The three VOCALOID producers who won the Yamaha Sound Crossing Shibuya Award at The VOCALOID Collection 2025 Winter gathered at Yamaha Sound Crossing Shibuya, located in Shibuya Sakura Stage SAKURA SIDE.
The Yamaha Sound Crossing Shibuya Award included an exclusive experiential prize, granting the winners the opportunity to have their music mixed by a professional recording engineer and to explore the Yamaha Sound Crossing Shibuya facility, which is not open to the public.

Yamaha Sound Crossing Shibuya consists of two areas: a publicly accessible LAB with an attached café and a private LOUNGE used for artist endorsements. The Yamaha Sound Crossing Shibuya Award experience took place on the 8th floor.
On the day of the event, the winners were guided by Ogawa, Takemoto, and Yoshida from Yamaha Corporation.

Yamaha Sound Crossing Shibuya LOUNGE tour

Upon entering the 8th-floor LOUNGE, the participants were greeted by a hall showcasing Yamaha’s historic synthesizers and the latest musical instruments. While marveling at the collection, they first moved to a conference room within the LOUNGE for an icebreaker session.
At the same time, as part of the Yamaha Sound Crossing Shibuya Award, they were granted additional licenses for VOCALOID EDITOR and voicebanks.

VOCALOID producers who won the Yamaha Sound Crossing Shibuya Award

Nbaji

【祝 3位】
『カニが登場するボタン / 重音テト』がボカコレ2025冬ルーキー部門で3位になりました！
本当に皆様ありがとうございます！！

嬉しいーーー！！！

#ボカコレ2025冬 pic.twitter.com/J2avsol7mV

— ンバヂ(SUPER TETO 2後日再投稿) (@nbaji9) February 24, 2025

Ruliea

#ボカコレ2025冬ルーキー
第2位でした

投稿前の自分では信じられないくらい沢山の方に聴いていただき感無量です
本当に本当にありがとうございました！🙇‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/D2gSdGl2oc

— Ruliea/るりあ (@Ruliea_7) February 24, 2025

Abaraya

ボカコレ、最終結果一位でした。
ほんとうに、大感謝です…。

後ほどプレミア公開のリンクも用意しますので、お待ちを pic.twitter.com/ORnRngcyxg

— あばらや (@avaraya_p) February 24, 2025

After the icebreaker session, a tour of the LOUNGE was conducted.
In the lobby, there was a special opera piano that Yamaha had crafted at the request of the late Ryuichi Sakamoto. This opera piano was equipped with a self-playing system, and it even contained performance data recorded by Sakamoto himself.
All participants had the rare opportunity to listen to his recorded performance together.

Here is a drum set actually used by Steve Gadd.
The set is displayed exactly as he used it, with the muting materials he personally applied still intact, making it ready to be played at any time.

In addition, the LOUNGE features soundproof rooms equipped for various musicians, including guitarists, drummers, pianists, and electronic instrument players.
The participants toured these rooms, all of which are connected via a Dante network, allowing them to be used for recording sessions as well.

Mixing & Mastering Consultation Session

Next, the Mixing & Mastering Session began, featuring recording engineer Mr. Nakamura.
The first participant was Nbaji. Their main concern was that mixing takes too much time. Specifically, they found themselves repeatedly transferring the finished audio to devices like an iPhone to check the sound, which significantly prolonged the process.
During the session, Nbaji consulted Mr. Nakamura for advice on how to streamline their workflow and make the mixing process more efficient.

Comment from Nbaji

The difference between my own setup and Yamaha Sound Crossing was huge, and I felt both surprise and admiration. Mr. Nakamura told me that my mixing was good, which was very encouraging. He mentioned that he gained experience by working on many projects, and I was deeply impressed that even professionals don’t have shortcuts—they continue to focus on gaining experience. This experience has inspired me to upgrade my environment by investing in better speakers and equipment to improve my production setup.

After lunch, the afternoon session was dedicated to discussing Ruliea's music. It was revealed that Ruliea's track had an impressive 325 tracks (in mono conversion), making mixing a challenging process. He sought advice on improving his mixing skills. Mr. Nakamura advised that when working collaboratively on music production, organizing the project could be beneficial. However, as he listened further, he seemed to understand and acknowledge Ruliea’s unique production approach. Additionally, in response to the discussion, Nbaji shared insights into his own production methods, fostering valuable knowledge exchange among the award recipients.

Comment from Ruliea

It was simply an incredibly fun and valuable day. I was happy to receive praise for my music and production methods, and I also made many new discoveries from a mixing perspective. As a VOCALOID user, I was truly honored to be invited to such a special place. Listening to Ryuichi Sakamoto’s piano performance was an unforgettable experience. The sound was so breathtakingly beautiful that it left a deep impression on me. I was also able to talk a lot with Nbaji and Abaraya about the future of VOCALOID, which sparked my creative motivation. I hope to take this experience as fuel and keep moving forward.

Abaraya took on the challenge of piano/vocal recording. In Studio D of the LOUNGE, the Yamaha S6X piano was set up, and Mr.Nakamura used five microphones brought in to capture the performance in multi-track recording. Abaraya's piano playing was outstanding, and the participants were all amazed by the rich texture of the live piano, which contrasted with the sound of programmed piano.

Abaraya's track continued to undergo mixing by Mr.Nakamura, and his techniques were explained to the participants. After the mixing was completed, Abaraya sat at the engineer's desk and checked the final sound.

Comment from Abaraya

Since this was my first time recording in my life, I was amazed to think, "So this is what it’s like." Hearing the playback of the recorded piano was a completely new experience. Mr. Nakamura mixed using only EQ and compression, which made me realize that when you master the craft, the specific techniques don’t matter as much. This inspired me, and I hope to reach that level as soon as possible.

Finally, a free discussion session was held with the participants and Yamaha staff, where they exchanged opinions on their impressions of the event and provided feedback on VOCALOID products. The VOCALOID producers who attended expressed their satisfaction, and it was also a valuable opportunity for Yamaha staff to directly engage with VOCALOID creators. Moving forward, Yamaha will continue its product development and marketing activities to further promote VOCALOID culture, so please look forward to it.