 | |
| Initial release | January 15, 2004 |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Available in | English, Japanese |
| Type | Voice Synthesizer Software |
| License | Proprietary |
Vocaloid is a singing voice synthesizer and the first engine released in the Vocaloid series. It was succeeded by Vocaloid 2. This version was made to be able to sing both English and Japanese.
The earliest known development related to Vocaloid was a project that had occurred two years prior and funded by Yamaha. The project was codenamed "Elvis" and did not become a product because of the scale of its vocal building required for just a single song. It is credited as the project that established many of the earliest models and ideas that would later be tested and tried for Vocaloid. [1]
Yamaha started development of Vocaloid in March 2000 [2] and announced it for the first time at the German fair Musikmesse on March 5–9, 2003. [3] It was created under the name "Daisy", in reference to the song "Daisy Bell", but for copyright reasons, this name was dropped in favor of "Vocaloid". [4]
The first Vocaloids, Leon and Lola, were released by the studio Zero-G on March 3, 2004, both of which were sold as a "Virtual Soul Vocalist". Leon and Lola made their first appearance at the NAMM Show on January 15, 2004. [5] Leon and Lola were also demonstrated at the Zero-G Limited booth during Wired Nextfest and won the 2005 Electronic Musician Editor's Choice Award. [6] Zero-G later released Miriam, with her voice provided by Miriam Stockley, in July 2004. Later that year, Crypton Future Media also released the first Japanese Vocaloid Meiko who, along with Kaito, was developed by Yamaha. [4] In June 2005, Yamaha upgraded the engine version to 1.1. [7] A patch was later released to update all Vocaloid engines to Vocaloid 1.1.2, adding new features to the software, although there were differences between the output results of the engine. [8] A total of five Vocaloid products were released from 2004 to 2006. Vocaloid was also noted for its more husky results than later engine versions. [4]
Vocaloid had no previous rival technology to contend with at the time of its release, with the English version only having to face the later release of VirSyn's Cantor software during its original run. [9] Despite having Japanese phonetics, the interface lacked a Japanese version and both Japanese and English vocals had an English interface. The only differences between versions were the color and logo that changed per template. As of 2011, this version of the software is no longer supported by Yamaha and will no longer be updated. [10] All Vocaloid 1 products were permanently retired on January 1, 2014.
A total of five products were released for the engine version.
A male vocal released capable of singing in English. He was released on January 15, 2004. [11] He was built as a soul singer. His provider is unknown, save for the fact that he was a "British black singer". Leon, along with his complementary vocal "Lola", were noted for their attempt to convey racial qualities within a vocal, due to their genre choice of "soul music". [12] He was considered the overall weaker of the two soul singer voices and the weakest of the three English vocals. [9]
A female vocal released as a complementary vocal to Leon, Lola also sings in English. Also released on January 15, 2004. [13] Lola was noted for her deep tone that left her sounding "like Big Ma", but was generally considered the better of the two Soul singers. Nothing is known about her voice provider except she was a black singer who was established in Great Britain, whose roots were noted back in the Caribbean. [12] A notable issue with her voice was that when used outside of genres other than soul, her provider's Caribbean accent would sound out, giving an atypical soul singer result.
Lola is also known to have the oldest Vocaloid works on website Nico Nico Douga out of all Vocaloids. She was also used by Susumu Hirasawa on various tracks for the film Paprika . [14] [15]
Miriam, based on the voice of Miriam Stockley, was the third English vocal released for the engine. Released on July 1, 2004, Miriam was an improvement over Leon and Lola and had a softer toned vocal. She was considered the strongest English vocal released for the engine version. [9]
Meiko was the first of the two Japanese vocals developed by the company, Yamaha, and has a name that was chosen among two other proposals. She was originally codenamed "Hanako" which likely came from Yamada Hanako (山田花子), a placeholder name for any female characters, and the Japanese equivalent to "Jane Smith". During her development the name "Megumi" was also considered before a final decision was made. [16] The name "Meiko" was ultimately chosen to go along with her voice provider Haigō Meiko. Her commercial handling was done by Crypton Future Media and she was released on November 5, 2004. Meiko was ranked as the seventh most popular Vocaloid product they sold and the least popular of Crypton Future Media's own Vocaloids. [4] [17]
A complementary male vocal for Meiko, Kaito was released on February 17, 2006 for the Japanese version of the software. [18] He was developed by Yamaha and was originally codenamed "Taro". [4] Kaito was initially acknowledged as a commercial failure and sold poorly, bringing in only 500 units in contrast to Meiko's 3,000. His lack of sales in contrast to Meiko was put down to the reader demographic of DTM magazine, which 80% were male. [19] Sales picked up suddenly in 2008 to the surprise of Wataru Sasaki and other members of Crypton Future Media and by 2010 had over taken Meiko in popularity. [20] [21]
Reviewers such as Michael Stipe of R.E.M. praised it when it was first announced in 2003. [22] Stipe noted that one of the more useful aspects of the software was that it gave singers a method of preserving their voice for future use should they lose their own, but as the technology progressed it could also be used to bring back the voices of singers whose voices have already been lost. [22] However, while the provider of "Miriam", Miriam Stockley, had accepted that there was little point in fighting progress, she had noted there was little control over how her voice was used once the software was in the hands of others. [22] At the time of its release, Popular Science reported that, "Synthetic vocals have never even come close to fooling the ear, and outside of certain Kraftwerk chestnuts, robo-crooning is offputting." It was noted that the Vocaloid software was the first to touch the uncanny job of recreating the human voice. [23] Yamaha received much praise and Vocaloid was hailed as a "quantum leap" on vocal synthesis, while Vocaloid itself received much attention and praise within the industry. [12]
Sales of the product were also reported to be very sluggish at first. [1] The CEO of Crypton Future Media noted the lack of interest in Vocaloids overall was put down to the lack of response in the initial Vocaloid software. With regard to the development of the English version of the software specifically, many studios when approached by Crypton Future Media for recommendations towards developing the English Vocaloids had no interest in the software initially, with one particular company representative calling it a "toy". A level of failure was put on Leon and Lola for lack of sales in the United States, putting the blame on their British accents. [24]
Prior to the release of the Hatsune Miku product, Crypton Future Media had also noted there was some criticism at choosing to release the original Vocaloid engine as a commercial licensing product, although felt that the choice was for the better of the engine. Furthermore, it was noted that the original Vocaloid engine felt more like a prototype for future engine versions. [25]
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.
Hatsune Miku, officially code-named CV01, is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media and its official anthropomorphic mascot character, a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise twintails. Miku's personification has been marketed as a virtual idol, and has performed at live virtual concerts onstage as an animated holographic projection.
Hatsune Miku: Unofficial Hatsune Mix is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Kei, the original artist of Vocaloid 2 Hatsune Miku. The manga was originally based on Miku, but came to feature other Vocaloid 1 and 2 characters as the series progressed. The manga was serialized in Jive's shōnen manga magazine Comic Rush between the January 2008 and December 2010 issues. However, the characters and settings depicted in this manga are not official. It is licensed for distribution in North America by Dark Horse Comics, who released the entire series in one volume in 2014.
Kaito is a Voice Synth developed by Yamaha Corporation for the Vocaloid 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.
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.
MikuMikuDance is a freeware animation program that lets users animate and create computer-animated films, originally produced for the Japanese Vocaloid voice synthesizer software voicebank Hatsune Miku, the first member of the Character Vocal series created by Crypton Future Media. The program itself was programmed by Yu Higuchi (HiguchiM) and has gone through significant upgrades since its creation. Its production was made as part of the VOCALOID Promotion Video Project (VPVP).
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Extend is a 2011 rhythm game created by Sega and Crypton Future Media for the PlayStation Portable. The game is an expansion to the 2010 video game, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA 2nd, and was first released on November 10, 2011 in Japan with no international release. Like the original, the game primarily makes use of Vocaloids, a series of singing synthesizer software, and the songs created using these Vocaloids, most notably the virtual diva Vocaloid Hatsune Miku. Rock band Gacharic Spin served as motion capture models.
Hatsune Miku and Future Stars: Project Mirai is a 2012 rhythm game created by Sega and Crypton Future Media for the Nintendo 3DS. The game is a spin-off of the Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA series of Vocaloid rhythm games and was first released on March 8, 2012 in Japan with no international release. Like the original, the game primarily makes use of Vocaloids, a series of singing synthesizer softwares, and the songs created using them, most notably the virtual-diva Vocaloid Hatsune Miku. It is also the first game in the franchise to include a Vocaloid made by Internet Co., Ltd.; the mascot of Megpoid, Gumi, appears as a guest star.
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.
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.
Vocaloid 4 is a singing voice synthesizer and successor to Vocaloid 3 in the Vocaloid series. It was succeeded by Vocaloid 5.
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.
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA X is a 2016 rhythm game featuring the character Hatsune Miku, created by Sega and Crypton Future Media, released on March 24, 2016 for the PlayStation Vita in Japan. A PlayStation 4 version known in Japan as Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA X HD was released on August 25, 2016. A North American and European version has been released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita on August 30, 2016. The title reflects the game being the 10th entry in the Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA series. The game takes a new approach to play style, focusing around the theme of "Live and Produce".
SF-A2 codename miki is a female Vocaloid character produced by AH-Software Co. Ltd for Vocaloid 2. Her voice is sampled from the Japanese female singer-songwriter, Miki Furukawa.
VY1 is a Japanese female vocal developed by Yamaha Corporation and distributed by Bplats, Inc. to act as a "standard" vocal for Vocaloid. It has the codename of "Mizki". It was originally released for the Vocaloid 2 engine.
Bootleg is the fourth album by Kenshi Yonezu, released on November 1, 2017. It is his first album with Sony Music and won the Album of the Year award at the 60th Japan Record Awards.
Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage! is a rhythm game developed by Colorful Palette and published by Sega. The game is a spin-off from Sega's Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA series, featuring the 6 Virtual Singers of Crypton Future Media, Hatsune Miku, Megurine Luka, Kagamine Rin and Len, MEIKO, and KAITO, alongside the cast of 20 original human characters that are split into five themed units. Set in the real world where Virtual Singers only exist as fiction, the characters come across another dimension called "SEKAI," where various "true feelings" are projected.
Domino's App feat. Hatsune Miku is a discontinued food delivery app released exclusively in Japan that was developed by Kayac and hosted by Domino's Pizza. Launched in March 2013, the app was a collaboration between Domino's Pizza Japan and Crypton Future Media, the creators and developers of the Vocaloid software voicebank Hatsune Miku. The app's functions were similar to the traditional Domino's App but had additional features themed around Hatsune Miku. The service became an Internet meme after a commercial for the service went viral on YouTube.