The influence of fan-made content and fan culture on Vocaloid
Vocaloid is an instrument; a vocal synthesis software created by Yamaha, that allows musicians to tune a virtual voice to perform their music, functioning similarly to any other digital instrument. These ‘voice banks’ have usually been sold with a human name, and are often accompanied by a character design that aims to be visually appealing and drive sales of the product and merchandise of the character. The most popular of these voice banks have been sold in Japan, using 'anime-style' mascot characters, though the influence of this design practice has since extended to western created voice banks as well as English speaking extensions.
On the internet, in colloquial terms, a Vocaloid is often associated first with these mascot characters, rather than the software itself. The term 'Vocaloid' has strayed so far from the original software that it has been used to refer to other mascot voicebanks created for voice synthesisers made by different companies, such as UTAU and SynthV.
While the mascots are usually sold as nothing more than a design and a name, so that musicians may use them in their music however they like, internet fan-culture has applied widely excepted ideas and personalities to these characters that have influenced both product marketing and usage by musicians.
In my essay I aim to examine the affect that fan-content has had on the perception of 'Vocaloid' and other vocal synthesisers, how it has affected the artists behind Vocaloid music, and how it has contributed to ‘Vocaloid’ maintaining popularity online.
On the internet, in colloquial terms, a Vocaloid is often associated first with these mascot characters, rather than the software itself. The term 'Vocaloid' has strayed so far from the original software that it has been used to refer to other mascot voicebanks created for voice synthesisers made by different companies, such as UTAU and SynthV.
While the mascots are usually sold as nothing more than a design and a name, so that musicians may use them in their music however they like, internet fan-culture has applied widely excepted ideas and personalities to these characters that have influenced both product marketing and usage by musicians.
In my essay I aim to examine the affect that fan-content has had on the perception of 'Vocaloid' and other vocal synthesisers, how it has affected the artists behind Vocaloid music, and how it has contributed to ‘Vocaloid’ maintaining popularity online.
- A continued popularity has lead to the growth of Vocaloid as a franchise, specifically the voice banks created by Crypton Future Media. Video games (Project Diva, Colourful Stage, IA/VT Colourful). This growth of the franchise has positively affected both fans and creators of Vocaloid. For songs to be featured in the many Vocaloid rhythm games, producers are paid for the licenses of music.
- Fans focus on mascots over creatives, lack of credit to the musicians - older YouTube reuploads stress importance on Vocaloid singers rather than the artists behind the songs. (Uploads from official channels will often include the artists name in the title, e.g, wowaka’s ‘Rolling Girl.’ While fan re-uploads have a history of prioritising the fictional singers. These fan-uploads often do almost as well as the official upload, taking away from revenue the artist may have earned.)
- Fans focus on mascots over creatives, lack of credit to the musicians - older YouTube reuploads stress importance on Vocaloid singers rather than the artists behind the songs. (Uploads from official channels will often include the artists name in the title, e.g, wowaka’s ‘Rolling Girl.’ While fan re-uploads have a history of prioritising the fictional singers. These fan-uploads often do almost as well as the official upload, taking away from revenue the artist may have earned.)
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- Fan creation is encouraged - fan made music videos are popular in video platforms such as YouTube (e.g. YouTube creator Mario CaGabriel has been created fan-made PVs (picture videos), for musician Mothy_Akuno-P's 'Evillious Chronicles series for the past ten years, using a mix of their own visuals and images taken from official Evilious Chronicles artworks. Their videos have become a gateway for western fans of series, often providing fan-made English translations embedded in the video. The most popular video om their channel, an upload of song 'Daughter of Evil' currently sits at 9.4 Million views.)
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- Where fan content becomes official
Fanloid : Yowane Haku, Akita Neru. - Haku and Neru began as unofficial characters, Yowane Haku being made by illustrator Caffein as a parody, and Akita Neru being made as a spoof of Hatsune Miku in response to an incident in 2007 where Hatsune Miku’s Wikipedia page was removed and images became unsearchable on Yahoo! and Google, her design being finalised by illustrator Smith Hioka. Neither mascot characters has an official voice bank, instead creators will use a pitched up or pitched down variation of an actual voice bank.
These two ‘fanloids’ became so popular in the community that they were added to the video game Hatsune Miku: Project Diva for the PSP in 2009. The two remain part of the Project Diva franchise to this day. These creations have reached a point of popularity that some consider them ‘community owned,’ neglecting to mention, or even being unaware of, their origins being created by individual illustrators rather than a company.
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- Where fan content becomes official
Fanloid : Yowane Haku, Akita Neru. - Haku and Neru began as unofficial characters, Yowane Haku being made by illustrator Caffein as a parody, and Akita Neru being made as a spoof of Hatsune Miku in response to an incident in 2007 where Hatsune Miku’s Wikipedia page was removed and images became unsearchable on Yahoo! and Google, her design being finalised by illustrator Smith Hioka. Neither mascot characters has an official voice bank, instead creators will use a pitched up or pitched down variation of an actual voice bank.
These two ‘fanloids’ became so popular in the community that they were added to the video game Hatsune Miku: Project Diva for the PSP in 2009. The two remain part of the Project Diva franchise to this day. These creations have reached a point of popularity that some consider them ‘community owned,’ neglecting to mention, or even being unaware of, their origins being created by individual illustrators rather than a company.
Akita Neru illustration by Smith Hioka
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Akita Neru’s model from the video game Hatsune Miku: Project Diva (2009)
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Yowane Haku illustration by Caffein
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Yowane Haku’s model from the video game Hatsune Miku: Project Diva (2009)
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- Fan content over shadows original versions - A fan-animation for ‘Kagerou Days’ by Jin, created by Wannyanpuu has vastly overshadowed the cultural impact of the songs original music video, with many covers and re-uploads using this PV over the official illustrated work by Shidu, when looking for the song on YouTube.
Official music video for ‘Kagerou Days’ by Jin
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YouTube reupload of Wannyanpuu’s animation, originally uploaded to Japan’s Nicovideo
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Vocaloid music of across genres
Alt-Rock: Unhappy Refrain - Wowaka feat. Hatsune Miku | Electronic: Bring It On - Giga feat. Kagamine Rin / Len | Pop - Decorator - kz feat. Hatsune Miku | Jazz - Miracle Paint - OSTER Project feat. Hatsune Miku | Metal - The Living Ghost is Alive - Utsu-P | Folk: Aura - Ghost and Pals feat. Solaria | Orchestra - Miku Symphony | Narrative based - Evillious Chronicles - Mothy-Akuno - Kagerou Project - Jin
Alt-Rock: Unhappy Refrain - Wowaka feat. Hatsune Miku | Electronic: Bring It On - Giga feat. Kagamine Rin / Len | Pop - Decorator - kz feat. Hatsune Miku | Jazz - Miracle Paint - OSTER Project feat. Hatsune Miku | Metal - The Living Ghost is Alive - Utsu-P | Folk: Aura - Ghost and Pals feat. Solaria | Orchestra - Miku Symphony | Narrative based - Evillious Chronicles - Mothy-Akuno - Kagerou Project - Jin
Vocaloid voicebanks in different languages
Japanese - Hatsune Miku | English - Solaria | Chinese - Yuezheng Ling | Korean: SeeU | Spanish: Maika
Japanese - Hatsune Miku | English - Solaria | Chinese - Yuezheng Ling | Korean: SeeU | Spanish: Maika