YOUTAITE FAQ.
- What is a youtaite?
- How do I join the youtaite community / become a youtaite?
- How do I get started singing as a youtaite?
- How do I meet youtaite?
- How do I find youtaite to collaborate with?
- Can you recommend a mic and headphones for me?
- What is a Chorus?
- What are Chorus Battles?
- What is an OC?
- What are the origins of the youtaite community?
- How do you join HowlCB?
- Youtaite Community Census
“Youtaite” is a portmanteau of “YouTube” and “utaite”. At one point, the term was used to describe singers who upload covers of Japanese songs (predominantly Vocaloid/vocal synth) onto Youtube. However, present-day members of the youtaite community upload music from a wide variety of languages and genres that include anime, J-pop/rock, K-pop, original music, and more.
Today, “youtaite” can apply to anyone in the community who may participate in the creation of such musical works, which often include custom art, motion graphics, animation, and lyric adaptations into other languages. As such, youtaite take on roles including vocalist, artist, audio engineer/mixer, animator, motion designer, project organizer, scripter, translator, lyricist, composer, and instrumentalist, just to name a few.
Note that not everybody who partakes in similar activities may consider themselves a youtaite — it is an identity relating more to our specific community rather than the craft.
For more insight into the demographics and interests of youtaite, see the Youtaite Census 2023.
How do I join the youtaite community / become a youtaite?
There is no formal “entrance” requirement to become a youtaite. As long as you share our interests and wish to join this diverse and inclusive community, we welcome you to call yourself a youtaite.
How do I get started singing as a youtaite?
We believe that all you need to get started as a singer is the microphone that you already have, a free digital audio workstation (audio editing software) for your computer, and a YouTube account.
The microphone you already have - if you have a modern smartphone, this is enough to get started! Just find a quiet place without echoes to record and off you go. If you need further microphone recommendations for whatever reason, please read on.
A digital audio workstation - this will be the software you use to mix your recordings (combining your audio recording with the instrumental track of your song). GarageBand (Mac) and Audacity (PC/Linux) are free and very functional.
Can you believe that in the past, youtaite used to meet each other by using YouTube private messages and bulletin boards? Nowadays, the best way to meet new youtaite is through Twitter and Discord.
On Twitter, you can easily find Youtaite by searching or following the #youtaiteworks and #youtaite hashtags.
Discord is the tool that 95% of us use to chat with each other, share our works, and organize collaborations. YOUTAITE RE/UNION, Youtaite Connect, Chorus Battle Central, and YT Chorus all run youtaite-centric discord servers that can be accessed through their twitter profiles.
How do I find youtaite to collaborate with?
Asking your friends - one method is to ask the youtaite that you have already developed friendships with. A Direct Message with what you have in mind is often enough to get the ball rolling.
Looking for recruitment posts - as you follow more youtaite on Twitter and join youtaite Discord servers, you will see these posts more often. Some youtaite will also use castingcall.club. Be prepared to provide samples of your work. Remember that, most of the time, there will be more “auditions'' than roles, so do not be discouraged if you’re not selected for a collaboration. See this tweet by Camellia for more info.
Create your own recruitment post - as above, you can do this on both Twitter and Discord. This tweet by Camellia gives some pointers on how to go about this. It is strongly recommended to have a clear vision of what you are hoping to do prior to uploading your post.
Can you recommend a mic and headphones for me?
We agree with the approach of the writers at The Mixer Alliance - any purchase decision must be preceded by a ton of questions about your budget, goals, and needs. Please refer to their documents below
In the English-speaking part of the community, a “Chorus” is a general term for any collaboration involving at least three vocalists. On Youtube, this can be marked by the tag [合唱], sometimes preceded by a further descriptor such as “９人” (nine people). Please note that this tag may have a different meaning in other communities, different parts of the internet, or even in the past.
Chorus Battles (CBs) are a popular competition format where teams of youtaite upload group covers over the span of several “rounds”. At the end of each round, entries are scored and the top teams proceed to the next round until a winner is declared. Entries are scored based on singing, mixing, artwork, and animation. As such, team members usually consist of vocalists, audio engineers, artists, and animators/motion designers.
Chorus Battles are organized by community members who volunteer their time to ensure all participants have an enjoyable experience. Most Chorus Battles last well over 4 months and multiple Chorus Battles may be active at any time. They are a great way of challenging yourself, growing your skills, and meeting new youtaite.
For more information, please refer to the
Chorus Battle Central
website.
“OC” stands for Original Character. An OC may be a fictional character or be based on an existing real life person. Amongst other purposes, a youtaite may create an OC from scratch or based on themself for the purpose of having an avatar to represent their activities while online. In this context, an OC might also be called a persona.
Youtaite will often create Character Sheets or References that describe their OC. This is helpful when artwork of that OC is being used for videos, promotional material, or personal enjoyment.
What are the origins of the youtaite community?
Disclaimer: While every effort is made to provide accurate information, there is no singular youtaite experience and the early days of the youtaite community are not well-documented. For more information, please see the youtaite timeline.
The English-speaking side of the community takes its roots as early as 2007 from voice actors, fandubbers, and singers who were influenced by Japanese utaite (amateur cover artists who uploaded their covers on Nico Nico Douga using the utaittemita tag). The reprinting (re-uploading) of utaite covers onto Youtube led to greater exposure and eventual interest in covering Vocaloid and vocal synth music.
Over time, events such as Youtube Choruses and the first Chorus Battles would bring individuals together to form the earliest semblance of a shared community. YTChorus, founded by RinSakuraRin in 2009, was one of its first gathering places. It is believed that the original use of the term “youtaite” was a joking reference to our Youtube origins and utaite influences and that this eventually stuck.
The rest is youtaite history.
The earliest known public reference to HowlCB is on March 23, 2014, when youtaite Howl announced howl cb and posted an entry for the competition (video no longer online). Several other entries from that day are also mysteriously no longer available for viewing.
On 24 March, 2014, the youtaite vivi from team 【ECHO.】 uploaded the following video to YouTube: 「ECHO.」 Let ECHO 「HowlCB-R1」 which appears to be the only surviving video from that time.
Since then, murmurings of the HowlCB have regularly made their way through youtaite mentions, DMs, and private/underground forums. It was briefly suggested in 2016 that HowlCB would receive an anime adaptation.
We invite any investigative journalists to reach out to us if you are willing to look into the question, “What is HowlCB”, lest there be nefarious actors at play. Or, perhaps, all CBs are HowlCB.
Below is an archive of every known census conducted in the community:
Youtaite Community Census 2015 - by Mochi
Youtaite Community Census 2016 - by Mochi
Youtaite Community Census 2017 - by Mochi
Youtaite Community Census 2022 - by Mathew
Youtaite Community Census 2023 - by Mathew