History of VOCALOID

05/07/2026

INTRO

So, what exactly is VOCALOID? What is vocal synthesizer software? How does this relate to Hatsune Miku? All will be answered in this blog entry soon, but to start: A vocal synthesizer mimics human speech and/or singing. VOCALOID is one brand example of this.

VOCAL SYNTH ORIGINS

Vocal synthesizer software is not a very recent technology, being demonstrated as far back as 1769 with Wolfgang von Kempelen's speaking machine. (Over a whopping 250 years ago!)

The technology, at the time, was an impressive experiment with mimicking the human voice using a manually operated vocal synthesizer design.

But it wasn't until 1961 that computer scientists Carol C. Lochbaum and John L. Kelly Jr. successfully programmed an IBM 7090 computer to artificially sing Daisy Bell.

THE INTRODUCTION OF VOCALOID

Come 2004, Japanese company Yamaha wanted to find a way to make singers more accessible to aspiring musicians. And so, on January 15th, 2004, VOCALOID was born with the release of LEON and LOLA, developed by Zero-G Limited.

Click/tap to hear a demo! ↑

It didn't take off right away, however, since public interest was lacking. Sure, tuning a synthetic voice to sing like a human is cool, but there needed to be a better way to draw buyers' attention to the VOCALOID brand. The box art for LEON and LOLA depicted simple photographs of male and female mouths respectively.

So what if they made recognizable mascots instead?

And so, we turn our attention to MEIKO, the first Japanese VOCALOID.

Click/tap to hear the demo! ↑

Artist: Wasshi

Voice provider: Haigō Meiko

MEIKO, developed by Crypton Future Media, released on November 5th, 2004. Her appearance isn't anything extraordinary, but it sure is a different direction from LEON and LOLA. She rocks a cropped red sleeveless top with a matching miniskirt and short brown boots, and her hair is in a brown bob.

Being the first anime-style mascot for VOCALOID, MEIKO sold 3,000 copies by 2005, three times more than LEON and LOLA at the time. Crypton saw this, and stayed on the path of anime-esque mascots.

Click/tap to hear the demo! ↑

Artist: Takashi Kawasaki

Voice provider: Fuuga Naoto

On February 17th, 2006, KAITO was released. Unfortunately, he sold the least amount of copies in comparison to the previous VOCALOIDs, reaching only 500 sales in his first year. This made Crypton believe there was no market for male vocal synthesizers. And with that, they had to try again.

MEIKO was significantly more successful than KAITO, and even LEON and LOLA. Going off of the "female" and "anime" keywords, Crypton had another plan that was destined not to fail.

VOCALOID2 is the second generation of VOCALOID software, having improved in quality twofold. On June 25th, 2007, Crypton Future Media revealed their next VOCALOID: Hatsune Miku.

Click/tap to hear the demo! ↑

Artist: KEI

Voice provider: Fujita Sakiko

Clad in a silver sleeveless top and tie with massive turquoise twintails, a mini pleated skirt, and thigh high socks, Hatsune Miku was officially released to the public on August 31st, 2007. Within the first week of Miku's release, she sold 3,000 copies - as much as MEIKO sold in one year alone!

Since then, Crypton Future Media has made a few new VOCALOIDs to complete their company's troupe. Kagamine Rin and Len were released that same year on December 27th, followed by Megurine Luka later on January 30th, 2009.

Click/tap to hear a demo! ↑

Artist: KEI

Voice provider: Shimoda Asami

Click/tap to hear the demo! ↑

Artist: KEI

Voice provider: Asakawa Yū

CONCLUSION

Who knew that the path to success was branding yourself with a cute anime girl? Classic Japan.

But really, it's so fascinating to think that a unique invention over 250 years ago could be the ancestor of the most popular virtual idol of all time.

But what do you think? Questions or comments? Let me know!

This certainly won't be my last vocal synth-related blog post either, I actually planned to write a lot more than this. But I was worried that it would drag on for way longer than needed for a casual reader, so I've decided I'll just divide it into a short series of posts. Stay tuned for more vocal synth content from me in the future!!