Vocaloid is a vocal synthesizer developed by Yamaha, with the first products hitting the market in 2004. Vocaloid utilizes snippets of real human voice recordings, modeling them into singing based on inputted lyrics and melodies. Various voice banks have been created for Vocaloid, often accompanied by visual personas. Crypton Future Media is one of the most well-known companies utilizing Vocaloid technology, with its flagship product being the fictional artist Miku Hatsune. Other notable Vocaloid products include Luka Megurine, Kaito, Meiko, and twins Rin & Len Kagamine.
Hatsune Miku
Virtual idol Miku Hatsune is a software developed by Crypton Future Media as part of the Vocaloid 2 series, released in 2007. The character’s name 初音ミク(Hatsune Miku) can be translated to “the first sound of the future” in English. The voice samples for the voice bank were provided by voice actress Saki Fujita. As a virtual character, Miku Hatsune is portrayed as a 16-year-old girl, with her attire loosely based on Japanese school uniforms. The character was designed by the Japanese illustrator KEI. Several songs featuring the voice bank have topped music charts in Japan, and Miku Hatsune has held numerous hologram concerts worldwide. She has many fans in Finland as well. There is a wide range of merchandise featuring the character, from figures to motorcycles. Sega has also developed the rhythm games series Project DIVA based on the character.
The merchandising of Hatsune Miku is enormous, and a wide range of merchandise has been created based on the character, from figures to motorcycles. The gaming company Sega has also developed the Project DIVA rhythm game series based on the character, with the first installment released in 2009. Several million copies of the series have been sold.
