[RPGWiZaRD]

In Japan the last few years there's been an upswing in computer generated music as Vocaloid, a singing synthesizer application developed by Yamaha corp, that takes a melody as well as allows turning written lyrics into computer pre-recorded vocals by singers / voice actors has gained quite a popularity. The software has been further developed and as of v2 it's struck a bit cultural impact.
 
Read more here if interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocaloid
 
Then as mostly promotional work, there has been made "virtual artists", looking like typical anime characters performing various songs by highly skilled composers to promote this software. The perhaps very most popular artist has become Hatsune Miku which is known as Japan's biggest "virtual artist/DJ" and she's/it's already been performing live in quite a few times as a "hologram" which I find a bit bizarre... I mean take a look at this vid  
 

 
Now while I find the worshipping of a virtual artist a bit weird, I really admire the composers' work though, if you like jpop, jrock, trance and ballads, then there's a high chance you find at least some of the songs pretty good I think. Here's some examples:
 

 

 

 
Of course there's other vocaloids as well, such as Megurine Luka, here's some VERY good song IMO
 

 
Comments on this vocaloid thing or the songs or whatever

 

[deadlylover]

Love em.
 
It's actually one of the reasons why I got into this hobby in the first place, I had a lot of trouble locking on to the vocals of various vocaloid songs because there's usually a lot going on.
 
At first I hated it because the vocals were very robotic, but I got used to it eventually and it's all just lovely now.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Well I just recently heard the songs, I've known about Hatsune Miku for a while though and thought it was something weird and typical japanese thing but I never checked out the songs until like 2 days ago and fell in love with quite a few songs. ^^ I really think the composer(s) are very talented. There are some more "kawai" kind of songs which is not that much to my liking but the more emotional and deep ballands and trance songs as well as some of the jpop/jrock songs are lovely. I notice these songs often include a lot of sound effects such as the 3rd/last one I gave example of for Hatsune Miku, use these sound effects that swirl around your head so I hear it's coming in front or behind and to the sides of me and sounds lovely and relaxing on my Dolby headphone foobar2000 setup.
 
I don't mind about the vocals sounding like they do, for me vocals have always been more like another instrument and doesn't have to sound realistic to me, it sounds well integrated with the songs which is the most important.

 

[deadlylover]

Yeah there are some insanely talented composers out there using Vocaloid since it's much easier than having to go find a singer. They also get full control of the vocals too, and sometimes they do silly things with the vocals =P.
 
I actually prefer amateur covers of various vocaloid songs over the originals, but that's only because I like the rawness of amateur singers.

 

[Satellite_6]

That first video is so weird! Still, Japan is just full of win.
 
I like the last song. I'll try listening to the songs on my main setup later. . . 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

If any1 knows similar nice songs like my examples please share, I got no idea what's out there but most random video I click on in the related vids list has been awesome anyway. xD

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

OK here's just something I wanted to experiment with, I recorded the song when running through my foobar2000 Dolby headphone config. I know the quality isn't perfect I know since I removed the hissing from the recording which gave some minor barely audible sideffects here and there.
 
Compare
 

 
to
 

 

[deadlylover]

Quote:

OK here's just something I wanted to experiment with, I recorded the song when running through my foobar2000 Dolby headphone config. I know the quality isn't perfect I know since I removed the hissing from the recording which gave some minor barely audible sideffects here and there.
 
snip

Bro!, where'd all the dynamics and details go? The song sounds so tinny and lifeless now =P. Lovely song btw ^^.
 

 

 

[kn19h7]

niconico says "hello" to you..
 
btw in case you're not aware of this thread..

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

btw in case you're not aware of this thread..

 
Ahh... doesn't this belong in music section. >.< Would never have thought about looking there.

 

[miceblue]

While I agree that the Miku "World is Mine" holographic concert is reaaally cool....I simply cannot stand Miku nor other vocaloids.
 
My brother listens to a lot of vocaloid tracks and it annoys the heck out of me....it sounds so...unnatural and weird to my ears. >.<  Just my two cents.

 

[EinZweiDrei]

vocaloid fan for almost 4 years here

 

[nikp]

That's bizarre! Oh well, it's from Japan. No surprises there. 
 
Overall, it sounds unnatural and there is hardly any emotions (just like a violin on a keyboard). The song in the concert is catchy though - I would listen to it if a real person sings it.

 

[cryinglullaby]

I absolutely adore Vocaloid.
I think the best part of Vocaloid is the music variety. Miku alone has over 36,000 originals. That is because she is insanely popular though, but imagine the number of songs with about 30 Vocaloids (I believe) and more to come. On top of that, people cover Vocaloid songs, so imagine all the Vocaloid songs including covers.
What's also good is that Vocaloid is completely fan run, its the fans who make the songs and create the videos (in which are very impressive) it can really bring out some hidden talent. Some people made it big with Vocaloid.
I do understand that people do not like concept or Vocaloid voices, which is completely fine, since there are many, many people who cover songs, and a lot of times its better than the original.
Vocaloid though is a difficult program to use, and while they may seem like they have no emotion, if they sound good than that's satisfying to the fans, and the more realistic people make the Vocaloid, the more praise and higher reputation they get.
If you like a song a lot and want more, than chances are you'll like the other works done by the same person. On the Youtube description there should be a link to the original song which is often uploaded on a website called Niconicodouga, a Japanese website. On the link of the website, often times in there description (though written in Japanese) should be a link that says mylist. Click on that, and you get a list of all the producer's uploads. Though you may have to sign up for an account, if you don't want to do that than just copy the title and search it on Youtube.
Though there are a few producers that have a Youtube account.
There's also a music label for Vocaloid, if you want to support the producers. It is called KarenT. Though not every Vocaloid, song and producer is available.
Can't afford a Vocaloid? You can have an UTAU, which is basically a free version of Vocaloid, in which you make your own voicebank or download someone elses. Warning, it is much harder than Vocaloid and often times can only sound, at its best, like a Vocaloid being used decently.

 

[MorbidToaster]

Vocaloid fan here. Check out the thread (as linked earlier). Plenty of good stuff out there. Love it.