Miku Append Special!
Your weekly ranking is slightly put off for this post, as we go through some of the better or more stand-out offerings for Miku Append in the last week and a half. If I had to sum up Append's launch in one word, it would probably be 'floaty' - most of the Append software makes for very soft notes and appears to drive people to make strange lilting tracks with nary a lick of bass to be seen. In any case, these aren't in any particular order for once, I don't even necessarily like or recommend them, they're just good examples.
Just so you have the idea, there are 6 different 'versions' of the software, indicating different settings. An extremely rough guide to each as far as I can tell, as of so far (bearing in mind these might be entirely up to the skill of the producer):
Light - A 'clean' Miku voice; a little high, but cleaned up. This can probably be considered the Append 'default'.
Dark - The strangest voice to my ears, very breathy and easily lost. This is kinda creepy.
Solid - A slightly deeper and much stronger voice. I like this one a lot.
Vivid - A very heavily exaggerated normal Miku voice - I've yet to hear it sound realistic.
Soft - As you'd expect, a high and soft voice. My opinion changes dramatically on how it's used.
Sweet - Crypton's attempt to take away Yuki's market share. I swear.
There's no way I caught anywhere near all the Append tracks, so if you've found any particularly good ones to tack on, feel free. Normal weekly service will resume tomorrow.
【初音ミクAppend】デンドロビウム・ファレノプシス【オリジナル曲】
(Dendrobe Phalaenopsis (papiyon), Dark + Solid, Piano + Drums Pop)
Bucking what I just said above, this latest of the tracks comes first because it's way and ahead my favorite, with a tolerable Dark and a good Solid voice. Papiyon's done some solid work here with a bouncy, catchy piano track besides.
【初音ミクAppend】 AGE 【オリジナル】
(AGE (M@satoshi), Dark, Floaty Pop)
No doubt you'll recognize this from the rankings. AGE was the first track to make it anywhere near top of the daily ranking charts, then stayed there pretty reliably ever since. While it's good, I can't help but feel there are now better songs on offer; this certainly sets the tone for the songs that were to come, however, as many of the tracks that came out at launch featured this sort of treble line paired with very soft vocals. I can't really pick out which of the voices it is; it's possible to attribute the early success of this track to not sounding as out there as many of the others at the time.
【初音ミク Append】 初雪草歌 【オリジナル曲】
(First Snow Grass Song (少々), Solid, Ethnictastic)
This was another early track, and many people's first exposure to Append's singing without any of that bothersome music getting in the way. While Solid here distorts her voice quite a bit more than expected of the other Append versions, just listen to those notes get held! A very striking performance, with cameos and backing from the rest of the robots.
【初音ミクオリジナル】僕達のセカイ
(Our World (sososo), Solid + Vivid + Soft, Pop)
One of the distinct advantages the Miku Appends have had, it seems, is the ability to harmonize with each other and sound fantastic. It's not been uncommon to see tracks use anywhere from two to four versions of Miku as backing and extra voices, and this track is an excellent example of the practice.
【初音ミク】 CLOUDY 【オリジナル曲 / SWANTONE】
(CLOUDY (SWANTONE), Soft, Trance Pop)
SWANTONE were right out of the starting gate at launch with this very professional track, a very solid trance track that becomes quite the toetapper once all the synths kick in. Unfortunately, this also kind of illustrates a problem with many of the Append voices - they're too easily run over by the music they're ostensibly supposed to be singing over, and the disparity between volumes here can be quite jarring.
【初音ミク】めいめろ【オリジナル】
(Meimero (yuyoyuppe), ???, Rock)
Fortunately, we're here to prove that Miku Append can do more than floaty softness, so here's a rock track from yuyoyuppe, showing off what I'm reasonably sure is the Sweet voice but that might on reflection be the Soft voice. It's a bit hard to tell. Anyway, this is pretty good! It's kind of generic, sure, but I don't mind the voice too much, and the guitars are to die for. Can't figure out what that title turns into, though.
【初音ミクAppend】きまぐれフォーマット【びびっど】
(Whimsy Format (mathru), Vivid, Pop)
A dramatic and rather startling song showcasing Vivid's strengths and problems. I don't think much of the song but it certainly shows off Vivid - a very strong vocal line, but also one that sounds pretty bizarre and regularly veers right off of 'realistic' back into 'robot' and out the other side.
【初音ミクAppend】 ユメイロモヨウ 【オリジナル】
(Dream Coloured Pattern (tomoya), Vivid + Solid + Sweet, Pop)
This punchy electropop track, besides being a pretty good listen in it's own right, features some very good use of the Vivid and Solid voices and the intro pretty much solidified Solid as my favourite Append voice. Helpfully subtitled for your identification purposes, it features a horrible use of Sweet. Eugh eugh eugh.
【古川本舗】 グリグリメガネと月光蟲 【初音ミクdark】
(Grinding Glasses and Moonbugs possibly (古川), Dark, Rock)
Very creepy track, not least because of my misgivings over the Append Dark voice. I'm of two minds on this track, it starts out okay but then it kind of begins to drag halfway. Then suddenly, right at the end, the song entirely drops out the bottom and the guy on guitar just goes for it. Singers? Who cares. End of the song? Who cares. I'VE GOT A GUITAR.
【初音ミクAppend】原罪と未来のジレンマ【オリジナル】
(The Dilemma of Original Sin and the Future (疾風), Solid, Pop)
A crazy, madcap track full of energetic piano and thumping rapid drumbeats, I really like this for all the speed and gleeful headbanging and the sheer sense of exuberance within it, but it shows the problem with the Solid voice - if used wrong, it turns into what can be loosely described as a very squeaky Luka.
【初音ミクAppend】君に、花束を。【PolyphonicBranch】
(Bouquet To You (Polyphonic Branch), Light, Rock)
Light is the easiest Append voice to get into if only because it sounds most like the previews we've heard so far and also most like the basic Miku voice - a little higher, a little cleaned up, but otherwise very normal. Polyphonic Branch are a pretty class act with some good songs under their belt. This isn't incredible, but serves instead to show off Light acceptably well.
【初音ミク】月西江【オリジナル】
(West Moon River (Solpie), Light?, Chinese Vocal)
Just in case you wondered how Append could handle Chinese lyrics. Answer: Pretty good, thanks. This track is absolutely clear as crystal, and while zithers and vocals aren't ever going to make for a high-energy track, it's really quite gorgeous.
COME TO CV-01/初音ミク（light） fullver.
(COME TO CV-01 (lamaze), Light, Pop)
We'll finish off the songs proper with this salute to Vocaloid from lamaze. Not exactly the most stellar of songs, it's a bit lacking in tune but is an acceptable toe-tapper, and lets you listen to Light without all that pesky music getting in the way. Now can we have the PV version, please?
【MikuMikuDance】 Dream Fighter / 初音ミクAppend【ガンダム00】
(Dream Fighter (Perfume), Light + Sweet + Vivid, Electro Pop, MMD)
Remember what I said about the Appends working together? This is an honestly very good rendition of Perfume's Dream Fighter, and to top it all off you get to watch three Gundam Mikus dancing to it. What more could you ask for from a final video?
Just so you have the idea, there are 6 different 'versions' of the software, indicating different settings. An extremely rough guide to each as far as I can tell, as of so far (bearing in mind these might be entirely up to the skill of the producer):
Light - A 'clean' Miku voice; a little high, but cleaned up. This can probably be considered the Append 'default'.
Dark - The strangest voice to my ears, very breathy and easily lost. This is kinda creepy.
Solid - A slightly deeper and much stronger voice. I like this one a lot.
Vivid - A very heavily exaggerated normal Miku voice - I've yet to hear it sound realistic.
Soft - As you'd expect, a high and soft voice. My opinion changes dramatically on how it's used.
Sweet - Crypton's attempt to take away Yuki's market share. I swear.
There's no way I caught anywhere near all the Append tracks, so if you've found any particularly good ones to tack on, feel free. Normal weekly service will resume tomorrow.
【初音ミクAppend】デンドロビウム・ファレノプシス【オリジナル曲】
(Dendrobe Phalaenopsis (papiyon), Dark + Solid, Piano + Drums Pop)
Bucking what I just said above, this latest of the tracks comes first because it's way and ahead my favorite, with a tolerable Dark and a good Solid voice. Papiyon's done some solid work here with a bouncy, catchy piano track besides.
【初音ミクAppend】 AGE 【オリジナル】
(AGE (M@satoshi), Dark, Floaty Pop)
No doubt you'll recognize this from the rankings. AGE was the first track to make it anywhere near top of the daily ranking charts, then stayed there pretty reliably ever since. While it's good, I can't help but feel there are now better songs on offer; this certainly sets the tone for the songs that were to come, however, as many of the tracks that came out at launch featured this sort of treble line paired with very soft vocals. I can't really pick out which of the voices it is; it's possible to attribute the early success of this track to not sounding as out there as many of the others at the time.
【初音ミク Append】 初雪草歌 【オリジナル曲】
(First Snow Grass Song (少々), Solid, Ethnictastic)
This was another early track, and many people's first exposure to Append's singing without any of that bothersome music getting in the way. While Solid here distorts her voice quite a bit more than expected of the other Append versions, just listen to those notes get held! A very striking performance, with cameos and backing from the rest of the robots.
【初音ミクオリジナル】僕達のセカイ
(Our World (sososo), Solid + Vivid + Soft, Pop)
One of the distinct advantages the Miku Appends have had, it seems, is the ability to harmonize with each other and sound fantastic. It's not been uncommon to see tracks use anywhere from two to four versions of Miku as backing and extra voices, and this track is an excellent example of the practice.
【初音ミク】 CLOUDY 【オリジナル曲 / SWANTONE】
(CLOUDY (SWANTONE), Soft, Trance Pop)
SWANTONE were right out of the starting gate at launch with this very professional track, a very solid trance track that becomes quite the toetapper once all the synths kick in. Unfortunately, this also kind of illustrates a problem with many of the Append voices - they're too easily run over by the music they're ostensibly supposed to be singing over, and the disparity between volumes here can be quite jarring.
【初音ミク】めいめろ【オリジナル】
(Meimero (yuyoyuppe), ???, Rock)
Fortunately, we're here to prove that Miku Append can do more than floaty softness, so here's a rock track from yuyoyuppe, showing off what I'm reasonably sure is the Sweet voice but that might on reflection be the Soft voice. It's a bit hard to tell. Anyway, this is pretty good! It's kind of generic, sure, but I don't mind the voice too much, and the guitars are to die for. Can't figure out what that title turns into, though.
【初音ミクAppend】きまぐれフォーマット【びびっど】
(Whimsy Format (mathru), Vivid, Pop)
A dramatic and rather startling song showcasing Vivid's strengths and problems. I don't think much of the song but it certainly shows off Vivid - a very strong vocal line, but also one that sounds pretty bizarre and regularly veers right off of 'realistic' back into 'robot' and out the other side.
【初音ミクAppend】 ユメイロモヨウ 【オリジナル】
(Dream Coloured Pattern (tomoya), Vivid + Solid + Sweet, Pop)
This punchy electropop track, besides being a pretty good listen in it's own right, features some very good use of the Vivid and Solid voices and the intro pretty much solidified Solid as my favourite Append voice. Helpfully subtitled for your identification purposes, it features a horrible use of Sweet. Eugh eugh eugh.
【古川本舗】 グリグリメガネと月光蟲 【初音ミクdark】
(Grinding Glasses and Moonbugs possibly (古川), Dark, Rock)
Very creepy track, not least because of my misgivings over the Append Dark voice. I'm of two minds on this track, it starts out okay but then it kind of begins to drag halfway. Then suddenly, right at the end, the song entirely drops out the bottom and the guy on guitar just goes for it. Singers? Who cares. End of the song? Who cares. I'VE GOT A GUITAR.
【初音ミクAppend】原罪と未来のジレンマ【オリジナル】
(The Dilemma of Original Sin and the Future (疾風), Solid, Pop)
A crazy, madcap track full of energetic piano and thumping rapid drumbeats, I really like this for all the speed and gleeful headbanging and the sheer sense of exuberance within it, but it shows the problem with the Solid voice - if used wrong, it turns into what can be loosely described as a very squeaky Luka.
【初音ミクAppend】君に、花束を。【PolyphonicBranch】
(Bouquet To You (Polyphonic Branch), Light, Rock)
Light is the easiest Append voice to get into if only because it sounds most like the previews we've heard so far and also most like the basic Miku voice - a little higher, a little cleaned up, but otherwise very normal. Polyphonic Branch are a pretty class act with some good songs under their belt. This isn't incredible, but serves instead to show off Light acceptably well.
【初音ミク】月西江【オリジナル】
(West Moon River (Solpie), Light?, Chinese Vocal)
Just in case you wondered how Append could handle Chinese lyrics. Answer: Pretty good, thanks. This track is absolutely clear as crystal, and while zithers and vocals aren't ever going to make for a high-energy track, it's really quite gorgeous.
COME TO CV-01/初音ミク（light） fullver.
(COME TO CV-01 (lamaze), Light, Pop)
We'll finish off the songs proper with this salute to Vocaloid from lamaze. Not exactly the most stellar of songs, it's a bit lacking in tune but is an acceptable toe-tapper, and lets you listen to Light without all that pesky music getting in the way. Now can we have the PV version, please?
【MikuMikuDance】 Dream Fighter / 初音ミクAppend【ガンダム00】
(Dream Fighter (Perfume), Light + Sweet + Vivid, Electro Pop, MMD)
Remember what I said about the Appends working together? This is an honestly very good rendition of Perfume's Dream Fighter, and to top it all off you get to watch three Gundam Mikus dancing to it. What more could you ask for from a final video?