Hey everybody; I just discovered a youtube sensation! And no, it's not a parody of Dragonball Z or anything like that. Instead, it's a person, a singer. She's cute. She can hit the high notes. Everybody loves her. She hasn't done anything scandalous, and best of all, she doesn't have fake breasts! (as far as I know.) Who is she?
Why, she's none other than Hatsune Miku!
Okay, Hatsune-chan is only as good as whoever is programming her, but I discovered the Vocaloid2 program earlier today on youtube. It is utterly amazing. It's a music and voice synthesizer program. What's amazing though is the voice almost sounds like a real human voice. I was thrown back.
Of course, Hatsune-chan is optimized for Japanese vocals. You can 'trick' her into singing in a different language, but her accent will be so exaggerated, it's hilarious. For example, did you think the Evangelion covers of Fly Me To the Moon had thick Japanese accentuation? I beg to differ.
There are other Vocaloid2 programs. One is optimized for English, another simulates two voices for duets, and so on. Vocaloid2 is an update of an older program called Vocaloid. I listened to a piece by a Vocaloid(1?) singer optimized for English, Miriam if you're curious; she didn't sound much better than the voice synthesizer built in my PC. (Rock on, Microsoft Sam!) Hatsune was much better sounding. At the rate they're advancing, I think these 'Vocaloids' are going to replace real singers.
"OH NOES!!! TEH MASHEENS ARE TAKIN OVER TEH WORLDS!!!!! ITS TEH MATRIX AND TERMINATER FILMS ALL OVER AGAINS!!!!!!!"
Nah. I think I'm exaggerating the threat of digital programs right now. I'm not gonna panic about robots or programs or holograms or whatever other piece of technology overtaking us organisms. We control the machines! It's not the other way around! Unless if Bender has something to say about it.
"Hey, you wanna kill all the humans?"
Okay, now I'm just sounding silly again. I think I'll leave you with another one of Hatsune-chan's 'hits.'
It's Super Mario Bros., with Japanese vocals! Don't ask me what the lyrics mean, though. Your guess is as good as mine.
