5 Sakura Songs by... Vocaloid Software

For thousands of years, the gentle flowers of sakura inspired the musicians. Some songs became so popular that, even after centuries, they are still well-known. And in Japan the tradition continues, so the number of sakura songs grows every year.

There’s no wonder, then, that in recent years we witnessed the appearance of songs about sakura played by… Vocaloid!

A Vocaloid is a vocal-synthesizing software, launched by Yamaha in 2004.

The first Vocailods were Leon and Lola, designed for English, and soon afterwards was launched Meiko, the first Japanese language Vocaloid.

The Vocaloids were so successful in Japan that they were sculpted into figurines, the most popular today being the Good Smile Company’s Nendoroid-Puchi series (which I’m going to use to illustrate this article).

Kaito was the first “boy” Vocaloid designed for Japanese language. Let’s listen to him singing Sakura Fubuki:

The first Vocaloid series was successful, but the software became really famous once the first second version Vocaloid was launched in 2007, Hatsune Miku 「初音ミク」.

The Hatsune Miku name is a combination of Hatsu (first) Ne (sound) and Miku (future). The data used Miku’s voice was sampled from the voice of Saki Fujita, a Japanese seiyuu (voice actres), and Miku’s specialty are J-Pop songs. Let’s listed to Hatsune Miku singing Sakuragaoka Sanchoume (The Sakura Hill on 3rd Street):

Miku became so famous that she is now a manga character, and last year she held two… “live” concerts. Here’s another Sakura song with Miku, Fuyu no Sakura:

The next Vocaloids were the twins Kagamine Rin and Len. Their names are combined from Kagami (Mirror), Ne (Sound), Ri from Right, and Le from Left. In the next video, they’re singing together Yumezakura:

Finally, let’s listen to Kaito & Len, singing the ending song from the anime series Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Sakura Addiction:

De mii de ani, florile gingaşe de sakura au inspirat poeţii şi muzicienii. Unele melodii au devenit at?t de populare ?nc?t s-au transmis p?nă ?n zilele noastre. Şi cum ?n Japonia tradiţia se păstrează, numărul melodiilor despre sakura creşte de la an la an.

Aşa că nu m-a mirat faptul că ?n ultimii ani au apărut melodii despre sakura c?ntate de… Vocaloid!

Vocaloid este un program de sintetizare de voce, lansat ?n anul 2004 de compania Yamaha.

Primii Vocaloid au fost Leon şi Lola, realizaţi pentru limba engleză, iar la scurtă vreme după aceea a apărut şi Meiko, primul Vocaloid de limbă japoneză.

?n Japonia, Vocaloid au avut un succes at?t de mare ?nc?t ?n prezent au chiar şi propriile figurine, dintre care cele mai celebre sunt din cele din seria Nendoroid-Puchi produse de firma Good Smile Company (figurine cu care voi ilustra acest articol).

Kaito a fost primul “băiat” Vocaloid realizat pentru limba japoneză. Să-l ascultam cu Sakura Fubuki:

Prima serie Vocaloid a avut succes, ?nsă programul a devenit cu adevărat popular odată cu lansarea primului Vocaloid din a doua generaţie, Hatsune Miku 「初音ミク」.

Numele Hatsune Miku este o combinaţie de la Hatsu (primul) Ne (sunet) şi Miku (viitor). Vocea originală a lui Miku este a unei seiyuu, Saki Fujita, iar Miku este “specializată” ?n melodii J-Pop. Să o ascultăm cu melodia Sakuragaoka Sanchoume (The Sakura Hill on 3rd Street)

Miku a devenit at?t de celebră ?nc?t acum are propria manga, iar anul trecut a susţinut şi două concerte “live". ?ncă o melodie cu Miku, Fuyu no Sakura:

Următorii Vocaloid au fost gemenii Kagamine Rin şi Len, al căror nume este o combinaţie de la Kagami (oglinda) Ne (sunet) Ri de la Right (dreapta), respectiv Le de la Left (st?nga). Să-i ascultăm c?nt?nd ?n duet Yumezakura:

Şi ?n incheiere Kaito şi Len cu ending-ul de la seria anime Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Sakura Addiction.