Weekly Vocaloid Ranking # 198 (July 11-18, 2011)

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Hello guys. It's been a while since I last wrote a post and I know the lateness of this is inexcusable. I'm really sorry. Work has been killing me right now (I'm on overtime until 11PM for the sixth day OTL). Please, please forgive me again this time for the lack of interesting stuff to say.

Anyway, this week, Nem continues his reign on number 1, but for a different song. Episode.0 also saw another week at the ranking, thanks to Gackt's single being release. There's quite a lot of cute Luka songs released this week, but it's coupled by two unusual songs from UramanbouP and Kikuo's usual creepy stuff.

↑# - the song moved up from a previous top 30 rank
↓# - song moved down from a previous top 30 rank
↵ - song is a re-entry to the top 30 rankings

original nicovideo link

Songs are arranged from 1-30.

( top 30 under the cut )

Producer Spotlight: ◯P / Saionji Tanaka

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◯P

mylist | piapro

Mainly known by his artist name Saionji Tanaka, ◯P is called such because of his penchant for using "◯" in his upload notes.

◯P is a slightly new Vocaloid producer, having only started uploading February last year. While his primary genre is Vocarock, he has composed songs with pop-ish and even traditional Japanese vibes. Most of his melodies are obviously synthesized, but his guitars are quite nice with an echo-ey effect on them. He mostly composes repetitive melodies, with a sudden rise at the chorus, as is usual of pop and rock songs. The lack of real-sounding instruments might seem a bit of a disadvantage, especially in his choice of musical styles, but he pulls them off, making his songs actually catchy and nice to listen to. His lyrics often talk of every day things, whether romance-related or just related to a person's daily activities.

◯P has only used Kagamine Rin and Hatsune Miku in his solo works and even in collaborative works, he has only tuned them. His Miku is tuned low and solid while his Rin is high-pitched and sharp--typical tuning for both Vocaloids in rock songs.

sample songs
• Hanauta (group, tuned for Kagamines)
• Kitai Nante (Miku)
• Tsukiakari no Yoru, Boku dake no Jikan (Miku)
• Kimi Shidai no Machi (Rin)
• Aru Hi no Rikkyou (Miku)

nikki says
I honestly do not know much about ◯P, but when I was listening to his songs, I like the certain aura he puts in them, like it's rock, but it's not something that builds up emotions. His songs are more of relaxing, probably because of his solid tuning and muffled, echo-ey guitars. Hanauta is not his solo work, as it involves other Ps, but it's a promising song. For now, my favorite from him is Aru hi no Rikkyou.

Producer Spotlight: ■P

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■P

mylist | blog

■P is a previously-prolific Vocaloid producer. He started uploading songs in 2008 and updated frequently, although at present, he does not upload much, with his last upload being back in 2010. He is mostly known for his KAITO and MEIKO works, and is a talented composer who's often overlooked. No one knows how to really pronounce his name, although most of the time, it is said as "squareP".

■P's musical style is hard to specify. He has written mostly melodies rich in piano music with large Western influence. He seems especially good at composing jazz bordering in blues (like those songs you hear in old clubs/live houses!) and his saxophone and drum sounds are awesome. He also writes ballads and traditional folk-sounding songs. He's very dexterous in using instruments, especially the piano, which is always poignant and hauntingly pretty. His songs usually have deep, psychological themes in them, but he also have some with social issues. It is said that he usually has song motifs inspired by cyberpunk author Kanbayashi Chouhei.

He mostly uses KAITO and MEIKO in his works, but he also uses Kasane Teto. His MEIKO is tuned medium, with very slight rises in voice and never high-pitched, which gives her an "adult" nature, as most of his viewers say. His KAITO is known for his deep, ikemen voice. We all know how the early editions of VOCALOID sound, so it is inevitable that MEIKO and KAITO sound shaky, but for ■P he has tuned them well that the transitions between the pitches are not very obvious. His blending and second voices are also wonderful.

sample songs
• Nowhere Love (KAITO)
• Kin no Irihi ni Tefuukin (MEIKO)
• Taisoushi (KAITO)
• Natsu no Niwa to Shiroi Kotsu (MEIKO)
• Izayoi no Tsuki (KAITO x MEIKO)

nikki says
To be honest, I don't know about ■P before I looked him up for this spotlight. I hear about him when I search for MEIKO/KAITO stuff, but I haven't had the chance to listen to him before this. I am SO glad that I did listen to his works. There are a lot of vocajazz songs, but not all of them sound like those jazz and blues songs played from old livehouses. ■P's jazz songs sound like them, from the piano to the snap of the drums to the saxophone melody. Aside from that, his European/folk-inspired songs are great, too. He's also probably one of the best KAIMEI tuners I've heard and I've been looping his songs a lot. Right now, my favorite is his jazz song, Nowhere Love, which he wrote for KAITO's birthday, and Kin no Irihi no Tefuukin, which has awesome accordion melody.

Utaite Spotlight: Lilie/Lily

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Lilie / Lily / リリィ

mylist | blog

Lilie is an utaite highly regarded for her wonderful soprano voice and impeccable mixing. She was formerly known as Ririco, and by 2010, she has officially changed her utaite name to Lilie or Lily.

Lilie's voice, as mentioned, is a clear, strong soprano. The fact that she can still sing with force despite the very high notes often make her listeners amazed. But even if she's mostly singing very high songs, she can also sing in a full and solid low voice. She mostly sings techno and folk-inspired Vocaloid songs, and generously utilizes autotune and other effects that gives her voice a whispery, digital and even scrambled effect. She often calls her shaky, echoey voice effect the Bohemian version. She is also known for "whistling" in her early works.

Lilie has participated in some Touhou vocal albums as well as some utaittemita albums including "Alternative" by VUCA. She has also collaborated with a lot of utaite including Re:, Himawari, etc.

sample songs
A. Solos
• L'azur (Treow original)
• Zou+ (AVTechNO! original)
• Tsubasa wa nai kedo Watashi wa Toberu (kaoling original)
• World's End Dancehall (wowaka original)
• Candy Addict Full Course (Machigerita original)

• Synchronicity ~Dai Ni Dan, Hikari to Kage no Rakuen~ (w/ Re:, HitoshizukuP original)
• free (w/ Himawari, AVTechNO! original)

nikki says
To be honest, I don't listen to Lilie on a regular basis, but I think her voice, while not for your usual listening playlist, is unique and is always a pleasure to listen to. I was first taken by her cover of L'azur, and took note of how great the mixing (not to mention the high pitched parts) was. Eventually, I ended up listening to her again after I loved her and Re's cover of Synchronicity. I think I like her traditional/folk-inspired covers more, especially her kaoling covers, but it's always a surprise listening to her covers of more popular songs, like wowaka's XD. I don't dig her Bohemian voice much, but I admit it adds a certain impact to her songs.

Utaite Spotlight: Re:

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Re:

mylist | blog | community

Re: (pronounced "re") is already an institution in the utattemita community. I doubt there are many fans who do not know of him. He started uploading in Nico Nico Douga sometime in 2007 and is still active at present. He is mostly known before for his Airman ga Taosenai and Uninstall cover. He also divides his works in three: one where he does everything (from singing to voipa to second voices), where he does half (he sings and sometimes plays instruments), and where he does only a part (where he only does the mixing or second-voicing). He composes songs, plays instruments like the piano, and sings well, making him a truly gifted individual.

Re: is mostly known for his awesome falsetto which never wavers even at very high notes. He also has a characteristic vocal strength even at the high parts. He also earned the tag "kimai" which is a portmanteau of "kimoi" and "umai", meaning he sings even the funnily disturbing things so well that people have taken a liking to him. While he first became popular for covering anime songs, he has moved on a bit to the Vocaloid side and eventually, in original works. He can sing virtually anything, from ballads to pop to traditional/folk-based music, although he does very little rock covers. Aside from his falsetto, his voice can also change according to the scenario/singers in the song, which is why his covers are interesting. He has proved to be a versatile singer, in both CDs/uploads to live events.

He has formed a collaboration with a lot of people, starting with GaRiRe:O with Gazelle (Yanagi Nagi at present) and Sariya-jin. He also formed JR with J, which is also connected to the Metal of Series, where they sing metal arranges of anime songs. His most recent collaboration partner is Lilie.

sample songs:
A. Solos
• Noroi no Megane ~Stray Girl in her Lenses~ (BucchigiriP original)
• Ura Omote Lovers ~Kansai ver~ (wowaka original)
• Kami no Namae ni Ochiru Mono (kaoling original)
• 1925 (T-Pocket original)

B. Collabs
• Roshin Yuukai (w/ PUPI, iroha original)
• Mienai Kuro ni Ochiteyuke (w/ Lilie, kaoling original)

nikki says
I first knew Re: as a singer who covers anime songs, and even now I still love his anime theme/jpop covers (I love his covers of Saa and Konayuki ;; ). I'm very picky when it comes to Re:'s songs, though, since I think that while he can sing anything, his voice fits a certain type of genre. Recently I've fallen in love with his and Lilie's collabs and I had hoped that they'd do more kaoling collabs in the future. I'm glad I wasn't disappointed.