Competition New in the Starting to Rise for Vocaloid making? page 12 page 1

New Faces Meet Anon & Kanon page 5 Facts About Vocaloid By Bill Treadway 5. VOCALOID CAN RAISE THE DEAD... SORT OF 10. MEET MIKU HATSUNE Vocaloid techniques have been handy for concert promoters, using the Voiced by actress , Miku Hatsune is the most popular Vocaloid technology to bring back such dead entertainers as 2Pac, Michael Jackson to date. Crypton took Fujita’s voice and ran it through software and Elvis Presley. Vocaloid software has even produced a posthumous to create Miku’s unique sound. Miku is often treated as a real person by singer in tribute of the late singer Hitoshi Ueki, although so far only his fans, especially men who actually fall for the Vocaloid as if she was flesh family has exclusive use of Ueki-loid. Just think, that Beatles reunion and blood. Not since Betty Boop has a virtual idol taken such a hold. could be possible after all!

9. VOCALOID USES DVD-ROM TECHNOLOGY 4. THE AVERAGE VOCALOID CONCERT-GOER IS MALE Yamaha and Crypton produced three software DVDs each containing While Vocaloid appeals to almost everybody, the average concert ticket the Vocaloid 2 and 3 programs. These DVDs allow you to manipulate her buyers in Japan are males aged 18-42. I’m not surprised, considering video voice and make her “sing”. Her voice banks are known as , store rental statistics in the 1990s stated that anime videos were largely Miku English, Dark Append, Light Append, Soft Append, Sweet Append, rented by males. Even Siskel and Ebert got into anime then. Miku Hatsune Vivid Append and Solid Append, though most of her songs come from even managed to sell out the in New York for a the Hatsune and English banks. Whew! How’s that for a tongue twister? concert packed largely with men.

8. THERE ARE CURRENTLY 69 VOCALOID CHARACTERS 3. VOCALOID IS OLDER THAN YOU THINK While most of the voices are female, Vocaloid has produced a sound for Vocaloid 1 debuted as “Codename Elvis” in 2000; three years later it was just about every age group, every gender -- transgender male and females retitled “Codename Daisy” before copyright issues forced a change to included -- and are available in English, Japanese, Spanish, Korean and Vocaloid. The first , LOLA and , are based on black soul Chinese languages. Thank Yahama for creating accessible software and singers, despite being redrawn as blonde-haired and green-eyed white companies Crypton, Studio DEEN and AHS Software for hiring actual people. That initial art consisted of a pair of lips -- one male, one female -- actors to provide voice samples for Vocaloids. from the side. Shades of Rocky Horror?

7. MIKU HATSUNE MADE TELEVISION HISTORY 2. VOCALOID IS AN INSTRUMENT Miku was the very first Vocaloid to appear on major U.S. late night talk Vocaloid software is actually a type of . Songs are exported show when on Oct. 7, 2014, she was booked as the musical guest on The to your computer in either WAV or MIDI files. MIDI gives the songs a Late Show with David Letterman. Vocaloid is actually quite popular with synthetic piano sound. With a little effort, you can make your Vocaloid celebrities; Lady Gaga performed in concert with Miku and others, such as sing Pop, Metal, Rock, or just about any genre in between. Just singers and Miriam Stockley, have lent their voices to Vocaloid. imagine what some adventurous rock stars could have done with this It’s inevitable that Hollywood celebrities will start embracing this. technology had it existed in the 60s and 70s.

6. PRODUCES VOCALOID CONCERTS 1. ANIME SAVED VOCALOID Using state of the art computers along side the 1863 illusion known as The first three Vocaloid 1 releases, LEON, LOLA and Miriam, sold poorly “Pepper’s Ghost,” animated models of Miku and Company are projected in Japan and the . With nothing left to lose, the final two onto a screen, giving the audience the feel of a live hologram. Fans can Vocaloid 1 efforts were issued with artwork inspired by mega-popular get into the action themselves, creating a home experience with anime. Interest soared amongst anime fans and music producers, leading called MikuMikuDance, which is also used in many hit anime shows. to the current explosion, personified by Vocaloid 2’s Miku Hatsune. Just goes to show you that the biggest successes often come by accident. 2 3 Meet Anon & Kanon

Appearance a bit scatterbrained, she’s the type to not listen well when other people Anon and Kanon are identical are talking. You could say she’s only twins but have differences really focused when she’s dancing. both physical appearances and Her favorite person is kanon.’ She is personality. Like their vocals, the the younger of the pair. girls’ outfits are similar, but not identical. Some details are mirrored Dancing or slightly altered. The largest Special skill: Bread difference applies to their facial Favourite food: ‘I don’t expressions on the boxart, with Subject she excels in: have one, but if I had to say one, I Kanon appearing perkier than her guess History’ sister, Anon.

They have play (▶) and stop button (■) symbols on their shoes. to purple. Anon has short hair cut Anon’s has the play button on the close to her head with no gradation. left, while Kanon’s is on the right. Anon wears a white outfit and Kanon has long, grey/black boots, headset, while Kanon wears a and short, black socks, which black outfit and headset. They stop just below her knees, while both have microphones attached Anon has long, white, thigh-high to their jackets, but on Anon, it is stockings and short white boots. on the left side of her jacket, while Their hair colours are almost Kanon has her’s on the right. Their identical: a “light reddish blond” skirts are cut with one side being (also known as “Apricot”). Kanon longer than the other. On Anon, has a mid-thigh length ponytail on the long side is the right side of her Kanon skirt and on Kanon it’s on the left. the side of her head, which gradates ‘She has extraordinary reflexes. They both have the same colored She’s a class representative type, a earrings, both purple eighth notes. very capable person. She’s a very Anon’s are small and dark-purple focused and level headed girl. Right while Kanon’s are light-purple and now, the thing she’s worried about slightly larger than her sister’s. the most is anon’s future.’ She is the older of the pair. They also have a binary code design on the inside of their jackets. Special skill: Dancing Favourite food: Bread Profile Subject she excels in: PE and They are marketed as identical mathematics twins and 12th grade senior highschoolers. All Information in this article was Anon brought to you by: Vocaloid Wiki ‘A spontaneous, slightly airheaded girl with a short haircut. Since she’s 4