Vocaloids is a famous Japanese program designed to create vocal parts. Each voice bank is sold separately, with the exception of Lena and Rin: they are sold together (2 in 1). "Vocaloids", the characters of which have a detailed rendering and a unique biography, have made many composers who create albums and even cycles famous in Japan and abroad.
Basic principles when working in Vocaloid
First of all, vocaloids - characters known throughout the world - are created to create musical parties. The number of packages of the Vocaloid program is truly huge, which allows you to choose the right timbre. There is an original program with voice banks (Vocaloid), and there are other banks that are developed by other companies (for example, Utauloids). At the time of writing, three versions of Vocaloids have already been created and a fourth is being prepared for release.
Vocaloids - characters, all whose names can suggest the language of singing, are often used in cycles to create original stories.
Creating a song in the program is as follows: first a melody is entered (the left panel allows you to set the notes correctly), if necessary, the duration and height of the notes are edited, then the song lyrics in Japanese or other languages are phonemically entered. It is very important to understand the input phonemes, otherwise you can get the wrong result. In addition, in some combinations of sounds there may be unexpected ways of doing tasks related to bugs in the program. If necessary, timbre, speed can be changed. Other additional effects are provided.
Vocaloids: First-Generation Characters
The Vocaloid program was developed in 2004: in March of that year, Yamaha introduced the V1 engine, which allows you to create vocal parts. The first Vocaloids, whose characters sing in English and Japanese, did not immediately gain popularity. Only Meiko (Meiko, a fully synthesized voice) and Kaito, who sang in Japanese, were successful. Leon, Lola and Miriam with English banks were also issued. This is the first generation that ends, although Vocaloids, whose list of characters is huge, still got a chance for the following updates: when creating the famous anime “Paprika”, Meiko’s voice was used.
Interestingly, Leon and Lola do not have their own character, unlike all the following. These are practically the only vocaloids not worked out: the biography of the characters is still unknown, as well as the singers who gave them voices. Seiyu and some other vocaloids from the second and even third generation are unknown. But all the following vocaloids, whose anime mascots are known all over the world, already have their own biography. They have their own character, and they can be considered full-fledged characters.
"Vocaloids": characters of the second generation
The new V2 engine allowed voices to sound more realistic, even to create universal voice banks (this idea was soon abandoned). The vocaloid Miku and her subsequent updates brought real popularity to the program: a beautiful voice singing in Japanese quickly became known outside of Japan.
Another vocaloid was released before Hatsune Miku: Sweet Ann, sings in English. Rin and her mirror image Len, the vocaloid Kamui Gakupo, Luka, Gumi Megpoid quickly gained popularity ...
There were other vocaloids: Kaai Yuki, Prima, Pico (he is often confused with a girl), Nekomura Iroha ... And initially, the English-speaking vocaloid Sonic was recognized as universal: for a long time, fans used this very voice for songs in their native language.
Third generation characters
The third generation was released recently: vocaloids were introduced back in 2010, but were released only a year later. The developers announced a new engine that allowed voices to sound more natural and emotional.
The third generation was marked by new languages: vocaloids sang in Korean (Cu, SeeU), Spanish (Bruno, Maika and Clara) and Chinese (Luo Tianyi, Yang Hye).
Some second-generation vocaloids (like Kamui Gakupo) received updates with new emotions. Among them, vocaloid Miku, who was especially famous, was also noted, as well as the most popular male character at that time (Kaito), who sang in English.
Fourth generation characters
The new V4 engine was announced in 2014 and released in 2015. It is planned to release new voice banks, as well as transfer all old Yamaha vocaloids to this engine. This applies not only to Miku, but also to Kagamine. Thus, not only third-generation vocaloids, but also the second, and possibly even the first (Meiko) will be transferred to the new engine. At the time of writing, the new Luke bank is 80% ready, and the twins - 27%.
The fate of the program can now be monitored only on Japanese sites, in particular on the official site. All important information is duplicated on Twitter, also in Japanese. However, there are a lot of false messages, which are accompanied by concept art and samples. Therefore, it is now impossible to say exactly which vocaloids will be released this year. So far, only the release date of Shin Hua is known - the beginning of February 2015, and KiberDIVA, which will be released on February 4. Some new vocaloids (for example, CyberDIVA) do not have anime mascots.
Will vocaloids sing in Russian?
Many fans dream of Russian vocaloids, even create songs based on Sonic’s other characters, including Miku and the Kagamine twins. Hope for a vocaloid singing in Russian appeared with the announcement of the V3 engine and new voice banks in Spanish.
Unfortunately, the developers are not going to release the program in Russia. As they said, they are not sure about the popularity of the program in our country, because they do not have statistics on its use. Until they are convinced of the need to release Vocaloid in Russia, the release of Russian-language vocaloids is not even discussed. At the moment, users from the CIS and Russia cannot even buy the program in their country, it can only be ordered from Japan.
What vocaloids are not
Many people don’t know that “Vocaloids” is a program developed for professional composers. Vocaloids, whose anime stylistics are often misleading, have never had their own series or film. Of course, you can find manga on the topic of vocaloids, there are even ranobes, but these works relate to the Vocaloid program only indirectly: books and comics are released by composers (usually called producers), and not the developers of the program.
Live vocaloid performances
The Vocaloid program quickly gained popularity, so in 2009 concerts began to appear. However, this did not end there: some series became especially popular. Thanks to such cycles, vocaloids were able to occupy a serious niche in real life.
This was achieved by the famous Kingdom of Evil among fans of vocaloids around the world from MOTHY (Akuno-P). The franchise in his series is incredibly extensive: figures, ranobes, manga, cosplay costumes, even buns with the image of Princess Riliane Lucifen d'Otrish! On the most famous works of MOTHY in Japan, musicals were shot. But the actors played roles, therefore this example only indirectly indicates live performances of vocaloids.
The Vocaloid program has gained such popularity that the developers were able to afford concerts. The vocaloids acting on it were holographic images. Everyone remembered the concert of 2010, in which the most famous songs were performed.
In 2013, a vocaloid concert took place in France, but now nothing portends concerts outside of Japan. But in their homeland, vocaloids give concerts quite often: an average of 4-5 performances per year.
Project DIVA Games
Many people consider Vocaloids to be an anime series or an animated feature film, but even more people think Vocaloids is a computer game. Indeed, there is a rhythm game where the main role is given to the most popular vocaloid, Mik. The bottom line is simple: you need to click on the appropriate button in time, the image of which appears on the PS3 screen. The list of songs is constantly updated, now a huge library of tracks is available to the owners of the game.
The player also has access to the twins Kagamine, Kaito, Luka, Meiko, Haku and Akita Nehru. As you progress through the game, new costumes, difficulty levels and some bonus items will open. There is even a secret room for Miku, which contains additional tracks for the game.
Japanese, English, Korean and other vocaloids, whose characters, biographies and designs are unique, are rapidly developing: only in early February two new vocaloids are planned to be released, new voices are often announced and their samples are laid out. The characters that everyone loves will also sing more naturally thanks to the transfer to a new engine. Perhaps vocaloids, whose anime stylistics have made the program especially popular, will also sing in other European languages.