{"id":5531,"date":"2009-04-21T12:23:32","date_gmt":"2009-04-21T18:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tancos.net\/wp2\/?p=1938"},"modified":"2009-04-21T12:23:32","modified_gmt":"2009-04-21T18:23:32","slug":"first-sound-of-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/first-sound-of-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"First sound of the future"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s a curiosity I recently came across: “Uta ni Katachi ha Nai Keredo,” by Doriko, featuring Hatsune Miku on vocals:<\/p>\n

[audio:http:\/\/tancos.net\/audio\/Uta ni Katachi.mp3]<\/center><\/p>\n

Yes, it’s just another instantly-forgettable ballad featuring one of the many nasal sopranos that infest Japanese popular music, but there is something remarkable about this recording.<\/p>\n

(Via Martin<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

There is no such person as “Hatsune Miku.” Miku<\/a> is a computer program<\/a> that emulates a singing voice. Most examples I’ve heard of Miku singing sound unexpressive and artificial, but with a good programmer it is sometimes possible to believe that you’re listening to a real singer. As Martin says<\/a>, “Considering how most pop artists these days seem to fall back on pitch correctors and all manner of electro-magic in the studio to the point where even their voices are effectively digital, maybe I shouldn\u2019t find this too surprising.” We’re approaching the point where you can’t tell if a singer is real or rendered.<\/p>\n

There’s another aspect to the recording that I also find remarkable, though it’s become commonplace these days. As best as I can tell, this is the complete membership of the band Doriko<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One guy with a couple of keyboards and a computer. It is nearly impossible nowadays to be sure whether a particular instrument in a recording is real or synthesized. For all I know, there may not be a single real drum kit among all the Touhou musicians<\/a> in Japan.<\/p>\n

Let’s see. It is now possible to synthesize all the musical lines of a pop music recording, including the vocals, well enough that they sound “real.” There is software to create and harmonize music<\/a> in almost any style<\/a> you can name, and other software to generate verse<\/a> of varying degrees of intelligibility. How much longer before a completely computer-generated song becomes a major hit?<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Hatsune Miku is astonishingly popular in Japan, in part because the company that released the software designed a distinctive character to represent Miku. Her twin green ponytails are as familiar as her voice. Here’s a news report on her popularity (click on the icon in the lower right corner of the player to enable subtitles):<\/p>\n

<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/object><\/center><\/p>\n

For those of you who have computers up to the task, there is “MikuMiku Dance<\/a>,” freeware you can use to animate Miku. Here are a couple of examples featuring Hatsune Miku as a dancer rather than a singer: “Balalaika<\/a>;” “Bolero<\/a>.” ((Based on the final minutes of this<\/a>.)) And there’s also this<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s a curiosity I recently came across: “Uta ni Katachi ha Nai Keredo,” by Doriko, featuring Hatsune Miku on vocals: [audio:http:\/\/tancos.net\/audio\/Uta ni Katachi.mp3] Yes, it’s just another instantly-forgettable ballad featuring one of the many nasal sopranos that infest Japanese popular music, but there is something remarkable about this recording. (Via Martin.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,29],"tags":[177,264],"class_list":["post-5531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","category-sf-and-beyond","tag-doriko","tag-hatsune-miku"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4xam3-1rd","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5531\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}