Tonio is an English VOCALOID developed and distributed by Zero-G Limited, and was released in July 2010 for the VOCALOID2 engine. Tonio is advertised as a "virtual vocalist modelled on the voice of professional male classical singer"; his voice provider has never been revealed.
Concept
Etymology
While it is unknown why Zero-G choose this name, "Tonio" is one of several name variants which are derived from the name "Antonius" (the modern version being "Antonio"), which is taken from the old Greek word "anthos" meaning "flower". It is considered an alternative variation to the name "Tony" (which is also derived from the same origin). It is used as a Spanish, Italian and English name for boys.[2]
Appearance
His stock photo is of young man in a tuxedo named Stanislav Jakuschevskij, a Russian model, and is meant to portray a young opera singer. However, this is not meant to be his official character, much the same as other past Zero-G VOCALOIDs (the sole exceptions being SONiKA and AVANNA). An example of the original is here, titled "Portrait of Young Man Wearing Tuxedo, Black and White" File #7060644, submitted by Alija.
The Martini is his proposed character item (because Prima's was said to be wine). SONiKA later twittered about Tonio being unable to go swimming on their vacation since he was suspicious of any liquid not at least partly Martini based.[3] Notably, Tonio's item is the only established item that has been confirmed of any Zero-G VOCALOID.
Promotional E-Capsule version
Tonio's Taiwanese design is a possible reference to the mythical qilin.
Relations
For more on VOCALOID relationships, see the FAQ.
- Prima - A complementary voice bank with feminine vocals.
History
Marketing
When he was first mentioned by Zero-G, they noted that they were planning to redesign their older VOCALOIDs, but neither he nor Prima would be getting a new look as Zero-G felt they were satisfied with their appearance. This is because Tonio is one of their professionally aimed Voicebanks, so the boxart and voicebank is not aimed at the general VOCALOID fandom.
His boxart is from a stock image. The photographer was Alija who has submitted her work to various stock photo websites. An example of the original is here titled "Portrait of Young Man Wearing Tuxedo, Black and White" File#: 7060644, there are other images based on the model. The model featured in the photo is Stanislav Jakuschevski.[4]
His official website has since been defunct, but an archive snapshot is available [5]
Voicebanks
- Tonio
- Tonio was Prima's counter-partner vocal, a classic and opera based singer capable of tenor and baritone ranges. He sings with a realistic vocal that captures his provider's operatic vocal traits.
Music featuring Tonio
![[nn]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/vocaloid/images/1/16/Favicon-nn.png/revision/latest?cb=20131115031623){kind=small}
![[yt]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/vocaloid/images/1/16/Favicon-yt.png/revision/latest?cb=20221005233455){kind=small}
| Translation | Once Before the Fall |
|---|---|
| Featuring | Tonio
|
| Producers | MsConstantine91
|
| Categories | Original song |
| Featuring | Tonio
|
|---|---|
| Producers | Creep-P
|
| Categories | Original song |
| Featuring | Tonio
|
|---|---|
| Producers | ByBibo
|
| Categories | Original song |
| Featuring | Tonio
|
|---|---|
| Producers | Solowing
|
| Categories | Original song |
- "VOCALOID Tonio" on Niconico Video
- "VOCALOID Tonio" on YouTube
"VOCALOID Tonio" on bilibili
"VOCALOID Tonio" on SoundCloud
Reputation
Status
| Google Trends |
| Sales |
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Despite his lesser fan use, in 2010 Crypton Future Media produced a ranking of the VOCALOIDs they sold on their website. Tonio was ranked the 10th most popular VOCALOID they sold, and in the process the third most popular of the imported VOCALOIDs that Crypton sold.[6] In the the 2011 top Zero-G products ranking released in 2011, Tonio was the only one of the 3 VOCALOID2 voicebanks from Zero-G that was not in their top 25 rankings.[7] In 2012, sales picked up and he was in 21st place.[8] He was absent from the rankings for 2013, but returned to take the no.31 spot in 2014.[9] In 2015, both he and SONiKA failed to make it onto the top 50 rankings.[10] All 3 Zero-G VOCALOID2 vocals have not appeared in the rankings since 2016. Overall, Tonio was the least successful of the 3 VOCALOID2 releases. However, Tonio was still considered successful, since he was able to remain in the top products list for a number of years, and past VOCALOID vocals never achieved this status, he was significantly lower in popularity overall then Prima and SONiKA. |
| Reaction |
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He did not receive the same impact as Prima did and to top it off, his release came at an awkward time when focus was on the new stream of Japanese VOCALOIDs (like Lily). Ironically, had he come out when he was first proposed (early 2010), he would have had no competition from any other VOCALOID, likely receiving more focus. In regards to other English vocals, BIG AL was noted to have received a much stronger focus, since BIG AL had more 'personality' to his vocal despite Tonio having a 'beautiful' voice.[11] In terms of the west, a number of VOCALOID fans struggle to adore him compared to Prima due to his deeper vocal, a problem that hit also Big Al, thus he appealed much more to the professional EDM user. In both the Western and Japanese fandom he is among the least seen in use of the English capable VOCALOIDs on Nico Nico Douga and Youtube. He is overall ranked as the least seen VOCALOID2 voicebank. |
| Misc |
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An independent search on Nico Nico Douga revealed that most VOCALOIDs had less than 1,000 videos uploaded to Nico Nico Douga in 2011 between July 1st and December 15th. Tonio fell into this category.[12] In 2015 a survey was made based on the popularity of VOCALOIDs on website Nico Video. For the year 2014, Tonio was the 43rd most popular Vocaloid and the 5th most popular "Engloid".[13] |
| Trivia |
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| Achievements |
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References
External links
| Language | Description | Site |
|---|---|---|
| English | Zero-G Limited official homepage | Link |
| English | VOCALOID2 Tonio product page | Link |
| English | Link | |
| English | Tonio The unofficial 'snapshot' website for VOCALOID Tonio (Extant 2016 October) | Link |
| English | deviantArt, art and media community | Link |
| Japanese | Pixiv, art and media community | Link |
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