A vocaloid is a singing voice synthesis made by Yamaha and a computer software. The software allows users to put melodies and lyrics in order to synthesize singing. In other words, with this technology, singing can be produced without a singer using fragments of voices recorded from actual singers called the Singer Library. They have created musical pieces and have released them on Nico Video and YouTube. With these releases, vocaloids became extremely popular. Also the UGC (self-produced content) grew at a fast pace. From there, CDs with vocaloid songs entered the top-seller lists and became popular songs for people to sing at karaoke, The software and music created from it have created a music culture in itself. Vocaloid technology has grown stronger and now few people can tell their voices are fake. Vocaloids became so popular that they found a way to turn them into holograms for concerts. (Paraphrased from source)
Below is a list of the most popular vocaloids around the world. So you know, in Japan they put last names first and the first names last.
★ Hatsune Miku is the most famous and popular vocaloid; she was made in August 31, 2007. Before Miku was released, vocaloid wasn’t very popular. Soon after her release, users of Miku posted songs they created. One of Miku’s most popular videos was “Levan Polkka.”
Age: 16
Character Item: Spring Onion
“The Happiness and Peace of Mind Committee”
★ Kagamine Rin is the twin sister of Kagamine Len, also one of the first four vocaloids in a video game. Since Len and Rin come from the same voice, they do many duets. Rin and Len are known for clear and precise vocals. Rin does electro-pop, pop, and rock.
Age: 14
Character Item: Road Roller and Mikan (Japan Orange)
“Meltdown”
★ Kagamine Len is the twin brother of Kagamine Rin, also one of the first four vocaloids in a video game. Len’s voicebase was made by a female and edited to sound male. Since Len and Rin come from the same voice, they do many duets. Rin and Len are known for clear and precise vocals. Len does electro-pop, dance, and rock.
Age: 14
Character Item: Road Roller and Banana
★ Megurine Luka was designed in the first series to sing in Japanese and English, using two different voice databases. Luka was the first bilingual virtual singer. Luka was designed to have a moody voice that could easily sing from middle to high voices, which make her good for trance, house, and electronic music. Luka’s voice is also more mature sounding. She was released on January 30, 2009.
Age: 20
Character Item: Frozen Tuna
★ Kaito and Meiko were developed together. Kaito sold only 500 units, making him a commercial failure. Few people had interest in Kaito.
Age: N/A
Character Item: Ice Cream
★ Meiko was the first female vocaloid in the market, released on November 5, 2004. Sadly Meiko is not the most popular vocaloid, even though she was the first female vocaloid. They also gave her a large vocal range.
Age: N/A
Character Item: One Cup Ozeki (Sake)
“Wintry Winds” (Note: This was the only video with an appropriate costume for Meiko, but it includes Kaito, so only pay attention to the girl with brown hair.)
★ Gumi had one of the most realistic sounding voice banks. Gumi has one of the biggest voice ranges and one other best English pronunciations.
Age: 20
Character Item: Carrot
★ Gackpoid was released on July 31, 2008. Gackpoid has one of the highest quality voices. His pronunciations are smoother. When his image was released some thought he was female and others thought he was male, he is a male.
Age: 20
Character Item: Eggplant
“We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together” (Note: This song is fan-made and not an official song!)