People rarely geek out over the 10-year anniversary of a specific instrument, but Hatsune Miku isn¡¯t your usual music store purchase.
The aqua-haired singer serves as the most famous avatar for Crypton Future Media¡¯s line of Vocaloid singing-synthesizer software, a program developed by Yamaha that generates human-like vocals via computer. She debuted on Aug. 31, 2007, transforming a piece of software that had sold few units since landing on shelves in 2003 to a phenomenon that can¡¯t be kept in stock. In the decade since, she has been one of Japan¡¯s most important musical influences, and one still shaping sounds on both sides of the Pacific.
However, Miku has generally gotten attention overseas as one of this century¡¯s cornerstones of the ¡°weird Japan¡± narrative. News reports about concerts starring her ¡ª in hologram form ¡ª aired on U.S. news shows (thanks Mom, for forwarding those to me) and even her 2014 appearance on ¡°The Tonight Show¡± found host David Letterman cracking about it ¡°like being on Willie Nelson¡¯s bus.¡±
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