PowerFX

Last updated
PowerFX Systems AB.
Company type Private
Industry Software, Internet
GenreMusic and video
Founded1995;29 years ago (1995) [1]
Headquarters Stockholm, Sweden
Area served
Europe
Key people
Bil Bryant (Production and CEO, until 2017)
Products List
Services

PowerFX Systems AB, commonly referred to simply as PowerFX, is a small recording company, based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company has been producing music samples, loops and sound effects since 1995. They also developed singing synthesizers using the VOCALOID engine developed by Yamaha Corporation.

Contents

Products and services

VOCALOID

PowerFX was first introduced to the VOCALOID software after the introduction of the first VOCALOIDs (LEON and LOLA) from the British studio Zero-G at the NAMM Show on January 15, 2004, and were later recommended to Yamaha Corporation by Crypton Future Media. [2] Their first product for the software was "Sweet ANN" a VOCALOID2 voicebank and was first introduced at the Musikmesse fair and later released on June 29, 2007. The boxart of Sweet ANN is based on an edited picture of actress Lena Horne from the theatrical poster of the 1943 film Stormy Weather. [2] Their second VOCALOID2 "Big Al" was released with the voice provided by former employee Frank S. after the intended provider, Elvis Presley impersonator Michael King, was unable to return for further recordings after their initial samples were considered not at a high enough quality to be released. PowerFX began their distribution of voicebanks for the VOCALOID3 engine, with "OLIVER" as their first VOCALOID3, and the first male VOCALOID3. OLIVER was developed under Anders Sodergren, the leader of VocaTone, a team of fan-based VOCALOID producers. VocaTone then had PowerFX release their second VOCALOID3, "YOHIOloid", a bilingual male vocal that is capable of singing in English and Japanese, sampled from Swedish singer Yohio. [2] PowerFX released their own VOCALOIDs into Taiwan boasting new box art for the releases. [3] PowerFX released an American-accented VOCALOID4 voicebank "RUBY" in 2015. RUBY was developed as a collaboration between PrinceSyo and Mishakeet, her voice actress, with a strong and bright voice in mind. After Bil Bryant left in 2017, PowerFX announced that they would no longer make VOCALOID products, despite Bil having said more were planned after RUBY.

ProductLanguageSexVoice ProviderRelease date
Sweet ANN [4] EnglishFemaleJody (unrevealed)June 29, 2007
BIG AL [5] [6] EnglishMaleFrank S.December 22, 2009
OLIVER [7] EnglishMaleUnrevealedDecember 21, 2011
YOHIOloid [8] English and JapaneseMale Yohio September 10, 2013
RUBY [9] EnglishFemaleMishakeetOctober 7, 2015

PowerFX's other music composers include:

Soundation Studio

PowerFX also offers Soundation Studio, an on-line free music making station complete with a number of samples and loops. Users can open their own account and buy additional samples for their account or upload their own samples into the software to work with. Those who sign up can have their own profile and save their work using AudioLocker. [10]

Extracts of PowerFX's Sweet ANN and BIG AL were included in Soundation Studio in their Christmas loops and sound release with a competition included. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vocaloid</span> Singing voice synthesizer software

Vocaloid is a singing voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project between Yamaha Corporation and the Music Technology Group in Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. The software was ultimately developed into the commercial product "Vocaloid" that was released in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaito (software)</span> Vocaloid software

Kaito is a Voice Synth developed by Yamaha Corporation for the VOCALOID1 engine, and distributed by Crypton Future Media. He has performed at live concerts onstage as an animated projection along with Crypton's other Voice Synth characters. His original codename was "TARO" back during "Project Daisy", the predecessor of VOCALOID, and was one of the original four known vocals for the project. His voice provider is Japanese singer Naoto Fūga. He was the fifth and final vocal released for the original VOCALOID software, and the second vocal released in Japanese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megurine Luka</span> Voice synthesizer software

Megurine Luka, codenamed "CV03", is a Vocaloid software developed by Crypton Future Media, headquartered in Sapporo, Japan. Its official moe anthropomorphism is a 20-year-old woman. She uses Yamaha Corporation's Vocaloid 2 and Vocaloid 4 singing synthesizer technology. Her voice is sampled from Yū Asakawa. She has performed alongside other Vocaloids at live concerts onstage as an animated hologram projection.

Crypton Future Media, Inc., or simply Crypton, is a Japanese media company based in Sapporo, Japan. It develops, imports, and sells products for music, such as sound generator software, sampling CDs and DVDs, and FX and BGM libraries. The company also provides services of online shopping, online community, and mobile content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utau</span> Japanese shareware voice synthesizer

UTAU is a Japanese singing synthesizer application created by Ameya/Ayame (飴屋／菖蒲). This program is similar to the VOCALOID software, with the difference being it is shareware instead of under a third party licensing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet Co., Ltd.</span> Software company in Osaka, Japan

Internet Co., Ltd. or Internet, is a software company based in Osaka, Japan. It is best known for the music sequencer Singer Song Writer and Niconico Movie Maker for Nico Nico Douga, a video sharing website. It also develops singing synthesizers using the Vocaloid 4 engine developed by Yamaha Corporation. In 2014, they were the second leading company in sound-related software in Japan, boasting a 14.0% share of the market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AH-Software</span> Japanese brand

AH-Software is the software brand of AHS Co., Ltd., an importer of digital audio workstations and encoders in Tokyo, Japan. It is also known as the developer of Voiceroid and a number of Vocaloid voicebanks.

Zero-G is a British company that develops sound libraries, sound effects and audio loops. It also develops "singing" synthesisers using the Vocaloid engine developed by Yamaha Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vocaloid 2</span> 2007 singing voice synthesizer

Vocaloid 2 is a singing voice synthesizer and the successor to the Vocaloid voice synthesizer application by Yamaha. Unlike the first engine, Vocaloid 2 based its output on vocal samples, rather than voice analysis. The synthesis engine and the user interface were completely revamped, with Japanese Vocaloids possessing a Japanese interface, as opposed to the previous version, which used English for both versions. It is noteworthy for introducing the popular character Hatsune Miku. It was succeeded by Vocaloid 3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vocaloid 3</span> 2011 singing voice synthesizer

Vocaloid 3 is a singing voice synthesizer and successor to Vocaloid 2 in the Vocaloid series. This version of the software is a much more expansive version, containing many new features, three new languages and many more vocals than past software versions combined. It was succeeded by Vocaloid 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vocaloid 4</span> 2014 singing voice synthesizer

Vocaloid 4 is a singing voice synthesizer and successor to Vocaloid 3 in the Vocaloid series. It was succeeded by Vocaloid 5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kagamine Rin/Len</span> Humanoid personas voiced by synthesizer software

Kagamine Rin & Len, officially code-named CV02, are a pair of Vocaloid software voicebanks developed by Crypton Future Media, headquartered in Sapporo, Japan. Their official moe anthropomorphism consists of a pair of twin 14 year old singers, a boy and a girl, respectively named Len and Rin. They use Yamaha Corporation's Vocaloid 2 and Vocaloid 4 voice synthesizing technology. Their voices are samples of voice actress Asami Shimoda. They have performed at live concerts together, as they are each other's mirrors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megpoid</span> Vocaloid 3 voicebank

Megpoid is a Vocaloid by Internet Co., Ltd. Her voice is sampled by Megumi Nakajima. The mascot of the software is called Gumi . She is also sometimes called Megpoid GUMI, or GUMI Megpoid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Al (software)</span>

Big Al is an English language Vocaloid developed by PowerFX for Vocaloid 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aoki Lapis</span>

Aoki Lapis is a vocal synthesizer application software program produced by Yamaha Corporation with i-style Project for the software Vocaloid 3. The voice was provided by a contest winner, Japanese actress Nako Eguchi. Aoki Lapis is named after the semi-precious gemstone Lapis lazuli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yohioloid</span> Voice synthesizer software

Yohioloid is an English Vocaloid developed VocaTone and distributed by PowerFX who also has an additional Japanese voice bank. The vocalist sampled for his vocals was Swedish singer Yohio. He was released for Vocaloid 3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lily (software)</span>

Lily (リリィ) is a female vocal originally released for Vocaloid 2. The data for the voice was created by sampling the voice of Yuri Masuda, a Japanese vocalist of the Japanese musical group m.o.v.e.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vocaloid 5</span> 2018 singing voice synthesizer

Vocaloid 5 is a singing voice synthesizer and successor to Vocaloid 4 in the Vocaloid series. It was succeeded by Vocaloid 6.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vocaloid 6</span> 2022 singing voice synthesizer

Vocaloid 6 is a singing voice synthesizer application developed by Yamaha Corporation and marks the introduction of Vocaloid:AI technology. It is the successor to Vocaloid 5 in the Vocaloid series.

References

  1. ↑ "POWERFX ANNOUNCES AUDIOLOCKER FOR SOUNDATION STUDIO". Mixonline. 23 April 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Interview: Bil Bryant (Production and CEO of PowerFX)". Engloids. WordPress. January 4, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
  3. ↑ "New Anime Redesigns For Sweet Ann and Big Al!". Vocaloidism. April 11, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  4. ↑ "PowerFX - Sweet Ann". PowerFX. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  5. ↑ "PowerFX - Big Al". Jasmine Music Technology. May 28, 2007. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Vocaloid - Big Al". PowerFX. Archived from the original on July 17, 2010. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  7. ↑ "PowerFX - Oliver (Download)". PowerFX. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  8. ↑ "PowerFX - YOHIOloid (Download)". PowerFX. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
  9. ↑ "PowerFX — Ruby (Download)". PowerFX. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  10. ↑ link
  11. ↑ "Soundation Studio Includes Vocaloid Christmas Song Excerpts". Vocaloidism. December 15, 2010. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
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