Culture Shock: Vocaliod Concerts

Well that word sounds weird. Maybe you're thinking, "What the heck is a vocaliod?" Well, its a voice synthesizer associated with an avatar that makes the "avatar" sing. Someone records their voice, and then that voice is associated with a certain avatar. Then people buy a particular synthesizer and create their own songs with it.

The most popular Vocaliods are all by the same company, Crypton Future Media. They consist of 6 different avatars and 5 different synthesizers.

• Kaito
• Hatsune Miku
• Kagamine Len and Rin (They're twins...ish. They have the same voicebank and synthesizer, but their relationship seems to be whatever the fan wants it to be.)
• Meiko
• Megurine Luka

From left: Meiko, Luka, Miku, Rin, Len, Kaito

Anyway, they're avatars right? Well, someone came up with the idea to make a projection of the avatar that gives a 3-D effect, put it on stage to music, and have a concert. These concerts are in Japan, but there was recently an Hatsune Miku Tour this year where Miku was featured in ten different cities across North America. Most of those cities were in the USA, but there were two in Mexico as well. 

Now, these crowds can get really hyped up just like at a normal concert. The thing is, it can look kind of crazy seeing people cheer for a projetion. But you know, to each their own. I guess its kind of like when a fangirl (or boy) sees a really good cosplay of their favorite character? I think it feels more like  they're meeting them in real life. And who wouldn't want to do that?  There have been countless times when I've wanted to meet my favorite characters.

I was into vocaliods my freshman year in high school, so I think if I had the money I would want to go to one, just to get a better look at that tech. That's what really interests me. Apparently its a bunch of projections onto a semi-transparent polymer surface that makes it look 3-D. You have to admit that's cool. Ok, maybe I'm just kind of geeking out over it. But hey, I'm a nerd, its what I do.