kagamine rin and len

Kagamine Rin Other names Rin Kagamine (western order) 鏡音鈴 [1](chinese) Gender Female Age 14 Height 152 cm (5'0") Weight 43 kg (94.79 lbs) Optimum genre Electro-pop, rock, pop - Enka Optimum Tempo 85～175BPM Optimum Range F # 3 ~ C # 5 Character Items Roadroller and mikan (Japanese table orange) Kagamine Len Other Names Len Kagamine (western order) 鏡音連 [2](chinese) Gender Male Age 14 Height 156 cm (5'1.4") weight 47 kg (103 lbs) Optimum genre Pop, dance, rock - Enka Optimum tempo 70～160BPM Optimum range D 3 ~ C # 5 Character Items Roadroller and banana

Kagamine Rin & Len (鏡音リン ・レン) is the second product released on December 27, 2007, they are Vocaloid2 Character Vocal Series developed by Crypton Future Media Ltd. (CFM), male voice (Len) and female voice (Rin). Their family name was from the developing code combining Kagami (鏡, mirror) and Ne (音, sound).

Crypton Future Media intended to project a Vocaloid with low-teen girl's voice at first following Miku Hatsune, but there was a demand for a boy's voice, so Crypton Future Media hired a voice actress who can produce both sounds. The package included two voice banks: one for Rin and another for Len, both provided by the seiyū Asami Shimoda (下田 麻美 Shimoda Asami). Despite the double voice banks, the package was priced at the same price as Miku Hatsune.
At the time of recording in 2007, their names had not yet been decided. Their given names of Rin and Len were said to be based on "right" and "left" according to Asami Shimoda. She later confirmed in a interview after the Append release, the name itself was based on the names of Ken and Rin from Hokuto no Ken, the names were deprived from a discussion about names that were familiar from her childhood. According to Asami Shimoda, Len's voice was achieved by singing within her chest, while Rin's at the top of her head
As they were under development, Crypton had the concept of making a pair of male and female voicebanks. The first idea of the concept was twin voices of a girl and her mirror image of opposite gender, just like twins. 
CFM had an intention to distribute them as twins, but this was not adopted either. After seeing many works that depict their relationships differently, Crypton announced on a magazine interview that those would meet their ideal. Crypton did not decide to announce they are siblings nor lovers, as they did not want to tie down each user's free creative activities. 
KEI was given the concept Crypton intended, their approximate ages, an image of mirror, and an image of androids, but was not given any other directions when he was asked to illustrate Rin and Len by Crypton, as Kei had already illustrated Miku before. Rin was the first one to be illustrated and Len was made to match her, following Crypton's concept. Their leg parts are designed to mimic speakers.
Their Append design and the Official Illustration of those ones were made by オサム (osamu) .

Act 2Edit

On June 12, 2008, Crypton announced that the updated edition, named "Act2", would be released in early July 2008. Users who had bought the old version got an expansion disc free of charge. On June 18, 2008, beta demonstration songs using the new version were released on the company's official blog. On July 18, 2008, act2 was released. The new version was released to address issues with the original voicebanks that affected their ability to sing clearly. It acted as an independent installation, coexisting with the initial software. The original version of the software is now retired from sale by Crypton Future Media themselves and it is now no longer possible to buy the software from them.

Append - the Future of Rin/Len

After Miku Append began, Rin and Len was confirmed to have appends being worked on. Len Append was in the process of production first and demos of its voice have been given out; . The append was officially released on December 27, 2010. The total number of voicebanks for each one is 6. There are 3 voicebanks being assigned to each Kagamine. Sample demo songs have been given out on  and their official Youtube channel online. Rin's appends are "power", "warm", and "sweet". Len's appends are "power", "cold", and "serious".
The Vocal Character series were designed to be a set of vocals with particular characteristics about them. For the Kagamines, two Vocaloids with contrasting vocals for a very different result despite having the same voice provider. Since they are based on the same voice provider, both successfully harmonize with each other and therefore are often used in duets together. They also share a similar range to their predecessor Miku and can be used in together with Miku successfully.
Though they are voiced by the same provider, they have different pronunciations of words. Even by retuning the voice of either Kagamine to sound like the other, results are never identical, and only veteran Vocaloid fans can tell who is actually voicing the song. The reason is owed to the fact Len has a lisp-sound in his singing results that Rin does not. Len is the first male of the Vocaloid 2 era and the first male vocaloid able to hit high pitched notes. He lacks the ability to hit the lower notes less than Kaito, since he was produced as a young boy singer. Of the two voicebanks however, Len is often considered more difficult to work with than his counterpart, Rin.  A particular noted weakness of Len's voicebank is that he cannot produce a satisfactory low masculine vocal tone.
Originally Rin/Len Kagamine were regarded as a product for experienced users. Unlike Miku, they were not easy to utilize for beginners and were criticized that some voices in the original voicebanks were not clear and had pronunciation problems of the Japanese language. Their vowel sounds are choppy and overall lacked smoothness with a number of vowel related sounds being absent.

Act 2

Act 2 was released to solve the Kagamine's pronunciation problems. 
Act 2 is a separate installation. For users with both versions, they have a choice between four voicebanks overall: the newer voicebanks or the older voicebanks both with slightly different results. For having clearer pronunciations and milder voices, Act 2 can sing smoother without skilled pre-settings and advanced editing for beginners. However, it is less vivid and flexible and does not allow delicate settings or editing which gives a wider range of expression to experienced users. Users that own both versions enjoy choosing them in accordance with the intended use as each version has different features, just like having four different voicebanks; comparison of Act 1 and Act 2 edited in the same way
Act 2 also presents a new set of problems. They cannot pronounce the h\ phonetic data and are missing other phonetic pronunciations in addition to what was missing from their original software release. Despite improvements, the remaining missing data still makes the Act 2 voicebanks sound choppy in comparison to other Vocaloid voicebanks.

Append

Like Miku, their Append adds a further 6 voicebanks on top of the original voicebanks, bringing the grand total of Voicebanks sold for the Kagamines to a total of 10, the most of any Vocaloid. Their Append was done differently to Miku's in that the 6 voicebanks were split up and 3 recorded in two different scales for each Kagamine accordingly. This also means there are 5 voicebanks for both Rin and Len each if you include past versions, although most will ultimately have access to only 4 for each of the Kagamines due to the original voicebanks removal from sale. Len is also currently the only male with Appends assigned to him.

The Appends are as follows

• Rin:Power (Optimum genre:Rocks/Pops/Dance musics/Enka, Optimum Tempo:65~170BPM, Optimum Range:F#3 ~ B#4) Youtube broadcast Rin Append "Power" (+Warm)
• Rin:Warm (Optimum genre:Soft rocks/Ballades/Pops/Folks, Optimum Tempo:60~160BPM, Optimum Range:F#3 ~ B#4) Youtube broadcast Rin Append "Warm"
• Rin:Sweet (Optimum genre:Bossa Nova/French Pops/Ambient music/Electronica, Optimum Tempo:55~155BPM, Optimum Range:G#3 ~ C#5) Youtube broadcast Rin Append "Sweet"
• Len:Power (Optimum genre:Rocks/Pops/Dance musics/Enka, Optimum Tempo:65~170BPM, Optimum Range:A#2 ~ D#4) Youtube broadcast Len Append "Power"
• Len:Cold (Optimum genre:Soft rocks/Ballades/Pops/Folks, Optimum Tempo:65~160BPM, Optimum Range:B#2 ~ C#4) Youtube broadcast Len Append "Cold"
• Len:Serious (Optimum genre:Post Rocks/Phsyke/Ambient music/Ambient dub/Electronica, Optimum Tempo:55~155BPM, Optimum Range:A#2 ~ C#4) Youtube broadcast Len Append "Serious"

There is some debate as to if Appends are really needed. While they make it easier to find the right tone for a song, it is possible to recreate similar results to the Append tones without actually buying the software with just the basic voicebanks. There is, however, some pronunciation differences between the voicebanks as each Append uses its own set of vocal samples. For those that lack editing skills, Appends are a useful tool for adding these tones to a song. For those who are familar with the vocals, they offer a way of expanding the Vocaloid's capabilities by offering new vocal ranges and possibilities.
The Append release also gave older Kagamine users the chance to update the Vocaloid2 engine to a newer version, as the Append had the latest engine version. Users also need the Act2 voicebanks to be able to install and use the Append voicebanks. The voicebanks' different pronunciations may be smoother and/or more clear than the others. The Appends themselves were overall much smoother and of a higher quality than the original voicebanks.