Utaite Spotlight: Rui

[southerncross]

Rui

mylist | community | twitter | mixi

Having celebrated her first anniversary last January 10th, Rui is considered fairly new in the utattemita scene. Even if she's just new, she is a very promising singer that there are a lot of fans who are noticing her. Her voice is very rich and distinct so it's hard to compare her to other utaite. Her voice can be likened to Riseha and Saiya but it's fuller than theirs. She doesn't force herself to reach the high notes so it doesn't strain her voice.

In a period of one year, Rui has a small mylist. Despite this, she rendered each cover beautifully. The good thing about Rui's choice of songs is that it fits her voices. She adds uniqueness to songs by including adlibs like saying "I love you" at the end of Track.

Rui and Nano are good friends. Nano listens and comments in Rui's lives as well as collaborated with her. They sometimes hang out in real life as well.

Rui usually sings during her lives. She even takes requests from her listeners.

sample songs
Trick Art! (DATEKEN original)
Risky Game (Kurousa original)
Track (KEI original)
glow (keeno original)
Aa, Subarashiki Nyansei -with nano- (Nem original)

sample songs
I knew of Rui because dakedo is a very big fan. I visited her mylist and saw the she covered Trick Art! by DATEKEN. For me, Trick Art! is very hard to cover because a lot of people have the tendency to eat the words in the song. Naturally, her Trick Art! is my favorite cover of that song.

What I really like about Rui's voice is that it's different from what I usually hear from female utaite. She doesn't overdo her covers and her voice matches the emotion of the song.

Special thanks to dakedo and thelittleone for helping me with the spotlight.

Producer Spotlight: rlboro

[fascinates]

rlboro

mylist | piapro

Rlboro started upping his works in Nico Nico Douga sometime in 2009 and while not as active as most producer, is quite known for the high quality of his works. His name is taken from his favorite cigarette brand. He had more songs in the past from 2009 but he has deleted them for unknown reasons. His hit song "I" used to have more than 100k views before he deleted it. When it was reuploaded it gained about 40k views.

His songs are categorized as rock, ballad, and pop, with the guitars especially sharp and echoey. This makes his songs disctinctly in his style no matter what genre he composes. Most of his songs are upbeat and cheery-sounding rockish songs but he has also delved into doing rock ballads. Aside from his own works, he also did remixes of songs and has not kept to just rock arrangements but also jazz and other styles.

Rlboro uses only Miku in his works. His Miku is tuned high and crisp, with sharp peak notes which surprisingly does not sound shrill despite the tone. Because of the nature of his music, his Miku's often loud and echoey, which makes her sing clearly against his guitars.

He doesn't have his own album, but rlboro has participated in some compilations, including "Innovator-gaku".

sample songs
• I
• TARARURA*
• You
• Dancing Music Lonely
• Amakoi Monogatari

remixes
• Sweet Devil (rlboro jazz)
• Mad Lovers

nikki says
I haven't checked rlboro's mylist in a while so I was sad to see that some of his songs are erased :(. I especially liked his "I" and "One for me". I'm a sucker for guitars in songs so his songs have always been special to me, especially my favorites. It's sad that he has only uploaded a new song so I hope he'll be more active soon.

Producer Spotlight: Axe. E.

[fascinates]

Axe.E.

mylist | youtube channel | piapro

Axe.E. started uploading his works in Nico Nico Douga sometime in 2010. He has only uploaded about ten songs since then but he has showed great progress as well as diversity in his works.

Axe started by composing electronic rock music with a particular highlight on the guitars and bass. Eventually, his guitars became a bit more distinct and rich, probably also because he had started playing the guitar himself. Most of his songs start off with a power intro that slowly dissolves into a slow, emo rock ballad with passionate lyrics. His songs often speak of sad interpersonal conflicts, but has a sliver of determination and hope in the end.

His initial Vocaloid is Luka and she is tuned surprisingly higher than usual with a distinct sharpness at the end of her phrases. He had also used Lily's trial, where he tuned Lily with a low, sultry drawl. Eventually, he began using VY1, who is tuned high and cute, quite different from her usual tuning which makes it interesting; and GUMI just recently, who is also tuned a bit higher than usual but with her signature whispery voice.


sample songs:
• Breath (Megurine Luka)
• FINAL RESISTANCE (VY1)
• Mine (VY1) [ Eng trans ]
• Nemuranai Yume (GUMI) [ Eng trans ]
• Overture (Lily) [ Eng trans ]

nikki says
I was fortunate to meet Axe in Twitter more than a year ago when he was just starting as a VocaloP. Since he's a good friend I've been hesitant to feature him here, but I wanted to chronicle his improvement as a Vocaloid producer as time goes by. It's also through the encounter with him that I'm given a glimpse of how VocaloPs work on their songs and how it takes time for them to hone their skills in composing, playing music, and tuning, and in a way it made me appreciate the good work producers do. Axe has a promising talent, especially in guitar work as well as tuning Vocaloids, which you notice gets better with his each upload. My favorite song by him would be "Nemuranai Yume" (both by VY1 and GUMI) and "Final Resistance".