Producer Spotlight: Tak Nikaido

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Tak Nikaido/タック二階堂

mylist | piapro

Tak Nikaido is a Vocaloid producer who started upping his works in 2009 but started actively composing songs for Vocaloid in 2010 up to present. His P name is DanyuuP, but it is not used a lot and the origin of this name is currently unknown.

Tak Nikaido's songs range from slightly upbeat pop songs to ballads. He specializes in composing songs with very light melodies, usually starting with a piano/guitar melody as base and adding in gently subtle drums, electric guitar and other instruments. This is He also has a knack for using sound effects like thunder, breaking glass and nature sounds in his songs, giving them a 'natural' or 'near to real' sort of feeling. Aside from his original works, he also does a lot of covers of Vocaloid and non-Vocaloid songs, usually using GUMI.

He mostly uses GUMI, Miki and Miku (+Append) in his works, but he has also used Lily in rare occasions. All of his Vocaloids are tuned with an airy, gentle feel, making them have a breathy and slightly lower than usual voices.

sample songs
• Virgin Snow (GUMI feat. Miki)
• Xiaolongbao (GUMI x Miki)
• Kita Natsu Kaze (GUMI)
• So Long (Miku)
• Kaminari no Musume (GUMI)

nikki says
I first knew of Tak Nikaido during GUMI's birthday festival last 2010 when he released "Kita Natsu Kaze", which is a beautiful song. I translated it here, if anyone is interested! Anyway, after that, I've begun following his works, which are sadly few, but nevertheless really nice to listen to. I like his ballads the most, probably because of their airy feeling, but his upbeat ones are interesting as well. I think the part I like most about his songs is the interesting use of sound effects XD;.

Producer Spotlight: JiminushiP / Chitose

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JiminushiP / 地味主P

mylist | piapro | blog | pixiv

JiminushiP started uploading his Vocaloid songs sometime February of 2010 and with satisfactory activity, he managed to release a little more than ten songs up to the present. While I have no idea where his P name came from, I prefer calling him by his used name, Chitose, which is easier to remember ^^;.

Chitose's songs are always heavy on guitars, which is is specialty. Most of the time, his works range from folk to alternative rock to rock ballads and are kind of reminiscent of 80s rock. Actually, the highlight of his songs are his wonderful guitar playing, particulary by the intros and bridge where he has a lovely long guitar instrumental. He has an interesting way of combining guitar music (several melodies using acoustic and electric guitar + bass) with piano music and muffled drum beats. He also has a way of using uplifting, energized songs to depict sadness, like how yukkedoluce always have cheerful-sounding beats despite his heartbreaking themes.

Chitose uses only Miku in his works, but he has used UTAU on a few occassions. His Miku is tuned solid and echoey with a slightly high rendering than other Ps. The echoey quality of his tuning makes his Miku sing well despite all the guitar works in his melody, and she never gets drowned by his music.

Aside from being active in composing Vocaloid songs, Chitose also performs in the egaitemita section, playing guitar covers of other songs (Vocaloid and non-vocaloid). He also draws, as you might notice from the pixiv account up there, and just like Yukkedoluce, he draws and makes the art and PV for his songs. This talented person is also very happy with his wife and three adorable kids, which he proudly updates us with in his twitter and blog.

sample songs
• Midnight Work
• End Call
• Dreamer [translation]
• Breakthrough
• Tsumugu Melody Repeat

nikki says
I actually discovered Chitose-san quite late, in his song "Dreamer", which I accidentally read in my Twitter timeline when it was uploaded. My favorite Vocaloid genre is rock and I'm a sucker for good guitar melodies, so I'm easily taken by his other songs. I find his guitar playing interesting because there's no specific pattern I can find. Like, they're all different EACH time sans the Miku parts. But more than that I've taken a liking to his wonderful kids, so aside from his songs, I'm actually looking forward to his updates about his children too /sobs ;___;. Why are they so cute D: D: /c-coughs... Anyway, it's rare seeing people who can compose music, play the instruments for their music and even draw/make the PV for their song as well, so I'm pretty much impressed by all his works XD.