Jamming With Meg

 Japanese Language, Music  Comments Off on Jamming With Meg
Sep 082012
 

One of my weirder ideas to improve my Japanese is to pick up a Japanese Vocaloid and write some grammar songs. I grew up on Grammar Rock, and I remember “Conjunction Junction” to this very day.

My idea is that by creating something that tunecrimes me into remembering grammar, I’ll jump ahead a few spaces on the board.

The problem is that buying the Vocaloid software is convoluted. Buying direct from Japan requires using a shipping agent, which adds fees to the already-expensive shipping. Going through a seller on Amazon means that the price is significantly higher, and that’s not figuring in shipping from Japan. (Again.)

So I went back to Vector, my online software store of choice, and found Megpoid Native for 9,000 yen in a download version. I also got Vocaloid 3 editing software from Bplats’ Vocaloid Store, also a download version. So for ~ 18,000 yen, I got a solid voice bank and the editor I need. It’s still kind of pricey, though.

Meg (or GUMI as she’s commonly called in Japan) had a good voice and solid range. I wish the software was more open, in the sense of working with ReWire and Reason. And I wish I could run it like I run Reason– use a USB key or a login and let me use it on more than 1 machine (like a laptop and a desktop.) Unfortunately, the license is one computer only, which sucks for when I travel. If I want to use a laptop, I have to shell out another 18,000 yen for more software.

Another annoying thing: the Japanese Vocaloid store is run by a different company than the English version. So the products they carry are different. And if you want to get job plugins for Vocaloid 3 software, the English store has a paltry 18, while the Japanese store has over 100.

I wish Yamaha and the other companies behind Vocaloid would work harder to reach out to the global users. It’s not easy to just “pick it up,” and it should be. The easier, the better for their bottom line, and my blood pressure.

Penciling Some Notes

 Music, Technology  Comments Off on Penciling Some Notes
Sep 072012
 

I dug out my old Edirol keyboard yesterday, and surprise, surprise, a large number of keys didn’t work.

Apparently over time, the contacts will lose the graphite they need to make the keys work properly, and according to this video, you can just fix it with a mechanical pencil and a 2H (not 2B) lead. Draw on the black parts of the contacts. If you screw up, you’ll have to erase and restart on the problem contact. I cleaned the more stubborn contacts with rubbing alcohol. Also, there’s a little black pad in the rubber cover, and sometimes that needs just a touch of graphite as well.

The main problem with doing this is taking the keyboard apart, and keeping track of not only the keys, but the springs that hold them in place. The best tool for removing the springs was a good pair of needlenose pliers. There are also a ridiculous amount of screws on this keyboard as well.

It took me a while to get some of the notes to work properly, but after a lot of fiddling in Reason, I got all of the keys to work again.

Now I can go back to messing with the new version of Reason, which I am digging, by the way. The last version of Reason I had was 2.5, and it’s up to 6.5 now. I love the new instruments, but I really love the new SSL mixer. That thing is a beast.

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