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Lack of Japanese VI developers

CGR

CGR

Pianist, Composer & Arranger
Just a thought I had after listening to a track I wrote using the Premier Sound Factory Grand Piano. It has a really natural tone and is very well sampled & programmed, and I've read positive comments about their Acoustic Bass & Drum libraries. Given the prevalence of innovative Japanese hardware manufacturers (Roland, Yamaha & Korg etc.) I wonder why we don't see more Japanese VI developers?
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alanb said:
Prominy's libraries are all great, right out of the box (though they will require a little work on your part to get the most out of them):

https://prominy.com/
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Thanks Alan - I wasn't aware of this developer. I find that the Premier Sound Factory Grand Piano also requires some production work to realise it's full potential, but the core sound and sampling quality is great so you have a really solid foundation to begin with.
 
Hmm why do I feel like sample library development should be a bigger thing than I can see for the Japanese. . . It certainly would seem to suit them. Well perhaps it does and it's just all in Japanese.
 
Japan is still lacking in the programming department. It’s a major push from 2020 on, but for now, there aren’t many companies focused on creating software, and many that do end up lacking a sense for practicality. Japanese UIs are generally horrible. If anyone has tried to use a vocaloid software lately you’ll see what I mean. They could make great quality instruments down the line but just not there yet. prominy is a great example of incredible execution in the end results sound, but it’s an incredibly complex system that is not user friendly.
 
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chocobitz825 said:
Japan is still lacking in the programming department. It’s a major push from 2020 on for now, there aren’t many companies focused on creating software, and many that do end up lacking a sense for practicality. Japanese UIs are generally horrible. If anyone has tried to use a vocaloid software lately you’ll see whatnot I mean. They could make great quality instruments down the line but just not there yet. prominy is a great example of incredible execution in the end results sound, but it’s an incredibly complex system that is not user friendly.
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That's interesting. Japan have been such a powerhouse in electronics in previous decades I assumed this would follow onto software development and in turn virtual instruments, given their reputation with the companies mentioned above, and their love of music and depth of culture.
 
CGR said:
That's interesting. Japan have been such a powerhouse in electronics in previous decades I assumed this would follow onto software development and in turn virtual instruments, given their reputation with the companies mentioned above, and their love of music and depth of culture.
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I think the problem is that electronics hardware was something that could be done in Japanese. Programming requires quite a bit of knowledge of English to at least fair grasp of Roman characters and grasp of the concepts of programming. In multiple areas, Japan is failing to keep up with changing trends in tech.
 
chocobitz825 said:
Japan is still lacking in the programming department
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Aren't there quite a few gaming franchises coming from Japan, that are held in high regard around the world? Dark Souls, Metal Gear, everything made by Nintendo, etc.? If I compare Germany to Japan, I can think of more "high calibre" sample libraries coming from Germany than Games, and for Japan it's the other way around.
 
MartinH. said:
Aren't there quite a few gaming franchises coming from Japan, that are held in high regard around the world? Dark Souls, Metal Gear, everything made by Nintendo, etc.? If I compare Germany to Japan, I can think of more "high calibre" sample libraries coming from Germany than Games, and for Japan it's the other way around.
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That's a great example of good Japanese programming. It does exist. My first guess about this paradox was that there was a cultural reason they wouldn't be as interested, but I don't think that's true either, with their work on robotics lately I think it's only fitting they'd be interested in making synthetic music that mimics true human expression. Also I think that a lot of their music in movies and games, just like ours, uses VIs. This is a very interesting thread!
 
Casiquire said:
That's a great example of good Japanese programming. It does exist. My first guess about this paradox was that there was a cultural reason they wouldn't be as interested, but I don't think that's true either, with their work on robotics lately I think it's only fitting they'd be interested in making synthetic music that mimics true human expression. Also I think that a lot of their music in movies and games, just like ours, uses VIs. This is a very interesting thread!
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Actually I believe the Japan gaming market is not as strong as it used to be and is having problems adjusting to the new international market of gaming. It's pretty weak at online gaming, most of its games are still heavy in texts and menus. They're still pretty bad at open world games, and most of the games meant to look "real" are totally lagging behind western makers. Japan benefits from some iconic brands, but they really aren't as strong as they used to be in gaming. Even the hardware of the nintendo switch is conflicted by the fact that it has not a lot of non-nintendo brand games, and its online services are poor.
 
They (Yamaha and likes) are sampling their hardware and are also innovative in that but they’re more interested in getting those samples on their digital pianos rather than softwares, makes much more business sense.
Check out latest clavinova series, it has some interesting sampling and new tech stuff going on under the hood.
 
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It is true that software is not their strongest skill.
Besides, for years, japanese people had its own way in dealing with GUI with little concern to the rest of the world.

They had fantastic cellphones... for home market only (maybe Korea too).
They had an online social network 10 years before FaceBook... only in japanese and with a weird ergonomy.

And lately, instead of expanding their skills in a more global approach, they have massively adopted foreign techno (the boom of iPhone/Facebook was particularly impressive in the late 2000s).
Same in music production : they remain strong in hardware, but in soft, musicians have massively adopted NI, Logic, Steinberg, UA, etc.
That said I wouldn’t be surprised if some remote editors keep developing plugins.
But I saw nothing of this in music shops & when I talk to local musicians.

That said, gear wise, Japan is like heaven : so many local brands for good instruments (notably stompboxes).

(I precise that I’ve been going there quite a lot and I’m half fluent in japanese language)
 
LowweeK said:
It is true that software is not their strongest skill.
Besides, for years, japanese people had its own way in dealing with GUI with little concern to the rest of the world.

They had fantastic cellphones... for home market only (maybe Korea too).
They had an online social network 10 years before FaceBook... only in japanese and with a weird ergonomy.

And lately, instead of expanding their skills in a more global approach, they have massively adopted foreign techno (the boom of iPhone/Facebook was particularly impressive in the late 2000s).
Same in music production : they remain strong in hardware, but in soft, musicians have massively adopted NI, Logic, Steinberg, UA, etc.
That said I wouldn’t be surprised if some remote editors keep developing plugins.
But I saw nothing of this in music shops & when I talk to local musicians.

That said, gear wise, Japan is like heaven : so many local brands for good instruments (notably stompboxes).

(I precise that I’ve been going there quite a lot and I’m half fluent in japanese language)
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exactly. Japan is a gearheads heaven. We have a lot of great shops where you can find a great collection of instruments and gear. The problem behind the software lag in Japan has to do with a lot of analog systems being grandfathered into tech. A lot of the social media stuff, like Mixi, which was the thing until Facebook and Korea's LINE came, basically are designed after a lot of analog media formats. Japan's Amazon equivalent "Rakuten" is basically a paper sales ad put into equally messy digital form. Really the train stations are great place to feel the gap. Japan has an impressive IC Card/NFC payments system based off Sony's Felica NFC standard that now accepts apple/android pay that can also be used in convenience stores and taxis...however if you ever try and buy a ticket from train station kiosk, it is a confusing mess of a system in both english and japanese. I really want to start to get more VI developers moving out here.
 
chocobitz825 said:
If anyone has tried to use a vocaloid software lately you’ll see what I mean. They could make great quality instruments down the line but just not there yet.
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Honestly I don't agree with this particular element; in my opinion Vocaloid and the PiaproStudio plugin bundled with Crypton's Vocaloids are vastly more useable than something like EastWest's choir libraries for something like writing lyrics etc. I really need to go back to it - writing Vocaloid was good fun for me. For those interested; Sonicwire provides the Crypton Vocaloids here, amongst other things: https://sonicwire.com/?lang=en

If I remember rightly Christian Henson was doing several get-togethers in Tokyo and it seemed like the use of Spitfire's library was quite high.

I'd love to hear from Japanese composers about their work in media, especially anime.
 
Ihnoc said:
Honestly I don't agree with this particular element; in my opinion Vocaloid and the PiaproStudio plugin bundled with Crypton's Vocaloids are vastly more useable than something like EastWest's choir libraries for something like writing lyrics etc. I really need to go back to it - writing Vocaloid was good fun for me. For those interested; Sonicwire provides the Crypton Vocaloids here, amongst other things: https://sonicwire.com/?lang=en

If I remember rightly Christian Henson was doing several get-togethers in Tokyo and it seemed like the use of Spitfire's library was quite high.

I'd love to hear from Japanese composers about their work in media, especially anime.
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Its not about poor quality product, its about the UI. unlike most compact VST plugins, Piapro opens up an entire separate studio app/Browser. Vocaloid itself has some great uses, but it is not user friendly. Its not well designed aesthetically either.
 
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