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Prima VOCALOID2 | Songs Albums Notable Originals


Prima is an English VOCALOID developed and distributed by Zero-G Limited, and was released in January 2008 for the VOCALOID2 engine. Prima is advertised as a "virtual vocalist modeled on the voice of a professional soprano opera singer"; her voice provider has never been revealed.

Concept[]

Etymology[]

The name "Prima" comes from the term "Prima donna," meaning "first lady." It is an Italian term used to describe the female with the leading role in a theatrical and opera production. It also refers to the one with the most talent, who was usually a soprano singer.

Appearance[]

Officially, Prima has no character concept. Instead, the photo on the box is an image of a model photographed by Ivan Grlic (bg_knight), who has works submitted to various stock photo websites. An example of the original photograph is here, titled "beauty profile" File#: 1709473

Promotional E-Capsule version[]

Prima's Taiwan design is loosely based on the Chinese opera house style of costumes. Prima's outfit itself is based on a theatrical representation of an animal, most likely a Huli jing (fox spirit), based on the shape of the "tail" and ears. Her body has an android appearance with visible joint lines. Her design in this version mostly has a green color scheme.

Relations[]

For more on VOCALOID relationships, see the FAQ.

  • Tonio - A complementary voice bank with masculine vocals.

History[]

Marketing[]

Prima was one of Zero-G's professionally aimed voicebanks, and as such, her boxart and voice are not aimed at the general VOCALOID fandom. Her boxart is from a stock image. The photographer was bg_knight (Ivan Grlic) who has submitted his work to various stock photo websites. An example of the original is here titled "beauty profile" File#: 1709473, there are other images based on the model , which is currently on the second page, that includes an eyebrow piercing.

After increased interest began to occur in VOCALOIDs and demand rose, Zero-G began reselling LOLA, LEON, and MIRIAM, from their own website via their virtual shop. Prima was also included in the sale, but according to Zero-G, although the three older VOCALOIDs may get a redesign in the future, they feel Prima is fine the way she is, and neither she nor Tonio will receive a revamp.[2]

Her official website has since been defunct, but an archive snapshot is available.[3]

Voicebanks[]

Prima
Prima was a professional singer vocal intended to be a realistic recreation of her provider who was an opera singer. As such Prima was made for opera and singers in the soprano range.Her counter-partner vocal is Tonio.

Music featuring Prima[]

  • On this wiki, Prima is featured in 43 songs , 5 albums .
Prima logo
Illusion
YouTube logo
[yt]
Featuring
Prima
Producers
Weslei O. Santos
Categories Original song
Crocodile Tears
Niconico logo
[nn]
Translation Crocodile Tears
Featuring
Prima
Producers
Categories Original song
One step forward
Niconico logo
[nn]
Translation One step forward
Featuring
Prima
Producers
Categories Original song
Lilium
YouTube logo
[yt]
Featuring
Prima
Producers
thibaud76200
Categories Cover song
Search for music featuring Prima [show/hide]

Reputation[]

Status

Google Trends

VOCALOID+Prima

Sales
Rankingprima2011

Prima's ranking 2011

In the year of 2010, Crypton Future Media produced a ranking of the VOCALOIDs they sold on their website. Prima was ranked the 9th most popular as they sold, and in the process, the second most popular of the imported VOCALOIDs that Crypton sold.[4] According to a flyer for discounts on VOCALOID released in 2011, Prima was again ranked as Zero-G's 9th most popular product.[5] In 2012, she was in 20th place.[6]

She would disappear from the rankings in 2013, to return in 2014 to hold the no.20 spot once again.[7]

In 2015, she was the only VOCALOID2 vocal to appear on the top products, holding the no.39 spot.[8]

In 2016 Prima was the 10th most sold VOCALOID on the Sonicwire website; she was the only Vocaloid2 vocal to appear and the first to be present on the rankings since 2014.[9]

All 3 Zero-G VOCALOID2 vocals have not appeared in the rankings since 2016. Overall, Prima was Zero-G's most successful VOCALOID2 vocal on a long term scale, staying high up in their rankings for a much longer time and thus out competed SONiKA.

Reaction

Prima has been held as one of the more popular English-only built VOCALOID2s overall, and acquired a higher level of recognition than the past have achieved.

Impact

She was spotlighted in Japan during the height of the start VOCALOID craze, making her the first overseas VOCALOID to grab attention. Because of this, she is the English VOCALOID that is credited for grabbing the attention of Japanese VOCALOID fans and introducing them to the overseas VOCALOIDs, as many were surprised to hear demo songs of a VOCALOID with such a "beautiful" voice.

Misc

An independent VOCALOID search on Nico Nico Douga revealed that most voicebanks had less than 1,000 videos uploaded to site between July 1st and December 15th. Prima fell into this category.[10] In 2012, she was in 20th place.[11]

Trivia
  • Prima, LEON, and LOLA's release dates were celebrated in the "Zero-G Garnet Festival" (also referred to as "ZGF") on Nico Nico Douga. This event celebrates the release of these VOCALOIDs. Various songs were uploaded during this 3 day event.[12]
  • While others from Zero-G are regarded as siblings by SONiKA, the VOCALOID refers to Prima as "Auntie Prima." Despite also referring to Tonio as "Uncle Tonio," SONiKA confirmed that the two are not married, as this was just used as an affectionate term.[13][14]
  • Prima was the most expensive VOCALOID2 voicebank to be purchased upon her release.
  • Had Prima been released in Spring 2007, she would have been the first VOCALOID2 voicebank released, there is no information on why she was delayed until the following year.
  • In 2016's Clockenflap, the interactive Robot Sophia sings using Prima's voice bank and then again in 2017's RISE Conference.
Achievements
  • First Zero-G voicebank for the VOCALOID2 engine.
  • First English VOCALOID2 specialized voicebank.
  • First English VOCALOID to gain satisfactory levels of popularity.
  • Most commonly used English VOCALOID2 by professional music composers.
  • First voicebank to include additional phonemes.

References[]

External links[]

Language Description Site
English Zero-G Limited official homepage Link
English VOCALOID2 Prima product page Link
English Prima The official website for VOCALOID Prima (Defunct 2017 April) Link
English Prima The unofficial 'snapshot' website for VOCALOID Prima (Extant 2016 October) Link
English deviantArt , art and media community Link
Japanese Pixiv , art and media community Link

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