Welcome to CBC Spotlight, our monthly blog series where we interview members of the Youtaite community! Sign up for your chance to be interviewed. Today, I’m interviewing Soondubu, who is a Gen 3 youtaite.
Tell us about yourself!
I am a fairly new youtaite that have been in the community for a year now! I am a vocalist and mixer who has an uncontrollable obsession with boba tea.
How'd you first become involved with the Youtaite community?
My first involvement in the Youtaite community would probably be the first chorus battle I joined (MSCB). It was honestly a hassle and I couldn't really keep up as everyone was rushing to get everything done. Even during the rush of it, there was just something about CBs that made it worth the hard work everyone has put into it.
What made you wanna participate in chorus battles?
Some of the reasons why I wanted to join a chorus battle would be to meet so many talented people around the world! I never knew this community existed when I was in the UTAU community as nobody sang. We all just tuned vocal synthesizers and made them sound pretty. Some CB teams that've inspired me to participate in CBs would be Daitengu, OBNN, Codex, and even Angels of Gaia.
What was your first CB?
My first CB that I've joined (ever) was a CB called UTAU Human Project CB under Team WAT. It was an UTAU CB where we had to tune UTAU voicebanks and make them sound human-like as possible. My first CB as a Youtaite would be MSCB with the team, Yonaka. We did Hikari Yo and that, by far, was one of the hardest songs I've ever done.
How'd you become interested in being a Vocalist, Mixer & Tuning?
I've been singing and mixing for a long time and wanted to dabble/hone my skills. As a vocalist, my range has expanded greatly and I can sing within my lower ranges. As a mixer, I finally understand EQ after 6 years of mixing. For tuning, I ended up having to buy Melodyne and it has changed my life forever.
Any funny or amusing CB stories?
By far one of the most amusing CB stories I can recall would be during my time on a different UTAU CB called Utauvision. Our mixing team was basically cracked and we dedicated our time into mixing that song perfectly. In the end, our entry got copyright-striked as it basically sound professional enough to get caught by the Sound ID thing on YouTube. At the end of the judging period, our score for the mix was not what we'd had hoped as the judge said our mix was "professional" and that we should "have more fun". Was a bit of a slap-in-the-face so yeah.
Any advice for people interested in CBs?
My best advice is to not take it seriously and to just have fun with it. Sometimes, it's the journey that's the most important and not the harsh nagging of those to turn their stuff in. Also communication. I'm going to be honest, I need to work on communicating. It's better to communicate with your team members about things so that y'all get find a common denominator.