Wiki Wednesday #314 - Umi Kurage / 水母ウミ

 my memory is so bad right now!

Wiki Wednesday #314 - Umi Kurage / 水母ウミ

Umi is a kind fourteen year old who is the reincarnation of a famous pop star.

Who is Kurage Umi?

Art from site

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Last week I talked about palatalization. So a little bit of personal background: I just have a broken brain. When I was a kid, because I read the word "hikari" I would hear the vocal synth say "he car ee". That is categorically not what the vocal synth said, but I somewhat hallucinated it to be that way.

This is definitely part of the reason my Japanese was so freaking busted. Until I actually started taking Japanese lessons, I genuinely heard the Japanese R as an American R. I mean, it kept being called a liquid, right?! Looking back I can't even imagine what I was hearing or how it could change like that by just looking at the lyrics... But I have heard stories about other autistic people doing similar things, so I don't think I'm alone. 

That's why I'm so annoyed by kana with "拗音" (yōon: the ones with the little kana ya, yu, yo) being called glides. That's just not what they are.

This isn't a fandom problem - this is literally on Wikipedia. I get so annoyed because this logic kept me away from actually learning how to hear and understand Japanese. Calling "hyo" a glide sets you up to think you'll hear "h y o". But you'll never hear hyo... You'll hear what you think it's "sho". But it isn't "sho"! It's "hyo"! If you think that "kya" sounds like "k y a", you'll not understand that "ka" but the "k" is louder and sharper is actually "kya"!

Russian also has contrast between palatalized and normal consonants. I haven't looked too much into Russian, but I feel like they avoid the "glide" issue by naming each class of consonant as "hard" or "soft". If you want to learn about palatalization, resources for learning Russian are your best bet. And believe me, I looked hard trying to learn how to say these darn sounds! I still can barely say them!

The basic theory of palatalized consonants is that your tongue touches the top of your mouth when you say them. This can result in a little "glide" when you're coarticulating a sound using your lips and your tongue in sounds like "my" and "by", which just adds to the confusion!

But, if you're not interested in learning to speak and understand Japanese, it's okay to just say it's a glide and record "hyo" as "h y o". Basically the entire Western fandom does that. It's completely okay and if Japanese people are okay with those banks, then it feels like no one should call it out. 

This isn't a vocal synth rant - it's a "why did this YouTuber call a lateral tap a liquid. It literally cuts off the flow of air HOW IS CUTTING OFF THE FLOW OF AIR A LIQUID" rant. I wish I knew this stuff a long time ago. Not even for vocal synth stuff, but for language learning purposes. Though, knowing it for vocal synth reasons would also be nice.

How are Umi Kurage's banks?

Umi has a four pitch Japanese VCV and a one pitch English Arpasing Bank.

The English Bank has an adorable voice! It seems like some small things (like "eh w") may be missing. Regardless of that, her voice is absolutely lovely! 

Her four pitch bank also has an absolutely lovely voice.

Where Can I download Kurage Umi?

You can find her on her official site. She is cool!