ABSTRACT
My chapter examines the Japanese concert industry, with a focus on the live concerts by Hatsune Miku. who is, without a doubt, the most successful vocaloid virtual idol in Japan, and perhaps also globally. Vocaloid (ボーカロイド Bōkaroido) is a “singer in a box” voice synthesizer software, developed by researchers in 2000, and commercialized by Yamaha. Hatsune Miku is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media, a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise twintails. “She” uses Yamaha Corporation's Vocaloid 2, Vocaloid 3, and Vocaloid 4 singing synthesizing technologies, and Crypton Future Media's Piapro Studio, a singing synthesizer VSTi Plugin. Miku has played “live” globally since 2008 in concerts that typically feature a projected and animated idol via a rear cast projection on a specially coated glass screen. On the stage with the projection is a live band and sometimes also backup dancers. In my chapter, I analyze Hatsune Miku's concert production details: the technological solutions and the amount of complexity in interaction and synchronization. Production problems can be eliminated by using pre-recorded music and speech, but that would weaken the actual “live” experience.
