IA Receiving Her First “Live Performance” in Japan at Kamarock Festival 2012

 Posted by at 1:29 am  Concerts, Other Vocaloids  1 Response »
Oct 312012
 


Looks like IA is moving her way up pretty quick.

What are the signs that you have a successful Vocaloid product? Topping the top 30 charts on Nicovideo nearly every week since her release, being used at least once by many high ranking and well known producers, and a large adoring fanbase are just some examples of the feats that IA has accomplished. And she’s not even a year old yet. Now it seems like she’s already got her first “live performance” set for November 3rd at the Kamarock Festival, located at the Kamata Campus in Tokyo.

I say “live performance” in quotes, since it seems to be more of a public test of the students work. However, it is still a public entertainment display. The event was arranged with permission, and has been worked on by the campus students. They’ve created their own CG model and choreography, as well as prepared a special band to help “liven up the stage”, although I’m unsure if they will be playing with IA. The Vocaloid producer Jin has been announced as a special guest for this event.

That pretty much covers everything. But if you wish to see more about this event yourself, you can visit the event page here. A tumblr post with more info is also available here. Both pages are Japanese only, sorry!

The Vocaloid Trans-Pacific Project: Vocaloid Finally Getting a Hard Push Into the Global Market?

 Posted by at 12:53 am  Other  4 Responses »
Oct 312012
 

At a recent panel at DC Expo (Digital Content Expo) in Tokyo Japan, several very important announcements regarding the future of Vocaloid were finally unveiled.

Heading the panel were four guests: Noboru Murakami from INTERNET CO. LTD, Osamu Ohshima from Yamaha, Takuma Miyazaki from Bplats and Masaru Ishikawa from the University of Tokyo.

The panel explains the plans of VOCALOID Yamaha, as well as many key partners and businesses, to give VOCALOID the first major push into the global market as well as help spread the Vocaloid culture to help finally define Vocaloid as a “standard” genre.

The plans explain the process which will take place over the next few months. This includes the creation of an official website, the promotion and sales of English Vocaloid software (headed by the release of GUMI’s English software in February) in the United States in real stores, as well as several marketing events at conventions.

There’s quite a list of participating companies, both Vocaloid and non-Vocaloid related. This includes, but is not limited to: Bplats, Inc., Yamaha Corporation, UGC Publishing, Inc., INTERNET Co., Ltd., AHS Co. Ltd., 1st PLACE Co.,Ltd., STUDIO DEEN CO.,Ltd. and DWANGO Co.,Ltd.

Oddly, Crypton Future Media is not listed or mentioned as a partner. I’m not sure if they were accidentally left out, or if Crypton is simply not participating in these events.

To read a fully detailed report of this project, please head over to the article on Vocaloidism for the full story. I’m curious to see if these efforts will finally succeed in making Vocaloid a standard genre in the global music industry.

MikuFan Sends Condolences and Wishes to Victims of Hurricane Sandy

 Posted by at 7:09 pm  J-Pop, Other  3 Responses »
Oct 302012
 

The storm still isn’t finished, and it’s already caused a lot of problems and destruction for millions of people on the East coast of the United States. The hurricane was so severe, it was disrupting internet communications between certain areas of the U.S. and Europe (I was unable to access the blog for a large part of the day yesterday).

Mishaps with mother nature aren’t fun, as we’ve seen in the past with the quake and tsunami in Japan, as well as Katrina. I know many of you who live in the majorly hit areas probably can’t read this right now, but I wish for the safety and well being for everyone involved.

This PV was originally created as a tribute to the tsunami disaster last year, but I feel it is appropriate due to the somewhat similar circumstances. Hopefully the music will help ease the pain.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btze-HRNxGs]

MikuFan Announces Two New Site Partners

 Posted by at 1:08 am  Other  3 Responses »
Oct 302012
 

To help further expand MikuFan’s reationship with the community, I’m happy to announce two new partner sites: VocaDB and their sister site, Virtual Emotions.

VocaDB is a massive and highly useful database to assist you in finding detailed information on specific songs, albums, or even individual producers and record labels. For me, this website has proven to be an invaluable resource time and time again. The best part is that the database grows with the help of fans. Your knowledge and contributions are greatly appreciated!

The second site, Virtual Emotions, explains themselves rather well on their “About” page: Welcome to Virtual Emotions – the fruits of labor between three very different Vocaloid enthusiasts. This website is meant to be any true Vocaloid fan’s homepage – with news, reviews, announcements, art, and translations. This website is the sister-site to VocaDB, and a supporter of the Vocaloid Movement.

For those of you who just cant get enough Vocaloid related news and information, I hope that these sites and resources will prove quite useful to you. You can find them linked in the partner list to the right.

Image via pixiv. Full version available here.

Impressive Weekender Girl Cover Featuring IA & Yuzuki Yukari

 Posted by at 3:39 pm  J-Pop, Other Vocaloids  3 Responses »
Oct 262012
 

Sure, we’ve likely all seen our fair share of Weekender Girl covers, but this recent one by GrandMasterFlames159 and pKotetsu stands a bit above the rest for its quality.

This cover features IA for the main vocals, and Yuzuki Yukari for the chorus. pKotetsu was the operator of Yukari, and GrandMasterFlames159 handled the VSQ and mixing. The VSQ is available for free download in the description as long as proper credit is given. Enjoy!

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyN70hOInVQ]
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