IF= { lazy } THEN= { image taken from DarkMirage }

I’m a pretty big fan of the first of three VOCALOID2 creations, Miku Hatsune (初音ミク), in terms of her physical appearance and moé appeal. So much so that the other day, I started imagining creating my own fan site. However, this so-called fan-gushing was without much regard to her voice in general, as I was under the impression that they were one in the same. After researching some of her songs, however, I decided that I wanted to write something brief about Miku, as I had fallen in love with not just her adorable, post-future style, but with her voice as well.

I have to shamefully admit I was a bit confused about how so users were easily obtaining mixes and generating that content on Nico Nico Douga. It was only until I decided to write this entry that I discovered that Miku isn’t just a computer-generated synthesized voice only accessible by Yamaha, put to an anime-style character. For those in the West who don’t know, the VOCALOID2 series was indeed created by Yamaha and the third-party company, Crypton, but the marketed software, VOCALOID2, uses preset, tuned pitches capable of producing varying tones centered around a particular style given the type of voice. Miku Hatsune is the name given to the J-Pop-type voice used in the VOCALOID2 Character Vocaloid Series. The voice originally belongs to Saki Fujita.

I’m really impressed to find out that Nico Nico Douga was a big contributer to Miku Hatsune’s popularity, and the VOCALOID2 software in general. Without greater fans than me, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy such lovely user-generated mixes that use Miku’s sweet-sounding voice. I wish I had that kind of time and interest on my hands. I do adore the Miku’s character and the “magic” of her voice, so here are a few visual culture sources that I have come across that are all about Miku Hatsune.

Miku Clips

My current favorite song by Miku

NicoNico Vocaloid Animation

Lucky*Star OP w/ Vocaloid CG

Miku Links

• MikuFan.com: A Hatsune Miku Fansite
• YouTube: MikuFan
• http://www.mikumiku.info/
• DarkMirage - VOCALOID2’s Hatsune Miku
• More about VOCALOIDs

Do you like Miku Hatsune (or VOCALOIDs)? Tell us why or why not!

Your response: