SARAH, ALLEN, HARUKA, & AKITO

SARAH, ALLEN, HARUKA, and AKITO are a set of VOCALOIDs developed and distributed by Yamaha Corporation as part of the Silhouette Series. They make up the four starter vocals of the VOCALOID6 engine utilizing VOCALOID:AI technology and were released in October 2022. SARAH and ALLEN are English-capable VOCALOIDs while HARUKA and AKITO are Japanese-capable VOCALOIDs. They replace the previous VOCALOID5 standard vocals, which previously acted as the main "standard" VOCALOIDs.
Their voice providers have not been revealed.
==Concept==
They are the fourth and current set of "standard" voices to be released after Yamaha developed MEIKO and KAITO (VOCALOID) and then the VY series (VOCALOID2 to VOCALOID4), following the VOCALOID5 standard vocals—Amy, Chris, Kaori, and Ken.
===Etymology===
For the English vocals, "Sarah", meaning "lady", "noblewoman", or "princess" is a name of Hebrew origin, deriving from the . Broken down in Hebrew, "Sarah" (שָׂרָה) is the feminine form of the noun "Sar" (שַׂר), which commonly translates to "chief", "ruler" or "prince". In Modern Hebrew, Sarah (שָׂרָה) is the feminine form of the word for "minister".https://www.behindthename.com/name/sarah "Allen" is a variant of the name "Alan" which the meaning is not known for certain. Possible meanings include "little rock" or "handsome" in Breton or as a derivation of the tribal name of the Alans.https://www.behindthename.com/name/alan
Regarding the Japanese vocals HARUKA and AKITO, no official information was released regarding why their names were chosen or what they may mean. Their names were also written in romaji only, giving no further details.
===Appearance===
Similar to past Yamaha VOCALOIDs, the four have designs that are left open for interpretation. Rather than having fully illustrated character designs, they were instead represented by black silhouettes with some detail as to how they may look like. Each vocalist has a signature color presented in the background and shadings on their silhouettes: purple for SARAH, grey for ALLEN, gold for HARUKA, and turquoise for AKITO.
Each silhouette depicts the character singing into a wireless microphone. SARAH has medium-length hair extending past her shoulders and wears a sleeveless top; SARAH's microphone is on a stand. ALLEN wears a cap, a top with mid length sleeves, and a bracelet on the right wrist. HARUKA has shoulder length hair partly covering the eyes and wears a short-sleeved shirt as well as three bracelets on the right wrist. AKITO has neck length hair partly covering the eyes and wears a long-sleeved dress shirt.
The silhouettes were illustrated by the Japanese manga artist Kagemaru Himeno.https://x.com/HIMEMARU_0w0_/status/1598703182506758144
==History==
===Marketing===
The four vocals were marketed as being exclusive vocals that come with the VOCALOID6 engine itself and have access to the VOCALOID:AI technology. Upon their release, Yamaha produced a series of informational videos on the official VOCALOID YouTube channel including a walkthrough of the VOCALOID6 enginehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP0DQCYOZWg Japanese. "VOCALOID Official Guide Tour vol. 1"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc3h9iKYKDs English, "VOCALOID6 Walkthrough", a video instructing users how to use the four vocalshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e9WnCcHTJU Japanese, "How to use VOCALOID:AI voicebanks" as well as a video instructing users on how to use the new VOCALO CHANGER plugin.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLjgarmTqKk Japanese, "How to use VOCALO CHANGER"'''
===Voicebanks===
;SARAH
:An English female vocalist and starting vocalist for the VOCALOID6 engine. 
* SARAH (VOCALOID6), October 13, 2022
;ALLEN
:An English male vocalist and starting vocalist for the VOCALOID6 engine. 
* ALLEN (VOCALOID6), October 13, 2022
;HARUKA
:A Japanese female vocalist and starting vocalist for the VOCALOID6 engine. 
* HARUKA (VOCALOID6), October 13, 2022
;AKITO
:A Japanese male vocalist and starting vocalist for the VOCALOID6 engine. 
* AKITO (VOCALOID6), October 13, 2022
==Music featuring SARAH, ALLEN, HARUKA, & AKITO==
==Reputation==
==References==
==External links==
Language	Description	Site
 SARAH
 ALLEN
 HARUKA
 AKITO
 SARAH
 ALLEN
 HARUKA
 AKITO
==Navigation==
 
Category:Silhouette Series
Category:Yamaha Corporation
Category:Feminine vocals
Category:Masculine vocals
Category:English vocals
Category:Japanese vocals
Category:VOCALOID
Category:VOCALOID6