[Vocaloid Beginner’s Guide] How to Add Dynamics and the Final Process

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• DTMermilk cocoa
  Former IT engineer. I use a wind synthesizer. I make songs using Vocaloid and CeVIO, and sometimes I invite a vocalist to create songs as well. I originally was a half-baked DTM user who only made backing tracks for instrument practice, but after discovering Vocaloid and following its evolution, I fell deep into it—just a music lover. I use Vocaloid 2 Megpoid, Vocaloid 3 IA, and ONE from CeVIO Creative Studio.

Add some contrast and balance

Songs with vocals generally follow certain conventions, progressing in sections like intro → verse (A-melo) → pre-chorus (B-melo) → chorus.

In pop music, you can keep rapidly shifting the development by switching instruments for each part and layering lots of sound effects, but this time it’s a genre where we can’t increase the number of parts, so we’ll inevitably pare it down and keep it simple.

For the A section, we’ll focus on the lead vocal and backing vocals; in the B section, we’ll drop the backing vocals and play arpeggios with the guitar and synth parts; then in the chorus, we’ll center it on the lead and backing vocals and add a bit more backing to thicken the sound.

How to add dynamics in Vocaloid

I make a conscious effort to adjust my singing style for each section—verse A, verse B, and the chorus—to match the changes in the song.

Specifically, I divide it into: a verse (A-melody) where I’m mindful of phrasing breaks; a pre-chorus (B-melody) where I sustain notes to their full value and consciously add vibrato; and a chorus that, in contrast to the B-melody’s long tones, is sung so each word is clearly audible.

This is the accent that is set for each note.decaythe value ofVelocityI’m adjusting with the changes.

While we sometimes move the notes themselves to make fine adjustments like the timing of the vocal entrance, if it’s just a nuance-level tweak, it’s more practical and easier to input the score as written and adjust using parameters.

This time, I went ahead without considering any vocal references, so I didn’t set a specific goal. However, I think consciously imitating the characteristics of singers or artists I like would make the process more engaging and rewarding.

Try combining parts of phrases

This approach doesn’t work in genres built on advanced theory and technique like prog, but for songs made with the simple trio of melody, rhythm, and harmony, combining phrases is an effective tool.

Cut-ups are one of them, but this time the guitar in the B section is also kept to simple parts.

CubaseA tool called Arpache SX is what you might call a ...ArpeggiatorIt’s a tool that, upon receiving input, expands it into a preset pattern of phrases and plays them.

https://www.

youtube.

com/watch?v=NLBLnrMJNGQ

For the B section guitar, I first play chords that follow the song’s progression, then insert Arpache SX on the track and simply set an arpeggio phrase suited for guitar.

The rhythm pattern is just a drum loop played as a pattern with LOOPMASH, with a few effects inserted in parts, so this is a song anyone can easily make.

Organize the sound and finish

Partly because there weren’t many tracks, the cleanup itself was easy, but the low-end clashes...EqualizerOrganize it, make fine adjustments such as slightly lowering the volume only in the sections where it overlaps with the vocal melody, and finally apply a master compressor and...LimiterI put everything together through it (this is called a mixdown).

This completes it.

Review of the objectives for this time

first timeAs I said I wanted to try R&B and use cut-up techniques, that’s where I set my sights.

Reference:[For Vocaloid Beginners] How to Make an Original Song

To put it simply, the characteristics of the R&B style are as follows.

• The number of parts isn’t large.
• A melody is layered over a pattern composed of a small number of instruments.
• Rhythm is important

What I like isDonell JonesAnd I was thinking of aiming for that kind of atmosphere.

https://www.

youtube.

com/watch?v=cMuIPIoqHtQ

In practice, the initial chord progression ended up leaning quite a bit toward pop, and before I could course-correct, I went ahead and finished it that way.

To bring something to completion

As with anything, what you gain differs greatly between quitting partway through when things don’t go well or aren’t as you hoped, and sticking with it to shape it into something—even if it isn’t going well.

This time, I set a goal to use cut-up and create within a specific genre, but to put it bluntly, it was a case where it didn’t work out.

As a result of trial and error, we ended up leaving behind 10 or 20 phrases in the project that we didn’t use, so it might not be the neatest way to wrap things up. However, among them were phrases that didn’t fit this genre but seem usable in other genres.

No matter how many times you fail, while your results may accumulate, you won’t lose anything.

Creating something is a process of repetition, so first try making sounds the way you want.

I hope this will be of some help to those who are about to create original songs with Vocaloid.