The early 2000's. The thriving era of pop-synth music and futuristic themes. Vocaloid- a 'voice synthesizer project'- started in 2000, for a research project originated by Kenmochi Hideki at the Pompeu Fabra University in Spain. This was not intended to be a full-on commercial product, until YAMAHA coorperation discovered this and decided to take it on as a software for PC in 2004. The user types in various lyrics. A piano roll format is used for the lyrics to go on, and by clicking and dragging they can lower or heighten the pitch. You can edit pronounciations, add vibrato, or even change the singing voice to a whisper or add growl for metal/rock songs.
Several voice banks have been released for the software, being the vocal for the melody. In a recording studio, various sounds and words are pre-recorded and are meshed together to sound like the lyrics the user had typed. To match the voices, anthropomorphic avatars are put on the front of each box. These avatars are referred to as "Vocaloids", what we all know of now. Some of these Vocaloids go onstage as hologram projections and perform in front of a live audience. It was originally English only, with the starting Vocaloids, Leon, Lola, Miriam, and others. Afterward, Japanese singers were added with MEIKO and KAITO. There is support for Spanish, with Bruno, Maika, and Clara. Luo Tianyi and Xin Hua were Chinese, and SeeU was a Korean add on.
Vocaloid was initially released for professional musicians, then gradually aiming toward computer users with little to no experience, to again, professionals. Famous Japanese musical companies have released music with Vocaloids as the leading vocal, such as Sony Music Entertainment Japan and Supercell. Record label, Exit Tunes, has used Vocaloids in compilation albums. Famous artists like Mike Oldfield have also used Vocaloids as backup singers in their work.
Vocaloid 2 was released in 2007. This engine "based it's results on vocal samples" rather than analyzing a human voice. The engine and user screen were completely revamped, with Japanese vocals taking their time in the spotlight, such as hits like "World is Mine" and "Ievan Polka" sung by all famous Hatsune Miku.
Vocaloid 3 was launched October 21st, 2011. Several more Japanese Vocaloids were released to go with it. Updates were given to previous Vocaloids from the 2nd software so they can be used in the 3rd. The first Japanese Vocaloids (Meiko and Kaito) got their first English add ons.
Vocaloid 4, the most well known of the softwares, was confirmed to release in 2014. Most Japanese Vocaloids from the previous software were revamped with an English voicebank, such as Miku v4 English, Rin+Len v4 English Append, and more. The "new Luka vocal" was also released then.
BINABASA MO ANG
Miku's 10th Anniversary
Non-Fiction[August 21st, 2019] Hatsune Miku, virtual pop star known around the globe for her hit songs, such as PoPiPo and Ievan Polka, made her first debut August 21st 2009. As she gained popularity, more and more vocaloids released before her became well kno...
