PowerFX has announced the release of Sweet Ann, the first of its new line of vocal libraries which employs Yamaha's Vocaloid 2 upgraded software. Vocaloid software applications enable users to type in words and melody and have the vocal library "artist" sing back the input.

Sweet Ann is a pure "popstress." Her realistic vocals include a warm vibrato and an unmatchable range. While she can sing lead or harmony parts, PowerFX really envisions her as essential to the music labs of producers and electronic dance artists who depend on unique vocals for their genre.

Not only relegated to the electronic dance music, Sweet Ann and her contemporaries are used by songwriters for their demos, solo artists who desire realistic background vocalists, as well as other musicians who want to experiment with the new sounds and textures these virtual singers provide.

Sweet Ann's vocals come from a real singer who was recorded extensively, enabling PowerFX to create a comprehensive library of her vocal sounds. Vocaloid software users type in words and assign melodies to Sweet Ann. She then emulates the words and notes given to her. Expressive effects, vibrato and dynamics can also be added to her singing. Users compose using Sweet Ann as their demo vocalist, and even create and experiment with new musical styles, from remixes, vocal fx, and DJ scratch vocals, to jazz, pop, funky house music and electronica genres, all with the benefit of Sweet Ann as their virtual vocalist.

Vocaloid 2 Editor features:

• Easy to use note & lyric editing: Enter the notes you want Vocaloid to sing via the easy-to-use sequencer window, then type in the lyrics corresponding to each note.
• Standard MIDI file Input: You can import a standard MIDI file and use the notes as the basis for Vocaloid tracks.
• Up to 16 tracks: You can add up to 16 tracks of Sweet Ann or any other Vocaloid 2 compatible singer simultaneously.
• Mixer Window: Volume and panning controls are available for each of the 16 tracks as well as a master level control.
• Save vocal data as .wav files: You can export finished Vocaloid tracks as .wav files and import them into other music applications for unlimited creative possibilities.
• Real-time VSTi Performance: You can play directly into your sequencer from a keyboard, your lyric imputations via VSTi architecture. Up to 4 note polyphony for harmony and choir style results.
• ReWire compatibility: Vocaloid can be used with other host applications via ReWire
• Drawing of effects: Dynamics, breath, velocity, gender and other vocal characteristics can be manipulated simply with a pencil tool.

PowerFX's Sweet Ann vocal library package is available for Windows for $149 (download) / $169 (on DVD) directly from PowerFX and includes a stand alone version, a VSTi plugin with real-time keyboard performance and ReWire connectivity to a host sequencer.