IA alights on January 27

The official website for IA -ARIA ON THE PLANETES- is now online with character illustrations and information about the upcoming VOCALOID3 sound library based on well-known anime and game song singer Lia. According to a post by Yamaha about upcoming releases, the new software is set to be released on January 27, 2012 in two formats — a standalone library that comes with Tiny VOCALOID3 Editor for 12800 JPY and a starter pack that bundles the full VOCALOID3 Editor at 19800 JPY.

UPDATE: A sample has been added to the official page. It is a “beta” of IA (not the final version of the library) singing Tori no Uta and has been tuned. Furthermore, since it uses the original song’s instrumental, the website cautions that Lia’s original chorus harmony can be heard as well. The developers are planning to include the .vsqx file for the final version with the software release.

The opening of the official website came in tandem with the official unveiling of IA’s full-color design, illustrated by Aka Akasaka. A prototype of the full-color design was actually inveiled unofficially at the most recent V_N club music event a few days earlier as well. Previously, the website only contained line sketches of the character as well as a teaser video with what seems to be a single sung note at the end by IA. The official website now contains more information about IA as well as the vocalist behind her, Lia. Lia is often referred to as having a “crystal voice” and is well-known for having sung the opening theme to AIR called Tori no Uta. She has also provided vocals for many other works, ranging from visual novels (and their animated adaptations) such as CLANNAD and FORTUNE ARTERIAL, to the newer Angel Beats! where she sang the opening song, My soul, Your Beats!

According to the website, IA supposedly prefers singing notes between B2 and A4 and tempos ranging from 63 to 228 BPM, which gives her a slightly lower register, slightly increased pitch range and a much larger tempo range compared to Hatsune Miku. Unfortunately, as of this article’s writing, there are still no real demonstrations of her singing, but the official Twitter account, @IA_Project, has said that they have more than 10 demonstration songs of various genres that they plan to unveil soon. A producer (in the business sense) behind IA who originally tweeted less-important items on the official account is now tweeting on a separate account, @IA_Aria.. The official Tumblr account. also has various artwork and production shots as well, including photos from their M3 booth.