Hatsune Miku

[mobius017]

Hi everyone!

The new Mikuration picks are up! I don't have an overarching theme this month, but I've been enjoying some vocarock and Deco*27 lately, so my music choices reflect those. The vocarock song is "Fake Lover" by ジミーサムP × 喋々P, and the Deco*27 song is "Love Distance Long Affair." For me, both of these songs have aspects of their vocal melodies that stick in my head; there's just something really pleasing about both of them.

For our artwork, I picked, "I'm Back" by いも坊や (Though their name is a little different between Piapro and Pixiv, I had to embed from Pixiv, so I'll use that name here.). It's a cute image that seems to be of Miku's producer coming home to find that she's been working on their song while he/she's been away. There are lots of neat little details to look at--the guitar, all the little sticky notes, the detailed depictions of both keyboards, the Miku photos/posters, the detailed illustration of Piapro Studio. I particularly enjoy how they both have their own tea/coffee, too.

 

[ThatGirlMyra]

I honestly forgot it was March already lol. So thank you for reminding me.

 

[hamano]

Miku would like to wish everyone a happy Miku Day!
(And of course a celebration like this calls for wearing a kimono). Too bad the things I bought for her, hoping they'd all arrive by Miku Day, are stuck somewhere in the finnish post's inbound mail centre. I hope she understands.

 

[mobius017]

Very pretty! The kimono really suits her!

 

[hamano]

Hello,
I have made my Mikuration choices for April. @mobius017 will probably add them tp the OP soon, but let me introduce them to you already.

For my Mikuration picks this month I wanted to have a theme that fits the spring season, so cherry blossoms was a rather obvious choice.

First, "Ohka" by MaakunP (aka Luno), a catchy pop-rock song with some traditional Japanese elements thrown in. The result is a song I personally like a lot and I feel it would deserve to be more well-known.

"Ohka" by MaakunP (Luno)

• hamano
• Apr 1, 2021
• mikuration-hamano

MV『～ 桜 花 ～』/feat.初音ミク [音楽・サウンド] 散りゆく運命だからこそ、輝く今を大切にしたい・Music:まーくんp　mylist/54327491・illustration:...

Second, a classic all the way from 2007. Sakura no youna koi deshita by samfree. In contrast to the Ohka, this song is a beautiful ballad full of emotion. I intentionally chose two songs that'd have a very different image despite representing the same general theme of Sakura.

"Sakura no youna koi deshita" by samfree

• hamano
• Apr 1, 2021
• mikuration-hamano

初音ミク「桜のような恋でした」【オリジナル曲】 [音楽・サウンド] 和の薫りのする切ない曲です。■リン版→sm3057846■アコギアレンジして頂きました、素晴らしいです→sm...

For the illustration, nothing fits the sakura theme better than Sakura Miku. Miku looks very cute in this picture, and the cherry trees in full bloom around her create a vivid image of the beauty of the cherry blossom season. The artist is daidou and this was actually one sib visual of the 2019 Hirosaki Sakura Matsuri.

桜ミクさん！by daidou

• hamano
• Apr 1, 2021
• mikuration-hamano

桜ミクさんが弘前さくらまつりの公式応援キャラに就任しました。 http://blog.piapro.net/2019/03/d19030701.html...

 

[mobius017]

Great picks as usual, @hamano! I really enjoyed "Sakura no youna koi deshita" and "Ohka." "Ohka" has such a relaxed feeling to it--very nice.

That artwork is gorgeously detailed, as well. Parts of it almost look like a photograph!

 

[mobius017]

Hi everyone! My Mikuration picks for May are up!

I chose a few classic songs this month. Both, by coincidence, are about lost love, but have very different feels.

First up is "Line" by supercell. This song has a slow, plaintive, melancholy feeling, but it also really has a way of getting inside you and making you empathize with it. Early on in my vocal synth fandom, it impressed upon me how Miku could express those darker emotions, in addition to the happier or more boisterous ones commonly found in pop or rock music.

Next is "Dear" by 19's Sound Factory. Despite, I think, having sadder lyrics (It seems to me like a wife singing to her departed spouse.), this song's feel is much more upbeat. It's hard not to get into its quick tempo and guitar melody. And its chorus ("Aitakute! Aitakute!") always gets stuck in my head.

For artwork this month, I chose "♪" by 葉桜ちこり. Most of the colors are a little subdued, but I like Miku's dynamic pose and the strong darker lines, as well as the brighter rainbow accent bits.

 

[mobius017]

Hey everyone, @hamano's Miration picks for June are up! I haven't had a lot of exposure to Satsuki ga Tenkomori's music in the past, but I am familiar with Next Nest as Mirai 2014's (really cool) theme song. Between that and Party Junkie, I think I ought to go check out their other tracks. (Now that I think of it, Satsuki ga Tenkomori also did "Online Game Addicts Sprechchor," which I think is awesome, too...!) 初音ミク by ゐ透 is some really pretty art, too--it looks like it would fit in really well on a Project Diva game! Nice picks, hamano!

 

[mobius017]

Happy July, everyone! My Mikuration picks are up!

"Bitter to Better" by Signal From Afar
This song was a perfect one for the Miku Expo 2021 Online preshow. Most of the songs from the preshow were a little more mellow or cute, which sort of got the audience ready for the higher-energy items showcased during the concert, as well as showcased some of the breadth of music that can be created when you work with a vocal synth. This song is of the mellow type, with a slow pace and a vibe that is both melancholy and hopeful at once. It's also one of the songs from the preshow that has sort of stuck with me and occurred to me at various times. Well worth a listen, particularly if you're in the right mood.

"Pan con Chocolate" by AlexTrip Sands
There's an awful lot I like about this song. It's a Latin song (I'm not great at genre, but judging by the cover art, I'm guessing salsa.), which I don't think is very common in the vocal synth scene. And it seems to recreate that genre faithfully--I'm by no means a purist/stickler for "real"/"realistic" instruments, but real/traditional instruments can be really enjoyable after hearing a lot of electronic music, and this song uses what I assume are correct instruments for the genre or synth recreations thereof. There are probably around 6 or more traditional-sounding instruments involved, each doing their own small thing or breaking out into greater variation and prominence, and they're layered over each other in such a way as to create a lush, dense, variety-filled instrumental environment. The song is really catchy, too--the rhythms and pitches of the music and lyrics really get in your head and stick with you.

Coming to the lyrics, the vocal work is stellar. As everyone here likely knows, Miku doesn't officially speak Spanish, but she sings it quite well here (Being a non-native, even I can understand her, possibly a little better than I would be able to understand a human Spanish singer.). I also adore the little exclamations she has--the initial words of the song that sound like she's getting the band started, the various cries of "ay ay ay!" or the trilling sound she makes with her tongue at one point. In addition to being cute, stuff like that seems to me like sort of a niche way to use a vocal synth that probably has unique challenges compared to straight singing--sort of like making a non-talkloid synth speak. Finally, there's one of the last words Miku says--"Sayonara!" Even though it is a song in Spanish, there's still a nod given to her Japanese roots, which I find appropriate and enjoyable. In my opinion, it's so much more round and fulfilling to think of her as a Japanese girl with the breadth to speak any language/appreciate any culture she chooses, rather than to transport her wholesale from one to the other and try to dictate that she be only one thing.

"ミクちゃんのうたた寝" by ゐ透
I don't have a lot of in-depth commentary about the picture I chose (which might be a good thing at this point). I just think it's sweet and relaxing, with warm, calming colors and subject matter. There are also lots of little details to enjoy.

 

[mobius017]

Hello everyone! @hamano's picks for August Mikuration are up!

"Yuurei Tokyo" by Ayase was one of my favorite songs from Miku Expo 2021 Online. I guess its genre is somewhere between pop and rock, so it has some energy to it, but it also has sort of a swingy beat to it and a dusky ambiance. It's fun to listen to. For that matter, I'd recommend any of Ayase's tracks that I've heard--they all have a good bit of energy to them, but while songs by some other artists have so much energy that they end up sounding noisy and making you feel tired after awhile, the sound in Ayase's tracks remains smooth and cohesive.

"Sekai" by Deco*27 and Horie Shota (kemu) is a sweet song about going to new places and reaching for new goals with someone you care about. The PV is really neat, too, with what looks like it might be an AR Miku going through various apparently real-life scenes in Japan! There are also subtitles, so you can follow along with the song even if you don't speak Japanese!

"miku" by Azit is a lovely image with lots of warmth and excitement. Miku looks like she's about to charge forward into something new!

Great picks, hamano!

 

[mobius017]

The Songle Sync birthday message for Miku collaboration will be held again this year! It sounds a little bigger this year than in years past, including theme songs from Miku Expo 2021 Online, Digital Stars 2021, and Magical Mirai 2021.

 

[polyphonicprairies]

just bookmarked the page and sent off some birthday wishes, i hope to see you all at the show!

 

[hamano]

Happy Birthday Miku! As expected, my twitter feed exploded with amazing art the moment August 31st began. I chose a couple I particularly liked, though there's so much great art that choosing only a few is very difficult.

 

[Nokone Miku]

Counting the two "miku-san" hashtags, that's 193,000 tweets in the past hour!

 

[sketchesofpayne]

This medley is from her ten year anniversary in 2017 but it's still a great way to look back at the past.
I know most won't take the time to watch it, so here are just a bunch of my favorite entries from the video:

​

 

[Scarlet Illusion]

Oh, I've always loved that medley! It's fun to hear such a well-done blend and unique take on such iconic songs! It makes me feel so nostalgic and sentimental for some reason, even though I wasn't into vocal synths until ~2017!

Additionally, I know I don't contribute here much, but I hope you all like my offering for Miku's birthday! My favorite artist drew such a lovely Miku, and what better place to share it than the Miku fanclub, right???

But wait! There's more! Deco made a new song for Miku's birthday!

 

[mobius017]

Wow, that's some gorgeous art and wonderful music everyone's sharing! It's really thrilling to see the attention Miku's getting on Twitter, too!

For the past 2 years, I've shared longer posts on Miku's birthday in my journal thread. But this year, since I don't have so much new to say, I'm foregoing reviewing the same ground at length.

I don't know, sometimes I wonder if I've made myself look a little weird with how much I've said and the heartfelt way in which I've said it....

Putting that concern aside, I'll always cherish my favorite vocal synth for the love, tolerance, and hope I feel she represents and the good she does in the world. Happy birthday, best girl <3.

@Nokone Miku: I noticed you're not on the roster for the fanclub. Would you be interested in joining?

 

[Nokone Miku]

I noticed you're not on the roster for the fanclub. Would you be interested in joining?

I'd love to! Count me in.

 

[mobius017]

I'd love to! Count me in.

In that case, welcome @Nokone Miku! I've added you to the club's member list. As a member of the club, you can add any Miku-related content that you create to the Club Creations album (described in the OP), if you desire. Feel free to grab a fanclub userbar if you'd like, too!

 

[pico]

HBD Miku. Here’s to many more years of community!