A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book
Vocaloid Liveness? Hatsune Miku and the live production of Japanese virtual idol concerts.
Authors: Kärki Kimi
Editors: Chris Anderton, Sergio Pisfil
Edition: 1
Publishing place: London
Publication year: 2021
Book title : Researching Live Music. Gigs, Tours, Concerts and Festivals
First page : 127
Last page: 140
ISBN: 978-0-367-40500-7
eISBN: 978-0-367-40503-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367405038-10
Web address : https://www.routledge.com/Researching-Live-Music-Gigs-Tours-Concerts-and-Festivals/Anderton-Pisfil/p/book/9780367405007
My chapter examines the Japanese concert industry, with a focus on the live concerts by Hatsune Miku. who is, without a doubt, the most successful vocaloid virtual idol in Japan, and perhaps also globally. Vocaloid (ボーカロイド Bōkaroido) is a “singer in a box” voice synthesizer software, developed by researchers in 2000, and commercialized by Yamaha. Hatsune Miku is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media, a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise twintails. “She” uses Yamaha Corporation's Vocaloid 2, Vocaloid 3, and Vocaloid 4 singing synthesizing technologies, and Crypton Future Media's Piapro Studio, a singing synthesizer VSTi Plugin. Miku has played “live” globally since 2008 in concerts that typically feature a projected and animated idol via a rear cast projection on a specially coated glass screen. On the stage with the projection is a live band and sometimes also backup dancers. In my chapter, I analyze Hatsune Miku's concert production details: the technological solutions and the amount of complexity in interaction and synchronization. Production problems can be eliminated by using pre-recorded music and speech, but that would weaken the actual “live” experience.