A drawing of Tomo Sakurai from Lemon Angel, from a PC-98 game

YURASYS Home About Sitemap

navigation icon

KING RAT RADIO

VOCAL SYNTH - VOCALOID

Kasane Teto dancing from Triple Baka

Fun Fact

The VOCALOID fanbase is one of the first places I ever made online friends, back in 2013. While I may have moved away from it now, I kind of owe it a lot.

What is VOCALOID?

VOCALOID is a commercial vocal synthesis software developed by YAMAHA. While the software has existed since 2004, it didn't gain traction until the release of VOCALOID2, when Crypton started its character vocal series. The most recognizable VOCALOID voicebanks are from this series, with the most popular being Hatsune Miku. Non-Crypton voicebanks you may recognize are Gumi/Megpoid and Gackpoid, both by Internet Co., Ltd., and if you're an oldhead or really like utaites (or unfortunately knew a lot of shotacons), you might recognize Utatane Piko.

The most recent version of the software is VOCALOID6, which has some AI synthesis capabilities and was generally a lot better received than its predecessor. VOCALOID has had English and Japanese support for its entire existence, however since VOCALOID3 the software has had voicebanks in other languages like Spanish and Korean.

Should I use VOCALOID?

If you have the money for it, then maybe! I haven't used the newer programs, so I can't tell you for sure if it's a good idea. However, I would consider V6 users a bit more spoiled, since it comes with multiple voicebanks by default (as well as a lot of nice features that didn't exist when I started). If you're on the fence, ask to borrow a friend's copy or look further into it, since there's a likelihood you wouldn't be using the default voices, anyway.

While it's very illegal, piracy is also an option. I won't be linking to any resources for obvious reasons, but this is an easy way to get access to the older versions of the program, most of which aren't sold anymore. Some older versions of the program come bundled with a voicebank (VOCALOID1 and 2), but many of the voicebanks are not sold anymore, so it really depends on who you're willing to use. The last version of the software to support VOCALOID2 voicebanks was VOCALOID4, which hasn't been sold since 2018. (There are some ToS-breaking ways to get them to work on newer programs.)

Examples of the engine

Белая ночь

Bank: Lily, Orig: Форум

Яночка

Bank: 紲星あかり, Orig: Шахерезада