Luo Tianyi (洛天依) is a Mandarin Chinese VOCALOID formerly developed by Bplats, Inc. under the YAMAHA Corporation, and was created in collaboration with Shanghai HENIAN. She was the grand winning entry of the "VOCALOID™ CHINA" contest which was held for choosing the design of the first Mandarin Chinese VOCALOID. Tianyi was released in July 2012 for the VOCALOID3 engine.
She was updated to the VOCALOID4 engine in December 2017 and was developed and distributed by Shanghai HENIAN. She also received Japanese voicebanks for the VOCALOID4 engine in May 2018.[3] On October 14, 2022, preorder sales began for her VOCALOID5 update.[4] Her AI voicebanks are currently in development, with her ACE Virtual Singer voicebank beginning open beta on August 27, 2022[5] and her X Studio voicebank beginning open beta on January 16, 2024.[6]
She is voiced by two different people. Shan Xin (山新 / 王宥霁 Wáng Yòujì), a professional Chinese voice actress, provided the voice for all current Luo Tianyi releases. In April 2018, it was confirmed that Shan Xin and Kano, a Japanese Utaite, collaborated to provide the samples for Luo Tianyi V4 Japanese.[7][8]
Concept[]
According to her short anime series, Luo Tianyi is an angel who came to earth with a mission to spread music throughout the world. Tianyi can detect "the song of your heart" (心中的歌声) and it can be interpreted as the strongest emotion a person has at the moment or a melody that represents them. Even if people cannot express the melody themselves, Tianyi can still hear it and sing it.
Her personality is a bit introverted, but she is still the type of girl who has a lot of empathy and does not give up easily. She admires the VOCALOIDs from the past and dreams of the day she can do just the same as them – using songs to bring happiness to the world. While she cannot communicate with humans due to the language barrier between humans and VOCALOIDs, she is very sensitive to others' emotions and can use songs to express her own emotions and thoughts.
Her special skill is "Resonate" (共鸣).
In 2017, according to Shanghai HENIAN's official website, Tianyi's official birthday is July 12. She is listed as a Cancer and is considered an alien.[9]
Etymology[]
Her original name was Yayin Gongyu (雅音宫羽).
Luò Tiānyī: 洛 (Luo) is the name of a river in China, but the name may have come from the last name of a goddess (Luoshen, 洛神) who appeared in ancient Chinese legends. The goddess plays instruments and is considered to be the goddess of the river, "Luò Shuǐ" (洛水). Tian (天) means "sky" or "heaven", but it also may have come from Tiandian (天钿), "sounds from heaven", which is used in China to describe the most beautiful voices. Yi (依) means "rely" or "depend on", but it is also short for Yiren (伊人), which means "fair lady", "soft lady", or "delicate lady" in ancient Chinese. It is also possible that it derived from "Yángliǔ Yīyī" (杨柳依依), or "delicate willow".
In Japanese, her name is rendered as "Ruo Ten'i" (ルオ・テンイ) according to her Nendoroid announcement.[10]
Appearance[]
The design was originally drawn by MOTH, but was refined and redrawn by ideolo, a Chinese illustrator.
For the VOCALOID3 illustration, located on Tianyi's neck, there is a green jade charm with a Devanagari letter "प" (pa) on it. This represents the "Water" element, the "North" position, the color "Blue", and the "Winter" season. This character also appears on her logo, which represents a crystal, and its Chinese equivalent is "羽" (Yu), one of the 5 Traditional Chinese melody characters and corresponds to A (la).[11]
Tianyi's initial V4 outfit was more idol-inspired. However, due to the Chinese fans' negative reactions toward it, it was decided that this design would not be used in the final product.[12]
Her VOCALOID4 versions were illustrated by TID. Her Mandarin Chinese boxart features a design that is more closer to the original VOCALOID3 version. Notable differences include the collar being attached to the dress, her armwarmers being replaced with thin, long sleeves, the colors being paler, the dress becoming more simplistic, the asymmetrical socks and boots having a slight change in design, and her headsets being changed entirely. According to a post in July 2020, the V4 design symbolizes a new beginning and connects with past memories.[13]
In her V3, Tianyi wears a white sleeveless top with a blue hem underneath a blue crop-top like piece with sleeves that reach her elbows. The top has a sweetheart neckline held up by two thin strips attached to the yellow tie clipped to her chocker. Her top is backless and held together by a blue and black band. On the sleeves are white speakers with green centers. Underneath are black form-fitting detached sleeves with white cuffs and blue stripes. Her pleated skirt is white with sky blue tips and yellow ribbons that attach to the waistband of her skirt. Tianyi’s socks are uneven, her left resting on her upper thigh, and the right below the knee. They are black with blue bands. She wears mid-length heeled boots of different colors. Her left boot is blue with a white sole, and her right is white with a blue sole. Her headset is white and blue, and the cups are shaped like wings. She has a singular digital blue angel wing. The wing is ombré, starting as a light blue, and ending in a deep navy.
In her Mandarin Chinese design, Tianyi wears a collared white sleeveless top with a pleated hem. It is opened backed, with two black spaghetti straps that attach to her collar. Her pleated skirt is light blue with a white hem. Tied around her neck is a yellow tie. On the knot of her tie, written in a bright green is the Devanagari letter “प" (pa). She wears black tight-fitting detached sleeves with blue hems, white tops, and green electronic crystals. Her bracelets are made of particles of gemstones that hover around her wrists. Around her waist is a white belt with long dangling cords and two spheres that rest on either hip. On the center of the spheres is a green electronic dome. She wears two mismatched black socks, her right being an over the knee sock, and the other a below the knee. The rim of the sock is sky blue, and bleeds into a triangle pattern. She wears one blue boot with a white heel, and one white boot with a blue heel. The base of her headset is blue with black cups. The wire band sits on the back of her head instead of the top. Her hair bow is blue and white with a clover center. It loosely resembles a butterfly.
Her Japanese design is much different in comparison to her previous designs and features her in a much more casual attire. She sports a loose white top with black trimmings and ribbons and has two diamond cuts along the the sides of the sleeves. The top also has cherries printed along the bottom. On her wrists are bracelets: on her right wrist is a blue beaded one with a pink heart, and on her left, she has a red wristband and a black wiry one. She wears a pair of pale yellow loose shorts with pink trimmings. Her socks are no longer asymmetrical in length and are both thigh-high. However, her right sock features white stripes at the top while her left sock features white stars at the bottom and a white top with a diamond cut and a black ribbon. Rather than boots, she is wearing white heeled mary janes with black ribbons at the front. For her hair, the iconic flower became a bow, while the two sections of hair in the front are also held together by ribbons. Her headsets are styled like angel wings. On her neck is a black choker with a blue diamond dangling from the middle and another with a red circular jewel below that. On the backside of the necklace is a pink triangular jewel. Behind her, located in the middle of her back is a heart cut and a pair of white angel wings. She holds a microphone that looks like an ice cream cone.
In her initial V4, (which was later discarded) Tianyi wears an idol-style sleeveless minidress. It has a royal blue bodice with a white center, a ruffly white collar connected to the neckline by white fabric and tied with a blue bow, white off-the-shoulder sleeves decorated with blue ribbon and white fringe, and a royal blue skirt-like cape. Around her waist is a thin white belt with a gold infinity symbol buckle. Underneath is a white frilly miniskirt. On her left leg, she wears a white garter belt. Her shoes are sky blue pumps with navy blue heels, white rims, navy blue straps with clear ruffly fabric, and navy blue bows. Her accessories consist of a white and blue striped band on either wrist.
In both VOCALOID4 designs, her digital angel wing is located on her left side rather than her right, although, the reference sheet for the V4 Mandarin Chinese design depicts it on her right side.
In Tianyi’s V5, she wears a white sweetheart neckline minidress with scalloped edges that resemble angel wings. The dress’s interior, back, and sides are black. Two spaghetti straps protruding from the neckline are connected to a detached collar. Under the dress is a short, sky blue pleated skirt with a white hem. Her white and sky blue detached sleeves are form-fitting with black rims. Tianyi’s heeled boots are once again mismatched in length and color, the left being white and resting mid-thigh, and the right being sky blue and just below the knee. The soles on both are black. The toe on the left is blue, and the right is white. Her headset has two individual cups, both black and sky blue with the Devanagari “प" (pa) printed in baby blue. She has many glow-in-the-dark accessories, including:
Two green circles on either side of her torso, green diamonds on her sleeves, silver bracelets, her hair ornaments, the red charm attached to her waist, and her yellow tie with the black clip that also reads “प”, but in green.
Luo Tianyi’s ACE design is very intricate, consisting of many layers of clothing, colors, and variations. In her standard design, she has bobbed wolf gray hair, with two long strips in the front, and two tied into a bow atop her head, brought together in the back, and braided. The tips of her hair are sky blue. She has many hair accessories including: a three leaf clover barrette with two white petals and one sky blue petal located between either piece of hair that forms the bow on top of her head, one blue cuff to keep her braid in place, two diamond barrettes on each long piece of hair, one blue with a white tip, and the other white with a blue tip. Her headphones are teardrop shaped, white with a black and blue line down the center, and a triangular glowing blue wire sticking off the back. The base layer of her outfit consist of skintight black shorts and a sleeveless crop top. Over this, she wears a sky blue pleated miniskirt, and a white tube top with a thick sky blue hem and white trim. This piece’s neckline is is cut at a ninety degree angle, exposing the tip of the black garment underneath. Just below this is a green stone. Her top’s hem, is cut at an angle, dipping into the front. The back is cut out in a steep triangle. Two tassels are attached on the blue edges at the bottom of her top, near the hips: one lavender, and one white. A light blue three-petal flower and see-through strip decorate the back. On her neck is a detached white collar. It has blue stripes and a green stone bearing the Devanagari letter "प" (pa). Around each of her arms is a sky blue band. Her right arm is covered by a see-through purple glove with a blue star on the top of her hand. Both arms are covered by white bell sleeves with light blue and navy blue triangular patterns. The left wrist bears a sky blue bracelet. On her left shoulder is a blue star. On her left thigh is a white band with a gray and blue triangle pattern. Her other leg has a black below-the-knee sock. It has blue and white bands, and a sky blue star on the foot. Tianyi’s shoes are both high heels, but in different colors. Her left shoe is black with a purple sole and a white two, and her right shoe is white with a black sole and blue a toe.
Tianyi’s Alternative design builds upon her Standard design. The first difference is that her hair is extended to the bottom of her back, and is see-through light blue, fading to a lavender purple. Attached to her collar is a clear yellow strip that functions as a tie. Her left arm and leg are covered in a galaxy pattern fabric. The black star on her left foot is now lavender colored. The “tail” attached to the back of her outfit curls upward. And lastly, a clear blue angel wing floats behind her.Relations[]
- Mo Qingxian - Fellow member of Vsinger.
- Zhiyu Moke - Fellow member of Vsinger.
- Yuezheng Ling - Fellow member of Vsinger.
- Yuezheng Longya - Fellow member of Vsinger.
- YANHE - Fellow member of Vsinger.
- Tian Dian - Pet.
History[]
ACE Virtual Singer Development[]
On December 31, 2021, when asked about considerations for migration to another engine, Vsinger's official Weibo account answered that they had been long studying and made several voicebank demos with tech providers. They noted that different engines were based on different technologies. VOCALOID was based on sampling, which better reproduced the original voice texture, but was less natural and may be harder to use. AI voicebanks were easier for beginners and sing more naturally, but did not sufficiently reproduce the original voice texture and the voice may also sound as though it was synthesized. Vsinger noted that the voice is the most important part of a virtual singer and was trying to find ways to preserve and reproduce the characters' original voices, wishing to deliver more satisfactory products.[14] On the same day, Rosary commented that a new voice library was being prepared, but did not give further details. He hoped that people would be able to use it within the next year.[15]
On January 21, 2022, "Yī Mèng Qiān Xiāo", an original song written for Genshin Impact's New Year Festival was released and featured Luo Tianyi's vocals. Fans noticed that Tianyi did not sound like her VOCALOID voicebanks. On April 3, a collaboration between the Hotel Transylvania franchise and Tianyi was launched in celebration of both the franchise's and Tianyi's tenth anniversaries. The same voicebank from January was used for the Chinese version of "Love Is Not Hard To Find", the theme song of Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.[16]
On May 5, it was announced that Luo Tianyi's AI voicebank for ACE Virtual Singer was open for beta testing. Applications ran from then to May 15. The rules were detailed as followed:[17]
- Luo Tianyi's AI voicebank beta test was only open for producers, tuners, and original musicians who were interested in the voicebank. For other users, they were asked to pay attention to the official follow-up event release. Users who previously applied for her VOCALOID5 trial did not need to apply again as Vsinger would conduct targeted invitations.
- Users were to send a personal introduction and portfolio link to the designated company email. Instructions to apply for Tianyi's beta AI library would be sent as an email from the official mailbox.
- The ACE Studio editor was required to use the library.
- Due to the limited number of trial libraries, it was possible that all applications may not be accepted.
- Commercial use of the library was prohibited.
- The final decisions of the event were to be made only by Shanghai HENIAN.
On May 7, a design contest for Luo Tianyi AI was announced and launched. The contest was confirmed to end on July 5. When designing her, two keywords were noted to participants:
- Keyword 1: Evolution -- Ten years passed since her release. How had Tianyi grown and changed? What future would your love lead her to?
- Keyword 2: Chinese style -- From the Luo river, Tianyi descended into the world, combined with Chinese charm, what kind of wonderful classical meaning would carry into the new appearance?
It was also stated that past works could be submitted.[18] After receiving responses from fans, the submission period and processes were clarified as followed:
- May 7 - July 5: Submission period
- July 5 - July 11: Voting period
- July 12: Announcement of selected works. The official illustrator was to draw key art based on the winning submission, resulting in the official AI design.[19]
On July 5, the voting period began and voters could choose up to three designs out of ninety-nine entries. This session was scheduled to conclude on July 11.[20] On July 12, the winning design was revealed to be by ideolo.[21]
On August 25, it was announced that the AI voicebank would be open for public beta testing on August 27.[22] On October 19, the final artwork was shown and confirmed to be illustrated by ideolo.[23]
On May 6, 2023, it was announced that due to the 1.7.0 update, Tianyi AI would be upgraded to the latest model as well, allowing her to make use of trilingual synthesis, which supported Mandarin, Japanese, and English.[24]
On October 16, Vsinger thanked everyone for their support and suggestions during the past closed and public betas of the available voicebanks at the time (Tianyi, YANHE, Ling, and Longya). The official version of ACE Studio was expected to launch globally soon, and it was announced that the all six Vsinger vocalists would be free for ACE Studio users. ACE Studio users would be able to apply for free Vsinger redemption codes through the official Vsinger website. [25]
X Studio Development[]
On July 1, 2022, Luo Tianyi had an exhibition hosted in Shanghai for her tenth anniversary. There, it was revealed that Tianyi AI would be produced for X Studio using Xiaobing's (Xiaoice) framework. The beta version would be released later on for feedback.[26] A sample of the voice was featured at the Luo Tianyi Tenth Anniversary Birthday Party concert and was revealed to be a speech voicebank.[27]
On January 16, 2024, a singing X Studio voicebank for Tianyi was made available for public beta in collaboration with NetEase Music and users were invited to give feedback.[28]
Marketing[]
Luo Tianyi was a fan-designed VOCALOID, created with the VOCALOID fans in mind. This concept is shared with VOCALOIDs such as Ring Suzune and Hibiki Lui.
VOCALOID CHINA PROJECT released an animated 30 second preview of the first PV featuring Tianyi. Production was handled by Seven Stone studio.
Voicebanks[]
- Luo Tianyi - Meng
- The "Meng" vocal is the original tone of Tianyi. It is of a young female and is made for Mandarin Chinese.
- Luo Tianyi (VOCALOID3), July 12, 2012
- Luo Tianyi V4 (VOCALOID4), December 30, 2017
- Luo Tianyi - Ning
- "Ning" is a more powerful Mandarin Chinese voicebank compared to "Meng".
- Luo Tianyi V4 (VOCALOID4), December 30, 2017
- Luo Tianyi - Normal
- The Japanese version of the software has a "Schoolgirl" vibe to it and was created with aid from a second provider, Kano, alongside Shan Xin. It was created to retain the cute tone of the "Meng" Mandarin Chinese voicebank.
- Luo Tianyi V4 Japanese (VOCALOID4), May 18, 2018
- Luo Tianyi - Sweet
- A sweeter version of "Normal" for Japanese.
- Luo Tianyi V4 Japanese (VOCALOID4), May 18, 2018
Reputation[]
Reaction[]
Luo Tianyi became popular in China as there is a large fandom in the country. However, in the West, she is not noticed as much, where many videos carry less than 5,000 views on YouTube. In Japan, Tianyi was accepted and received relatively well, but her videos on niconico still do not receive many views. Although she is Chinese, which often suffers from issues of racism between China and countries like Japan and South Korea; there was very little racial backlash towards Tianyi compared to SeeU's Japanese backlash.
In 2012, Hidekaz Himaruya, the author of Hetalia: Axis Powers, made a blog entry with fanart of Yayin Gongyu.[29]
In 2013, Tianyi had a large peak in popularity around February during the Chinese New Year.[30]
In April 2015, Pǔtōng DISCO, a duet song between Tianyi and YANHE, reached 1 million views on bilibili. In the same month and year, Quán Yù Tiānxià became the first Tianyi solo song to have 1 million views.
In July 2016, Tianyi's V4 design was revealed and was presented as a possible design. Due to the Chinese fans' negative reactions toward her new design, particularly due to her missing iconic design elements such as the flower in her hair, her angel wing, and her light shade of blue in the V3 design, SHN stated they may change the design.[31]
Trivia[]
- Tianyi was meant to become the first to release as a bilingual VOCALOID in Mandarin and Japanese. However, her VOCALOID3 Japanese was cancelled in 2013 and later repurposed for VOCALOID4. Xin Hua became the first Mandarin Chinese VOCALOID to release with a Japanese voicebank in 2017 instead, with Luo Tianyi V4 Japanese releasing later in 2018.
Achievements[]
- First Mandarin Chinese capable VOCALOID
- First female Mandarin Chinese VOCALOID
- First VOCALOID from Shanghai HENIAN
- First female VOCALOID from Shanghai HENIAN
- First VOCALOID to have an OVA series
- First Mandarin Chinese VOCALOID to perform live
- First VOCALOID to perform with a VOCALOID of another company and language
- First Mandarin Chinese VOCALOID to have a video game
- First Mandarin Chinese VOCALOID developed by Bplats
- First Shanghai HENIAN VOCALOID to be updated
- First mainland Chinese VOCALOID to support another language
- First Japanese capable Shanghai HENIAN VOCALOID
- First bilingual Shanghai HENIAN VOCALOID
References[]
- ↑ http://www.thstars.com/vsingers/#luotianyi
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Age and Height
- ↑ Luo Tianyi V4
- ↑ https://weibo.com/5582156776/MafTUw4Ze
- ↑ https://weibo.com/7755446430/M2YariqpM
- ↑ https://weibo.com/5146173015/NC873uJAl
- ↑ https://weibo.com/5146173015/Gckc5ax0y
- ↑ https://weibo.com/6193535701/Gck7z27IX
- ↑ http://www.thstars.com/vsingers/#luotianyi
- ↑ https://twitter.com/gsc_kahotan/status/1263439428040589312
- ↑ Sanskrit and logo
- ↑ http://weibo.com/5146173015/E09FDDZ83?type=comment#_rnd1469712407960
- ↑ https://weibo.com/5146173015/JaA2j6aOO
- ↑ https://weibo.com/5582156776/L8E0Cizht
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/610423975006126095
- ↑ https://weibo.com/5146173015/LmHJYfiCk
- ↑ https://weibo.com/5582156776/KDAQ5zT9n
- ↑ https://weibo.com/5146173015/LrTeNd9t3
- ↑ https://weibo.com/5582156776/LrWHOyPfh
- ↑ https://weibo.com/5146173015/LATEs6pxG
- ↑ https://weibo.com/5146173015/LBVpQu620
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/698201299783516176
- ↑ https://b23.tv/gUOaR2i
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/792490018318843938
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/853007279846326294
- ↑ https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1uN4y1g7yG
- ↑ https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Rg411f7Fm
- ↑ https://t.bilibili.com/887179950900117526
- ↑ http://himaruya.blog61.fc2.com/blog-entry-1382.html
- ↑ http://ch.nicovideo.jp/kadotanimitsuru/blomaga/ar428894
- ↑ Tianyi V4 design reaction
External links[]
Articles[]
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