Once you’ve snagged yourself the latest Vocaloid software, you can’t wait to give it a try. There are voicebanks that may come with the software package, or ones that you might need to buy separately. Overall, there’s a wide range for you to choose from.
But which ones are the best for you to use? This article explores the top 10 Vocaloid Voicebanks, and why you should use them for your next project.
10. Otomachi Una
Otomachi Una's Official Character Design
Otomachi Una is marketed as an 11 year old Vocaloid singer, whose voicebank has two types: Spicy and Sugar. She has two versions out, a VOCALOID6 and VOCALOID4 voicebank. She’s voiced by Aimi Tanaka, and was first released in 2016.
In terms of voice, Otomachi Una has a childish voice with energetic tones, which is more emphasised in her Spicy voicebank. Her character design is supposed to resemble an electric eel, to symbolise her enthusiasm and zest while singing.
Otomachi Una is a very popular voicebank, and for good reason. Her voice is the epitome of innocence and joy, and her character design is cute. She also has a speech bank, so you can use her not only for singing, but for regular talking too.
9. Sweet ANN
Sweet ANN's MMD Model
Sweet ANN is an English Vocaloid singer that was originally made for VOCALOID1, but was released for VOCALOID2. She was such a hit when she first came out that she was made into a 23 year old alternative character by Taiwan. She’s voiced by Jody, and was released in 2007.
Sweet ANN’s voice is mature, due to being made for more regular music. She has a light Australian accent, as her voice was produced by an Australian. This gives her voice much more character and sass, making her so popular that she ended up singing in the anime Nichijou.
This voicebank is great because she’s well-established and has a charming voice. In addition, she was the first English Vocaloid character to have an MMD (MikuMikuDance) model, showing her immense popularity, before the arrival of Hatsune Miku.
8. MEIKO
MEIKO, one of the earliest Vocaloid Voicebanks
MEIKO is one of the first Vocaloid voicebanks made, being made for VOCALOID1, along with KAITO and the others from Project Daisy. She was released in 2004, and is voiced by Meiko Haigo. She had one further development for VOCALOID3.
Meiko has a very feminine voice and is used in many classic and pop music, due to her having both an English and Japanese voicebank. She’s now considered a Piapro Character, but still is recognised for her unique vocals in her songs while she was a part of Vocaloid.
Perhaps MEIKO is one of the more relatable characters, with her character item being a bottle of sake. Despite her voicebank not being updated recently, she has a timeless voice that sounds great with any software.
7. Camui Gackpo
Camui Gackpo, GACKT's Vocaloid Persona
Camui Gackpo, also known as Kamui Gakupo or Gackpoid, is a male Vocaloid voicebank released in 2008. He has versions in VOCALOID2, VOCALOID3 and VOCALOID4. He’s voiced by a very talented actor, singer, musician and songwriter, named GACKT.
Camui Gackpo has 3 different versions for his V3 and V4 voicebanks, these being Power, Native and Whisper. Gackpo has a very human-like, smooth voice that’s considered slightly old-fashioned. This makes him endearing, and allows his voice to suit his cyber-samurai aesthetic.
When in need of a masculine, suave voice, Camui Gackpo is the way to go. His soothing voice goes well with many calm or sad songs, adding much emotion to the lyrics. He only has a Japanese voicebank, but has the ability to sound incredibly human.
6. Utatane Piko
Utatane Piko's Character Design
Utatane Piko, also known as CodenamePIKO, is a voicebank produced solely for the VOCALOID2 software in 2010. He was voiced by the singer PIKO, and is meant to be a very similar Vocaloid version of him.
Despite being a male, Utatane Piko has a very feminine voice, allowing him to harmonise with other voicebanks that are more masculine. He was supposed to be paired with the Vocaloid SF-A2 codename miki, but the idea was unfortunately scrapped. Despite SF-A2 miki having an updated VOCALOID4 voicebank, Utatane Piko did not, leaving the two distinctly separated.
Although he has only one voicebank, Utatane Piko’s voice is incredibly advanced. He has a robot aesthetic, so his robotic voice seems to fit, and doesn’t need an update to sound more human.
5. Oliver
Oliver, the First British Vocaloid Voicebank
Oliver is the first voicebank to be produced by a child, the voice producer being 13, and because of this, his identity hasn’t been revealed. Oliver is a British Vocaloid singer made in 2011, and has only one VOCALOID3 voicebank.
Oliver is said to be a trauma-stricken choir boy, hence his very high pitched solemn voice. Because of this, he has featured in many horror-themed and scary Vocaloid songs. His voice fits in well with the gothic aesthetic. Interestingly, other names he was almost given were Devin, Cody and Treble.
Oliver’s young and very childlike voice is great for a wide range of songs, not only sad ones but he has also been used to produce nursery rhymes too. In addition, he sounds very human-like on his own, so doesn’t require as much tuning as other Vocaloid voicebanks.
4. Kagamine Len
Kagamine Len's Latest Design
Kagamine Len is the male counterpart of the Kagamine twins. He was voiced by the voice actress, singer and actress Asami Shimoda, who also provided the voice for his female counterpart, Kagamine Rin. He was released, along with Rin, in 2007 and they together have voicebanks for VOCALOID2, VOCALOID3, VOCALOID4 and a V4X version too.
Kagamine Len has a youthful, boyish voice that can tend to sound eerie. Because of this, he’s been used for many Vocaloid songs that cover mature and scary topics. He also has voicebank variations, these being: Power, Serious, Cold and English.
With Len’s many vocal types, he’s great for songs that require a voice that convey deep emotion. Len also has a ‘growl’ type Power voicebank, so is tremendous for rock songs.
3. GUMI
GUMI Chilling Out
GUMI, also known as Megpoid, was released in 2009 for VOCALOID2. She was voiced by Megumi Nakajima, who’s Filipino-Japanese. GUMI also has voicebanks for VOCALOID3, VOCALOID4 and even VOCALOID6.
GUMI is one of the most popular Vocaloid voicebanks to use when singing in different languages. She also has many voicebank variations, these being Native, Adult, Native Fat, Sweet, Mellow Adult, Natural Sweet, Soft Whisper, Power, Whisper, English, Power Fat, Talk, Falsetto(unreleased) and AI Megpoid. AI Megpoid has the ability to sing in different languages without having to switch voicebanks.
With over 800 songs by her, GUMI is an extremely popular Vocaloid with immense variation, making her perfect for practically any genre.
2. V Flower
V Flower's VOCALOID3 Character Design
V Flower, or just flower, is a Vocaloid singer produced in 2016. The person behind her voicebank is unknown, but is said to be a girl. Later on, another voicebank was made separate from V Flower, called Ci Flower. V Flower has a VOCALOID3 and VOCALOID4 version, and also has a talk voicebank, separate from singing.
V Flower is more popular than Ci Flower, despite the latter sounding more human, as V Flower possesses more unique character. Although V Flower’s character is supposed to be calm and collected, her androgynous voice sounds like a mixture of careless, gamine and distressed.
This voicebank is immensely popular among many famous Vocaloid producers, who use her voice to convey many songs of sadness and often themes related to trauma. Her voice is very similar to the Vocaloid named Fukase, albeit having a higher pitch.
1. Hatsune Miku
Hatsune Miku's 2020 Magical Mirai Edition
Hatsune Miku is the most known voicebank, despite not actually being a part of Vocaloid anymore. She is voiced by the well-known singer and voice actress Saki Fujita. Miku has voicebank versions for VOCALOID2, VOCALOID3 and VOCALOID4.
Miku is arguably the Vocaloid with the most voice variation. Her tuning is able to be so dramatic that she can convey a huge range of emotions and vibes. She has a separate English and Mandarin voicebank versions, along with Falsetto(unreleased), Solid, Light, Dark, Vivid, Soft and Sweet. She has further voicebanks too, just in Piapro Studio and not Vocaloid.
Hatsune Miku’s voice is the most recognizable out of all the Vocaloids, so would be the best choice for anyone who wishes to make their productions known across the globe. She’s already featured in the most songs out of all the Vocaloid (or former) characters, that number being over 2,300.
Regardless of which Vocaloid voicebank you choose, they were developed so you can touch the hearts of whoever listens, so as long as you put your heart into it, you can make any voicebank sound magical.
