Yuezheng Ling

Yuezheng Ling (乐正 绫) is an upcoming Chinese VOCALOID to be developed by Shanghai He Nian Co. Ltd. She will be released for the VOCALOID3 engine.

Ling was a runner up entry to the first "VOCALOID™ CHINA" contest in 2012, held for choosing the design of the first Chinese VOCALOID. On July 13th, 2014, she was confirmed to be receiving a VOCALOID voicebank.

History
A contest titled "VOCALOID CHINA" was held to determine the design of the first Chinese VOCALOID, which ended on January 3rd, 2012. On January 17th, the winner was revealed to be Yayin Gongyu, the original version of Luo Tianyi, in Shanghai. She was the top ranked design of 5 winning entries for the contest, with one of the winning entries being Ling Caiyin, now known as Yuezheng Ling. Their finalized designs were revealed on March 22nd.

On July 13th, 2014, VOCANESE has announced on their weibo account that Ling would receive a VOCALOID voicebank and that YAMAHA is investing 100 million yuan into the project. On July 27th and 28th, members of the recording team traveled to Japan and received training in order to learn new techniques into creating a VOCALOID voicebank in a systematic way.

On August 2nd, starting at 10 AM, VOCANESE has announced that they are holding an audition for the voice of Ling. According to the rules, the activity is limited to females only. The sound files must be in MP3 format, and 320 Kbps. The sound files include a 3 minute speech and a 3 minute recording of singing, both in Chinese.

For the speaking portion, the participant must express their anticipation and/or congratulate Ling. While speaking, it is emphasized that the participant must use their natural voice and refrain from changing their voice.

For the singing portion, the participant is allowed to sing in any genre that they are familiar with and record the singing acapella. When submitting their work, personal details must be included (such as name, mobile number, QQ (an msn-like program) account, contacting address, and personal photo). The auditions will end on August 20th at 3 PM.

Later, in an answer to a fan's question, VOCANESE stated that they had contacted some voice actresses for Ling and considered them to be less risky and had better efficiency. However, they did not want to ignore any other potential voices for their new VOCALOID, thus the audition was launched. In another response, Shanghai He Nian stated that the participants' voices would be posted on the official Weibo page for Ling. Weibo members would be able to vote on their favorite entry by liking and/or sharing the post with a voice featured. The top two participants with the most votes would be considered as finalists.

Concept
According to the short animation series promoting VOCALOID CHINA, Ling is a lively high school student. Her family runs the huge Yuezheng company, which makes instruments and music. Her personality is very straight forward, and can be seen as blunt sometimes. She also does not care for details. She is extremely generous and energetic, for she spends as much as 3/4 of the day running all over the place. Her high spirit sometimes make boys jealous. She loves music, experiencing new things, and huge, fluffy dolls. However, Ling has many annoying issues in her life, mostly related to her older brother, Yuezheng Longya.

Etymology
Her original name was Ling Caiyin (绫 彩音), however, this was dropped because it was written in a Japanese naming style rather than Chinese.

The surname Yuèzhèng (乐正) comes from a simple reason - 'Yuèzhèng' is the governor of music during the Zhou Dynasty. After the Zhou took over the Chinese empire, the position of the governing system is used as surnames. During the Zhou Dynasty there is a position called "Yuèzhèng", responsible with music and melodies. Any descendants of this governor will bear the same surname.

During the Zhou Dynasty, people took great measures with politeness and rituals, and that the standard of music can directly affect a country's impression to the outside world. Yuezhengs are very looked upon by the emperor. The descendants are able to use this position's name as their surname, therefore passing it down. Two historical books (《元和姓纂》&《尚友录》) states that: 'Chou Dynasty's 'Yuèzhèng' Position is used as surnames', therefore proving that the surname exists as early in Zhou Dynasty, which is more than 2,600 years.

Appearance
The design was originally drawn by Rikuhao, but was refined and redrawn by illustrator Ideolo.

Relations

 * Yuezheng Longya: Older brother
 * Luo Tianyi: Companion
 * Mo Qingxian: Companion
 * Zhiyu Moke: Companion

Marketing
Yuezheng Ling was a fan-designed VOCALOID that was entered in the first "VOCALOID CHINA" contest, like Luo Tianyi. She was created with VOCALOID fans in mind.

VOCALOID CHINA PROJECT released a five-part promotional animation series for the VOCALOID CHINA characters. On May 15th, 2012, at CFO3, the full first PV was made available, featuring Luo Tianyi with Ling making a brief cameo at the end. Ling's official introduction takes place in the second episode.

Trivia

 * Ling has a feline-like companion named Shi Tian (释天). He is 10,000 years old and 200 cm tall. He has the ability to transform into her electric guitar.
 * She is the first VOCALOID to have a brother, Longya. They are also the first "brother-sister" combination. However, they are the third set of siblings.

Notable for...

 * First VOCALOID to be based on a runner up design
 * First supporting character to be made into a VOCALOID
 * First VOCANESE supporting character to be made into a VOCALOID