Kagamine Rin & Len

Released on December 27, 2007, Rin &amp; Len Kagamine (鏡音リン・レン, Kagamine Rin/Len) is the second product of 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, 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 Len and Rin were said to be based on " l eft" and " r ight" 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 deprieved from a discussion about names that were familair 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.

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.

Usage for Music
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. Though they are voiced by the same provider, they have different pronounications of words, and even by retuning the voice of either Kagamine to sound like the other, results are never identical and veteran Vocaloid fans will be able to 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's is often considered the more difficult to work with than his counterpart, Rin.

As originally Rin/Len Kagamine were regarded as a product for experienced users, not like 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. Act 2 was released to solve those problems. Act 2 acts as a separate installation, for users with both versions, they then 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, because of this it is less vivid and flexible and does not allow delicate settings and editing which gives a wider range of expression to experienced users. Users who own them both are enjoying 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)

However, there are some complaints towards the Vocaloids. 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.

Append
Like Miku their Append adds a further 6 voicebanks on top of the orginal 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 orginal 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 sonf, it is possible to recreate a simulair results to the Append tones without actually buying the software with just the basic voicebanks.

鏡音リン・レン カバーアルバム「Prism」 (Kagamine Rin/Len Cover Album 「Prism」)~ 鏡音リン・レン feat. 下田麻美 (Kagamine Rin/Len feat. Asami Shimoda)



 * Release Date: June 10, 2009
 * Number of Discs: 1
 * Label: Universal Japan.
 * Length: 57:22 minutes
 * Kokoro (Heart/Soul)
 * Daybreak
 * Rival
 * Ganbaro uyo
 * Otenba hime no uta
 * Rin Rin signal
 * Itazura Musume
 * Soundless voice
 * Zenmai shikake no komoriuta
 * South North Story
 * Meltdown
 * Gemini
 * Prism

Trivia

 * 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 sex, just like twins. Also 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 sibilings 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.
 * 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 are not the right colors (their hair is red and their outfits blue). Miku (though played by Saki Fujita) is also seen actually speaking in the auditions themselves.
 * It took 25 hours (4 hours a day) to record all the Kagamine Appends.
 * Some call Len and Rin "Ren and Lin" however this is incorrect. Though the romanized version of the word could be either, the english version has been confirmed as "Len and Rin" and since there is no dubbed version to content with, they name remain the only offical names in existance for the Vocals.  This is also backed up by the origins of their names as "L" (Len) and "R" (Rin).