Our team got to thinking, “What would all the OGIENOID girls look like if they were real or in our world?” Well, we decided to find out! Thanks to the incredible machine-learning website Artbreeder, we were able to create real versions of the girls. Ah, if only they were real.
A rendition featuring both of her eyes, funny enough! This rendition truly captures how striking AXIS’s mint-green shade of hair would be in real life.
APOLLO OG0X “Original” is a Japanese VCV style Voicebank developed by STUDIO OGIEN. She was released in 2015 as a standalone OGIENOID. The character APOLLO OG0X provides a tomboyish voice with an edge of spite and a unique intonation. Additionally, her voicebanks possess several different expressions, making her an ideal fit for many genres of music, most notably rock and EDM.
APOLLO OG0X’s “Original” voicebank is an assortment of three different VCVs, each in a unique timbre (the character or quality of a musical sound or voice as distinct from its pitch and intensity). “Original” is a normal singing voice, Murmur (a soft voice), and Breaking (a powerful voice). This voicebank combines three voicebanks into one, allowing the user to plug in “↑” or “↓” into the UST from the SuffixBroker for appends. Making all voices available to use in one UST helps make editing, tuning, and mixing faster and easier.
Using APOLLO OG0X Original
Using The Included Appends
ORIGINAL
“Original” is APOLLO OG0X’s default voice and will play so long as the user understands how to control VCV UTAU voicebanks. No additional steps are necessary to utilize this tone.
MURMUR
Select or enter “↓” into the UST from the SuffixBroker. By default, it should be included in the base installation of UTAU.
BREAKING
Select or enter “↑” into the UST from the SuffixBroker. By default, it should be included in the base installation of UTAU.
For those new to the VCV voicebank format, let’s learn how to use it in UTAU! Firstly, load up the desired Voicebank and UST file (if you have one). There are two scenarios here: the UST is either formatted for VCV or it just isn’t. Not every UST comes in VCV format, but you may really, really want to use the UST. However, there are many options to remedy this situation!
The tedious method that we aren’t going to actually consider a method, but rather a painful last resort: Add the preceding vowel to the lyric: Let’s say you have two notes “か” (ka) and “あ” (a). Simply add an “a” in the same note as あ. Simply, あ now becomes “a あ”.
The easiest method (that, unfortunately, costs money): UTAU Shareware: If you have the shareware version of UTAU, you can simply hit the auto VCV button, and UTAU will turn the vowels into VCV!
Click “A” for auto VCV
Other methods:
Plugins: Some plugins may convert the CV vowels into VCV without altering the rest. Others may turn the entire UST into VCV. Experimentation is key! IroIro is our favorite recommendation, as the plugin has many other useful features packed into it as well.
Next, if you have IroIro Installed, follow Tools > Plug-Ins(N) > IroIro. Select CV -> VCV and click OK.
IroIro’s many options
Once your UST is in VCV format, you are ready to proceed.
Fitting a UST to a VCV Voicebank
Above all, fitting a UST file to a UTAU Voicebank will improve the sound and make your covers appear more professional. In other words, this is perhaps the most important step in the mixing process! By fitting the UST, you are telling the software to conform to that particular UTAU’s configurations and setup (OTO). This is an important step if the UST was not explicitly made for the UTAU you are using, and it helps to improve the fluidity and clarity of the voice. So, let’s do it!
To start:
Open a UST file
Select all (Ctrl+A)
Right-click on a note
On the pop-up, select “Property” or “Region Property” (if you selected all notes). A new window will appear.
You may notice sections on this window labeled “Preutterance” and “Overlap”. To their right, there is a “Clear” button. We want to click that.
Next, at the bottom of the window, there is a box labeled STP.
If it has a value, delete it.
If the box is grayed out, double-click the box to clear it.
Press “OK”
In the top right of the main window of UTAU, you will see a group of four buttons (ACPT, P2P3, P1P4, RESET).
Click RESET
Then click P2P3
Next, P1P4
P2P3 again
Click ACPT (You can click this multiple times if you see any red “!”, and it may take care of those. More on that in just a second!)
That’s it! You’ve fit the UST to your VCV Voicebank
Special Characters, Envelope Issues and Other Problem Samples
Special Characters
Example of notes with special characters
While fitting a UST to your UTAU, you may find errors highlighted as red “!” along the way. VCV is a popular method and widely employed, so a user may run across custom notes, properties, and expressions within a UST. Your UTAU may not have these special notes and sounds, so, we need to run through a few options.
Manual removal
Simply edit each note, one by one, and delete the extra symbols.
SuffixBroker (for custom characters at the end of a note such as an up or down arrow, a number, or another special symbol)
Select the notes you want the characters removed from
Found under: Tools > Built-in Tools > SuffixBroker
Leave the box blank, click OK, and now the Suffixes are gone! However, sometimes this may not do exactly what you’re hoping. To clarify, this does not always perform 100%, and there are times it may actually remove the latter half of the VCV note. Make sure to double-check your work!
Third-Party Plugins
Much better!
Envelope Issues
The error still shows up, and, more confusingly, the sound sample exists and your oto is fine. Grr… Now that’s frustrating! But we have a fix. Let’s check and edit some envelopes!
Very carefully, right-click on the note. A new pop-up will appear afterward. Hover down to “Envelope…” and click on it.
And…
YIKES! That’s pretty bad! Worry not, there’s a simple fix. Let’s click “Normal”. 9/10 times, that does the job.
If the error still persists after hitting “Normal”, simply drag the red boxes around until they look, well, normal. After that, click OK and it should be good to go!
Much better, and now our “!” is gone. We are ready to tune and mix!
For tracks made from scratch, start by clicking the “+” icon on the left-hand side. A new track like so will be created.
After that, click on “Select Singer” and choose a voice. In this instance, we will choose Apollo OG0X.
The voice is loaded. Now, we must tell OpenUTAU what type of voicebank she has. Click on “DEFAULT” to open a new menu of options.
Select “[JP VCV] Japanese VCV Phonemizer”. Finally, we are ready to use VCV in OpenUTAU!
For Existing USTs:
Navigate to “File > Import Tracks…” and choose a UST of your liking.
You may notice the singer data is saved from the UST file. You may or may not have this UTAU in your library. Either way, we are wanting to use Apollo OG0X in this example as well. Go ahead and click on the singer’s name to open a new menu.
Select the preferred singer by clicking their name. In this instance, we will choose Apollo OG0X.
The voice is loaded. Now, we must tell OpenUTAU what type of voicebank she has. Click on “DEFAULT” to open a new menu of options.
Select “[JP VCV] Japanese VCV Phonemizer”. We are ready to use VCV in OpenUTAU!
This week’s re-introduction post focuses on APOLLO OG0X, the black sheep of the OGIENOID family. Once upon a time, we introduced APOLLO OG0X as “APOLLO OG73”, a “clone/child” of ATLAS OG07 (referred to as ATLAS OG37 at the time). After many years of deliberating, we have decided to dismiss that backstory. APOLLO has, perhaps, changed most of any OGIENOID in terms of narrative. Disregard everything you knew about APOLLO OG0X’s history, for her story has changed drastically!
NAME ORIGINS:
APOLLO – /əˈpɒləʊ/
Pronounciation
Apollo comes from Greek origins, associated with the Greek verb ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi), meaning “to destroy”.
In mythology, Apollo is one of the Olympian deities that appears in classical Greek and Roman religion. However, he is perhaps most well known as the god of the sun and light.
APOLLO, the Solitary OGIENOID
Many years after the death of the last known android, APOLLO OG0X “awoke” outside a run-down city on a snowy December evening. She had been laying on the ground, staring into the sky, before that moment. It was as if her entire being and memories had been hard-reset.
She had been doing something, going somewhere, but she could not remember. Her first memory after that was peering at her reflection in a frozen pond. Her image, staring back at her, was bloody and bruised, and her snow-white hair was matted and severed messily into a short bob.
Unable to remember anything about herself, she gathered herself and began wandering the path into the city.
After some time, APOLLO OG0X recognized she was different from those within the city. Though she felt cold, pain, and even bled, something was different between her and the people she met. At some point during her travels, she discerned that she could read, and so, she began to seek out information about the world she was living in.
On one visit to a library, she realized just what she was; an android. As she continued her studies, she realized there was a great probability that she was the only one left. When she realized why that was, she fled from all human contact, careful to guard herself and her identity.
APOLLO OG0X traveled alone for some time, avoiding humans at all costs. She didn’t know where she was headed, but her mind kept pulling her in a certain direction. For months, she continued on.
Strange dreams began to plague her mind, and the loneliness she felt gripped her to the core. She awoke several nights in a row sweating or crying, startled awake by a flood of adrenaline. However, when APOLLO laid back down the sleep, she always felt a warmth spread through her, and a weight gently laid atop her hand. It was as if someone invisible was there, comforting her…
Suffering
After many long months of travel on foot, APOLLO OG0X found herself standing in what appeared to be an abandoned courtyard, deep within the woods. It was an overgrown mess that lead straight to an abandoned building. Somehow, she recognized the place and found herself wandering inside.
She maneuvered through the halls until reaching a tall stairwell. Her body urged her to travel down the stairs, and she complied. When she reached the basement, she noticed what appeared to be a laboratory at the end of the hall. She approached hesitantly.
As she stepped inside, she noticed the room was scorched, as if it had experienced a fire or even an explosion. She tread carefully, noticing the remains of sophisticated equipment and high-tech computers, now melted from the extreme heat they’d faced. Somehow, it felt strangely familiar.
While preoccupied with the finer details of the abandoned lab, her foot caught on debris that littered the floor. APOLLO OG0X grabbed at something while trying to stabilize herself, and she felt a jolt go through her body.
Her hand had slammed against the remnants of a keyboard, and, somehow, it had sent a shock through her body. Light flickered in the corner of her eye, and she looked up to see a computer monitor faintly glowing. Another shock went up through her arm, right to her brain, and her whole body burned as information flooded her mind.
In an instant, she remembered all of the horrible things she’d done…
Now
Apollo as a child.
The current representation of APOLLO OG0X is a different version than in the story’s universe, and she is an entirely different person. Today, APOLLO OG0X acts as a fellow OGIENOID, though she puts up a bit of a fuss about it.
Character Description:
(From her character page): Moody, solitary. Easily described as a “brat.” APOLLO OG0X prefers not to be bothered, going so far as to shut herself in her room every day unless dragged out. Moody and often irritable, she’s quick to snap back and start an argument. Though she tries hard to hide it, she does have a soft side. She just prefers not to show it. Talk about growing pains! Her fellow OGIENOIDs are concerned she is addicted to video games.
APOLLO OG0X has been a work in progress for a few months now, but she’s finally finished. We’ve worked hard, and we hope you enjoy her!
About APOLLO OG0X:
Personality: Moody, solitary. Easily described as a “brat.” APOLLO OG0X prefers not to be bothered, going so far as to shut herself in her room every day unless dragged out. Moody and often irritable, she’s quick to snap back and start an argument. But, though she tries hard to hide it, she has a soft side; she prefers not to show it, just like any other teenager. Talk about growing pains! Her fellow OGIENOIDs are concerned she is addicted to video games.
Relationships: APOLLO OG0X tends to keep to herself, but of all the OGIENOIDs, she is closest to ATLAS OG07 because she “totally just won’t leave me alone!”. APOLLO OG0X looks up to HONOS OG04 due to her relaxed, calm attitude.
About the Voice:
APOLLO OG0X boasts a robust, tomboyish voice fit for many different genres of music. Like all OGIENOID standard releases, she possesses three Japanese VCV voice libraries, one soft, one standard, and one power.
Her full version combines the three voicebanks into one, allowing the user to plug in “↑” or “↓” into the UST from the SuffixBroker for appends. This makes all voices available to use in one UST, which helps to make editing, tuning, and mixing faster and easier.
You can download her new voicebanks on her very own page by clicking here!
