For Crypton Future Media's CV vocals, see Character Vocal Series
"Character Voice", normally shortened to "CV", is a particular concept of Vocaloid vocals that applies to some Japanese Vocaloids, but not to all Vocaloids.
About
For more information, see Wikipedia page Voice Acting in Japan
The term "CV" was coined in the 1980s by magazine Animec ("アニメック"), before its company Le Porte (ラポート) went bankrupt, as well as the magazine Newtype. The term was used specifically to refer to the Voice Actor or seiyū ("声優") in that specific role.
While some Vocaloids are intended to sound like their vocalists such as Camui Gackpo or KAITO , others are the "character vocal" of their vocal provider. The decision to produce a voice acted Vocaloid was first demonstrated by the Character Vocal Series CV Vocaloids of Crypton Future Media, which was a result of the difficulty of finding willing professional Vocalists to provider their vocals to the software.[1] A voice actor can also lend their voice to more then one Character Voice role for the software, such as in the case of Kagamine Rin and Kagamine Len and produce very different sounding results.
As such, rather than aiming to sell a the voice of the provider, they represent the provider as that particular Vocaloid. Vocaloids within the group may or may not sound like their provider. Yū Asakawa, for example, reported that she didn't feel like Megurine Luka sounded much like herself at all.[2] However, it is important to note this degree will vary per Vocaloid, as different studios have different techniques and production methods.
The Character Vocal series remains the best example of the advantages of using Voice actors over professional singers. Using a voice actor gave the Vocaloids of this series much flexibility to approach and direction. However, the lack of realism they may display within their vocal may not prove a equal trade off.[3] Vocaloid itself is a professionally aimed product, professional producers are often still as the intended target audience regardless of the Vocaloid design.[4]
List of Vocaloids regarded as "CV"
The following is a list of known CV vocaloids.
- Hatsune Miku
- Kagamine Rin \ Len
- Megurine Luka
- Aoki Lapis[5]
- CUL[6]
- Ring Suzune[7]
There may be more undeclared CV type Vocaloids, but due to issues such as unknown providers, these may never be declared in this group of Vocaloids.