DAINA (VOCALOID4)

DAINA VOCALOID4 | Songs Albums Notable Originals

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DAINA (VOCALOID4)
Product information
Catalog No.	ZG-V9
Company	Zero-G Limited Distributor: Big Fish Audio, Inc. Crypton Future Media, Inc.
Release	November 20, 2015
Status	Released
System	Windows, Mac
Language(s)	English
Type	VOCALOID4
License	Proprietary
Affiliation	YAMAHA Corporation
Website	Product Page (Zero-G Limited) Product Page (Big Fish Audio) Product Page (Sonicwire)

This article is about the VOCALOID4 software known as a voicebank. If you are looking for the VOCALOID character then click here.

History

2014

Zero-G approached EmpathP for a private project. They asked her for being the voice provider of their new American VOCALOID and asked which male vocalist would best compliment her voice. Nostraightanswer (then Kenji-B) and CircusP became the candidates. After several meetings, Kenji-B was chosen. The voice providers were not to be revealed until later.

2015

In March 2015, Zero-G stated that they hoped to release an American male and female VOCALOID4 by the end of May.

In June, Prince Syo commented that he had written the script for DAINA, which was similar to the one used for RUBY. This reclist was highly customized for the American accent.

On June 20, VOCALOIDs DAINA and DEX were introduced via livestream and panel at Anime Mid Atlantic. The announcement showcased short demo clips by Circus-P, nostraightanswer (Kenji-B) and EmpathP (AkiGlancy). Kenji-B noted that the VOCALOIDs were not final and that certain details were subject to change. It was also revealed that Zero-G was unable to create extra voicebanks due to financial reasons, but if DAINA sold well, they may consider the option. Unlike DEX, she lacked extra phonetics at the time. Zero-G noted that they were not interested in multilingual capabilities as they focused solely on the English language.

A second stream was held to clear miscommunication in the first. Unlike many other VOCALOIDs, DAINA was not recorded within a studio since her voice provider had a suitable mic and came from the fandom. The providers were recruited in December 2014 to help with the beta, along with Kenji-B and AkiGlancy. At the time of the livestream, DAINA was still being adjusted to remove some raspiness in her lower ranges.

As there was still work to be done, a July release was not possible for DAINA . Barring any technical difficulties, she would be ready for YAMAHA's approval in August.

On July 27, beta testing was finished and final touch-ups were left to the programmers. Further promotion was handled by Zero-G and the design work was handed to them for a final decision.

On September 4, AkiGlancy reported that all work requirements were finished and that Zero-G would be responsible to reveal the release date. Later, she explained that the voice providers were likely to be revealed around November or February. This allowed DAINA and DEX to have their initial sales based solely off their software and to avoid any biased sales that may be accumulated by the reveal of their providers. It was unknown if Zero-G would announce this information on their own media or during a convention. It was later confirmed that they would be revealed in February during Katsucon.

On September 6, AkiGlancy tweeted it was unlikely that DAINA would be sold as a starter pack. On October 2, she clarified that Zero-G was waiting for YAMAHA's final answer in terms of the release dates. DEX and DAINA were both ready and waited for YAMAHA's approval, which was the reason for their continuous delays. On October 12, Kenji-B confirmed that they would be released separately as digital downloads.

Tests with other distributors prompted an alternate design to be produced for DAINA, removing her animal traits. On October 22, the alternative design was confirmed to have slight changes to the original, but still retained the theme of The Fox and The Hound. This was done to appeal to non Japanese-styled art fans.

AkiGlancy briefly explained that Zero-G did not have a plan for the pair's physical copies due to several reasons. One major reason was that the company observed that their VOCALOIDs tended to sell better as digital downloads and that it was too costly to create physical packages. However, if they sold well, a physical release may be a future option. In the meantime, AkiGlancy planned to ask the company about "mock" boxarts similar to what galaco had for her original voicebank. She felt that this would be much more beneficial to customers.

On November 2, it was confirmed that DAINA was with YAMAHA for over a month and a half for testing. During this period, YAMAHA searched the voicebank for bugs and informed Zero-G about the issues that needed repairing. After repairs, Zero-G needed to resubmit the vocals for additional check ups. It was later mentioned that YAMAHA may complete final compression on the week of November 9 or later. Once compression has been completed, DAINA and DEX would be released shortly after. They were officially released on November 20.

On December 12, DAINA was released for Mac via VOCALOID4 for Cubase.

2016

During Katsucon on February 13, 2016, it was revealed that AkiGlancy and Kenji-B were the voice providers for DAINA and DEX.

Product Information

Demonstrations

Demonstrations

Livestream Demo	YouTube
"Say Something" and "Paparazzi"	YouTube
Pushing Daisies (raw vocal with the beta voicebank)	CLYP
Pushing Daisies	SoundCloud
Pushing Daisies (with updates)	SoundCloud
A Wicked Girl and a Tin Boy	SoundCloud
Two Weeks	SoundCloud
Say Something part II	SoundCloud
April Fool (with American Phonemes)	SoundCloud
Part of Me	Zero-G

A cover released on Soundcloud was placed on DAINA's product page as an example of a track by a "Daina user".

System Requirements

• OS:
  • Windows: Windows 10 (32/64bit) / Windows 8.1 / Windows 8 / Windows 7 (32/64bit)
• CPU: Intel Dual Core CPU
• RAM: 2GB or more
• Hard Disk Capacity: More than 4GB
• Internet connection.
• Note: DAINA has been compressed to segmented .RAR format for the download. After purchase you will download 6 separate RAR files. The first RAR file contains the installation instructions, user license and audio demos. The total size of the download is 2.56 gigabytes.

Voicebanks

Product Information
Optimum
Genre: Pop, Soft Pop, Dance, Country  Optimum Range: G2 ~ E4  No. of Keys: W ~ 13, B ~ 9, Total ~ 22
Versions
Trial/Demo Vers?: No  Starter Available?: No
Package details as noted:
DAINA continues as a part of Zero-G's releases, focusing on a specific genre of music. She was announced as a more "Pop, Dance and Country" focused vocal and has a youthful, huskier feminine voice. Zero-G described her as a "youthful yet soulful and husky female with an equally large range, who will be especially spectacular in Pop, Dance and Country styles" Her accent is described as "general American" like RUBY's. Her counterpart is DEX. She sings in the soprano range. Though her voice provider was a natural alto. She is not voice acted and the VOCALOID engine handles her vocal well. Her provider was instructed to give as much power as possible, whereas her provider is normally a "softer" singer. The result is DAINA sounds much like the provider's UTAU "Tuna". In Feb 2017, AkiGlancy released the DAINA EX Pack#1 breaths samples: Official Dropbox.com download which contains more breath samples for DAINA. Announcement YouTube
Vocal traits as noted:
According to EmpathP: She is a vocalist who is younger, has a mid-range tone and not as soft as AVANNA, but not as powerful as RUBY and CYBER DIVA. She is one of the most understandable English vocaloids. EmpathP stated that DAINA has a different voicetype than CYBER DIVA and RUBY, as she is not a "powerful nasal style". EmpathP described DAINA as "fantastic", noting that the effort put into the vocal showed well within the voice. It was also noted that DAINA holds pitch as well as AVANNA. EmpathP said that of the pair, DAINA was her favorite due to her soft tones, noting that she sounded more mischievous and charming than DEX. She has 3 layers of pitch articulations and 6 layers of stationary pitches. She thinks that DAINA sounds very soulful at times, and pronounces things more "assertively" than AVANNA. She tends to sound raspy on lower notes. Many of DAINA's vocal related problems are similar to AVANNA's, with the exception being that DAINA has more aggressive pronunciation which will take some getting used to. She thinks the tomboyish sound of DAINA is great, especially in the lower notes. She is a huge improvement to Zero-G's feminine voice, and delivers an unique vocal expression. According to Kenji-B: DAINA is easier to mix than AVANNA. He also preferred DAINA over DEX due to her more expressive voice, especially in the upper ranges. DAINA has access to GWL but not XSY. DAINA is not a voice acted voice. Many users say that DAINA is a bit difficult to use in more fast paced music, because her pronunciations gets weak and strained when followed quickly. She's more useful in warm and ambient music like "Soft Pop".
Phonetic notes as noted:
DAINA does not support any other language. However added phonemes intended for English will make her easier to use in other languages. She has more phonemes than YOHIOloid. Giuseppe confirmed that both DEX and DAINA have the phonetics h\, 4, and e@0, like RUBY. However, unlike RUBY, they both do not have the "R" phonetic. After release and feed back, Kenji-B responded with a phonetic combination chart for anyone who didn't like particular results.' AkiGlancy noted that DAINA was better at mimicking Japanese then DEX due to her softer tone.
Software issues as noted:
Empath-P has said in the livestream that DAINA has a twang that can distort her pronunciation, but with the new American phonemes, she will "shine". In the stream it was stated that they were rushed in production. Despite this they produce HQ results but DAINA is less higher in quality than DEX. It seems that DAINA's role is act as a background singer for DEX or in general, so she may be a lot more difficult to use alone, without an other singer.
Voicebank sample
DAINA VOCALOID4
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