As far as artists that inspire my own creativity go, there's one in particular that keeps coming back to me. Her works in the field of music cover any genre imaginable; her popularity is international. You don't have to be an audio major to appreciate the success story of this 16-year-old Japanese singer, Miku Hatsune.
This first clip is a music video made for one of her songs, the aptly titled "Melody.exe". Obviously, the video is made using 3D computer animation and effects, setting the song to the character singing on-screen. What you may not have guessed, however, is that the singer herself is also a computer program--a totally synthesized voice, known as a VOCALOID. Miku Hatsune is the perfect idol: her voice covers a range that no one else can match; she'll sing anything written for her without question; her stage personality is always incredibly human and believable, adapting to any situation.
She just lacks two things that most other singers happen to have: a physical body, and a creative drive of her own.
Listening to one of her songs (or watching a music video made for her), one might think, "Wow, this is really catchy--this girl's got talent!" without realizing the irony in the fact that Miku doesn't actually exist in the way that they've imagined her. Textually, Miku's a talented, young singer--standing at 5'3" tall, 92.4 pounds, with long, teal pig-tails, and a beautiful voice--but the underlying subtext is that she's only a character. Her talent is, in reality, the combined talent of the programmers and designers at Crypton Future Media who created her and synthesized her voice, the programmers at Yamaha who designed the Vocaloid 2 which runs her, and the aspiring song-writers who use Vocaloid to express their own idea.
Miku Hatsune is perhaps best described as a musical instrument rather than a singer or a diva, but a diva is what she's become. Her popularity stands as testament to the growing influence of technology in the world; even if there's no one actually doing the singing, beautifully composed music can still be enjoyed. People with ideas and musical talent, but lacking vocal talent and the ability to hire a professional, can still finalize their work to share with the world.
For me, being primarily interested in 3D models and animation (as well as character design), it's a highly motivational factor to know that an artificially created character can achieve success even on real-world music charts. Without the artists and design teams who've worked on her, Miku would be nothing more than a voice without a face to attribute the music to. Without programs such as Miku Miku Dance, made for creating animated videos--such as the one seen above--for VOCALOIDs, the music would be nearly as well loved. Despite confinement to a digital realm, Miku's been humanized. While the objective truth is that she's a computer program, the degree to which she exists as a human being is up for subjective discussion.
Is Miku nothing further than a collection of data, or does she exist as something more? Some may say that her discography is simply a collaborative work of many, often unnamed, individuals, but where would the fandom be without the charming personality spearheading it? Before you answer these questions, I implore you to watch one last clip.
Like most other artists, Miku Hatsune holds concerts of her own: hologram concerts. It's these events that I find most inspirational. It really says a lot to me as an aspiring animator to see people flock to a performance in droves, knowing that the lead singer herself is a product of modern technology. Seeing Miku and the band on-stage creates a sort of Contrast/Affinity-relationship. Obviously, she's a little different from the other two band members who appear--providing the drums and guitar in the songs--and, as such, contrasts with them greatly. The thing is, when shown in full, life-size, 3D hologram form like this, Miku develops a very strong human attribute. In spite of the difference between the singer and her band-mates and audience, she still comes off as human, same as them.
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