Who Is Hatsune Miku

“Hatsune Miku”, “Kagamine Rin”, “Kagamine Len”, “Megurine Luka”, “KAITO” and “MEIKO” are developed characters for singing voice synthesizer products of Crypton Future Media, INC.

For this software, voice characteristics have been recorded for each character, and it is possible to easily create vocal parts　by just entering melody and lyrics on the computer screen.

After the release of the software, fans and users have started to create a massive amount of music and videos presented on video sharing websites. The publishing of these artworks stimulated the creative impulse of users to remix, and moreover, further collaborate with each other on new projects. Crypton immediately created the platform “PIAPRO” to support “Peer Production” among users and to further nurture the ongoing creative movement.

Every character has a unique expression according to each single user. Crypton Future Media’s CEO Hiroyuki Itoh says: “There are many different values and ways of thinking, so if there are 1,000,000 users then there should be 1,000,000 different ways of thinking.”

However, these characters are not only featured in the artwork of many creators. They come to life in 3D projection concerts and their popularity is continuously spreading around the world!

The trademarks of Hatsune Miku’s character illustration are her blue-greenish pigtail hair style and her futuristic outfit resembling a school uniform of the same color mixed with black.

Hatsune Miku is futuristic voice synthesizer software that is designed to allow users to easily create vocal parts from scratch by just entering a melody and lyrics. The music software was developed by Crypton Future Media, and first released on August, 31st, 2007. After the release, Hatsune Miku quickly evolved into a phenomenon of a highly participatory cyber culture with creating and sharing Miku-related content around the globe. At present, with more than 1,000,000 derivative artworks and 100,000 user-released songs, Hatsune Miku is not only the icon of this ever expanding creative community, but she is also successful in performing sold-out 3D concerts worldwide and appearing in TV commercials such as Toyota USA and Google.

Hatsune Miku was first released on August, 31st 2007 as “VOCALOID2 Hatsune Miku”. In 2010, 6 additional libraries, such as “Sweet” and “Dark”, were released with “VOCALOID2 MIKU APPEND”. In summer 2013, the brand-new and updated version “HATSUNE MIKU V3 BUNDLE” featuring 5 voice banks and for the first time also an English voice bank was released. Additionally, a special version for abroad was released “HATSUNE MIKU V3 ENGLISH”, that excludes the Japanese voice banks.

Age: 16
Height: 158cm　Weight: 42kg

Color: Blue-Green

• HATSUNE MIKU V3

• HATSUNE MIKU V3 BUNDLE

• HATSUNE MIKU V3 ENGLISH

  More details »

• MIKU APPEND

• VOCALOID2 HATSUNE MIKU

Rin is the charming and youthful female character illustration and fresh female voice of voice synthesizer software. Her trademarks are her blond hair with a huge white ribbon, blue eyes and a school uniform-like outfit. Rin was released in one package with Len, her male counterpart, in the software “VOCALOID2 Kagamine Rin & Len” on December, 27th 2007.

The development of the duo of KAGAMINE RIN and KAGAMINE LEN is based on the concept of creating a twin pair of female and male voice banks recorded from the same Japanese female voice actress. Their names were developed according to this idea, with “Rin” for “right” and “Len” for “left” audio channel, whereas the surname KAGAMINE means “mirrored sound”.

The software “VOCALOID2 Kagamine Rin & Len” was first released on December, 27th 2007. One year later “VOCALOID2 Kagamine Rin & Len act2” was released, and in 2010, the additional voice banks “Power”, “Warm” and “Sweet” were released with the product “Kagamine Rin/Len Append”.

The software’s gender factor function works on Kagamine Rin/Len very well. Adding masculine elements makes the voice deeper like that of a soul singer’s, and a strong feminine element changes the voice into a robotic and child-like voice with an electric texture.

Age: 14
Height: 152cm　Weight: 43kg

Color:Orange

• RIN/REN APPEND

• VOCALOID2 KAGAMINE RIN/REN act2

Len is a male character and his looks feature short blond hair, blue eyes and a school uniform. Len was originally created together with Rin as character illustration for the voice synthesizer product “VOCALOID2 Kagamine Rin & Len”, first released on December 27th, 2007. Len has a youthful male voice.

The software “VOCALOID2 Kagamine Rin & Len” was first released on December, 27th 2007. One year later “VOCALOID2 Kagamine Rin & Len act2” was released, and in 2010, the additional Len voice banks “Power”, “Cold” and “Serious” were released with the product “Kagamine Rin/Len Append”.

Age: 14
Height: 156cm　Weight: 47kg

Color:Yellow

• RIN/REN APPEND

• VOCALOID2 KAGAMINE RIN/REN act2

MEGURINE LUKA is a popular character for her mysterious looks and cool expression. Her trademarks are pink long hair and an attractively designed slit china dress. The character illustration is feature on the voice synthesizer software “VOCALOID2 Megurine Luka” that was first released on January, 30th 2009.

Equipped with a bilingual (Japanese and English) voice bank, Luka is the third release of Crypton’s Character Vocal Series. Her character as well as voice is based on the concept of resembling a “cool, moody and breathy female voice” that can easily be utilized for the production of house, deep electronic music and jazzy sounds. LUKA is popular for her cool breathy voice and the somewhat mysterious image. The original voice is sampled from a Japanese voice actress who was recorded in Japanese and English. The version “VOCALOID2 Megurine Luka” software was first released on January, 30th 2009, and is currently under revision for an update to the VOCALOID3 engine.

Age: 20
Height: 162cm　Weight: 45kg

Color: Pink

• VOCALOID2 MEGURINE RUKA

MEIKO is the first vocal synthesizer developed by Crypton Future Media, and released in November, 5th 2004. Her character illustration was the first of a kind to be used for a music software product, which led Crypton to start a character series of various voices. The trademarks of MEIKO’s character illustration are her short brown hair bob, her red mini-skirt and boots. A new version for the V3 engine including also an English database of MEIKO is now in the making and to be released in the first quarter 2014.

The software MEIKO features voice samples of a real singer and songwriter. The program offers a pure and consistent voice with a gentle and warm tone in the low-tone range and a stable and expressive tone in the mid-range. Suitable for various genres of music such as pop, rock, jazz and many more, MEIKO is a well-received female voice.

Color: red

• MEIKO

KAITO is a male character, his trademarks are his blue hair and a long blue stole. KAITO originally is also a voice synthesizer, popular for his smooth and grown-up voice, and his various singing styles such as solid voice but also soft and whispery voice can be combined into musical pieces.

KAITO was first released on February 17th 2006, utilizing the sampled voice of a Japanese voice actor. KAITO has been redeveloped for the VOCALOID3 engine, equipped with four different singing voices including Japanese voice banks “Straight”, “Whisper”, “Soft” and an English voice bank, and released as “KAITO V3” in February 2013.

Color: Blue

• KAITO V3

• KAITO