Everyone gets a little obsessed with famous musicians now and then, but things get really weird when the famous musician is actually just a piece of software. Hatsune Miku is a rising star in Japan and abroad, singing catchy J-pop that matches her blue-green hair. She’s also a virtual avatar created by Crypton Media using Yamaha’s Vocaloid voice synthesizer. That hasn’t stopped her from amassing a legion of fans who really love her work. I mean really love it. Check out the crowd frantically waving glow-sticks and singing along with Hatsune Miku as she appears via a ’3D hologram’ on stage in the videos below. Thanks to Klas Klazon for pointing us to these awesome HD clips of her work. The performances are from the recently released Blu-Ray/DVD collection of Hatsune Miku’s latest sold out concert in Japan: 39 Giving Day. This girl, er…program?, can really rock.
If you want to know more about Crypton’s Hatsune Miku and similar Vocaloid based characters check out my earlier coverage. I’m not sure I’m a big fan of ‘her’ music, but Hatsune Miku certainly has star talent. In these HD clips you can really see how eager the fans are, and how well they know her music. The mid-range shots of the crowd with Miku in the background also show how great her ‘hologram’ appears live on stage. Close-ups do reveal a bit of pixelation, but if I was in the crowd I don’t think I would have noticed this. Actually, I don’t think I would have noticed anything after Miku started dressing like a cat-girl. (Watch the 3rd video…Seriously, WTF?) The high definition quality only goes to show that Hatsune Miku, and other virtual rockers on the rise, can hold their own against their real-world counterparts. Who knows, maybe these software singers will grow to dominate the world of music. After all, human pop stars already seem like they were created in a science lab, why not just take the next step?
[screen capture and video credits: 39 Thanksgiving Day's Giving Day Project DIVA presents Hatsune Miku via SeyrenLK]

















This is fked up
Goddamit Japan.
Max Headroom?
Reminds me of the book IDORU by the cyberpunk author William Gibson.
this is fantastic only in japan
Well, she’s good — but she’s no Sharon Apple.
Well, she’s good — but she’s no Sharon Apple.
Sharon Apple really cool would definitely pay a ticket for that V.i concert
I would have LOVED to see Sharon. She’s the only thing I could think of while watching this. XD
Strange to think that in just a few short decades, we are now realizing machines into reality.
Idoru? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idoru
There are many more videos available on SeyrenLKs channel.
Here are some that I really like myself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dopx17w2Rcg – From Y to Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PAoIuoce20 – Alice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY-A0Bt1fUg – Innocence
I’m a bit mad at them not doing the full song of Innocence though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50thNS5bWA8
Hey awesome. Looks like Sharon Apple from Macross Plus finally showed up to a gig.
Im happy this is a positive review. I mean Japan is known for being…er, ecentric, but still I absolutely love Miku and her fellow Vocaloids. Don’t knock it ’till you try it ;D
Sonn Madonna will get her 3D hologram doing the whole business for her
Can’t believe folks don’t already know Miku. I sang along on those too.
“Actually, I don’t think I would have noticed anything after Miku started dressing like a cat-girl. (Watch the 3rd video…Seriously, WTF?)”
Uh huh, Aaron. Don’t look now, but your human-ness is showing. You might want to pull your tongue back in. You might start to drool like the rest of us fans of Miku.
I honestly don’t see much difference between this and 3D projection concerts of Gorillaz (and i’d actually consider Madonna prancing around Murdoc at the Grammy Awards a lot stranger than some of this http://vimeo.com/7047817). Both involve a band comprised of fictional characters. The only main difference that I can see is that the vocals for Gorillaz are from live performers whereas vocaloid is a synthesized collection of samples from a real singer. I suppose because it’s an anime character and not a stylized cartoon character and because it’s japanese in general it’s much weirder *shrug*
Gorillaz are an actual band that just stands behind an avatar I guess you could say.
This is, as the article states, a 3d hologram and a voice synthesizer. I could understand if it was a real person singing the lyrics, but its just words typed into a program. Nothing is real.
Ummmmmmmm well who do you think made her and the other vocaloids if nothing is real. Real people help put effort to make this, REAL people put their hearts and soul to the song, and they used REAL people’s voices. So the only thing that’s not real is the avatars but if you really did some research about it and put some thought into it they are as real as they can be. So don’t show some ignorance if you know nothing about it!
There’s technically a huge gap between Gorillaz projections and this one. Gorillaz projection is a simple anime, while Sega/Crypton use actual 3D models with texture & lightning. They are of course displayed on a 2D screen, but the illusion of depth and “live” is far greater with Miku’s concert than the one of Gorillaz.Because of the poor quality of the TV for the Grammy Awards, you think that it was the real Madonna going around Gorillaz characters but not: Her picture was filmed and integrated in the anime: that’s a very old trick and tech: Disney did that for Marry Poppins 45 years ago !Also on a side note: watch again this Grammy Awards fully and hear the difference between the studio recorded Madonna during the scene with Gorillaz and the live Madonna after that. Now wonder why the public likes Miku Hatsune: studio magic provides obviously a better experience than the “live” stuff …
yo, SeyrenLK here (the uploader) was wondering where all the views came from in just 1 day and i look on demoraphics owww som1 embed it here (i hope facebook have that feature too i don’t even know how much views i got in fbook), i bought the blu-ray for $81 (US dollars) as pre-order now it worth $119, 119!! that my whole day income after tax D=, but even though the blu-ray still hit the 3rd best selling product in amazon, that proves her pure awesomeness, thank you Aaron Saenz for posting it here and helping me show her awesomeness to the world,
for those haters feel free to rage on me, send me as much message as u want, it’s so easy to click select all box then delete like deleting your spam folder in yahoo mail, it’s not like i have to read it…and it’s not like you can do anything about it either @_@
We talked about this a few weeks back and how it will affect the music entertainment industry: http://hive45.com/shows/episode-36-music-entertainment-futures … let us know your thoughts
INSANE!!!!!!!!
Estoy con la boca abierta…
I WANT A HOLOGRAPHIC ANIME CONCERT IN MY BEDROOM!!!
Cool, amazing, awesome!!!
How can people be more trouble by Vocaloid, when they don’t even raise an eyebrow at the success of autotuned pop-star like Sean Kingston.
Is a performance less virtual, if the “performer” is a real person, despite the fact that what we hear is not how it is sung before a piece of software makes it sound musical?
Holy F C U K and Backwards….
What to think…..am i weird if i kinda like it.
Does anyone know how much tickets for the concert are?
@pereubu77 $42 US dollars if converted
tis as expected from jap ‘pop’ culture.
no need to fear.
2 words. Sharon Apple. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrRZ1SITiUE
God Damnit Japan.
We want Mech Suits.
Not this.
Mech Suits.
LOL…
this is very old but god i wish i was there
Hatsune miku on the stage is not a 3D hologram, but also projected on a translucent screen.
What would be that, but it has been delivered to a large number of erroneous information around the world.
and I also recommend this article:
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm10427900
I would love to take a look at the source code and talk to the musicians playing along with her… Does her program sync (Lip syncing?) to them or do they match her voice? For that matter, why am I calling it her, it’s just a piece of software (really interesting implementation, though.)
That is very beautiful.
Looks like a live version of Amber G. (http://www.iamamber.com).
shes soooo awesum
This is no hologram! just a transparent screen. there are different ways to do this.
Ok, is a nice screen , but not holographic
This is not a 3D hologram. This is a normal video, projected and carefully filmed. Look at the picture in this post: http://www.anty.at/archives/3d-model-software-rockstar/
OMG!!!!!!! I want to see this!!!!! I <3 Vocaloid!!!!!
There was a disney channel movie about this exact thing…
lolwut.
get a life, really…
I Love Miku! And I Always Wanted To Know If They Used Robots Or Something For Concerts. Thanks(: Now I Know! I Wish I Could Go To A Concert D:
i think, gorillaz did something similair
This is the same tech. the Gorillaz use. Like at the ’06 grammys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4baCx8TovY
Ahhh really want to come to japan to only see this concert >.<!!!!!