This article is about the VOCALOID4 software known as a voicebank. If you are looking for the VOCALOID character then click here.
History[]
Megurine Luka Append: 2010[]
Megurine Luka was the next member of the Character Vocal series to receive an append.
Wat confirmed he was considering an "aggressive Whisper" vocal for her.[1]
In December 2010, tests were run on Luka's alpha expression voice. However, it was not as sexy as Wat had hoped.[2] Wat was also surveying the quality of the vocal.[3]
Confirmation of production order was MEIKO > Megurine Luka >> KAITO.[4]
Megurine Luka Append: 2011[]
The first commercial use of the Luka Append was by Konori on the album VOCALOID民族調曲集 (VOCALOID Minzokucho Kyokushu), where she sings "Hoshizora to Yuki no Butoukai (Zeal mix)".[5] The VOCALO APPEND album later used a beta voicebank of Luka's Soft Append.[6]
In July, Wat reported that MEIKO and Luka's progresses were coming along quietly.[7]
In a tweet on July 12, Wat mentioned doing tests in relation to a Luka "Soft" append.[8]
On December 1, Wat noted that all previous demos were originally rendered with the VOCALOID2 engine and things were being redone for the VOCALOID3 engine.[9]
A video with samples from the VOCALO APPEND album was uploaded on December 17.
Megurine Luka Append: 2012[]
Crypton confirmed that they were going to add Japanese and English voicebanks to Luka's V3 appends, but were still trying to work out how to make them cost effective.[10]
Megurine Luka V3: 2013[]
Wat confirmed that Luka and MEIKO were planned for release on VOCALOID3, but no estimated releases were set at this moment.[11]
In November, it was confirmed that Luka's V3 version was in the process of being tuned. It was reported to sound the same as the VOCALOID2 vocal, but less painful to listen to.[12]
Later in December, Wat continued to speak of Luka. He mentioned the new standard vocal was calm, a second vocal had more of a flashy flare about it, and a 3rd was a more breathy vocal intended to be sexy. Their focus was a vocalist with a varied tone.[13]
On December 16, Wat mentioned having worked with Luka's recording and thanked Asakawa for her patience.[14] The day before, Wat mentioned recording the sound, "spell" (the 50 sounds needed for Japanese), using a customized list rather than the standard YAMAHA "Spell".[15] At the end of 2013, Wat mentioned he was working on the personality of each Kagamine and Megurine vocal.[16] Wat also mentioned working on a feminine SOFT-like voice, but thought the bass was not good enough and needed adjustments. Wat mentioned he had done some experimental recording in the second half of 2013.[17]
Megurine Luka V4X: 2014[]
In January 2014, it was mentioned that a "POWER" vocal was being produced. Comparing Luka's new vocal, MEIKO Power and Rin's Power Append (VOCALOID2), Wat mentioned these forceful vocals always maintained a strong feeling, even compared to the reduced wavelength of Rin POWER's V2 vocal.[18] Wat also mentioned there were annoyances with Luka's "elegant tone of voice" in the new vocal.[19] After a week of editing Kagamine Rin's vocal, Wat mentioned it was time to return to working on Luka.[20]
Luka V3 was given a website in January 2014. The only data contained within the page at the time were the 3 main features of the upcoming release. At the bottom of the page, it was mentioned that details were to be released soon. On January 30, Wat mentioned that there was a shift from α and that the β version was now under construction.[21] The vocal was under experimental techniques and was being scrutinized during its development.[22] The adjustments being made to Luka's V3 vocal gave her more expression within the vocal.[23] Wat mentioned that in regards to to the "core" sound of Luka, the VOCALOID team (consisting of 3 producers, a sound engineer, and a project director) met up for discussion every 3 weeks to debate on the progress for further adjustments to the product.[24] They were aiming to make the vocal more flexible.[25]
On January 31, Wat mentioned that checking the characteristics of Luka's voice and the vowel/consonants were the focus being the #C5 range, mentioning the printouts of Luka's data were mounting up on his desk at the time.[26] Wat also explained what he meant by increasing the expressiveness of Luka's voice and that it did not refer to a falsetto vocal, but the allowance of extreme pitches.[27] At the end of January, Wat mentioned that they were working on the things mentioned on her teaser site. They were considering the forms of past Appends, there were changes to the databases of each vocal, and that the forms previous Appends took may not be the best.[28]
Wat mentioned thickness of vocal was one of several focuses. Bass and vocal range were all being worked upon while trying to keep them sounding natural.[29] Crypton was working on a new method of recording the Luka vocal that was proving successful.[30] It was mentioned that Luka, Rin, and Len were all being worked upon at the same time.[31] Later, Wat tweeted that Luka's new voice was maybe too thick.[32]
In late March, both POWER and WHISPER vocals were mentioned as being checked upon.
On July 11, Asakawa tweeted that they were "recording Luka in a very interesting way" and she said that she would be posting pictures of the recording process when the time came.[33] On the 15th, they noted they were using the UTAU "Gahata Meiji" as a template to bring out Luka's qualities.[34]
On August 23, Wat tweeted that Luka's phonemes were entering final tuning.[35] The next day, he tweeted that the design rough draft was nearly ready and he was progressing with the sound brushup.[36]
It was mentioned that they had to work backwards with VOCALOID to bring out the characteristic sex-appeal of her provider's vocal.[37]
Wat later mentioned that Luka was made mostly in-house with help from people in the US. He mentioned that the new Luka voice was worked upon to fit in with YAMAHA's sound system. It was mentioned that he had to constantly remodel the VOCALOID database.[38]
On September 12, Wat tweeted about recruiting people for Japanese and English VSQ data to show off Luka's high and low range.[39][40] Information about Luka V3 would be made available at Miku Expo 2014 held in New York.[41] On October 1, the band that would be featured at the MikuExpo practiced with Luka's voicebank using lyrics written by Rockleetist, who was known for her English translyrics and covers of VOCALOID songs.[42]
On October 9, a demo for Luka was revealed at Miku Expo, as well as her projected release date of the first quarter of 2015, and Wat released a tentative silhouette of Luka V3 on Twitter. He explained that in the next month he would go into detail about why Luka was delayed for so long and mentioned she worked well with a new function.[43]
In late October, PowerFX's Bil Bryant revealed that their new vocal, RUBY, was originally due before December 2014. However, since VOCALOID4 was due release soon, they were holding her back. In light of this, Wat was asked about Luka's status. The title of the product was mentioned and it was noted that Wat had referred to Luka as "New Luka" and was, at the time, not called "Luka V3".[44]
On November 1, it was mentioned that "POWER" was in the process of removing noise interference.[45]
On November 7, Crypton's site was updated to reveal new information about Megurine Luka's update. It was confirmed she was being produced for the V3 engine and would come with the new E.V.E.C ("Enhanced Vocal Expression Control") feature which worked with Japanese vocals. This allowed the user to vary the vocal expression on each note and adjust the power and softness of the enunciation. It also contained various breath sounds.[46]
Later, Wat announced that he would update Luka with more news on the following weekend. Wat apologized for keeping fans of Luka waiting, but Luka featured new innovations.[47] These news consisted of several things Wat discussed that was related to Luka Append, E.V.E.C., and their developments. Wat mentioned there were problems with the variety of choices to use with E.V.E.C. and decided to use POWER/SOFT/CUTE/WHISPER/CLOSED, while POWER2/POWER3/FALSETTO/DOUBLE/HUSKY/DARK were reported as being troublesome voices to deal with. They had to balance out cost and effectiveness of all 9 vocals within.[48] Wat also discussed that several voices sounded close to each other and listed them as: WHISPER/HUSKY、CLOSED/DARK、POWER/POWER2, all of which were recorded without fail. FALSETTO/DARK required much work. POWER's impact on the other vocals was great, but has much less effectiveness on DARK and FALSETTO and was described as annoying.[49] The use of DARK within E.V.E.C was poor and barely "Luka-ish" according to Wat. When he spoke of Luka Append itself, he said that Japanese Luka's DARK append was also hard to balance and gave him less concerns than with the soft/bored tone of Luka English.[50]
Upon the VOCALOID4 announcement in November, it was revealed that the site had been temporarily set up and she would actually be released for the VOCALOID4 engine as "Megurine Luka V4X". Her vocals were changed to "Japanese; Soft/Hard" and "English; Straight/Soft", while her V3 version was said to receive Japanese/Power/Soft/Cute/Whisper/Closed/English. E.V.E.C was finally confirmed to allow access to samples from vocal "colours". This was based on the original "voice of colours" that the Character Vocal series' Appends had intended to follow. The extra Append vocals/colours that were included in E.V.E.C. were POWER, WHISPER, CUTE, SOFT, HUSKY, and FALSETTO.
In late December, Wat mentioned that Luka was focused with variation of "breath" in contrast to the Kagamines' strength of tension.[51] On the 9th, it was mentioned that GWL samples were still being recorded.[52]
Megurine Luka V4X: 2015[]
On January 9, 2015, an updated list of the E.V.E.C vocals were shown. The listed vocals were "Power 1", "Power 2", "Whisper", "Native", "Cute", "Husky", "Soft", "Dark", and "Falsetto".[53]
It was tweeted on January 30 that Luka would have a demo released on the following day. It was also mentioned that she was delayed 20 days later than what they initially had in mind.[54] The demo was confirmed to utilize her English voicebanks and would be using a song that featured Luka's VOCALOID2 version.[55]
According to the emails sent to fans who preordered Luka V4X, she would be released on March 19, 2015.[56]
Posted on the Big Fish Audio page, consumers who had already purchased Hatsune Miku V3, the Hatsune Miku V3 bundle, KAITO V3, or MEIKO V3, could receive a promotional discount towards Luka V4X for a limited time.[57]
Product Information[]
Demonstrations[]
Append version[]
Demonstrations |
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Poison Apple & Cinderella | |
Starry Sky and Snow Ball (Zaoling Mix) | NicoNico |
Poison Apple & Cinderella (Full ver.) | NicoNico |
V4X version[]
Demonstrations |
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| |
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Just Be Friends (English, practice session) | |
Just Be Friends (English, MikuExpo Showcase) | YouTube |
Just Be Friends (English, MikuExpo Concert) | YouTube |
Evec Luka Sound Sample | SoundCloud |
『巡音ルカ V4X』機能紹介デモムービー | NicoNico YouTube |
ベタ打ちショートフレーズ (Luka HARD) | SoundCloud |
ベタ打ちショートフレーズ (Luka HARD, with Power) | SoundCloud |
ベタ打ちショートフレーズ (Luka HARD, with Power and volume adjustment) | SoundCloud |
RIP=RELEASE (Short ver.) (English Straight and Soft) | NicoNico YouTube |
残酷な天使のテーゼ (Zankoku na Tenshi no Tēze) (Japanese Hard and Soft, with EVEC) | YouTube Box |
Just Be Friends (Short ver.) (English Straight and Soft) | NicoNico YouTube |
シュガーバイン (Sugarvine) (Short ver.) (Japanese Hard and Soft) | YouTube |
System Requirements[]
- OS:
- Windows: Windows 7 (32/64bit)/ Windows 8 (32/64bit)
- Mac: OS X 10.8, 10.9, 10.10
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GHz or more
- RAM: 2GB or more (recommended more than 4GB)
- Hard Disk Capacity:
- Windows:
- More than 25GB (NTFS format)
- Mac:
- More than 25GB (HFS+ format)
- Windows:
- Other: while the Windows ver. can be both physical (3 discs) and digital, the Mac version is DL only.
- Internet connection.
Voicebanks[]
GENERAL USAGE[]
Product Information | |
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Versions | |
Trial/Demo Vers?: Yes Starter Available?: "VOCALOID5 Plus" promotion only[58] | |
Package details as noted: | |
This is an improved version of the previous VOCALOID2 version of Megurine Luka. The software is designed to work with Piapro's new function, which favours professional vocals rather than voice acted. These work with the Japanese HARD/SOFT vocals to allow access to addition samples from voicebanks; POWER 1, POWER 2, NATIVE, WHISPER, CUTE, SOFT, DARK, HUSKY and FALSETTO which are included in the E.V.E.C plug-in. The inclusion of two English vocals, extra vocals for XSY and EVEC made Luka V4X one of the most extensive packages for sale at the time of the release, if not the most. This is notable as while single aspects may be easier to use for beginners, the complexity of the overall package when used as a whole is more suited to professional or expert Vocaloid-users. Also in addition to this, unlike the VOCALOID2 release, Yū Asakawa felt Luka sounded like her real voice.[59] The Package itself is based upon "Breath".[60] This package comes with Piapro Studio plug-in version. It was announced in August 2017 with the release of Hatsune Miku V4 Chinese that this vocal would have its own version of the Standalone Piapro Studio software. However, as of 1st Jan 2019 this version of Piapro Studio has failed to be released.[61] The software comes with the Piapro Studio Edition of PreSonus's DAW "Studio One ARTIST"[62], which includes various vocal effects and other tools. This includes also a resource pack with 200 virtual instruments. The complete package of Piapro Studio and Studio One ARTIST means that anyone buying this release can get started in music straight away with no need to purpose any further software, and all will work together with each other without any problems. This bundle is included in both the normal and English bundled versions of the software. | |
Vocal traits as noted: | |
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Phonetic notes as noted: | |
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Software issues as noted: | |
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Cross-Synthesis as noted: | |
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JAPANESE DB[]
Product Information | |
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Vocal traits as noted: | |
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Phonetic notes as noted: | |
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Software issues as noted: | |
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Cross-Synthesis as noted: | |
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E.V.E.C. as noted: | |
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Individual JAPANESE DB[]
Product Information | |
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Optimum | |
Optimum Range: E2 ~ F4 Optimum Tempo: 50 ~ 170 BPM Total Tempo (min-max): 120 BPM No. of Keys: W ~ 16, B ~ 10, Total ~ 26 | |
Package details as noted: | |
"Japanese DB HARD" is characterized by a powerful voice that increases in strength as the pitch gets higher. It can be switched with "HARD_EVEC" to turn off the effect of EVEC. | |
Vocal traits as noted: | |
| |
Software issues as noted: | |
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Voicebank sample | |
MEGURINE LUKA V4X Hard | |
Cross-Synthesis as noted: | |
| |
Product Information | |
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Optimum | |
Optimum Range: E2 ~ F4 Optimum Tempo: 50 ~ 170 BPM Total Tempo (min-max): 120 BPM No. of Keys: W ~ 16, B ~ 10, Total ~ 26 | |
Package details as noted: | |
"Japanese DB SOFT" is characterized by a soft and gentle voice. It can be switched with SOFT_EVEC to turn off the EVEC effect. | |
Vocal traits as noted: | |
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Phonetic notes as noted: | |
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Voicebank sample | |
MEGURINE LUKA V4X Soft | |
Cross-Synthesis as noted: | |
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Product Information | |
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Package details as noted: | |
"Japanese DB HARD_EVEC" allows access to EVEC within Piapro Studio. It can be switched out in place "HARD" to allow access to EVEC within a song. | |
Vocal traits as noted: | |
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Phonetic notes as noted: | |
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Software issues as noted: | |
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Voicebank sample | |
MEGURINE LUKA V4X HARD singing "Sarishonohara" with E.V.E.C. | |
Cross-Synthesis as noted: | |
XSY related;
| |
Product Information | |
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Package details as noted: | |
"Japanese DB SOFT_EVEC allows access to EVEC within Piapro Studio. It can be switched out in place "SOFT" to allow access to EVEC within a song. | |
Vocal traits as noted: | |
| |
Phonetic notes as noted: | |
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Software issues as noted: | |
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Voicebank sample | |
MEGURINE LUKA V4X Soft singing "Sarishonohara" with E.V.E.C. | |
Cross-Synthesis as noted: | |
| |
ENGLISH DB[]
Product Information | |
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Vocal traits as noted: | |
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Phonetic notes as noted: | |
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Software issues as noted: | |
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Cross-Synthesis as noted: | |
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Individual ENGLISH DB[]
Product Information | |
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Optimum | |
Optimum Range: G#2 ~ C4 Optimum Tempo: 50 ~ 170 BPM Total Tempo (min-max): 120 BPM No. of Keys: W ~ 10, B ~ 7, Total ~ 17 | |
Package details as noted: | |
"English DB STRAIGHT" is characterized by its "smooth voice quality with a natural pronunciation", according to her site. This vocal has the tone of the VOCALOID2 original English vocal. | |
Vocal traits as noted: | |
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Phonetic notes as noted: | |
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Software issues as noted: | |
| |
Voicebank sample | |
MEGURINE LUKA V4X ENGLISH Straight
| |
Product Information | |
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Optimum | |
Optimum Range: G#2 ~ C4 Optimum Tempo: 50 ~ 170 BPM Total Tempo (min-max): 120 BPM No. of Keys: W ~ 10, B ~ 7, Total ~ 17 | |
Package details as noted: | |
"English DB SOFT" is characterized by its "soft and gentle voice", according to her site. | |
Vocal traits as noted: | |
| |
Phonetic notes as noted: | |
| |
Software issues as noted: | |
| |
Voicebank sample | |
MEGURINE LUKA V4X ENGLISH Soft | |
Cross-Synthesis as noted: | |
| |
References[]
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/21456461964
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/13390702398410752
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/13405186252865536
- ↑ [1] Tweet - 10 Dec via web
- ↑ http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/-/Artist/A023770.html
- ↑ http://vocaloid.blog120.fc2.com/blog-entry-10302.html
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/87201337485434883.
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/90938391134351360
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/142245370280423424
- ↑ http://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/206234716565807105
- ↑ https://twitter.com/itohh/status/287765483644649474
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/405510849445367809
- ↑ Wat talking about Luka
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/416370605030522880
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/416065323867963393
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/418042424556937217
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/418356438872756224
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/419055375489323008
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/419055375489323008
- ↑ Talking about moving back to Luka
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/428799682471424000
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/428804304103673856
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/428814045462802432
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/428853408531902464
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/428855060924076033
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/429136506620362752
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/429143640275832832
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/429622255287427072
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/429912925893976065
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/430910018267783168
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/430911311774375936
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/430911555199184896
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Julia320/status/487484852283797504
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/489250775005003777
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/statuses/503087021317816321
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/statuses/503437985547689984
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/505059180210708480
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/505537577592446976
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/510491638930497536
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Sonianjeriku/status/510501758700118016
- ↑ Miku Expo News
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10154711720175637
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/520402956873527296/photo/1
- ↑ PowerFX talks about V4 and reactions on "new Luka"
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/528459816109223936
- ↑ http://sonicwire.com/product/vocaloid/special/lukav3
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/533221137149206529
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/533655033460428801
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/533656058414104576
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/533660196631887872
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/548708731299450881
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/542247925280030720
- ↑ http://blog.sonicwire.com/2015/01/luka150109.html
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/560846367782735872
- ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/560966722551693316
- ↑ http://www.vocaloidotaku.net/index.php?/topic/53080-lukav4x/page__view__findpost__p__1233646
- ↑ http://www.bigfishaudio.com/detail.html?1;16;1:::::::::::luka:528593
- ↑ https://www.vocaloid.com/news/vocaloid5_plus_voicebank_campaign/
- ↑ link
- ↑ link
- ↑ https://piaprostudio.com/?p=7065
- ↑ https://www.presonus.com/products/studio-one
- ↑ Luka
- ↑ link
- ↑ link
- ↑ link
- ↑ link
- ↑ link
- ↑
http://www.vocaloidotaku.net/index.php?/topic/58740-lukav4x/page__view__findpost__p__1246839
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