Kagamine Rin/Len (Vocaloid)

Kagamine Rin and Kagamine Len are VOCALOIDs developed by Crypton Future Media. They use VOCALOID 2 and VOCALOID 4 voice synthesis technology and are both voiced by Asami Shimoda . Like many other VOCALOIDs, they have performed in live concerts around the world using proprietary projection technology.
Rin's name and that of her twin brother Len are derived from the concept of "left" and "right," as in stereophonic sound. Their surname, Kagamine, uses the two Japanese kanji characters "鏡" (mirror) and "音" (sound). Shimoda has stated that she sings into her chest for Len's voice and sings from the top of her head for Rin's voice.

Development

Rin and Len were originally developed by Crypton Future Media using Yamaha's VOCALOID 2 software. They were the second version of the "Character Vocal Series," which included other popular VOCALOIDs, Hatsune Miku and Megurine Luka. Following Crypton's concept and direction, Rin's design was the first to be illustrated, followed shortly after by Len's. The software was released on December 27, 2007, and sold approximately 20,000 copies.
Due to numerous complaints about the difficulty producers had in composing music using the twins, a standalone package, "ACT2," was released. Those who purchased the original version were able to benefit from the updated "ACT2" version until September 2008.
In 2010, "Kagamine Rin & Len Append" was released, which allowed for additional vocal styles. For Rin, "Power," "Warm," and "Sweet" were included, while Len had "Power," "Cold," and "Serious." This allowed for a multitude of genre crossovers that both could now sing about while still sounding natural.
"Kagamine Rin/Len V4X" was released for VOCALOID 4 on December 24, 2015. Slight changes were made to the voice bank, and Rin now sang with the options "Power EVEC", "Warm", and "Sweet", while Len used "Power EVEC", "Cold", and "Serious". Enhanced Voice Expression Control (EVEC) is a new system developed for Piapro Studios. Rin and Len also received an English voice bank that was released on the same day as the Japanese voice banks. The English versions are available separately as downloads or bundled with the Japanese versions.

The Kagamine twins are popular for their casual appearance and short blond hair. Crypton Future Media initially provided KEI with the concepts for the twins, including the theme that they were "mirror images," that they were androids, and their approximate ages. Rin was the first of the two to be illustrated. Len's design came later and was based on Rin's initial design.

On the day the Kagamine Append package was released, it immediately ranked fifth in the total number of Vocaloid software sold during the year.

Character Information

Name: Kagamine Rin
Age: 14 years old
Birthday: December 27
Height: 152 cm
Weight: 42 kg

Name: Kagamine Len
Age: 14 years old
Birthday: December 27
Height: 156 cm
Weight: 47 kg

Music

Although most of Rin and Len's most popular songs are rock-oriented, they are also known for singing other genres, such as ballads and pop. Some of their most popular songs include:

Links

Official website
Wikipedia
Wikipedia (Hatsune Miku)
Wikipedia (Megurine Luka)