Hiyama Kiyoteru

* V2
* V4

* Natural
* Rock

* SAHS-40713
**VOCALOID4:**

* SAHS-40969 (Natural, physical)
* SAHS-40970 (Rock, physical)
* SAHS-40971 (Complete)
* SAHS-40972 (Starter Pack)
* SAHS-40973 (Natural, digital)
* SAHS-40974 (Rock, digital)

**Hiyama Kiyoteru** (氷(ひ)山(やま)キヨテル) is a Japanese *VOCALOID2* developed and distributed by AH-Software Co. Ltd., and was initially released in December 2009. He was updated to the *VOCALOID4* engine in October 2015 and received two voicebanks. He was announced to be receiving an AI voice database for Synthesizer V Studio, planned to be released for his 15th anniversary in December 2024.

His voice is provided by Japanese male singer Hiyama Kiyoshi (比(ひ)山(やま)貴(き)咏(よ)史(し)).

## Concept

He and Kaai Yuki were released as "teacher" and "student" VOCALOIDs.

### Etymology

His surname "Hiyama" seems to be taken from his provider's name ("Hiyama Kiyoshi"). His Ice Mountain name of "Ice Teru" is a play on words; "Hiyama," (氷山) means "ice mountain."

### Appearance

Kiyoteru is meant to be portrayed as a *sensei* (teacher), dressed in formal attire. Kiyoteru's tie clip is a motif of YAMAHA's Electric upright bass SLB100 and his glasses are ZS92001A by Zoff.

In his depictions as member of ICE MOUNTAIN, he appears with a more rebel and informal appearance. This look was also influenced the design of his 'Rock' V4 vocal.

The microphone in seen in his V4 'Rock' boxart is based on the iconic Shure Brothers microphone, the *model 55s, Multi-Impedance "Small Unidyne" Dynamic* which was first released in 1951. However, the microphone is not listed in his favourite Microphones list as taken from his profile details.

### Official profile

Kiyoteru is a teacher who participates in a rock band called "*ICE MOUNTAIN*" on weekends, with the stage name "Ice Mountain Teru." According to the book the default configuration for his V2 software package happens to be Kiyoteru's vocals as a rookie singer. He is also said to be good at mathematics. The book also reveals that he was raised by Kiyoshi, a catholic priest who adopted him.

His favorite microphones were listed:

* BEHRINGER Ultravoice XM8500 (during his junior high and high school years)
* SHURE SM58 (college years)
* SHURE Beta 58A / RODE NT1-A (current favorite)

Although he's described as a good-natured, a bit shy and friendly individual, he assumes a more daring and cool personality when he removes his glasses. This was suggested on some of the early promotional arts, and later confirmed within the book.

### Relations

* Kaai Yuki - Student.
* ICE MOUNTAIN - Band.
* Kiyoshi - Foster father.
* Minase Kou - Fellow teacher.

## History

Planning of the first three AH-Software Co. Ltd. singing vocals began in 2007. Hiyama Kiyoteru's voice was provided by a Japanese singer, whose name was back then a secret. His VOCALOID2 voicebank, as well as those of SF-A2 miki and Kaai Yuki, were released on December 4, 2009. On August 12, 2010, Kiyoshi Hiyama himself announced on Nico Nico Live that he was Kiyoteru's voice provider.

Kiyoteru and many other AH-Software vocals were announced to be receiving updates for VOCALOID4 on November 20, 2014's livestream, after their silhouettes were revealed on a poster two weeks earlier without providing any further context. On May 28, 2015, AHS showed a new design for him to promote the AniNite concert in Vienna, Austria; its relation to his V4 update was unknown at the time. On August 17, it was noted that Kiyoteru and Yuki would receive demos some time after the AniNite concert ended, and that Kiyoteru's V4 voicebank was recorded from scratch to improve his upper and lower ranges. On September 30, Kiyoteru was confirmed to receive a Natural and Rock vocal, also gained a new design corresponding with the Rock voicebank, and adopted the AniNite concert design shown off in May as his Natural voicebank key artwork; both vocals, which could be purchased separately or together (a Starter Pack option bundling both with the VOCALOID4 Editor was also offered) were released on October 29, 2015.

### 2023

On December 1, 2023's AHS livestream, it was announced that both miki and Kiyoteru would be receiving AI voice databases for Synthesizer V Studio for their joint 15th anniversary in 2024. With regards to Yuki, it was noted that it would be very difficult to record a new voice library for her (due to the fact that her original voice provider, who back then in 2009 was a child and as of today still remains unrevealed for legal reasons, is now an adult and her voice quality has changed), and as for using her existing V4 Natural voicebank to derive a new voice database (whether a new Standard voice database from its raw samples or a Synthesizer V Plus-style AI voice database trained from songs performed by it was not mentioned, though), they would still have to first consult with YAMAHA Corporation before carrying it out.

### Marketing

Kiyoteru, along with SF-A2 miki and Kaai Yuki, was introduced to expand the selection of VOCALOIDs, giving producers more choices.

Until May 2011, all AH-Software VOCALOIDs were banned from KARENT.

## Voicebanks

Hiyama Kiyoteru - Natural
The "Natural" vocal represents Kiyoteru's "everyday" vocal, and is a male vocal that has a specialization on the treble range. The vocal is a faithful recreation of his provider Kiyoshi Hiyama. This is a more relaxed vocal that represents more Kiyoteru as a school teacher. Due to changes to the vocal consequential versions have sounded different to the original VOCALOID2 version.
* Hiyama Kiyoteru (*VOCALOID2*), December 4, 2009
* Hiyama Kiyoteru V4 (*VOCALOID4*), October 29, 2015
* Hiyama Kiyoteru - Natural (*Mobile VOCALOID Editor*)

Hiyama Kiyoteru - Rock
In contrast to the "Natural" vocal, "Rock" is as its name suggests designed for rock music and similar genres. It represents Kiyoteru as "Ice Mountain Teru" and is representative of his vocal when he is with his band ICE MOUNTAIN.
* Hiyama Kiyoteru V4 (*VOCALOID4*), October 29, 2015
* Hiyama Kiyoteru - Rock (*Mobile VOCALOID Editor*)

Hiyama Kiyoteru AI
An AI singing voice database planned for Kiyoteru's 15th anniversary, he will be able to use Synthesizer V Studio Pro's Cross-Lingual Singing Synthesis feature to sing in not only Japanese but also English, Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese, and Spanish.
* Hiyama Kiyoteru AI (*Synthesizer V Studio*), in development, expected December 2024

## Reputation

### Reaction

He was, overall, the least popular of the AH-Software trio of VOCALOIDs. All three took a while to gain popularity, leaving him the least popular Japanese Vocaloid in Japan for some time.

### Misc

An independent search on niconico revealed that most VOCALOIDs had less than 1,000 videos uploaded on niconico in 2011 between July 1st and December 15th; Kiyoteru fell into this category.

### Trivia

* Kiyoteru is the fifth VOCALOID to feature the *model 55s* microphone on a boxart with the previous 4 being Sweet ANN, CYBER DIVA, MEIKO V3 and Lily.

### Achievements

* One of the first three AH-Software VOCALOIDs.
* First male AH-Software VOCALOID.
* First VOCALOID mascot that is a member of a fictional band.
* First male VOCALOID to also become a Synthesizer V.

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/ahsoft/status/535606633712197633
2. ↑ [1] IT Media - 新人VOCALOID「ボカロ小学生」「ボカロ先生」「ボカロフルカワミキ」登場――さっそく歌ってもらった (1/2) (The new Vocaloids a Grade schooler, a teacher, and Furukawa Miki appear)
3. ↑ http://www.kiyoteruhiyama.com/teru.html
4. ↑ https://vocaverse.network/threads/general-discussion-thread.32/page-27
5. ↑ VOCALOID Blog - 出た！比山貴咏史氏が「氷山キヨテルの中の人」であることをカミングアウト (Coming out Ice Mountain Teru)
6. ↑ Himi Izutsu Official Web - 比山貴咏史（比山清） Kiyoshi Hiyama
7. ↑ https://twitter.com/tomo\_ahs/status/530305583916646400
8. ↑ https://twitter.com/ahsoft/status/604141034432385024
9. ↑ Tweet stack
10. ↑ https://twitter.com/ahsoft/status/649059676655513600
11. ↑ https://twitter.com/ahsoft/status/1730572443927167143
12. ↑ https://twitter.com/vocaspherenews/status/1730573495829152247
13. ↑ VOCALOID Enjoy
14. ↑ [2] VCC - How big is the Japanese Vocaloid community?
15. ↑ http://www.vocaloidism.com/2012/01/04/the-harsh-realities-of-vocaloid-on-nico/

## External links

### Articles

* VOCALOID Wiki
* Synthesizer V Wiki