Kagamine Rin & Len

Kagamine Rin &amp; Len (鏡音リン ・レン) is the second product released on December 27, 2007, they are Vocaloid2 Character Vocal Series developed by Crypton Future Media Ltd. (CFM), male voice (Len) and female voice (Rin). Their family name was from the developing code combining Kagami (鏡, mirror) and Ne (音, sound).

History
Crypton Future Media intended to project a Vocaloid with low-teen girl's voice at first following Miku Hatsune, but there was a demand for a boy's voice, so Crypton Future Media hired a voice actress who can produce both sounds. The package included two voice banks: one for Rin and another for Len, both provided by the seiyū Asami Shimoda (下田 麻美 Shimoda Asami). Despite the double voice banks, the package was priced at the same price as Miku Hatsune.

At the time of recording in 2007, their names had not yet been decided. Their given names of Rin and Len were said to be based on " r ight" and " l eft" according to Asami Shimoda. She later confirmed in a interview after the Append release, the name itself was based on the names of Ken and Rin from Hokuto no Ken, the names were deprived from a discussion about names that were familiar from her childhood. According to Asami Shimoda, Len's voice was achieved by singing within her chest, while Rin's at the top of her head.

Vocaloid Avatar
As they were under development, Crypton had the concept of making a pair of male and female voicebanks. The first idea of the concept was twin voices of a girl and her mirror image of opposite gender, just like twins.

CFM had an intention to distribute them as twins, but this was not adopted either. After seeing many works that depict their relationships differently, Crypton announced on a magazine interview that those would meet their ideal. Crypton did not decide to announce they are siblings nor lovers, as they did not want to tie down each user's free creative activities.

KEI was given the concept Crypton intended, their approximate ages, an image of mirror, and an image of androids, but was not given any other directions when he was asked to illustrate Rin and Len by Crypton, as Kei had already illustrated Miku before. Rin was the first one to be illustrated and Len was made to match her, following Crypton's concept. Their leg parts are designed to mimic speakers.

Their Append design and the Official Illustration of those ones were made by オサム (osamu).

Act 2
On June 12, 2008, Crypton announced that the updated edition, named "Act2", would be released in early July 2008. Users who had bought the old version got an expansion disc free of charge. On June 18, 2008, beta demonstration songs using the new version were released on the company's official blog. On July 18, 2008, act2 was released. The new version was released to address issues with the original voicebanks that affected their ability to sing clearly. It acted as an independent installation, coexisting with the initial software. The original version of the software is now retired from sale by Crypton Future Media themselves and it is now no longer possible to buy the software from them.

Append - the Future of Rin/Len
After Miku Append began, Rin and Len was confirmed to have appends being worked on. Len Append was in the process of production first and demos of its voice have been given out; (high voice demo), (low voice demo). The append was officially released on December 27, 2010. The total number of voicebanks for each one is 6. There are 3 voicebanks being assigned to each Kagamine. Sample demo songs have been given out on Crypton's official page and their official Youtube channel online. Rin's appends are "power", "warm", and "sweet". Len's appends are "power", "cold", and "serious".

Their Append outsold the Miku Append during the period after their release.

US Debut
Along with Miku's US debute, other Vocaloids from the Character Vocal series are set to make their debutes alongside her. The Kagamine's are set to make an appearance at the Los Angeles concert alongside Miku. Crypton Future Media are currently selling them as "twins" to the American audience, unlike in Japan where their relationship has never been defined.

Usage for Music
The Vocal Character series were designed to be a set of vocals with particular characteristics about them. For the Kagamines, two Vocaloids with contrasting vocals for a very different result despite having the same voice provider. Since they are based on the same voice provider, both successfully harmonize with each other and therefore are often used in duets together. They also share a similar range to their predecessor Miku and can be used in together with Miku successfully.

Though they are voiced by the same provider, they have different pronunciations of words. Even by retuning the voice of either Kagamine to sound like the other, results are never identical, and only veteran Vocaloid fans can tell who is actually voicing the song. The reason is owed to the fact Len has a lisp-sound in his singing results that Rin does not. Len is the first male of the Vocaloid 2 era and the first male vocaloid able to hit high pitched notes. He lacks the ability to hit the lower notes less than Kaito, since he was produced as a young boy singer. Of the two voicebanks however, Len is often considered more difficult to work with than his counterpart, Rin. A particular noted weakness of Len's voicebank is that he is limited in his capabilities of matching masculine vocal tones, owed to his voice provider being female; he cannot produce a satisfactory low masculine vocal tone.

Originally Rin/Len Kagamine were regarded as a product for experienced users. Unlike Miku, they were not easy to utilize for beginners and were criticized that some voices in the original voicebanks were not clear and had pronunciation problems of the Japanese language. Their vowel sounds are choppy and overall lacked smoothness with a number of vowel related sounds being absent.


 * Comparison between the Vocaloid and voice provider

The Kagamine software may occasionally have an installation error when installed, this is related to their engine version and may show up when installing them over a more updated Vocaloid 2 like Gachapoid or Lily. Help can be found within the fandom on fixing this. This can be fixed very easily, however, if a newer Vocaloid installed after their installation, otherwise re-installation in release order is another solution.


 * The Kagamines have songs in the Nico Nico Douga Hall of Fame

Act 2
Act 2 was released to solve the Kagamine's pronunciation problems.

Act 2 is a separate installation. For users with both versions, they have a choice between four voicebanks overall: the newer voicebanks or the older voicebanks both with slightly different results. For having clearer pronunciations and milder voices, Act 2 can sing smoother without skilled pre-settings and advanced editing for beginners. However, it is less vivid and flexible and does not allow delicate settings or editing which gives a wider range of expression to experienced users. Users that own both versions enjoy choosing them in accordance with the intended use as each version has different features, just like having four different voicebanks; comparison of Act 1 and Act 2 edited in the same way:
 * (Rin Act1, Rin Act2), (Len Act1, Len Act2)

Act 2 also presents a new set of problems. They cannot pronounce the h\ phonetic data and are missing other phonetic pronunciations in addition to what was missing from their original software release. Despite improvements, the remaining missing data still makes the Act 2 voicebanks sound choppy in comparison to other Vocaloid voicebanks.

Append
Like Miku, their Append adds a further 6 voicebanks on top of the original voicebanks, bringing the grand total of Voicebanks sold for the Kagamines to a total of 10, the most of any Vocaloid. Their Append was done differently to Miku's in that the 6 voicebanks were split up and 3 recorded in two different scales for each Kagamine accordingly. This also means there are 5 voicebanks for both Rin and Len each if you include past versions, although most will ultimately have access to only 4 for each of the Kagamines due to the original voicebanks removal from sale. Len is also currently the only male with Appends assigned to him.


 * The Appends are as follows


 * Rin:Power (Optimum genre:Rocks/Pops/Dance musics/Enka, Optimum Tempo:65~170BPM, Optimum Range:F#3 ~ B#4) Youtube broadcast Rin Append "Power" (+Warm)
 * Rin:Warm (Optimum genre:Soft rocks/Ballades/Pops/Folks, Optimum Tempo:60~160BPM, Optimum Range:F#3 ~ B#4) Youtube broadcast Rin Append "Warm"
 * Rin:Sweet (Optimum genre:Bossa Nova/French Pops/Ambient music/Electronica, Optimum Tempo:55~155BPM, Optimum Range:G#3 ~ C#5) Youtube broadcast Rin Append "Sweet"
 * Len:Power (Optimum genre:Rocks/Pops/Dance musics/Enka, Optimum Tempo:65~170BPM, Optimum Range:A#2 ~ D#4) Youtube broadcast Len Append "Power"
 * Len:Cold (Optimum genre:Soft rocks/Ballades/Pops/Folks, Optimum Tempo:65~160BPM, Optimum Range:B#2 ~ C#4) Youtube broadcast Len Append "Cold"
 * Len:Serious (Optimum genre:Post Rocks/Phsyke/Ambient music/Ambient dub/Electronica, Optimum Tempo:55~155BPM, Optimum Range:A#2 ~ C#4) Youtube broadcast Len Append "Serious"

There is some debate as to if Appends are really needed. While they make it easier to find the right tone for a song, it is possible to recreate similar results to the Append tones without actually buying the software with just the basic voicebanks. There is, however, some pronunciation differences between the voicebanks as each Append uses its own set of vocal samples. For those that lack editing skills, Appends are a useful tool for adding these tones to a song. For those who are familar with the vocals, they offer a way of expanding the Vocaloid's capabilities by offering new vocal ranges and possibilities.

The Append release also gave older Kagamine users the chance to update the Vocaloid2 engine to a newer version, as the Append had the latest engine version. Users also need the Act2 voicebanks to be able to install and use the Append voicebanks. There are differences in the 6 Append voicebanks in terms of performance and some are more smoother then others, the Appends themselves were overall much smoother and of a higher quality than the original voicebanks.

Reception
They were slow to gain popularity in the Japanese fandom after the backlash of their original voicebanks and although they have the most songs combined, they are nowhere near as popular as Hatsune Miku who came before them. In the Japanese fandom, Rin is the more popular of the two Vocaloids with more related works than her counterpart Len. Part of the problem in the Japanese fandom was owed to the backlash of Kaito's failure, male voicebanks had so little demand at that time and Len's voicebank was left as the only male Vocaloid 2 vocal until Gakupo's release, and was not used as often as Rin's voicebank. However, Len is the most popular of the two amongst western Vocaloid fans for his "shota" voice. Together they have a larger fan following than Hatsune Miku, although neither alone do not overcome her popularity. There is also no experience with the downfall of their difficult voicebanks and their popularity is unaffected by the hard to hear pronunciations or any assiocation with the lack of demand for a male vocal.

However, despite their popularity some negative results have occurred over time. The single most discussed item in the Western fandom (after songs) is the relationship between the two Kagamines, aimed at if they should be viewed as twins, lovers, etc. It is also regarded as amongst the most annoying discussions that any fan can bring up on Youtube, often clogging up Youtube videos with meaningless arguments, with many fans failing to acknowledge that their relationship is open to fan interpretation. Len fans are also labelled amongst the most scary Vocaloid fans on Youtube within Vocaloid fan communities owed to the obsessive and "disturbing" nature often displayed by some Youtube comments.

There are some complaints towards the Vocaloids within the Japanese fandom on how they sound. Some say Rin's voice echoes within their head and makes them feel dizzy, while Len's high vocals do not appeal to those not fond of the pair.

The Appends for the Kagamine Vocaloids were better recieved then the Miku Append. The Vocals themselves were considered an improvement over the original voicbanks, although some minor thoughts expressed within the Western fandom did note one or two of the vocals sounded too close to existing vicebanks the Kagamine's already had in tone. The boxart was considered "beautiful" compared even to the Miku append and the designs suited the Vocaloids more. There was less of an issue with oversexualisation, which the Miku Append face. Some complaints however called their design "less adventurous" then the Miku Append's design and although was pretty to look at was also too close in concept to the original design for the Kagamine's. At the time a speculation amongst the fans was that it was because the Miku Append design had too much negativity, although this has never been confirmed or denied.

Trivia

 * In Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei a pair of Len and Rin look a likes are seen in the waiting queue during the auditions of the role of Meru Meru, however they do not have the Kagamine's known colours.
 * It took 25 hours (4 hours a day) to record all the Kagamine Appends.
 * Some call Rin and Len the incorrect names "Lin" and/or "Ren". Though the romanized version of the word could be either, the English version has been confirmed as "Rin and Len" and since there is no dubbed version to content with, the name remain the only official names in existence for the Vocals. This is also backed up by the origins of their names as "R" (Rin)" and "L" (Len).

Notable for...

 * First ever dual voicebanks released
 * First Vocaloids to be updated
 * First male (Len) released for Vocaloid 2
 * First vocal (Len) released not to be the same gender as the provider

Gallery
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