Vocaloid 2012 Calendar

Vocaloid is a singing synthesizer. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project led by Kenmochi Hideki at the Pompeu Fabra University in Spain in 2000 and originally was not intended to be a full commercial project. Backed by the Yamaha Corporation it developed the software into the commercial product "Vocaloid".

The software became very popular in Japan upon the release of Crypton Future Media's Hatsune Miku Vocaloid 2 software and her success has led to the popularity of the Vocaloid software in general. Inside of Japan, the software has proven to be popular overall, with thousands of original songs by artists across Japan. Japanese video sharing website Nico Nico Douga played a fundamental role in the recognition and popularity of the software. A user of Hatsune Miku and an illustrator released a much-viewed video, in which "Hachune Miku", a super deformed Miku, held a Welsh onion (Negi in Japanese) and sang the Finnish song "Ievan Polkka" like the flash animation "Loituma Girl", on Nico Nico Douga.