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This interview was done by Cimy from VC相关推广站 (VC Promote). We are glad to be working with VC Promote. They will share interviews with our members from the Chinese VNN site in order to bring you interesting stories of the Chinese Vocaloids and the people who work with them.
动点 & 唯Tu
动点P (DongDian-P) is a male VOCALOID producer who is part of Coin Original Music Studio. He has been working on VOCALOID tuning for roughly three years. His original song “飞跃乌托邦” (Lead through Utopia) has won the hearts of the Chinese Vocaloid fandom. His music “Sea for you” and a re-tuned version of “March Rain” fully showcase the potential in YueZheng Ling‘s voice bank.
唯Tu (WeiTu) is a male artist who is famous for his cute and refreshing art style, and is a Luo Tianyi lover. His famous artwork was featured in multiple PVs including “梦语 (Word of Dream)”, “DISCO之王 (King of Disco)”, “红色舞鞋 (Red Dancing Shoes)”, as well as many more.
The Interview
Cimy: This is my first time doing an interview, I’m so excited! Today’s guest is the music producer 动点 and illustrator 唯Tu. In order to discuss about the process and routines of production, now let’s start the interview!
◆ Let’s start with a self-introduction!
动点: Do I need to say hello to everyone? I’m so nervous！
唯Tu: Haha! Nervous 动点, so cute!
动点: Hi everyone, I’m 动点, male and I love spicy food!
唯Tu: Hi everyone, I’m 唯Tu, male and I do not like spicy food!
◆ When did you discover Vocaloid and when did you start working with them? Why did you decide to use Vocaloid China?
唯Tu: I saw the news about the five characters of the Vocaloid China Project being confirmed back in 2012 and I paid close attention to Vocaloid China ever since. In June 2012, I listened to the demo of Luo Tianyi and fell in love with her immediately! That is probably when I started producing music as well. Then I listened to 祝我生日快乐 (Wish me a happy birthday) and I was completely drawn in; I decided to stay forever.
“祝我生日快乐” tuned by 水果宾治, an excellent tuning back in the early development of VC.
动点: As for me… I got in touch with Vocaloid in 2007, but it was not until 2012 when I really started to learn about tuning. Back then, I only had Luka’s voice bank and I was only doing it for fun. I had been looking forward to the Chinese Vocaloids ever since I first heard the news about producing a Chinese voice bank. After Luo Tianyi was released, I became a fan of Chinese Vocaloids. But I did not produce music until this August. I do not really know the reason I became a fan of Vocaloid even to this day.
“飞跃乌托邦”, the first VOCALOID song from 动点 which made him become popular ever since.
◆ Why did you give yourself this nickname? Does it mean something special?
动点: Always moving, so it feels like it’s very positive and hard-working. (动点 means “moving point” in Chinese.)
唯Tu: I just thought it was cute.
◆ Is there anything interesting about producing music that you can share with everyone? Do you feel pressured when you are being urged to produce new work?
唯Tu: I think the most interesting thing is discussing the shot sheets with the music producer and video makers because it feels so amazing when thoughts and ideas clash with one another. But it is also frustrating when I can’t think of anything and time is ticking, so I usually delay… do not believe what I just said. I am quite fast when it comes to completing work, ask others!
动点: For me… it feels so great working on the vocabulary of the lyrics with my lyricist 古洛. We will pick the most suitable words according to our thoughts and the articulation features of the voice bank. It is such a great process, though quite tiring, but very enjoyable!
唯Tu: I can feel the happiness; working together feels so great. It feels like giving birth in the process of completing a song.
动点: Ah! Ah! Here comes the head!
◆ What’s your favorite style of music? Do you have styles that you want to try particularly?
动点: As for style, I love music with a depressing message but an easy to listen to arrangement, such as “ツギハギエデン“! ささくれ is my absolute favorite. If I could, I would love to try the 8-bit style; it is so cool.
唯Tu: The music of ねこぼーろ really excites me and how niki tunes Lily’s voice – I love it so much. I would love to try Vocarock if I get the chance.
Fan Questions from Weibo:
▲ How do producers and illustrators find people to collaborate with? How does a lesser-known artist find producers who are willing to cooperate with them?
唯Tu: I rarely reach out to people to collaborate with because I’m a bit shy; producers come to me usually. I will agree if we get along well and I am not very good at turning people down either. So, if you come to me, I will put my best effort in it. As for finding others to collaborate with, go ahead if you are brave enough! Be sincere and nothing will stop you; sincerity is the most important thing.
动点: Well, as for collaborating with someone, you do it once and you will do it twice. Then you have the third, fourth, and fifth time, and then you become a family. For the second question, I agree with 唯Tu; sincerity is the most important thing.
▲ Question to 唯Tu: When will you draw another big desktop wallpaper for Tianyi?
唯Tu: Yes!! Desktop wallpaper for Tianyi!! I will draw one for the New Year postcards!
▲ Question to 动点: Amazing music! Did you learn music professionally or is it just a hobby?
动点: Thank you for the compliment! I did not learn music professionally. 飞跃乌托邦 (Leap through Utopia) was my first piece of original music, but I have learned about vocal music before, so I have some idea about music theory.
▲Question to 动点: Are you and 白鲨 just an internet couple? When will you respond to fan requests for you to sing?
动点: We are a real-life couple as well; it seems like many people think we are just an internet couple?
动点: I will share my voice, but just give me some time.
▲ Do you have anyone whom you would like to collaborate with? Can you tell us when we can see your latest project?
唯Tu: I have several new projects recently, so it’s up to the video maker. I have two “break up” songs still in production, but maybe they will be released together sometime! I want to collaborate with melo and zeno if they will read the interview.
动点: Well, I might have soothing piano music before the promised “naughty song”… I need to clarify here… the naughty song is not my “forever coming up next” song; every time before we get our hands on it, we have a better idea. Plus, we want to make it the best quality possible. Staff I want to work with would be 角之辰 and Tu himself!
动点’s new song “城色” using XinHua. The illustrator is 角之辰.
▲ Your tuning for Yuezheng Ling has been stunning, could you please share with us how you achieved such authentic voice? Do you have plans about trying other virtual singers? How long does it take for both of you to produce work normally?
动点: Wow, thank you for the compliment.
If I were to talk about it specifically, the interview would turn into a tuning tutorial. For me, I mainly rely on tuning split and sound effects. It depends on my inspiration for a song and I will consider how a human would articulate and sing. Sometimes I would sing and tune in the classroom, so my classmates would give me that “what are you doing?” face… My working periods vary from a week to four months.
As for other singers, the Chinese department of Coin is mainly focused on Yuezheng Ling as well as Yuezheng Longya in the future. For English, we have CyberDiva, Luka, and Dex. Japanese side will be Luka, Yuu, and Rana.
唯Tu: A single illustration would depend on my inspiration, for example: for both Disco之王 (King of disco) and 红色舞鞋 (Red dancing shoes). I drew one and felt like they couldn’t match their song, so I drew a completely different one. If it is quick, it takes a week. If it’s slow like 我的世界 (my world), I could spend half a year producing with 二蛋, although he did more work.
▲ Any word to your favorite VOCALOID and your supporters?
动点: I love you forever, Ling!!!!! Everyone!!! I love you all!!!!
唯Tu: I love you all too! I remember well every loving danmaku and comment, thank you everyone!!! I will produce better work to pay you all back!! Tianyi, I love you!!!
Translated by: May & Louis
