The Vocaloid community likes to prank us every now and then, so when the latest Weekly Vocaloid Ranking mentioned the arrival of Sonika, I was skeptical. I mean, look at that box art. It honestly, looks like an avatar for IMVU or something and uploaded to a deviantArt account, and I’m not just saying that because I’m old and bitter and American (though those all do apply).
Well, it turns out that Ms. Naho is not a trickster. Running on Vocaloid2, and specializing in pop, Zero-G’s latest addition to their Vocaloid family shipped today. Here’s an excerpt from the article:
SONIKA is a new cyberspace starlet who will hit those high notes every time with perfect accuracy.
Whether it’s sweet and pure leads, harmonies or backing vocals, Sonika can sing any word from the English language (and other languages too with a little work).
Sonika is also very well suited if you want to be adventurous and experimental, since her voice can be easily modified and shaped in many ways.
In addition to singing any words or combination of syllables or phonemes you can imagine, SONIKA will spread any sustained vowel (or voiced consonant) across as many notes as you like, with perfect legato. You can select from several different natural vibrato types and drag and drop your chosen type to any note or notes, and control the time-position and amount of the vibrato.
So let’s see, a Vocaloid2 version of a “young girl pop singer” with green hair, a tatoo on her arm, and a katakana name. Where have I seen that before?
But don’t let the cynical ramblings of some random American on someone else’s blog discourage you from buying Sonika. She goes for US$199.95 or £114.95 or €169 and is available wherever Zero-G products are sold. Just be warned that if their next Vocaloid comes with 1 track for a guy’s voice and another for a girl’s, I told you so.