How heavily do you rely on USTs?

Arissa

Ritsu's Renegades
Defender of Defoko
I know this question might sound sort of weird, but I noticed that a bulk of utau covers have used someone's UST. I'm not saying this is bad or even lazy, seeing as how difficult the program can be. My question is, how heavily do you all rely of them?

I can see how starting from scratch for a song that no other utau has sung can be difficult and time-consuming compared to a cover that has a good UST handy. I'm curious as to if anyone does a cover entirely on their own without one, or how often they use others' USTs to help cover a song.
 

kimchi-tan

Your local Mikotard
Global Mod
Defender of Defoko
I rely on them for the correct note pitches and length because I have a hard time knowing if they're on the correct key/length if I make my own ust, lyrics because I'm lazy, and harmonies because how to even harmony.

USTs that I have made/are making were mostly made from an existing midi by someone else :')

But other than that, I can handle everything else (tuning and stuff).
 

Animé Fan

Head of the Shonen Academy
Defender of Defoko
Even though I've been using UTAU for a while, I still reuly on USTs. Guilty as charged! :cry:

Though I have tried making USTs from scratch back then; they're just not as great as others and lack essential elements such as vibratos and curves. Plus, finding the BPM of certain songs can be rather difficult, even when using a BPM website.
 

Hazu パワ

Weeaboo yet not Weeaboo
Defender of Defoko
USTs are basically virtual sheet music for UTAU and that's exactly how I see them as - Just sheet music.
So far as I'm aware- I'm really bad at identifying specific tones from each other so trying to make a UST from scratch is almost impossible for me(I do plan on fixing that by taking singing lessons and lessons on making music.)
But I always try to edit every bit of a UST to make it more original(and fitting or human-ish) and fix errors I can see.

I tried making USTs before but usually someone beats me to it before I can finish.(or its so bad that I just simply stop hehe...)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nohkara and Arissa

HoneyPai

Defoko's Slaves
Defender of Defoko
I rely on usts for correct note length
I've made usts from scratch and it's just so time consuming, especially for English.
But I don't think I rely too much on them
Tuning and timing I'm okay at
It's just that sometimes I can't find the correct note length for a few sounds in the middle of a lyric
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nohkara and Arissa
P

partial

Guest
I will make a UST of a song that doesn't have one, if I really want to cover it. But I do not see the point at all in making the same USTs that have already been made, because chances are the UST you make will go unnoticed compared to ones that are years old.

But - I always, always retune and modify everything (and, of course, still give credit to the UST maker).
 

Kiyoteru

UtaForum power user
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
If I want to cover a song, and if there's already a UST, and if I like the UST, I'll use it.
But if any of those conditions aren't met, I'll make my own UST. So there have been situations when I've made my own UST for a song that already had one, because I wanted it to be arranged in such a way that I can arrange and mix parts the way I wanted to later on. (I always bring up my Hyperdontia cover. My personal files are a total mess, but it's in a structure that couldn't be achieved with the popularly used UST.) There's also, of course, the times when a song doesn't have a UST or when I have to make them for my own songs. I honestly don't think it's that troublesome. Once you get a workflow going, it can be easy to pump them out.
 

peskaroo

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
I'm still really new to the program, so I rely super heavily on USTs, but I have a feeling that even if I manage to figure out how to make them properly on my own, I'll still rely on the ones others make.

Part of it is because it's already there for me to use, so might as well?
 

RaccoonButler

Founder of The Church of Mawarine Shuu
Defender of Defoko
Ever since I learned how to make usts it has greatly expanded my meme abilities so I don't rely on them as much anymore, however if a ust exists already I'd rather use that one even if it's kinda messed up just cus I'm lazy, lel.

It sort of depends on how badly I want to cover the song though. If Ijust kinda wanna cover it and there's no ust then I probably won't
 

Amzsie

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
There is usually USTs for the songs I want to cover, but if their isnt one, Ill make it (I just gotta find the motivation).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Arissa and Piia

ReticentResolve

Ancient Master of Filibustering
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
Unfortunately, I do rely on them pretty heavily. I have tried before to make a ust, but i'm just not experienced enough with them yet. I can make voicebanks, don't get me wrong, but I've got to work on my pitching and enveloping before I'd be comfortable using my own usts and releasing a cover of them.

When I do try to make usts, I normally try to find actual sheet music of the song and seperate out what part the vocals are. Mostly pdfs and Musescore.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Arissa

hopeandjoy

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
Even coming on 8 years later I am very reliant on them. I have no ear for pitches unless I am hearing a vocal track right against another, which makes midi making hard for me. Of course, if an UST's tuning is awful or it came untuned or I'm making the UST from a VSQ, I will retune it myself, but if the tuning on the UST fits when I test it on whatever UTAU I use, I will use it.

It's why I feel awkward sometimes when people say I have good tuning skills. I don't think the covers I actually have tuned are bad, but I have far better UST fitting and cover mixing skills. That's also why I don't like covering songs with the same UTAU other people have used.
 

수연 <Suyeon>

Your friendly neighborhood koreaboo trash
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
I've started singing again and... by the time I make Oliver a Korean dictionary or convert from SeeU/Bora, I could get a cover halfway done with my own voice... I can make USTs/VSQX, but... time. Not to mention the shortage of Korean vocals (and prominence of rap sections).

I'm a lazy bum as far as Japanese is concerned though, and will use pre-made UST cause of abundance.
 

Arissa

Ritsu's Renegades
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
I can understand. I'm not so good at music when it comes to playing lol And at first I thought that a UST would just show someone what to put into a song cover, but I saw that it just puts in everything and if it's stunning quality not much retuning is needed ^^ I've only made like one cover that I used a UST for,(I get nothing done rn ;^^) and judging by how difficult it is to make covers raw and solo, let alone something original, I'm going to be using USTs for a while ':D
 

luiysia

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
I never make my own USTs from scratch but I'll sometimes use a MIDI or VSQ if it's a more obscure song with no UST available. plus I'll almost always retune it :P
 
  • Like
Reactions: WyndReed

VocAddict

The Voice Within Us
Defender of Defoko
I don't rely on them as much as I used to. Most times, I'll do the UST from scratch because of the way I tune even if there's another one for the song.

Unless I want to keep the tuning from a pre-made one, the most I use them for is a guide for note lengths.
 
  • Like
Reactions: luiysia

Similar threads