Hatsune Miku ( lang = "ja"> 初 音 ミ ク , first sound of the future ) or Miku Hatsune in Western style, is the humanoid character taking the place of commercial avatar of the first opus of the VOCALOID series, expressing itself through a speech synthesis application developed by Crypton Future Media (en) . This voice bank uses Vocaloid 2, Vocaloid 3 or Vocaloid 4 software from Yamaha Corporation. His voice is synthesized from that of actress Saki Fujita. It is a phenomenon of modern society essential, benefited by its very affordable use poured mainly into the world of electronic music (Vocaloid, J-pop ...).
Hatsune Miku performs live concerts as a 2D image projected on a DILAD screen, but it is not a hologram (because it is not a 3D projection). Miku is, at the base, depicted as a 16-year-old girl with long turquoise quilts and a futuristic outfit reminiscent of Japanese high school uniform. However, it does not really have a fictional biography, everything is reserved to the imagination of Internet users. She is the most famous Vocaloid in Japan but also the whole world. This Japanese cultural icon is also recognized by many Internet users as a true singer, massively popularized on the internet.
There is a large number of music in which his voice appears since, being basically a speech synthesis application, any user with a minimum of material can create an entire work, a song, mix, etc. Naturally, it also has real songs edited and approved by its officials that can be found in the various games dedicated to him. It is partly because of this that Hatsune Miku has become a high personality of pop culture.
In 2003, Yamaha announced the development of a program called VOCALOID, which uses voice synthesis technology applied to music. The software allows the user to synthesize a complete song. By entering the lyrics on the keyboard of the computer and the tune of the synthesizer keyboard or with its computer systems, the user can create a song, to which it is possible to attach a melody.
This program comes out in 2004 accompanied by Kaito and Meiko, two Japanese Vocaloids created by Crypton Future Media (en) , as well as Leon, Lola and Miriam, English-speaking Vocaloid (who belong to the first generation of Vocaloid and are the first in the series).
The first version of VOCALOID is criticized for its lack of performance, and with a difficult climb for its first singers. Yamaha decided in 2006 to release a new version of its software, named VOCALOID 2 (second generation of Vocaloid).