Miku Hatsune: The First Sound of the Future
/Hatsune Miku is a synthetic voice program. Amazingly enough, she is also one of Japan’s biggest pop stars, and she has quite a following in other parts of the world too. With a name meaning “first sound from the future,” this virtual singer certainly lives up to it. Originally developed in 2007 by Crypton Future Media, Miku has over 100,000 songs to her name, some notable ones being “The World is Mine” (produced by supercell), “Rolling Girl'' (produced by wowaka), and “Freely Tomorrow” (produced by Mitchie M).
Miku is a Vocaloid, an avatar of voice synthesizing software. Simply put, it’s a singer put inside a computer. Human voices are recorded in short samples, which are then stored in a database, becoming part of a software that songwriters and producers can use as an alternative to a singing voice. Miku’s voice was sampled from Japanese voice actress Saki Fujita.
Official art by KEI
With her signature long turquoise pigtails and futuristic outfit, Miku has quite a distinctive appearance. She was designed by artist KEI, who took inspiration from Yamaha keyboards and the Vocaloid program’s interface. She is 16 years old and, according to her recording company’s website, she stands at 158m tall and weighs 42kg. She is envisioned by Crypton as being an “android diva” from a future “where songs are lost.”
Courtesy of the Miku Expo website
While it may seem crazy that a program could become so popular in the music industry, it’s also not very hard to see her appeal. Crypton has created a character that can be pretty much anything you want her to be, and who can sing in literally any genre imaginable: “Senbonzakura” features the electric riffs and energetic vibe of rock, while “House of Songs” combines pop and jazz elements.
Then there’s the people who get really creative with using Miku’s voice. Kikuo is one such producer who’s songs always tell some sort of — oftentimes dark — story. He is known for his distinct musical style of pairing whimsical, upbeat music with themes pertaining to things like abuse or inner struggles. His song “Love Me, Love Me, Love Me” falls right in line. “Two-Faced Lovers” by wowaka is another song with a deeper meaning. Miku provides fans with a creative outlet and an opportunity to share their songs with the world.
Courtesy of the Miku Expo twitter account
But Miku is more than just a creative outlet to fans. She’s a global phenomenon that has launched the careers of many now-popular artists who got their start writing songs for her. For example, electro-pop group livetune or rock/heavy metal producer Neru. Using technology that projects her 3-D image onto a screen, Miku is able to perform these songs in concerts all around the world. She is a household name in her home country — according to a Crypton employee, “there is almost no one in Japan between the ages of 5 and 25 who doesn’t know who she is.
And now a growing number of North Americans know her too. In addition to Miku Expo — her annual concert event — Miku has had her fair share of stints with other artists like Lady Gaga, who she opened for during Gaga’s ArtRave tour in 2014. More recently, Miku has collaborated with American singer Ashnikko for a remixed version of her song “Daisy.” Last year, before COVID hit, she was even scheduled to perform at Coachella, one of Western music’s biggest stages.
The great thing about Miku is that fans are responsible for both her commercial and creative success. You don’t have to wait for her to release her next single — you can write your own. There are endless possibilities with Vocaloid and so many opportunities for fans to make a name for themselves through recording and sharing songs. Miku is all about bringing people together through music — surely that’s worthy of being called “the first sound of the future.”
Lily Scutt
Lily is a student at Algonquin College. She enjoys writing and playing video games, and she loves animals.
