J-Pop Star (and 3-D Hologram) Hatsune Miku Sells Out Stadiums

• Alex wrote on 2010-11-15 14:37
  Dunno if this was posted yet...
  
  J-Pop Star (and 3-D Hologram) Hatsune Miku Sells Out Stadiums
  
  

  
  Hatsune Miku has topped the pop charts in Japan, sold out stadium concerts and become a legitimate cultural phenomenon. The interesting thing is that Miku doesn't exist -- at least not in any traditional sense of the word. Miku is a computer-generated avatar that performs songs with the help of a live band. But unlike say, Gorillaz, a cartoon band that merely serves as the public face of an artistic collective, everything about Miku comes from a computer. She is the product of a company called Crypton Future Media, which synthesizes Miku's voice using Yamaha's Vocaloid software.
  
  Creating the character -- which appears as a girl with blue pigtails and a cyberpunk version of the traditional Japanese school-girl uniform -- was a meticulous process. First, the creators recorded voice actress Saki Fujita making individual phonetic sounds at a specific pitch and tone. Then, they recombined the samples and fed them through the synthesis software to produce an almost endless number of words and sounds. Users can actually purchase a copy of Miku to run on their home PCs, and have her perform songs of their own creation.
  
  [video=youtube;DTXO7KGHtjI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTXO7KGHtjI[/video]
  
  Despite Miku's availability for private performances on home PCs, crowds still shell out for live concerts, where Miku is able to whip her legions of fans into a frenzy (as seen in the video below). At these sold-out shows, Miku is materialized, so to speak, as a 3-D hologram. She parades and dances around the stage as she belts out pop-rock songs, while her human band provides a musical backdrop for her J-Pop crooning.
  
  The tech behind both the vocals and the public displays is impressive, but we have a feeling this will remain a distinctly Japanese phenomenon. American consumers don't seem like they're ready to shell out the big bucks to watch a 'Final Fantasy' character robotically plow through second-rate Avril Lavigne knockoff tunes.

• Kanam wrote on 2010-11-15 15:21
  This is impressive. Can we have VR game or something now? 3D hologram videogame too? :D
• Cucurbita wrote on 2010-11-15 15:58
  Dat crowd.
• Magenera wrote on 2010-11-15 16:11
  Can anyone tell why she is so popular, I tried to listen to her, and I cut stop the vid(on youtube), do not see why she is the big deal.
• Cucurbita wrote on 2010-11-15 16:12

  Quote from Magenera;216220:

  Can anyone tell why she is so popular, I tried to listen to her, and I cut stop the vid(on youtube), do not see why she is the big deal.

  
  
  She represents everything weaboos love.
  
  The French were grossed out by this, and so am I.
  
  Miku alone as a character is okay, and I'm not against vocaloid, but these concerts are just a huge let down.
• Kanam wrote on 2010-11-15 16:28
  The concert is really overdoing it but the concept of using hologram like this is neat imo.
• Athde wrote on 2010-11-15 16:30
  Weeaboos are what keeps the name anywhere but in Japan.
• TA wrote on 2010-11-15 17:03
  I don't understand why she's so popular, but holograms and totally synthetic voices are neat.
• Paul wrote on 2010-11-15 18:34
  TEH HELL? WE HAVE THIS KIND OF TECHNOLOGY?
  
  Mind = Blown.
• Adelynn wrote on 2010-11-15 18:41
  I ran into this quite some time ago. She's popular because people can use her to sing songs without having to pay someone. She's also undergone an improvement in her voice. I still find most of her high-pitched songs pretty irritating but some of them are kind of neat in what they do. The hologram idea is really cool. It's almost perfect except for when they reveal the screen, and then it looks strange.
  
  Miku's voice upgrade:
  [video=youtube;y-8tyemBmiI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-8tyemBmiI[/video]
• Hiccup wrote on 2010-11-15 20:13

  second-rate Avril Lavigne knockoff tunes.

  
  OOOOOOOHHHHH BURN
  
  
  But seriously those concerts are a cool concept and definite cash cow but I'd be so bored there
• Adelynn wrote on 2010-11-15 20:25
  If they actually changed her voice to sound more consistent in the concert it might work better. I know she's not real, but right now it feels more like artist-is-here-to-lip-synch rather than artist is here to sing. The instruments are real, so change her voice up a bit. D<
  
  Personally, I think Luka has a better voice if we don't count Miku append..
• Cucurbita wrote on 2010-11-15 21:11

  Quote from Adelynn;216329:

  Personally, I think Luka has a better voice if we don't count Miku append..

  
  
  Its because Miku voice is outdated technology compared to Luka's.
• Piko wrote on 2010-11-15 21:17
  Meh, Vocaloid is okay. It's like one of those things that the fans end up ruining for everyone else.
• Adelynn wrote on 2010-11-15 21:58

  Quote from Cucurbita;216409:

  Its because Miku voice is outdated technology compared to Luka's.

  
  True, but a lot of people creating songs for Miku will sometimes make songs that would be annoying even if Luka sang them. x.e