Gomarteli 1

Sandro Gomarteli
MUNM 3113-005
Dr. Goza
5 December 2014
Vocaloids: Synthetic Fascination
Musical history has been rich with discovery and innovation. Time and
time again, composers and performers amaze audiences with their mastery
of musical talent. Whether in a 17th century Austrian auditorium or a bustling
New York City amphitheater, crowds are drawn to places that exhibit a
certain attraction that captures their attention and continued interest. One of
the most recent musical innovations has been vocaloid music. Created using
Yamahas program, VOCALOID1, vocaloid music is essentially songs without
singers. By utilizing fragments of voices from actual singers in combination
with user provided lyrics, basically anyone can create their own artificial
singer and songs (Yamaha). With VOCALOID, end users have been spawning
new virtual characters with their own music since as early as 2004. Since
then, two new versions of VOCALOID have been released (with another on
the horizon) and dozens of virtual artists have risen to global glory, each
replete with their own surprisingly large fan base (Kenmochi). For over ten
years now, vocaloids (literally vocal androids) have captivated adoring fans.
Such a surprising phenomenon was achievable through Yamahas program,
innovation of musical synthesizers, and a recently spawned supporting
culture.
1 Note that VOCALOID is not the only method of creating vocaloid music. It is,
however, one of the few that is commercially available and by far the most widely
used (Kenmochi, Oshita).

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VOCALOID was initially not a commercial product (Kenmochi, Oshita). Its

development was more of a technical project than a plan to create a new
caste of music and corresponding genre-representative artists. Yamahas
legendary program not only provides users with the synthesizing engine that
actually forms and compiles the music, but an integrated developer
environment (IDE) as well in order for uses to be able to create without the
need for another third party program to complement the synthesis engine.
The program is able to ultimately churn out technologically-infused tunes
through three different components: A score editor, singer library, and
synthesis engine (Kenmochi, Oshita). Keeping scientific jargon to a minimum
the score editor is where users can input the parameters of notes, lyrics, and
sometimes expressions. It uses the lyrics that the user enters and splits them
up into individual phonetic sounds that take their pronunciation from the
built-in pronunciation dictionary. Next comes the singer library. As the name
suggests, this is a collection of real peoples voices. In order to be expansive
enough, the collection includes nearly all possible arrangements of sounds.
For example, in English, this would include all consonant-vowel, vowelconsonant, and vowel-vowel combinations (Kenmochi, Oshita). Finally, we
have the complex synthesis engine. Broadly, it receives all prior inputs from
the score editor, takes the necessary samples from the singer library, and
then through a complicated series of processes (which for the purposes of
this paper will be glanced over), churns out the final raw music.
With the sophisticated VOCALOID program, third party companies
churn out he product that end users eventually consume. With VOCALOID

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version 1, five notable products were released by the companies Zero-G

Limited (based in the United Kingdom) and Japan-based Crypton Future
Media (Kenmochi, Oshita). Leon, Lola, and Miriam from the former and
Meiko and Kaito from the latter. One might ponder these names as they
dont necessarily seem to represent song names. This is because these are
the virtual characters or personas generated to serve as conduits from the
actual songs to consumers. These computer generated idols connect the
music to the listener and fill in the place of the traditional performer. Both
male and female characters are used, with the latter notorious for impossibly
short miniskirts, unnaturally colored hair, and a host of other accessories and
assortments highly reminiscent of Japans kawaii infused pop culture. The
beginning era of vocaloid music that featured the five aforementioned
artists was, as many may have expected, rather obvious in its artificial
origin. Almost like auto-tuned robots, these idols sang with a strangely
expressive technological twist that one would most likely be able to expect of
a computer generated voice. At the same time, it was surprising that even
though most people were able to recognize that the voices they heard were
not of the inherent world, the vocal inflections and patterns carried an eerily
human character. Strange as it was, these figures deserved a great deal of
championing. After all, who would have predicted that these robotic singers
would rake in hundreds of millions of Youtube hits, more merchandise than
one could ever imagine, and followings that any past or present-day musical
artist would surely admire.

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These musical innovations evolved over time. A significant milestone in

the vocaloid world was the 2007 release of VOCALOID2 that significantly
improved and expanded on the range of possibilities that VOCALOID offered
in 2004 (Kenmochi). With over 120,000 units sold (mostly in Japan) within the
three years of its release, VOCALOID2 carried the torch of its former self into
a new and growing age and VOCALOID3 continued even further upon its
release in 2011 (Kenmochi). The second run of the product has enabled
producers to create music that eliminates some of the obvious robotic quality
and often times can be mistaken for music sung by live humans. Throughout
these years, many more third party companies that Yamaha has licensed the
VOCALOID products to have added significantly to the list of generated
products or artists. By October 2011, there were over 26 of these
products released by companies including the familiar Zero-G and Crypton,
as well as newer entrants such as Sweden based PowerFX Systems AB,
Japanese Internet Co. Ltd., AHS Co. Ltd., bplats Inc., Ki/oon Records, and
Yamaha Music Communications (Kenmochi). Each of them has birthed
internationally recognized idols that truly surprised the world and earned
admiration from countless fans.
While many virtual artists have spawned over these years, none has
been more renowned and pervasive as the fabled Hatsune Miku. Since her
conception in 2007, this female, anime-like figure has become an idol for
millions. The name, Hatsune, meaning first sound, and Miku, meaning
future, was chosen by Crypton to signify the first sound from the future
(To). While Hatsune was not the first synthesized persona ever created, she

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has certainly become the biggest, most far reaching name in the musical
vocaloid genre. This literally unreal figure sports thigh-high boots, the classic
miniskirt, and now iconic body-length aquamarine pigtails. Within three years
of her release, 50,000 units of her singer library were sold, which is quite the
record in the world of software synthesizers (Kenmochi). Her popularity even
earns spots in top music charts in her native country of Japan. She even
draws crowds to huge amphitheaters for concerts. But hold on, one might
surely venture the question: How does a fictional character hold a concert
and attract such a high number of people? Strangely enough, viewers crowd
around screens or even holograms proudly displaying the icon in classical or
specially designed outfits, singing and dancing. These performances are
replete with the lights and futuristic sounds one might expect from such an
unusual occurrence. It may even seem unbelievable to many present day
people that any group of youths would crowd around a screen and call it a
concert. This truly shows how far VOCALOID has come in its ability to inspire
companies to create such widely popular musical works.
Looking at some of Mikus Youtube or the Japanese equivalent Niko
Niko Douga and seeing that the latter contains hundreds of thousands of
VOCALOID-tagged videos, many with several million hits, one might be able
to appreciate the musical culture and following that has spawned from the
impressive vocal androids (Kenmochi). Even in this digital age, some CDs
featuring idols like Hatsune Miku, such as the 2009 release titled Supercell,
have sold hundreds of thousands of copies (Kenmochi). Miku herself has an
especially impressive array of derivative goods. Her popularity inspired

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consumer products such as dolls and figurines representing the holographic

entity, video games on systems like the Playstation Portable, karaoke
systems, fan clubs, a facebook page, and even cosplay outfits that countless
youth sport at comic/anime conventions around the globe (Kenmochi) (To).
Of course, one cannot discount the tickets sold from concerts featuring the
figure, where themed trinkets are sold and saved in the air as the thousands
of gathered fans fist-pump and scream their voices away, just as they would
for just about any pop concert anywhere in the world.
Another important factor for the wide acceptance into the vocaloid fan
culture is a sense of freedom and customization. After all, Crypton only
created the design and backstory for Hatsune Miku and fans are able and
have created their own compositions of music, fan art, fan fiction, and even
project personality traits for her (To). One fans comments capture the
popular opinion on Miku, citing that she is alive for many people and that
her songs bring hope in peoples lives (To). The comments go on to describe
how real she is to people, especially as they have connected with her by
creating countless songs using the idol. Everyone is a creator, says the fan,
and she is a new hope for the future. Many fans even argue that this
revolutionary figure should be featured in the Olympics. In a series of
anonymous comments published in an article titled Music Artists Youd Like
to Perform at the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony, many express
that Miku would be a perfect fit (The Top Ten). They cite that Hatsune Miku is
a new figure that represents the future and since the Olympics brings in the
new, then why not include this technological advance? This commenter goes

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on to say that fans worldwide would be overjoyed and ecstatic.

Furthermore, they cite Miriam Stockley, an actual singer whose voice is part
of VOCALOIDs singer library that famously stated You cant fight progress,
no matter how strange it sounds. One passionate (and perhaps a bit too so)
fan even goes so far as to comment that Leaving her out would lead to
catastrophic resultsYou will find out if Hatsune Miku is not chosen. Truly,
vocaloid fans are a huge part of what has made them popular.
Of course, there are two sides to every coin, and vocaloid music is no
exception. Many argue against it and label it as absurd (To). Some criticize
the fact that fans pay actual money to watch holograms. Other criticisms
label it as an unnecessary fakeness and condemn it as another part of otaku
culture (otaku refers to the Japanese term for nerds that are known for
their particular interest in things like anime, manga, cosplay, Japanese pop
(JPOP), video games, etc.). Critics argue that people shouldnt waste their
time listening to vocaloid music when there is a plethora of real talent.
These criticisms do not really deter fans, though, who feel their right to enjoy
this phenomena of computer generated music is healthy and simply a step
into the future.
In any case, it remains without a doubt that vocaloid music is a
fabulously amazing technology that has had wide reaching impacts on the
world. As Beethoven broke away from some of the conventions of his era, so
too does vocaloid music serve as a pioneer that keeps the world of music
evolving and expanding. Even as early as thirty years ago, who would have
guessed that technology would develop that enables people to synthetically

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generate such human-like singing voices? VOCALOID truly sparked a

revolution in the music world and its subsidiary products have inspired
countless enthusiastic music fans across the globe. It is extremely
astounding to think that machine and human can actually work in this way.
The relationship between actual human voices and computer software
continues to obscure the line between what is real and what is not. Both a
champion of technology and music, the vocaloid genre has and most likely
will continue to amaze listeners and draw in crowds of wide-eyed people
caught in disbelief and awe. Whether one believes that the products and
implications of VOCALOID and its corresponding musical genre are healthy or
not, it is evident that with its popularity, this type of music is here to stay
and could very well fill the music libraries of the next generations iPods.

Works Cited
Hatsune Miku: Music Artists You'd Like to Perform at the 2012 London Olympics
Opening Ceremonies | TheTopTens.com (Hatsune Miku: Music Artists You'd
Like to Perform at the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremonies |
TheTopTens.com)
Kenmochi, Hideki, and Hayato Oshita. "VOCALOID Commercial Singing Synthesizer
Based on Sample Concatenation." (2007). Mirlab.org. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.
Kenmochi, Hideki. "VOCALOID and Hatsune Miku Phenomenon in Japan." (2010).
Icsa-speech.org. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.

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Kenmochi, Hideki. "SINGING SYNTHESIS AS A NEW MUSICAL
INSTRUMENT." Mirlab.org. Web. n.d. 3 Dec. 2014.
To, Kit. "The Voice of the Future: Seeking Freedom of Expression Through VOCALOID
Fandom." (2014). Pdf Article. Web. 5 Dec. 2014.
VOCALOID (VOCALOID)
http://www.vocaloid.com/en/about/