way to Nowhere – the Video

Here it is, with the lyrics included, just made available for public viewing and being notified and listed. I am so very pleased with this song, which truly is a masterpiece, especially when you know the background to what it relates.

The basic concept of the video is simple but effective, and I'd probably never have thought of this exact approach myself. Even if you've already heard the song, do give it this second go...

On My Way to Nowhere

This is the new song by neutrinoP for which I provided the words, to his specification. Anyone who has read his recounting of what it is like during those coma-induced visits to 'the other place' every so many weeks, will recognise all that I put into these special words. It has been a great privilege for me to have been thus involved in this truly exceptional project.

This is On My Way to Nowhere, performed by GUMI (in English) as both lead singer and  backing group, and I think it is something of a masterpiece. I know it was very complex to produce, and had expected it to have taken several days more to put together. This is a remarkable achievement!

Although there is no video as yet (there will be, probably soon) here is the SoundCloud version of the song. I hope it conveys something of that experience, so we can all appreciate at least a part of what the poor fellow goes through so regularly.

UPDATE: His original story is here, from which I wrote the lyrics (from memory: I did not need to refer to it), which I wasn't going to link to here, but neutrino himself has just made that link, so I now know it is all right to do so.

Even apart from all that, I think it stands on its own as a powerful song on its own merits.

Note that, as always with SoundCloud widgets, it sometimes needs a page reload to appear and is otherwise just a blank space(!) It's a significant bug that really should have been solved by now...



Here are the lyrics...

Tiny, I am nothing, in the vast universe
I feel that I am real, but it still feels worse
I think I once was more, but now this is my all
Struggling to be more, once again to be big and tall.

I just need some more
More energy
It’s wonderful
It comes to me, but so slowly

My journey begins
I gain strength as I go
Sights and sounds start to come
And color returns to my world

Now I feel greater, more like I really am
This other place, though, it’s really just a sham
I seem to be going nowhere, but I’ve passed this way before
I have to keep going, to find that special door

I just need some more
More energy
It’s wonderful
It comes to me, but so slowly

My journey begins
Gaining strength as I go
The sights and sounds still come
And color now floods my world

Coming near (I can feel it now)
Almost here (any moment now)
There they are, in the walls and room
And beyond: the window to my room

I just can’t move
I need a friend
Hand on my shoulder
Helps me over
A hundred others
Smile upon me
They all know that
This is my way home, it’s the key

There I am, lying on the bed
So still and silent, I might have been dead
Now the KICK, sends me spinning round
And then I land hard – but what’s that sound?
It’s me, I am screaming with the pain!
The agony of coming back again
It’s home, I’m home! But my arms are so numb...
To remind me of that other continuum...

Your Love Will Surely Skyrocket

Sung by GUMI, but mimed and enacted by Mayu in a really nice video, this is Your Love Will Surely Skyrocket.

This is the only Mayu video I am showcasing today that includes the infamous axe, which thankfully ends up being thrown away rather quickly...

You Are The Reason

GUMI's English version does a grand job in this song by my good acquaintance neutrinoP, with words written by Tempo-P. Listen to the words (and if you have difficulty, they are also provided as captions) and you'll realise that this really is from the heart of a Vocaloid composer/producer, telling his own story.

It's really powerful stuff, once you realise that, and those who have come to that understanding have admitted they were emotionally moved, over at the YouTube page. The button is there on the player below if you wish to check out those comments...

Happy Birthday, Papa GUMI!

Another simple but brilliant song from neutrinoP to which I was privileged to contribute some of the (short) lyrics, which is a very kind gift from 'neutrino' to Noboru Murukami, head of the company that produced the vocaloids GUMI, Gakupo, Lily and CUL, all of whom are featured here. Murukami-san turns fifty today!

If the widget fails to appear, force a page re-load: there seems to be a bug in the widget's code that sometimes needs this...

We actually produced this song yesterday; and although it has been publicly visible since then, I thought that in my own case it was better to wait until the man himself had heard it, which has now been confirmed.

If you hover your mouse pointer over the little lilac square (you might need to click on the sound widget's background first), you'll find someone's comment displayed; and you can add your own comment as well if desired...

Tora-Con 2013

This is the official Tora-Con AniMiku event, uploaded by Re:Vb himself (creator of the software) and with embedding enabled, so there is clearly no problem with my posting it here. The event was on 23 March of this year. I thought I posted this before – I certainly intended to, but it wasn't already on the 'blog when I checked. I've now sussed it out: this is very similar to the NekoCon event I posted previously, but quite a bit better in several respects. The other event had only Leaving Donna by SeeU, and the shading didn't work as well throughout, so this video is definitely a worthwhile view!

The AniMiku animation and rendering engine has really come along in the past year or so, and this is an ideal showcase for the quality of its rendering in particular. I have to admit I am impressed with the clarity for stage projection, the shading, and other characteristics of what was by this time version 3.9 (beta) of the software. It has been carefully designed to simulate a holographic projection, and it does seem to at least partly achieve that – in fact, probably just about as well as can be done with non-holo systems.

It lasts just over an hour in total, and features (alphabetically) CUL, GUMI, Miku, Rin and SeeU, performing songs from nine producers/composers. The Rin model looks a little sad, and I must admit I'd have chosen a different one myself.

Even if all you watch is the opening number, I think you'll be pleased you did; but I hope that many visitors here will go further than that, especially for SeeU's choreography and animation (both by tourbux, no less, which explains the top-notch standard) and CUL's song...

NicoNico Party 2013

Six months ago, almost to the day, I brought you last year's so-called MMD multi-Vocaloid concert, (the 'MMD' standing for MikuMikuDance, the famous character animation software).

This year's has been up on YouTube for over two months, so there appears to be no problem with having it there, and embedding is allowed. Therefore I feel I can safely place it here.

It is much the same concept as last year's such event, and its full title is NicoNico Cho Party – by now you can no doubt suss out where the 'NicoNico' part originates, as I've mentioned that website a few times in recent months.

The very start is slightly unorthodox(!) but leads onto the trade mark (for these partyicular events) Miku sitting on a crescent moon supported on two ropes, like a swing. The sixteen songs this time come one immediately after another in most cases, and we have twelve Vocaloids and UTAUloids this year – one up on last year's eleven. Alphabetically they are: Gakupo, GUMI, IA, Len, Lily, Luka, Meiko, Miku, Ritsu, Teto and two others I haven't yet been able to identify, though I am fairly sure that one of them is the UTAUloid Yowane Haku.

There are good solos for Teto and IA (and watch the latter's eyes, by the way) and an interesting version of World's End Dancehall, with different choreography and some other variations, by the Kagamine duo.

As before, because the character motions are produced in MMD, which is designed for display on computer screens and PlayStations rather than for life-size projection, the quality isn't as good as the SEGA in-house professional software used for the what are usually referred to as the 'official' concerts. It's still good, though, and some is very good indeed, including the motion quality (which is variable, but never poor). The stage is superb too!

Anyway, this is a good way to spend forty minutes, probably best once the sun has gone down...

Romania Vocalekt Concert

In fact, this edited together excerpts are from the second Vocalekt Visions concert held in Romania, at Nijikon 2012 on 3 November that year, only small parts of the first having been captured on video so not sufficient to make something like this. They get a remarkable thousand or so attendees to these events, no doubt helped by Vokalekt's neutrinoP coming from that country and promoting them locally.

I was particularly taken with the Yuzuki Yukari model, which is spectacular: this was created by neutrinoP (who is a versatile fellow) from a base model by one KumaMMD, of whom I hadn't previously heard. Between them, they have produced something quite special, I think.

Several of the featured songs will be familiar to those who follow these things avidly (John raises his hand at this point), and others will be new, including Overload and the Romanian Promisiuni. It's a good forty minutes, despite not having English captioning/subtitles, and is available in High Definition, selectable in the usual way from the cog icon at the base of the YouTube player once started...