Yamaha continues its work on improving Vocaloid! A new upgraded version, Vocolaid2, with a different user interface, simplified controls and many new useful features is being released. Meanwhile, a new voice library was created by Zero-G, and 2 more new voices for Vocaloid were also introduced by a Swedish company PowerFX. MusikMesse 2007 in Frankfurt, Germany showcased these new voice libraries: Zero-G's Prima, an operatic female voice, and Big-Al and Sweet Ann by PowerFX, first being a low male voice and the second a female pop-singer.

By request from PowerFX CEO Bil Bryant, Alexei Ustinov has started testing Big-Al in January 2007, and has prepared a song demo "Make Me Feel" for the MusikMesse fair. Female part was first performed by Miriam, then by Sweet Ann, and the male part first by Leon, and then by a new Swedish rock voice Big-Al. One should note that Big-Al's timbre is dramatically different from that of Leon. While Leon is soft, lyrical and sort of "sophisticated", in spite of all the efforts to make him sound more "manly" and rough (which was necessary in some songs from the album "A Place in the Sun"), Big-Al was born "rough and harsh" and sounds rather amusing not only in Russian, but in English as well.

In early May, a few demo examples for Big-Al and Sweet Ann were created. You can download the mp3 files below. Data format in Vocaloid2 is different from that of Vocaloid, hence the experimental version of YV Enhancer could not be applied fully. So, these examples contain quite a bit of manual editing.

You can find more about how "Make Me Feel" was created here.

Make Me Feel

Music by Alexei Ustinov, lyrics by Rick Paul.

(Fragment)

Oh, if I'm lost within myself
Maybe you could come out and find me
If our love lingers on the shelf
Could a kiss from your lips remind me

Yes, I wonder if underneath
It could be quite a different story
Are you crying beneath your sheets
Do you ever feel longing for me

Darling, show me what's on your mind
What's in your heart
What do your eyes conceal
Maybe we could cry in the night
Laugh 'til it's light
Darling, just make me feel

Give me just a glimpse of your heart
Tear me apart
Show me that you're still real
Maybe we could scream, hug, and shout
Work it all out
Darling, just make me feel

I Feel Good

Music and lyrics by James Brown.

(Fragment)

Whoa-oa-oa!
I feel good, I knew that I would, now
I feel good, I knew that I would, now
So good, so good, I got you
Whoa-oa-oa!

PowerFX

Music by Alexey Kosolapov and Alexei Ustinov, lyrics by Alexey Yakovlev.

PowerFX, PowerFX, PowerFX
Power, Power, PowerFX

Do what you do with Al
And be the first to know
What do you have to show?
Try something new today!

It's all within your reach.
So make the most of now
And don't give up a thing
Control your range and pitch!

PowerFX
Power, Power, PowerFX

Alove^*

Music by Alexei Ustinov, lyrics by Alexey Yakovlev.

(Fragment of song from R.Dattatreya and A.Ustinov's album "Hot Stuff Dreams", 2005.)

Let go your fear
And find your true self
Invite peace, love and harmony, the world
Is with you now
So you just leap up
And fly!

^*Alove is a name of a character.