How do they record group songs?

[Raestloz]

I'm curious as to how they record group songs (like, say, Danketsu). Is it:

1. Each seiyuu sings the song completely, and the editor mixes the combination, like overriding a part from one seiyuu with the same part from another seiyuu (that he deems better) or

2. Each seiyuu was given instructions about which part of the song should they sing, so the song is mixed from the very beginning.

I wanted to believe the first, but after listening to splitted group songs (songs originally sung mixed, but then splitted into versions for each character), I'm leaning towards the second. The difference in the voice is just too great. I'm still asking because I'm curious though (maybe I'm wrong and the whole confusion is a conspiracy?)

[mastersteve89]

I always assumed that each seiyuu sings and in-game the recordings are played based off which idols you pick.

Apparently simple and effective, but I wouldn't know how it's really done.

[Raestloz]

Errr, maybe I should be a bit more descriptive, I forgot the game has group singing too.

I'm referring to album songs, like, say, THE iDOLM@STER 2nd Mix from prologue, or DREAM in best of 765 + 876 = !! vol 02

[TweenDoriru]

I always thought they all sang and then the editor or whoever finalizes it puts their solo lines where they are, and mixes them all together when necessary.

I think that if I were a seiyuu, I'd want to be able to sing the entire song, rather than just pieces of it

Also, think about the Master Special Spring CD. Remember when Mata Ne was released? I have an "album" of Omake versions of Mata Ne; solos of each idol on the CD singing it (somehow I doubt NBGI officially released that, and I'm not sure how it is that I can listen to it), but if they recorded their individual parts only...that wouldn't happen XD

And, if a character gets a solo version of something (i.e. Miki for "MERRY"), if they hadn't already recorded the full song, the parts that they got solo in the main song would sound different in their solo version, and they usually don't.

I hope this makes sense...I don't know how else to explain it XD

[Raestloz]

I know, right? They have the individual version, so I thought they actually sing the song completely.

However, I noticed that in the solo versions, the voice is... "different". Some parts are recognizably from the original. The rest, however, seems like it was put in afterwards

It's kind of hard to explain, bear with me for a minute here.

It looks like that they actually opted for option 2: each seiyuu doesn't really sing the song completely, only pieces of it, to create an actual group song. However, as the song looked promising they called the seiyuus again to create a solo. Only, they're asked to sing only the parts that they haven't sung in the original, so the piece is complete.

I can feel that at some parts it is exactly like the original group song, while the rest is like something new: the intonation, pitch, and feeling is different.

I, for one, don't believe that they're only good at certain parts and that the difference is inevitable

[iDOL15]

I think it's 1 for sure. For instance when they did Merry and Sunny, didn't they release solo versions for those songs? I know they did that for THE Ai, DREAM, and LOST.