Getting Started
- After unzipping to a new folder, you can start the application by double-clicking
OpenUtau.exe. Every time you start OU, it will check for updates first.
- Double click the dmg file downloaded. Drag the app icon to the folder icon.
- See FAQ if macOS reports "app is damaged".
- Extract the tar.gz file yourself, and run
OpenUtaufrom a terminal. - Or check this community-created installer scripts.
By default, OpenUtau will use the same language as your computer, or English if a translation is unavailable. To manually change the language, go to Tools > Preferences.
Put a resampler .exe or .dll into the Resamplers folder. If you already use UTAU, you can copy + paste resamplers that you already have. Check Resamplers for a list of compatible resamplers.
In OpenUtau, go to Tools > Preferences to select a resampler and toggle phase compensation. Using Moresampler is not fully optimized, so a warning will appear advising you to adjust the moreconfig file if you persist.
There is no need to provide a wavtool, as OpenUtau uses its own internal wavtool.
Voicebanks can be installed through Tools > Install Singer...
On non-Japanese systems, unzipping a zip file created on a Japanese system often leads to mojibake file names. The Install Singer tool helps convert file names correctly. You could also unzip yourself if the file names can be correctly unzipped.
When installing a voicebank, a window will pop up with a file encoding option. Use this option if you're not sure about how the voicebank is encoded (for example, a Japanese voicebank created by a Chinese user). You will know when the encoding is right.
Another way to install singers is to set the Additional Singer Path to an existing folder with singers, such as the UTAU voice folder.
You can then see your installed voicebanks in the Tools > Singers... menu.
When you start OpenUtau, you have a new, blank project.
You can also start a new project from File > New.
Click on the tempo or time signature in the top left corner to edit it.
Time signatures can have any positive whole number on top, and any power of 2 on the bottom.
Tempos can be any number, including decimals.
Changing the tempo or time signature mid-project is not supported yet.
Expressions allow you to change parameters note-by-note, similar to flags in UTAU. Expressions are saved per-project. To edit expression settings, go to Tools > Expressions.
| Name | Abbreviation | Purpose | Range | Default |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Velocity | VEL | Consonant velocity (stretch/shorten preutterance) | 0 - 200 | 100 |
| Volume | VOL | Note volume | 0 - 200 | 100 |
| Attack | ATK | Envelope starting volume | 0 - 200 | 100 |
| Decay | DEC | Envelope ending volume | 0 - 100 | 0 |
| Voice color | CLR | Utilizes voicebank appends/colors | No range, options | Blank |
| Resampler engine | ENG | Change resamplers on the fly | No range, options | , worldline64.exe |
| Gender | GEN | g flag (formant shift) | -100 - 100 | 0 |
| Breath | BRE | B flag (breathiness) | 0 - 100 | 0 |
| Lowpass | LPF | H flag (low pass filter) | 0 - 100 | 0 |
| Modulation | MOD | Note modulation from original pitch | 0 - 100 | 0 |
| Alternate | ALT | Alternate aliasing for duplicates in oto.ini | 0 - 16 | 0 |
| Tone shift | SHFT | Allows for selecting pitch alias | -36 - 36 | 0 |
Use the + and - buttons in the lower left corner to add and remove expressions. Some expressions cannot be removed. There are two types of expressions, numerical expressions and fixed options.
For numerical expressions fill out the name, abbreviation, resampler flag, minimum, maximum, and default value. The resampler flag must be a single flag by itself without any numbers. If you want the whole project to have a certain value (eg. Mt+20) please put the number in the Default box.
For options, fill out the name, abbreviation, checkbox, and option values. This is for flags that don't take any numbers, like for toggling between stretching and looping.
Open projects using File > Open, or Ctrl+O.
You can open .ustx, .ust, or .vsqx files.
OpenUtau projects are saved as .ustx files.
Save the current project using File > Save, or Ctrl+S.
Save the project as a new file using File > Save As.
After saving the project, you can also export all tracks as separate .ust files using File > Save As Ust Files. The files will be saved in the same folder as the original .ustx file.
After saving the project, use File > Export All to render all tracks as separate .wav files. The files will be saved in an Export folder next to the original .ustx file.
Double click in the left panel to create a new track.
Imported tracks will be added to the current project under all of your existing tracks.
You can import tracks from .ustx, .ust, and .vsqx files using File > Import Tracks.
You can import audio from .wav, .mp3, .ogg, and .flac files using File > Import Audio.
You can import tracks MIDI using File > Import MIDI.
Select a singer from the menu in the track header.
You can optionally select a phonemizer, which will automatically convert note lyrics into a form the voicebank can play. For more details, please check Phonemizers.
Click and drag the volume slider to adjust the volume of the track. Right click to reset the volume. The mute/solo buttons are not supported yet.
Click in the track area to create a new part. You can drag the part to move it around, drag the end to change the length, and right click to delete parts.
Click on the part's name to rename it.
Double click on a part to open the note editor.
Click on the bar/measure labels to move the playback cursor, and press space to start/stop playing.
To scroll vertically, scroll normally.
To scroll horizontally, you can hold shift and scroll, or hover your cursor over the horizontal scroll bar and scroll.
To zoom horizontally, hover your cursor over the bar/measure labels and scroll.
To zoom vertically, hover your cursor over the vertical zoom icon and scroll.
Click and drag on the panning icon to scroll horizontally and vertically.
Toggle tips using the question mark button or pressing T on the keyboard.
Scroll, zoom, and playback function the same way as the track editor.
Click to create notes, and right click to delete notes.
Double click to start inputing lyric, tab to finish and switch to next note.
Drag notes to move them around. Drag the end to change the length. Hold Alt while adjusting length to resize the following note.
Hold Ctrl and click and drag to select multiple notes.
Use the arrow keys to move selected notes up/down by 1 semitone, and Ctrl + arrow keys to move notes up/down by 1 octave.
By default, notes and lengths will snap to the nearest 16th note. To toggle snap, click on the snap icon in the top left, or press P on your keyboard.
Use the gear in the upper left corner to access Transformers and Legacy Plugins.
These are used for simple 1-to-1 lyric conversions, and are applied to the whole track part at once.
Legacy Plugins provide limited support for UTAU plugins. To add a plugin, copy the folder into the Plugins folder of OpenUtau. Not all plugins will function normally or completely. Some popular plugins (eg. VCV conversion, CVVC conversion) are handled by track phonemizers.
Use the arrow by the expressions to select which one you want to edit.
The gear icon will allow you to view the expression settings for the whole project.
Click to set a value, and right click to reset it to the project default.
This corresponds to UTAU's Consonant Velocity. This affects the length of the fixed region of the OTO, which is the beginning of the note/phoneme.
This raises or lowers the overall volume of the note/phoneme.
This raises or lowers the volume of the beginning of the note/phoneme.
This lowers the volume of the rest of the note/phoneme.
Selects resampler engine used to render this phoneme. If value is "", the engine selected in Preferences is used.
This determines how much the pitch is flattened from the original recording. By default this is 0, or completely flat.
Add a flag. Change its type to "Options" and set "Option Values" to ",e". You will be able to use an expression to add nothing or "e" to resampler flags.
All other expressions are like flags in UTAU.
You can show/hide pitchbends using the pitchbend icon in the top left, or by pressing I on your keyboard. Hidden pitchbends will still be applied to the notes.
Click on the pitchbend to create new points. Drag the point to move it around.
Right click on the pitchbend to pick a shape.
Right click on a point for the option to delete it.
You can show/hide vibrato using the vibrato icon in the top left, or by pressing U on your keyboard. Hidden vibrato will still be applied to notes.
Click on the vibrato icon below a note to toggle it on or off.
You can adjust the vibrato starting point, fade-in length, depth, fade-out length, frequency, and phase.
You can show/hide envelopes using the envelope icon in the top left, or by pressing O on your keyboard. Phonemization and envelope edits are applied even when hidden.
Drag the pink lines to adjust the timing of phonemes within notes. Right click to reset the timing. You can right click and drag to reset multiple phonemes at once.
Drag the bottom left corner to adjust the starting point of the envelope. This corresponds to STP in UTAU. Right click on the circle to reset.
Drag the top left corner to adjust the overlap amount. Right click on the circle to reset.
