J-Pop Write-Up

A new type of keyboard by Yamaha allows for live performances of Vocaloid songs. The keyboard works like this: your left hand selects the kana sound you want for your lyrics, your right hand performs the pitch and length of the note you want. And, voila! You get a singing voice! (without all of the labor-intensive programming in Vocaloid editor…)

This new technology raises a few thoughts.

Let’s get Neolithic. Singing started with a voice. The first music was most likely sung. Shortly after that, our ancestors started making instruments to compliment singing. Though they were likely nothing more than bones with holes carved to make a primordial flute, we can think of these early instruments as technologies.

Fast forward a few thousand years. The rise of digital technologies has allowed synthetic instruments to be created and played back via digital audio workstations (like Acid, Fruity Loops, Garageband and Pro Tools) without any physical manipulation. Vocaloid, though somehow linked to the ancient act of singing, has relied on these workstations for the singing to happen.

So, with the Vocaloid keyboard, the historical order of music technology (voice -> instrument -> DAW) is reversed. And, in its place, we have a new order of musical technology: a voice is recorded, synthesized in a DAW, then released in the form of a keyboard.

Imagine a time in the (perhaps not so) distant future, when people might not think of music as coming from physical instruments at all. Music to them might simply be the aural experience of listening to music; it won’t be accompanied by any physical apparatus. As we’ve seen over the course of the twentieth century, not only have playback devices gotten smaller (think of the cell phone in your pocket v.s. a phonograph), but the sources of these sounds are increasingly removed from any physical apparatus (think player piano v.s. Korg DS-10 synth). Sounds cool, but isn’t something missing?

Certainly, things seem to be moving in the direction of smaller to invisible. But, perhaps our innate human desire to tinker with our hands (silly as it is) might override this trend. Maybe we need to have that physical connection to music. Maybe we need to experience the struggle of the performer to appreciate a performance’s value. We need to affirm our connection as listeners to the people who create the music we like. This makes us a part of a musical community, not just passive listeners.

Simon Frith talks about this in his book, “Performing Rights.” He says:

So, perhaps the listening experience cannot be just an aural activity, and Yamaha is picking up on this feeling of loss. Any fan of Vocaloid knows that it isn’t just about the software, it’s about the community coming together and making music, singing and dancing together. This is something that we innately appreciate as human beings. Nowadays, we’ve got way sweeter instruments than carved out bones, but the sense of community that we get from music is precisely the same.

The new keyboard, while having broad implications in terms of Vocaloid itself or even in the field of music technology, seems to extend beyond the question of “well, is a Vocaloid a singing voice? An instrument? Something else?” This instrument also suggests a fundamental human need for visual performance, an image to match the sound.

For now, Yamaha has no plans to release this product, even though digital instrument sales are on the rise (amid an ever desiccating singles and album sales revenue stream). But, it suggests that Yamaha is aware of our need for a good performance on top of good music. While Vocaloid P’s likely spend millions of collective hours producing Vocaloid content, this effort seems to go unnoticed by listeners. This technology might allow composers an opportunity to show off their virtuosity. Or perhaps it will create a new type of instrumentalist, someone capable of playing a Vocaloid to its broadest emotive depths.

Either way, this instrument is going to start a whole new moe movement… Speaking of which…