According to official sources, this project was announced to currently be in production or is in its conceptual stages.
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Topaz (トパーズ), originally introduced as Shimon Topaz (紫門トパーズ), is an upcoming Japanese and English vocal to be developed by GEMVOX, a sub-division of Studio ENTRE Inc., and is expected to release as an AI voice database for Synthesizer V Studio in October 2024.[2]
Her voice was announced to be provided by Elley, a Korean professional singer, composer and singer-songwriter.
Concept[]
Topaz is noted to have a beautifully clear and transparent voice, despite her dark and mysterious appearance. She is a trilingual AI singer who can perform in Japanese, English, and Korean. Her background is a mystery, and no one knows where she came from. Some say she used to be a bright and cheerful girl, but after losing her cat to a cruel person, she became deeply hurt and emotionally closed off. Since then, she's been difficult to understand, and it's hard to know what she really feels. There are even rumors that she's driven by a desire for revenge, trapped in a cold darkness. There's someone on a missing persons list who looks like her, but because of her changed eyes and aura, it's hard to tell if she's the same person. Her favorite thing: Muddy puddles.[3][4]
Topaz has an appearance that suggests she’s a teenager, though her exact age is unknown. She has a rebellious personality, known for “not listening to others’ opinions” and “not following trends immediately, but checking them out when the hype dies down.” It is said that she becomes more active and talkative on cloudy days and at night. As a singer, she can handle anime-style, K-pop, and rap genres with ease, seamlessly adapting her voice. She sings in Japanese, English, and Korean, and sometimes even mutters to herself in made-up languages.[5]
Etymology[]
"Shimon" (紫門) can mean "purple gate", with (紫), meaning purple, being a reference to her symbol color. As with all GEMVOX vocals, her name is based upon that of a gemstone, hers being "Topaz", written in katakana as "トパーズ". Her name is written in Japanese styling, similar to vocalists like Hatsune Miku (初音ミク). She also uses the the nickname "Pas", short for "Topaz".
Appearance[]
WIP
Character design is only credited to Japanese animation studio GONZO K.K., one of the two collaborators behind GEMVOX (the other being Studio ENTRE).
Relations[]
- ??? - Fellow GEMVOX vocal.
- ??? - Fellow GEMVOX vocal.
- ??? - Fellow GEMVOX vocal.
History[]
2024[]
On August 5, 2024, a collaboration project between two companies, Studio ENTRE Inc. (a company with the goal of creating new businesses by combining the broad entertainment business with technology)[6] and the Japanese animation studio GONZO K.K., announced the formation of a new A.I. singer label, "GEMVOX". GEMVOX was announced to be a next generation label that includes A.I. singers, all named after gemstones, developed using the latest voice synthesizer technology aimed with the goal of having new works created daily by various creators and to provide a series of captivating "AI Singers" that inspire creators' imagination, curate the works produced, and encourage collaboration among creators. The project was launched together with Shinichiro Ishikawa, president of GONZO, who continues to pioneer the use of technology in the anime industry, while also taking advantage of the activities of the AI research group "ARS"（AI Resonate Society). The first announced vocalist of the company was Shimon Topaz, a mysterious girl with a dark appearance who has a beautiful and clear voice and is trilingual, fluent in Japanese, English, and Korean. At the time, it was not specified which synthesizer Topaz would be developed for. Topaz was also announced to be featured as the main vocalist for the theme song for the upcoming anime PV, "Gloria".[7][8][9][10]
On August 21, the president of Studio ENTRE inc., Norikazu Yamaguchi (山口哲一), followed up on a blog detailing further details of Topaz's development, confirming she would be launching on September 25 and would be sold as a singing voice database for Synthesizer V Studio. The technology was not only to be linked to Dreamtonics, but would also be collaborating with Techno-Speech, Inc. and Yamaha Corporation, intent to create AI singers from various platforms and are preparing various projects.[11]
On September 22, an interview was held by SynthV News (an unofficial Synthesizer V news blog) with Norikazu Yamaguchi, who elaborated further on the project providing additional details on Topaz and the GEMVOX project. Yamaguchi noted the origin of the project was based on thought process that "the time had come for the world of VOCALOID producers, which had been dominated by amateurs, to expand to include top-class professional musicians, as the threshold for singing voice generation AI was exceeded." He noted that GEMVOX is a "dream team" made up of three industry veterans: "a music business person, and a music creative person, as well as an anime producer." The goal of GEMVOX was noted to contribute to the development of the creator economy. It was noted that Yamaguchi first met Kanru Hua when he came to Japan as a university student to take part in a music hackathon organized by Yusuke Asada (浅田祐介) and himself. Becoming friends of Kanru Hua and being an avid supporter of Synthesizer V sparked the creation of Topaz, the companies' first Synthesizer V project.[12][13] Amid concerns regarding Studio ENTRE's production of NFT projects, such as the "SAMURAI Cryptos" music NFT project, Yamaguchi noted that GEMVOX and Topaz are not associated with NFT technology.[14] Yamaguchi noted on his personal Twitter account that Topaz was expected to be released on October 16, in addition to publishing voice demos and tutorial videos before launch.[15] Despite the announcement of Korean, it was stated also by Yamaguchi that Topaz's launch would only include Japanese and English as a bilingual vocalist, though Korean support was announced to be added at a future date.[16]
Voice Database Information[]
Demonstrations[]
| Demonstrations | |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Gloria (PV, Preview) | YouTube |
| Gloria (Autogenerated) | YouTube |
| YouTube | |
| YouTube | |
| わふ (WAFU) - Japanese Version, Preview | YouTube |
| わふ (WAFU) - English Version, Preview | YouTube |
| Gloria (PV) | YouTube |
Voice Databases[]
- Phoneme format: Romaji
- Through Cross-lingual Singing Synthesis, Topaz is expected to sing in not only Japanese and English but also in Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese Chinese, and Spanish. This feature is only available in the Synthesizer V Studio Pro Editor.
Voice Libraries[]
- Topaz AI (Synthesizer V Studio), in development, expected for October 16, 2024[1]
Additional Information[]
Marketing[]
Reputation[]
- First voice database by Studio ENTRE Inc.
- First voice database by GEMVOX.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://x.com/yamabug/status/1838385054600614130
- ↑ https://x.com/GEMVOX183838/status/1838055067670421806
- ↑ https://note.com/synthv_news/n/n8411b5cb6cd2
- ↑ https://gemvox.ai/topaz
- ↑ https://note.com/synthv_news/n/n8411b5cb6cd2
- ↑ https://entre.studio/about
- ↑ https://gemvox.ai/posts/opening
- ↑ https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000047.000062348.html
- ↑ https://japan.cnet.com/release/31011412/
- ↑ https://gemvox.ai/topaz
- ↑ https://note.com/yamabug/n/nd0e6ddda0672
- ↑ https://note.com/synthv_news/n/n8411b5cb6cd2
- ↑ https://x.com/synthvnews/status/1838020631201304642
- ↑ https://x.com/yamabug/status/1838096918498738534
- ↑ https://x.com/yamabug/status/1838385054600614130
- ↑ https://x.com/yamabug/status/1838032350707667183