leek.

Been a while since I posted something. Work and school have kept me busy. But this time, I actually have something to talk about, instead of life's goings on.

Did you know the world has a virtual pop idol? It's a crazy thought, something I didn't expect to happen until maybe 2020, but we have one. Right now. In fact, we have more than one pop idol. We have an entire "family" of them.

From left to right: Meiko, Kaito, Megurine Luka, Hastune Miku, Gakupo, Kagamine Rin, Kagaine Len

Vocaloid is a singing synthesizer program that was released in 2004 by Yamaha. You type in lyrics, and it sings them at whatever melody you choose. It's like MS Voice with musical talent. The concept was simple to start with. No characters were associated with the program at first. By character, I mean the voice did not have a physical avatar to represent it. The next programs of Vocaloid, Meiko and Kaito, were given character art, but Vocaloid still lay in the dark. Then, when the second edition of the program as released, Hatsune Miku came into the light. Even though there were two other Vocaloid characters that came before this, Miku's voice and image began a craze that is now transforming the world.

People began using Miku's voice to create their own songs and posted them on the internet. Not only was her voice attractive, the songs were pretty dang catchy. As Miku's popularity rose, Yamaha released several more Vocaloid voices, the most popular becoming Megurine Luka, Kagamine Rin and Kagamine Len. People began making their own Vocaloids as well, called an utau, and a few of them have become mainstream as well. The evolution of Vocaloid was completely driven by its fan base, as people began making Miku art, creating their own songs and giving all the characters a back story. Now, there are an innumerable number of utaus and Vocaloid songs because so many people have created their own and shared them with the world.

Miku and her family (as pictured above) have become a hit sensation in Japan, as well as in the anime community the world over. The fever has gotten so severe, Miku has been given her own video game, race car, arcade game, and even performs live concerts. Yes, LIVE CONCERTS.

I am nothing short of fascinated and in awe of this incredible jump in pop culture. I find it so strange because all she is is a program. Talented people take her voice and use it to its fullest potential. The songs are amazing, and could easily pass off for a real singer or as something you'd find on the radio. The thing is, though, that Miku (or other Vocaloids) get more credit than the actual artist does. It's not an overwhelming difference; one particular band, Supercell, began by using Miku's voice. They used real instruments for the music and simply added her voice. Later, they obtained their own female singer, and continue to produce incredible music. However, if a certain song comes up, you don't recognize it by whoever mixed it. You recognize it by the Vocaloid's voice.

I first knew about Vocaloid when Krissy told me about it, and began using it herself. It was a very light introduction, and I wasn't all that interested. Alexis brought it back to my attention, and I began to listen to some Miku songs (most particularly the ones by Supercell). What got me hooked, though, was when I began playing Hatsune Miku: Project Diva, the video game for the Playstation Portable. It's a rhythm game similar to DDR, but for your fingers. As you play, a video plays in the background showing the characters singing.

Those who know me know I love rhythm games, so I absolutely adore this game.

On the other hand, I didn't really enjoy Vocaloid before I played this game because none of the singers felt real enough to me. (Pfah, virtual singers not feeling real enough? I know, right?) There just wasn't much emotion for me to enjoy. I could only connect a song to colors or symbols, not a mental movie with animated characters. However, after playing Project Diva, everything came together. I had something to connect the music to, and I immediately became hooked to Vocaloid. I knew this was an area that heavily impacted the weeaboo community, so once this adoration gave root, I knew I would have to be smart about it.  I decided to go in and learn all this information that I've shared with you guys, and more.

I don't believe this to be a fad. Rather, this is the start of an entirely new style of music. Mixers have only been able to work with instruments before, and Autotuning has taken over the music industry. Vocaloid music is a form of Autotuning, but I find it very different in the respect that we're not trying to make talentless people sound good. The talent now comes entirely from the mixer themselves. They don't have to be limited with finding a singer. All of the vocals in a song are completely in the mixer's control. You can't help but be happy for a mixer if their Vocaloid song becomes mainstream, especially among the now hundreds of thousands of songs out there today.

In short, I love Vocaloid as a genre. The songs, more often than not, aren't popular because it was made in Vocaloid. The songs are popular because they sound so great, no matter what kind of music you like. The rising popularity of Vocaloid is a wonder to me, since it's been the fans of the characters and the music that have made Vocaloid what it is today. Here's an extreme example of the fans' energy:

One of the members of Supercell began making art for a character that looked similar to Miku, simply called the Black★Rock Shooter.

The leader of the band liked the art, and made a song from it also called Black★Rock Shooter. The song was put on the internet, and immediately became a hit.

As its popularity rose, an anime company took the idea for Black★Rock Shooter and turned it into a movie. Now, a PSP game is in the works based off the characters from the movie.

This is such an impressive feat to me, just seeing how a simple piece of artwork has spawned an entire story to unfold through its fans.

Yeah, I guess I just wanted to share my love of Vocaloid with you guys, but not in a weeaboo-esque, uneducated manner. The point I wanted to make was that virtual idols are on the rise, and it's incredible to see what they're doing to pop culture. It's not a bad movement, either. I think the music they're making from this is genuinely great, fun music. It's not Beatles, Mozart or Bing Crosby, but it's surely replaced a radio station blaring "Firework" or some Black Eyed Peas song about having a party. To me, anyway. This is my feel-good music.