The World is Yours - Hatsune Miku
By Hannah Schmidt-Rees
I don’t think there’s been many people in the past 10 years that haven’t heard of or at least seen Hatsune Miku. I mean, she performed at Coachella this year. Have I been thinking about writing an article about Hatsune Miku since I started PERSPEX? Absolutely. Am I just getting to it now? Yes, but better late than never.
To sum Hatsune Miku up in a sentence - she’s the world’s biggest virtual pop star.
Vocaloid2 Box Art featuring Hatsune Miku’s first appearance.
Now, Miku isn’t the first Vocaloid created. In 2004, Yamaha created the original Vocaloid software. Vocaloid is a voice synthesiser, musicians can input their own lyrics and melodies and have a virtual singer sing it for them. The first edition had five voices to choose from; Leon, Lola and Miriam for english songs and Meiko and Maito for Japanese songs. Each voice had an avatar, personifying them to make them more recognisable and relatable. In 2007, Miku was born. Yamaha launched Vocaloid2, revising the original software and adding a wider ranger of avatars. Music software company Crypton Future Media, added their own voicebank that can be used as part of Vocaloid2, which they personified as Hatsune Miku.
In the Miku lore, Hatsune Miku stands for first sound from the future. She’s a 16 year old android singer, coming from the near distant future where music is long lost. Her voice was sampled from Japanese voice actress and singer Saki Fujita.
The best thing about Miku and Vocaloid is that she’s a gateway. Many producers can create songs without needing to rely on human vocalists or their own vocal abilities. It’s a tool for experimentation, lyrics and melodies can be completely changed instantly and there’s no need for rerecording. Her voice (Saki Fujita’s technically) has a very high range, meaning that it can perfectly be used for a wide range of genres; pop, EDM, classical and rock. Another thing with a virtual singer, it creates a sense of anominity. This is something completely different to the mainstream music industry, which heavily relies on each singer’s appearance and identity. There’s no judgement or pressure to be a certain way or have a certain lifestyle. It allows people to experiement and showcase their skills without pressure, using her voice to communicate their stories and creativity.
Miku grew to become the most popular Vocaloid, selling 40,000 units in the first year. To foster a community behind her, Crypton licensed Miku under Creative Commons, which allowed fans and users to freely use her image for noncommercial use while also keeping full copyright on all songs created by the software. With the boom of user-generated video content in the late 2000s, like the rise of YouTube and similar sites, professional and amateur producers could create their own songs and post them online, adding towards Miku’s popularity and generating a rapidly growing fanbase. Original songs, song remixes, fan art, animations and music videos were all being spread around, with the help of the growing online content scene.
Miku’s first live performance was in 2009 at the Animelo Summer Live event in Saitama. She then made her international debut in Singapore in 2010 and in the US in 2011. You might be wondering how a virtual pop star does live performances (and it’s not someone playing a YouTube video in a stadium), but it is done and its done well. She performs as a projection, two projectors pointing at a semi-transparent screen. She performs with a live band as well as using elaborate projected visual effects to add to the atmosphere. Now using virtual characters in concerts isn’t something that only Miku does. The Gorillaz is a good example of this, the ABBA Voyage Tour is another one, as well as when big companies decide to project late singers to perform after their death (for some reason). But Miku is different, she isn’t based off a real person, she isn’t recreating something, she doesn’t have to rely on a musician performing for her live. She’s completely new and on her own in a sense.
Official Crypton Future Media Vocaloids.
When Miku performs, its not just her as well. There’s an entire group of additional and supporting acts. Typically Anamanaguchi opens for their western shows, as their chiptune pop and rock style fits with the Vocaloid aesthetic. Alongside Miku, other Vocaloids perform as well, the most notable being; Ren & Lin Kagamine, Luka Megurine and Kaito.
Hatsune Miku isnt just big in the music industry either. Her and other Vocaloids have appeared in many real world events and products, including;
The SNOW Miku Festival - held every year in Sapporo.
Hatsune Miku: PROJECT DIVA - a SEGA rhythm game which now has at least ten installments and spin-offs.
Miku Day - just a day for fans to celebrate Miku on March 9th.
The Hatsune Miku GT Project - a racing team that takes part in the Super GT Championships, represented by ‘Racing Miku’.
MIKU EXPO - an annual international tour with workshops and exhibitions.
Miku is the world most prolific virtual pop star. Since her debut, she’s been part of more than 170,000 songs and 500,000 illustrations. She performs fan-written songs in fan-designed costumes.
Am I big Miku or Vocaloid fan? No, but I just think the whole idea of her is really cool. Everyone knows she isn’t real, but I bet you that every Miku concert will be full of fans just enjoying the experience (and some people who were just there to fulfil curiosity, and probably some parents that have no idea what’s going on). It’s insane that we live in a world where a completely virtual singer, with songs created by fans, can become so popular. It feels very much like a labour of love, people committed to creating and expressing themselves using Miku as a vessel, whether its art, animation or music.
Here’s Miku’s most known song, performed live - it’s such an interesting thing to watch: