Music Vocaloid

ボーカロイド, or in English, Vocaloid, is a singing synthesis technology and software that enables users to synthesize "singing" by typing in lyrics and melody. Basically, it is a computer program that ‘sings’ without needing a present person. Its processing was developed through a joint research project by Yamaha Corporation and Music Technology Group in Barcelona. The software was ultimately developed into a commercial product named ‘Vocaloid’, and released in 2004. It is absolutely not to be confused with AI-generated voices, as the software requires the user to input and tune every single note.

Voicebanks are the core of Vocaloid. They contain different voices you can choose from, whether it be male or female, soft or rough, and they are marketed with names attached to them. For example, you might have heard of ‘Hatsune Miku’, who is an extremely popular Vocaloid. 

Hatsune Miku [初音ミク], codenamed CV01, was the first Japanese Vocaloid to be developed and later distributed by Crypton Future Media Inc.. Voice provided by Fujita Saki, [藤田咲], she was initially released in August of 2007 as the seventh vocaloid overall. Since then, she has had many upgrades, including but not limited to an additional voice library ‘Append’ as well as English and Chinese vocals released nearly a decade later. Originally, Hatsune Miku’s release was to be aimed at professional producers only, but for a variety of reasons, she unexpectedly received huge commercial success. Due to this, it lead to an expansion of marketing possibilities, and more Vocaloids were released in hope to accomplish the impact Miku made on the music industry. To this date, her name continues to be used as the primary source of marketing for Crypton Future Media, and the easiest to market of all Vocaloids. Presently, she is one of Japan’s most iconic figures.

A number of producers have used Hatsune Miku in their music, and below are some of the most widely acclaimed ones. ‘World is Mine’ by Supercell in 2008, ‘Tell your World’ by Livetune in 2013, ‘The Intense Voice of Hatsune Miku’ by cosMo@BousouP in 2010, ‘Rolling Girl’ by wowaka in 2010, and my personal favourite, ‘Deep-sea Girl’ by yuuyu-p in 2010.

Of course, other than Hatsune Miku, there are a number of other Vocaloids who have achieved similar heights. Kagamine Rin and Len, codenamed CV02, were released after and marketed as ‘Two bodies in one soul’ in December 2007. The interesting part about them supposedly ‘mirroring’ one another is that you can portray them as either siblings or lovers, as the Crypton final announcement was that there is no specific relationship tagged between them. They could even be one singular person in themselves, if you wish so! Popular songs using Rin and/or Len include Meltdown (Rin, lyrics by kuma, composed by iroha in 2011), Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder (Len, noripy in 2009) and BRING IT ON (Both Kagamines, giga in 2018). Other iconic Vocaloid songs that I cannot resist not including in are Luka Luka Night Fever (Megurine Luka, samfree in 2011), SHANTI (Kaito, wotaku in 2021), and Evil Food Eater Conchita (Meiko, mothy in 2009). 

Despite its initial widespread popularity, Vocaloid, over time, slowly started losing its popularity. However, in September of 2020, something brought it back. 

Project SEKAI COLORFUL STAGE! Feat. Hatsune Miku, also known as ‘Proseka’ or simply ‘PJSK’, was released on September 30, 2020 on iOS and Android as a rhythm game. Developed as a collaboration between SEGA, Craft Egg, Colorful Palette and Crypton Future Media. Currently, there are four playable servers, Japanese, Taiwanese, English and Korean, and features not only Hatsune Miku, but Kagamine Rin, Kagamine Len, Megurine Luka, Kaito, and Meiko. Project Sekai is set in Shibuya, Tokyo, and opens with a girl named Hoshino Ichika, who is  walking through the streets and sees an LCD screen displaying Hatsune Miku. Upon returning home, she discovers a song named "Untitled" on her smartphone. Out of curiosity, Ichika plays the song, only to be surrounded by a white light and transported to an unknown place. Miku stands in front of Ichika, welcoming her to SEKAI (translation: world) and invites her to sing together. Hoshino Ichika later becomes a leader of Leo/Need together with 3 other friends. There are about 20 characters in total excluding the Vocaloids, and they are split into 5 units of 4, Leo/Need, MORE MORE JUMP!, Vivid BAD SQUAD, WonderlandsXShowtime and Nightcord at 25. Each of these groups’ music is created through their feelings, which is the main plot point of this game (finding your true dreams). Their dilemmas and hardships related to many of its players, hence its acclaim.

Project Sekai brought back many timeless songs and new tunes to the Vocaloid community, reviving its fans by having them tap it out to their favourite classics and exposing new fans to more recent works. Producers and songs include wowaka with Two-Faced Lovers, Deco*27 (deconina) with Ghost Rule, Pinocchiop with Non-Breath Oblige, and many more. It also brought more niche Vocaloids to attention, such as Kaai Yuki (Primarily used by INABAKUMORI) and KAFU (Primarily used by iyowa). Additionally, Project Sekai has commissioned a number of producers for their anniversaries and character events, which gave creators an opportunity to create new music. Popular commissions for the game are Machine Gun Poem Doll for the 1st anniversary, Cyberpunk Dead Boy for Kamishiro Rui’s fourth focus song, and Bake no Hana for Akiyama Mizuki’s fifth focus song. My personal favourite is I am the Rain for Shinonome Ena’s fourth focus song. Without a doubt, if Project Sekai had not been released, the Vocaloids may not have been able to stay afloat. 

All in all, Vocaloid is certainly a masterful creation, and a unique way to add styles to songs by way of tuning and use of voicebanks. If you are looking for a new genre of music to listen to, do give this a try! 

Clara Chan

Secondary 2 Wisdom

2025