SAKURA, ASAHI, SHION, & TAKU (VOCALOID6)

SAKURA, ASAHI, SHION, & TAKU VOCALOID6 | Songs Albums Notable Originals

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SAKURA, ASAHI, SHION, & TAKU (VOCALOID6)
Product information
Company	YAMAHA Corporation
Release	December 25, 2023
Status	Released
System	Windows, MacOS
Base Language(s)	Japanese
Type	VOCALOID6
License	Proprietary
Affiliation	YAMAHA Corporation
Website	VOCALOID Website (Japanese) VOCALOID Website (English)

This article is about the VOCALOID6 software known as voicebanks. If you are looking for the VOCALOID characters then click here.

History

On October 13, 2022, a DTM livestream was launched following the release of VOCALOID6. The livestream confirmed that a total of sixteen new vocals were upcoming at the time, all with their own color themes. Eight of the vocals (AYA, SAKURA, NAOKI, ASAHI, KENJI, SHION, YUKA, and HAYATO) had revealed designs, while four had revealed names (YUINA, KAZUYA, KANA, and TAKU) but no designs yet. The remaining four did not have a confirmed name or design. It was confirmed that these products would be a variety of Japanese and English vocals that would be added as free updates.

On December 25, 2023, upon the release of the VOCALOID6 version 6.3.0 update, four of the sixteen announced vocals were added to the engine: SAKURA, ASAHI, SHION, and TAKU, with TAKU's design finally being revealed in the process. This update also improved model data synthesis.

Product Information

Demonstrations

Japanese voice samples

SAKURA: Idol	SoundCloud vocaloid.com
SAKURA: Idol (Accoustic)	vocaloid.com
ASAHI: J-POP	SoundCloud vocaloid.com
ASAHI: J-POP (Accoustic)	vocaloid.com
SHION: Jazz	SoundCloud vocaloid.com
SHION: Jazz (Accoustic)	vocaloid.com
TAKU: Rock	SoundCloud vocaloid.com
TAKU: Rock (Accoustic)	vocaloid.com

Requirements

• OS: Windows 10 Version 21H2 (or later), Windows 11 Version 21H2 (or later), 10.15 (Catalina), macOS 11 (Big Sur), macOS 12 (Monterey)
• CPU: Haswell (4th generation) or later Intel Core series or Xeon series
• RAM: 8 GB minimum recommended
• HDD: At least 25 GB
• Other: Audio device, internet connection (for authentication, deauthentication, software updates, etc.)
• Monitor size:
  • Minimum operating environment: 1366 × 768

Note that the 4 only come with the VOCALOID6 engine, therefore have identical requirements to VOCALOID6 itself.

Voicebanks

GENERAL USAGE

Product Information
Versions
Trial/Demo Vers?: Yes  Starter Available?: Yes (Vocals are included with the VOCALOID6 Editor)
Package details as noted:
The four vocals acted as "starter" vocals and were acquired upon the purchase of VOCALOID6 from Yamaha's VOCALOID Shop following the version 6.3.0 update. This is the third time since VOCALOID5 a release was only available with a major engine release, though the second ones to only be included with the need to buy the engine once. The vocals would not be available through VOCALOID6 starter packs featuring other vocalists, such as the AI Megpoid starter pack. The package was split between two Japanese male/female pairs. These vocals acted as a new "Standard" for VOCALOID. As AI voicebanks, they have a natural flexible expressive that could be used to create a variety of singing voices.
Vocal traits as noted:
Potentially, the user did not need to buy any other additional voicebanks to get started with VOCALOID. This was different from past versions of VOCALOID, VOCALOID3, and VOCALOID4, where the engine came with no additional vocalists resulting in the purchase of further vocals. As expected, the vocals' sample qualities were high, clean, and clear. They worked well with all of the new VOCALOID6 features and their vocals could easily morph to demonstrate the styles and color options. Users always had access to both the English and Japanese languages upon installation. This was the added bonus of allowing users to experiment and determine which language they felt most comfortable working with. Previously, the only way to experiment with both English and Japanese vocals was to buy separate vocalists in both languages or to buy bilinguals with one option being expensive to purchase, and the other option always having one language that was weaker than the other due to the second language being voiced by a non-native.
Software issues as noted:
Upon their release, Yamaha produced a series of informational videos on the official VOCALOID YouTube channel including a walkthrough of the VOCALOID6 engine, a video instructing users how to use the four vocals as well as a video instructing users on how to use the new VOCALO CHANGER plugin. VOCALOID6, similar to VOCALOID5, poses the same issues with including them with VOCALOID6 editor as not every user may be able to work with languages they were not familiar with. This meant that the user may be left with a set of vocals that they never wanted or could not use beyond basic sound samples. However, with the inclusion of new VOCALOID:AI technology, VOCALOID6 voicebanks are able to be used to sing in Japanese, English and Mandarin Chinese within the same track, despite the vocal's native language. For users of the other two languages VOCALOID produced (such as Korean and Spanish), potentially all four voicebanks could prove to be not useful at all.
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Individual Vocals

• SAKURA
• ASAHI
• SHION
• TAKU

Product Information
Package details as noted:
SAKURA is a Japanese-capable feminine AI voicebank designed to be a "standard" vocal for VOCALOID6.
Phonetic notes as noted:
Using the "Multilingual" function, users can change the lyrics so SAKURA can not only sing in Japanese, but also in English and Mandarin Chinese.
Voicebank sample
SAKURA VOCALOID6 solfège
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Product Information
Package details as noted:
ASAHI is a Japanese-capable masculine AI voicebank designed to be a "standard" vocal for VOCALOID6.
Phonetic notes as noted:
Using the "Multilingual" function, users can change the lyrics so ASAHI can not only sing in Japanese, but also in English and Mandarin Chinese.
Voicebank sample
ASAHI VOCALOID6 solfège
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Product Information
Package details as noted:
SHION is a Japanese-capable feminine AI voicebank designed to be a "standard" vocal for VOCALOID6.
Phonetic notes as noted:
Using the "Multilingual" function, users can change the lyrics so SHION can not only sing in Japanese, but also in English and Mandarin Chinese.
Voicebank sample
SHION VOCALOID6 solfège
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Product Information
Package details as noted:
TAKU is a Japanese-capable masculine AI voicebank designed to be a "standard" vocal for VOCALOID6.
Phonetic notes as noted:
Using the "Multilingual" function, users can change the lyrics so TAKU can not only sing in Japanese, but also in English and Mandarin Chinese.
Voicebank sample
TAKU VOCALOID6 solfège
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