Virtual singer
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| Base Info | |
| Term | Virtual singer |
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| Origin | Japan |
| Related Articles | singer, virtual idol, electronic music, artificial intelligence, Vocalo-P, gijinka, etc. |
"Virtual singer" refers to a voice library for a voice synthesis software who has been given a two-dimensional virtual image. Well-known ones include VOCALOID.
Contents
Introduction
Virtual singers are a type of virtual idol , but their unique feature is that their singing voices are synthesized by computer software. In 2004, VOCALOID technology came out for the first time. The original VOCALOID virtual singers such as Leon, Lola and Miriam were mainly characterized by English singing. Although these early products were technologically pioneering, they were still in their infancy in terms of popularity and cultural impact. After all, people have not seen how advanced this technology is. In 2007, Crypton Future Media launched Hatsune Miku, a VOCALOID software featuring Japanese singing voices. Hatsune Miku's image design, clear singing voice, and open creative environment made her quickly become an iconic figure in VOCALOID culture. The success of Hatsune Miku opened the golden age of VOCALOID music, attracting a large number of creators to participate in the creation of VOCALOID music. For example, the Onion Song. At the same time, people have discovered that virtual singers have greater freedom and convenience in fan creation than traditional idols and other virtual idols. Even for virtual singers who operate in the idol mode, their songs are basically not officially produced, but created by fans. With the popularity of Hatsune Miku, other singers such as Kagamine Rinren , Megurine Ruka , etc. also came out one after another. Each new virtual singer not only increases the diversity of the song library, but also provides new possibilities for specific musical styles and cultural expressions. For example, the Kagamine Twins are loved by young people for its fast and electronic music style, while the mature sound of Megurine Luka is more recognized among adult listeners.
The virtual singer's voice library usually needs to be recorded by a real person. This is called their "voice provider". Including artificial intelligence singers, the production of songs requires the creator to spend time on training.
Naming
Virtual singers are often called virtual idols. This is not wrong, but it should be noted that the two concepts are not equivalent. On the contrary, it is wrong to call virtual idols virtual singers.
Female virtual singers are often called virtual divas.
In addition, with the rise of Virtual YouTubers, "Virtual Singer/VSinger" may also refer to the VTubers who focus on singing, in some situations.
Character settings
Since the success of Hatsune Miku, voice synthesis software has often designed avatars to intuitively display features. The specific level of detail mainly depends on the manager's operating philosophy, but it does not necessarily appear on the interface of the singing voice synthesis software. The application of these virtual singers in VOCALOID songs not only greatly enriches the expressiveness of music works, but also becomes a core element of music creation and marketing. The virtual singer is able to convey complex emotions and stories in songs through her unique timbre and personality traits. This personalized expression makes the song not only a display of technology, but also an emotional resonance, allowing the audience to establish an emotional connection with the virtual singer.
Most of the virtual singers are set as Japanese anime-style beautiful girls, and a few are men, animals, etc. The settings in terms of personality/measurements/experience are usually not very clear. There are also some virtual singers whose official images have not been given and are represented by relatively abstract patterns. In the creation of PVs and MMD videos, the image of the virtual singer is often customized and adjusted according to the theme and emotion of the song, which not only enriches the personality of the singer, but also deepens the expression of the song and the audience's feelings. For example, in "World is Mine", Hatsune Miku displays a proud and slightly willful image, which is consistent with the "princess" theme of the song. By adjusting the virtual singer's clothing, hairstyle and even expressions, creators can unify the visual style and music theme in PVs and MMD videos, enhancing the overall artistic effect.
Virtual singers whose secondary creations are relatively loose can often show a high degree of diversity. Some are similar to wild-card characters, and they can try different background stories and different music styles. The virtual singer image in each author's works is different. There are also some songs where the virtual singer who sings the song does not appear in the PV.
Moegirlpedia mainly includes virtual singers with independent two-dimensional images. For details, see Moegirlpedia:Scope of Inclusion.
Background
Technical background
The technical core of the virtual singer is the singing voice synthesis software, which consists of two parts: the sound library and the editor.
Due to limitations in technology, many special singing methods and emotional expressions of human singers are often difficult to restore. And it is inevitable to produce electronic sounds.
Many people believe that future voice synthesis software should further eliminate electronic sounds and restore human voices. But there are also quite a few people who think that the virtual singer's mechanical sense of maintaining the voice has a unique charm. In works with certain themes, voices with electronic sound characteristics are more in line with the theme.
Editors
Simply entering lyrics and melody to create a song will make the sound jerky, so authors need to use an editor to achieve more precise control over their works by adjusting parameters.
Due to differences in technical principles, the effects of parameters with the same name in different software are slightly different.
You can also create some special effects by adjusting parameters (common ones include modifying gender parameters to create sex-changing effects, etc.).
The engine is the core component of singing synthesis software. In most cases, the synthesis engine and editor are bundled together, and users often only need to operate the editor. There are also some singing voice synthesis software whose back-end engines and front-end editors are separated and replaceable (such as UTAU).
Voicebank
The voicebank is considered to be the ontology of the virtual singer.
Sound libraries are often not bundled with editors, and users can choose to install and uninstall them according to their own needs. Some singing voice synthesis software will come with a sound library by default in the editor's installation package to facilitate users to try it out.
Due to differences in technical principles, sound libraries produced for one editor generally cannot be used on other editors, but newer versions of editors of the same brand are often backward compatible with older versions of sound libraries.
The same virtual singer character may have multiple sound libraries suitable for different software, or sound library versions in different languages for users to choose.
Producers
The emergence of virtual singers has greatly lowered the threshold for making music. Allowing more people to participate in music creation.
Compared with inviting real singers, using virtual singers to produce songs requires less manpower, material and financial resources. Therefore, many fan creators use virtual singers to produce songs.
There are many musicians who lack the ability to make money and rely on virtual singers to realize their music dreams in the early stages of their creative careers.
Virtual singer-related works are generally completed through teamwork, but there are also some "all-in-one" bosses who can take on all the work of lyrics, composition, illustrations, and post-production in one creation.
Many virtual singer producers will have their names ending with "P", the abbreviation of Producer.
Concerts
Operators with relevant capabilities and conditions will participate in or hold online or offline concerts in the name of virtual singers.
The Hatsune Miku 39's Giving Day concert, organized by Sega in the name of Hatsune Miku is the world's first virtual singer concert using holographic projection technology.
