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On Aug. 9, the product announcement event “MikXperience e.p. / Xperia feat. Hatsune Miku” was held at Sony’s main building. News on Hatsune Miku V3 and Hatsune Miku V3 English, which uses the voice synthesis engine Vocaloid 3 was announced. Further news was also reported on the Hatsune Miku themed smartphone.
The smartphone “Xperia feat. Hatsune Miku” will go on sale in the latter part of September in Japan. A limited number of 39,000 units will be released. “MikXperience e.p.” is linked with the smartphone. Popular musical artists and illustrators are working together on a collaborative concept CD. The CD will release on Aug. 28 for 2,000 yen.
Other exciting news for many fans worldwide is the release of Hatsune Miku V3 English, which will release closely with the Japanese version. They will both be useable on Windows and Mac OS X (10.7 or higher). Piapro Studio, an exclusive vocal editor, will have a high level of linkage between VST and DAW, and it will be possible to operate while making Miku sing. Five vocal libraries are being prepared for the Japanese version and one library is being prepared for the English version.
V3 English uses calm, natural English, and similar to the Japanese version, users can compose songs by inputting lyrics and a melody. At the announcement event, Crypton Future Media’s Hiroyuki Itoh revealed that they are searching for native English speakers to collaborate with and that the software was developed using phoneme units. V3 English specializes in house, techno, and crossover musical genres as well as a tempo of 100-130 BPM and B2-B3 range.
Hatsune Miku V3 will release on Sept. 26 for an Internet price of 16,800 yen (tax included). On Aug. 31, V3 English will be released via a download for US$149 (tax excluded). The “Hatsune Miku V3 Bundle,” which will include both the Japanese and English library, will also release on Sept. 29 for 21,000 yen (tax included).
With the release of Hatsune Miku V3 English, it is anticipated that the creators of Hatsune Miku songs will multiply! Perhaps soon the day will come when there is a Billboard ranking for English Vocaloid songs?
© Crypton Future Media Inc.
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
