User:EditorGirlAL07/sandbox
Hatsune Miku
[change | change source] The logo for the software | |
| Developer(s) | Crypton Future Media, Sapporo |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 31 August 2007 |
| Available in |
|
| Type | Vocal synthesiser application |
| Licence | CC BY-NC (character design) |
| Website | ec |
Hatsune Miku (Japanese: 初音ミク) is a Vocaloid software voicebank. It was developed by Crypton Future Media, and first released in 2007. The software's official mascot is shown and described as a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise twintails.
Miku's personification has been marketed as a virtual idol. Hatsune Miku attracted new composers unfamiliar with electronic music creation. Her popularity made a significant impact on the internet and music culture.
Background
[change | change source]Origins
[change | change source]In 1995, Crypton Future Media was founded by Hiroyuki Ito. The company specialises in making and selling music-related content, like sound generator software.[1]
In 2004, Crypton released Meiko, a female voice synthesiser. She was followed in 2006 by Kaito, a male version. Both voicebanks use the Vocaloid I software engine. They also feature character mascots on their box art. This was a marketing strategy by Crypton to explain that a character is behind the singing voice. Three thousand copies of the Meiko voicebank were sold within the year after release.[1] By comparison, only less than 500 units of the Kaito software were sold in 2006. This was the lowest sale amount for a Japanese Vocaloid product on record.[2][3][4] Crypton realised that a female software is more popular than a male equivalent.[4]
In 2007, Yamaha Corporation released the Vocaloid II engine. This version has vocals more smooth and natural to that of a human.[2][5] Crypton saw an opportunity to make a new product after Meiko and Kaito.[1]
Concept and development
[change | change source]Wataru Sasaki of Crypton said in his interview with CodeZine that only three or four people worked on the development of Hatsune Miku. Crypton itself had a total of only 25 employees.[6]
The task of coming up with Miku's image went to artist Kei Garo. When Kei drew up Miku, his only direction was that she was to look like an android. He then decided to illustrate Miku to have retro elements.[7] Miku's clothing and accessories were based on Yamaha's DX series keyboard.[8] This resulted in Miku's design being more complex than Meiko and Kaito. Compared to Miku, Meiko and Kaito were of a more simple manga-style. Yuji Sone said that Miku's appearance fit more with Japanese audiences at the time.[1]
Crypton found that searching a voice sample hard. The company met about ten female musicians. They all declined. The musicians said they were too scared to have their voice copied everywhere.[2][9] Eventually, Crypton found Saki Fujita. They found her voice to be "easy to understand and cute". Fujita's voice also fits Hatsune Miku's image as a futuristic idol. Crypton therefore chose to sample voices from Fujita.[2][1]
To give the feeling Miku's existence is "real", Crypton gave few details about her character. They also made sure to keep Miku a "blank canvas" (free to interpret). Hatsune Miku's age is said to be 16 years old. Her weight is specified at 42 kg (93 lb). She is described as 158 cm (5.18 ft) in height.[1][5]
Software
[change | change source]
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Reception
[change | change source]Initial sales and popularity
[change | change source]Hatsune Miku was released by Crypton on 31 August 2007. It was put on Amazon's website for ¥15,750 (equivalent to ¥16,438 in 2019). By 12 September 2007, orders rose to nearly 3,000 copies. According to ITmedia News, an average sale of a music software would be 200 to 300 copies.[9] Within the year of being released, more than 40,000 copies of the Hatsune Miku software were sold.[10]
At the same time, Hatsune Miku started to gain popularity through Nico Nico Douga. This Japanese video-sharing site had started in 2006, a year before Miku's release.[11] Each day, users uploaded 100 to 200 songs that used Miku's vocals. By August 2008, Nikkei Business Online estimated that more than 100,000 Miku songs had been uploaded on Nico Nico Douga.[12]
Reviews and analysis
[change | change source]Natasha Anderson praised Hatsune Miku for having advantages over actual real-life idols. Real-life idols have strict, regulated lives to maintain a certain image for their fans. These restrictions include food diet and relationships with other people. Anderson stated that virtual idols like Miku would never experience these issues. Their private life remains intact without having to maintain a strict lifestyle, improving lives without endangering their own.[13]
Ian DiOrio criticised Hatsune Miku as technological masterpiece that is fake. He compared Miku's existence to that of leprechauns and unicorns.[14] DiOrio also thought many people are attracted to Miku because she is immortal.[15]
Esther Chen wrote her essay in 2024. In her essay, Chen went into detail on how music culture is being deconstructed by Hatsune Miku's popularity. Chen used statistics as evidence to support her argument. These statistics include comparisons between American, Japanese and Vocaloid music. Chen concluded that Miku and Vocaloid has allowed the spread of creative and cultural expressions between creators. She also stated that this came at the cost of mildly damaging the traditional music industry.[16]
Awards
[change | change source]Hatsune Miku was nominated for the 2007 Internet Buzzword Awards. She ultimately came in sixth place.[17] In 2008, Hatsune Miku won the Excellence Award at the 13th AMD Awards. Some other candidates like iPod Touch also received this award.[18] Miku would also win the Free Category of the 2008 Seiun Award.[19]
Cultural impact
[change | change source]
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Curabitur pretium tincidunt lacus. Nulla gravida orci a odio. Nullam varius, turpis et commodo pharetra, est eros bibendum elit, nec luctus magna felis sollicitudin mauris. Integer in mauris eu nibh euismod gravida. Duis ac tellus et risus vulputate vehicula. Donec lobortis risus a elit. Etiam tempor. Ut ullamcorper, ligula eu tempor congue, eros est euismod turpis, id tincidunt sapien risus a quam. Maecenas fermentum consequat mi. Donec fermentum. Pellentesque malesuada nulla a mi. Duis sapien sem, aliquet nec, commodo eget, consequat quis, neque. Aliquam faucibus, elit ut dictum aliquet, felis nisl adipiscing sapien, sed malesuada diam lacus eget erat. Cras mollis scelerisque nunc. Nullam arcu. Aliquam consequat. Curabitur augue lorem, dapibus quis, laoreet et, pretium ac, nisi. Aenean magna nisl, mollis quis, molestie eu, feugiat in, orci. In hac habitasse platea dictumst.
Multimedia development
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Related pages
[change | change source]- Kagamine Rin/Len – the next product in the "CV" series
- Kasane Teto – a deriative character from Hatsune Miku made for Utau
- Thomas the Tank Engine – another fictional blue character printed with the number one and saw global popularity.
Notes
[change | change source]References
[change | change source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Sone 2017, p. 141.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Crypton Future Media. "「初音ミク」ができるまで" [How "Hatsune Miku" was created]. ITmedia News (Interview) (in Japanese). p. 1. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ↑ 航空工业出版社 2014, p. 184.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Le 2013, p. 3.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 St. Michel, Patrick. "The Making of Vocaloid". Red Bull Music Academy. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2025. – archived via archive.today.
- ↑ Sasaki, Wataru (5 September 2008). "クリプトン佐々木氏に聞く 「初音ミクムーブメントの当事者が今思うこと」" [Interview with Crypton's Sasaki: "What a person involved in the Hatsune Miku movement thinks right now"]. CodeZine (Interview) (in Japanese). Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ↑ Crypton Future Media. "「初音ミク」ができるまで" [How "Hatsune Miku" was created]. ITmedia News (Interview) (in Japanese). p. 2. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ↑ 航空工业出版社 2014, p. 186.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Okada, Yuka (12 September 2007). "異例の売れ行き「初音ミク」 「ニコ動」で広がる音楽作りのすそ野" [Unprecedented sales of "Hatsune Miku" and "Nico Nico Douga" expand the horizons of music makers]. ITmedia News (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 April 2025.
- ↑ Sone 2017, p. 142.
- ↑ Sone 2017, pp. 142–143.
- ↑ Noyasu, Yukio (8 August 2008). "ユーザー作成コンテンツがひっくり返す、商売の常識 ～初音ミクが巻き起こした革命とは？～" [User-Generated Content is Upending Business Conventions: What revolution has Hatsune Miku sparked?]. Nikkei Business Online (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 14 December 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
- ↑ Anderson 2021, p. 7 (44).
- ↑ DiOrio 2014, pp. 99–100.
- ↑ DiOrio 2014, pp. 100–101.
- ↑ Chen, Esther (31 December 2024). "The Vocaloid Phenomenon: Deconstruction of Music Culture Through Hatsune Miku". The National High School Journal of Science. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
- ↑ "2007年ネット流行語大賞、栄えある第1位は「アサヒる」に決定" ["Asahiru" wins the prestigious 1st place in the 2007 Internet Buzzword Awards]. Gigazine (in Japanese). 14 December 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
- ↑ "AMDアワード大賞は「Wii Fit」。「iPod touch」「初音ミク」なども受賞" [The AMD Award Grand Prize went to "Wii Fit." Other winners included "iPod touch" and "Hatsune Miku."]. BB Watch (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ↑ "星雲賞：長編部門に「図書館戦争」 「初音ミク」「20世紀少年」なども受賞" [Seiun Award: Winners in the feature-length category include "Library Wars," "Hatsune Miku," and "20th Century Boys"]. Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). 25 August 2008. Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
Sources
[change | change source]- Le, Linh K. (2013). "Examining the Rise of Hatsune Miku: The First International Virtual Idol" (PDF). The UCI Undergraduate Research Journal. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
- Wu, Mengxin; Dai, Yuqian (2013). "虛擬偶像紅翻天！初音未來的流行產製" [Virtual idols are extremely popular! Hatsune Miku's popular production] (PDF). ir.nctu.edu.tw (in Chinese).
- DiOrio, Ian (2014). Trivial Pursuits: Why Your Real Life is More than Media, Money, and The Pursuit of Happiness. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books. ISBN 9780801015854 – via Internet Archive.
- Encyclopedia of Animation Comic and Game 动漫大辞典 1-4 (in Chinese). Vol. 3. Beijing: 航空工业出版社. 2014. ISBN 978-7-5165-0583-0 – via Internet Archive.
- Galbraith, Patrick W.; Karlin, Jason G., eds. (3 June 2016). Media Coverage in Japan. Kinema Club – via Internet Archive.
- Luthe, Martin; Pöhlmann, Sascha, eds. (14 October 2016). Unpopular Culture. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 978 90 8964 966 9 – via Internet Archive.
- Sone, Yuji (2017). Japanese Robot Culture: Performance, Imagination, and Modernity. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-53216-9 – via Internet Archive.
- Kobayashi, Hajime; Taguchi, Takashi (2018). "Virtual Idol Hatsune Miku: Case Study of New Production/ Consumption Phenomena generated by Network Effects in Japan's Online Environment". Markets, Globalization & Development Review. 3 (4). doi:10.23860/MGDR-2018-03-04-03.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is available under the CC BY 4.0 license. (verify) - Anderson, Natasha (11 October 2021). "Hatsune Miku, Virtual Idols, and Transforming the Popular Music Experience". Music Ology ECA. 2. University of Edinburgh. doi:10.2218/music.2021.6478. ISSN 2752-7069. This article incorporates text from this source, which is available under the CC BY 4.0 license.