On July 31, 2008, the software program called がくっぽいど(GACKPOID) was released by INTERNET Co., Ltd. A Dears-only version began sales on July 4, 2008. This was Gackt’s first involvement in the production of a computer software program.


Regular version

What is GACKPOID?
GACKPOID is a computer software program that uses Gackt’s voice as a base for synthesizing vocal tracks. What that means is, Gackt’s voice was recorded to create a comprehensive library of sounds, and you can use this software to create the vocal parts of songs using those sounds. By typing in lyrics and melodies, and assigning notes to each syllable, you can control Gackt’s voice to sing whatever you want. Not only that, but you can adjust parameters such as the volume, pitch, brightness, and vibrato of Gackt’s voice to your liking. You can even change the voice to make it sound more feminine, masculine or childlike. After creating vocals with GACKPOID, you can then add in background music using other software programs to create full songs. GACKPOID includes a free offer for users to download OPUS Express for Windows, a software program that can mix vocals, music and phonemes, to create songs.

GACKPOID is not just for creating main vocals; you can also create background choruses of up to 16 singers. A chorus of Gackts!

Detailed product features and requirements can be found at the following:
Features
Product Outline

How and why was GACKPOID created?
In 2007, Yamaha Corporation developed a technology called VOCALOID 2, which provides the engine and interface for GACKPOID. In August of 2007, the first of the Vocaloid 2 Character Vocal Series software, “Hatsune Miku”, was released by Crypton Future Media.  The voice data for this software was created using samples of a voice actress’s voice.  Hatsune Miku was extremely popular, and users posted songs they had created (as well as videos using the Hatsune Miku character) on the video sharing website called Nico Nico Douga.  In December 2007, Cryptonreleased the second in the Character Vocal Series, “Kagamine Rin/Ren”.  Kagamine Rin/Ren also used samples of a voice actress’ voice for the database.  Due to the popularity of Hatsune Miku, INTERNET wanted to come up with another software using the Vocaloid 2 technology.

They specifically wanted a male voice, because they had yet to create a male Vocaloid 2 character, and they also wanted to use a real artist’s voice, rather than that of a voice actor, because they wanted to faithfully recreate a real singer’s vocals. GACKPOID fits both those bills, being a male voice and being based on samples of a singer’s (Gackt’s) voice. INTERNET chose Gackt because he had become well-known through his work on the Taiga drama Fuurin Kazan, and because he is always looking for new things to do.  They approached Gackt through Dwango, with whom he had worked doing ringtones and commercials.

Gackt’s vocals were recorded in December 2007, and the software’s release date was pushed back from April to July due to adjustments needed in the audio portion as well as the need to select an illustrated character.

 
Kamui Gakupo
Each Vocaloid 2 software has an illustrated character to represent that software.  The characters for Hatsune Miku and Kagamine Rin/Ren were drawn by an illustrator named Kei.  The illustrated character for GACKPOID is named 神威がくぽ” (“Kamui Gakupo”) and was drawn by manga artist Miura Kentaro. Miura Kentaro is best known for his manga BERSERK, and he is a big fan of Nico Nico Douga. Because he was a fan of Nico Nico Douga, where users publish their works free of charge, Miura offered his own work to GACKPOID free of charge. The illustration of Kamui Gakupo is used on the cover of the software, and is also on the poster included with the software. Kamui Gakupo has long, flowing purplish hair, wears a white, wide-sleeve kimono-style garment that’s trimmed in purple, and wields a long sword.

Use
After creating the vocal track with GACKPOID, it can be exported as a standard WAV file. The WAV file can then be used with other software programs to combine it with music tracks and to make a full song. The song can then be uploaded to video sharing websites and shared with the public. Songs created using GACKPOID can be freely used, whether for commercial or noncommercial purposes, and the copyrights in those songs will always belong to the creator. Users can also freely use the illustrated character, Kamui Gakupo (within certain limitations).

Soon after its release, hundreds of fan-made videos featuring songs created by GACKPOID along with animation using Kamui Gakupo were uploaded to Nico Nico Douga.

Also, on the July 18, 2008 episode of Music Station, GACKPOID was featured in the Music Topics segment. In the segment, they showed how GACKPOID is programmed to sing any song with Gackt’s voice, and then they use it to demonstrate Gackt singing songs by Exile, Matsuura Aya and Perfume!

Why is it called “GACKPOID”?
As explained by Sweiled:
There is a Japanese saying, “~ppoi”, which means “resemble” or “similar to”. So “Gacktppoi” means similar to Gackt; like Gackt; resembles Gackt, and so on. So taking the “-oid” from the original software name VOCALOID, Gackt came up with GACKPOID. Written in Japanese, it goes “Gakuppoido” and the “Gaku” here of course refers to the name by which his friends call him. (I am sure you have heard of his friends or band members calling him Gakuchan!)

Regular and Dears-only versions of GACKPOID
GACKPOID comes with the following sample song data:
「RETURNER〜闇の終焉〜」,「君に逢いたくて」(Kimi ni aitakute),「島唄」(Shima uta) (THE BOOM)、「Lovers Again」(EXILE)、and「大きな古時計」(My Grandfather’s Clock).

The Dears-only version had those songs as well as:「大きな栗の木の下で」(Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree) and「犬のおまわりさん」(Dog Policeman) In addition, it included the song「Happy Birthday」, where you could put your own name into the song (so it will sing “Happy Birthday dear xx”). 

The Dears-only version also had a different packaging design, featuring a picture of Gackt rather than the illustrated character Kamui Gakupo. The Dears-only version had a B3 size poster of that picture of Gackt, while the regular version has a poster featuring Kamui Gakupo (different from the cover illustration).

This section is written and maintained by Gekka. Please contact her at gekka@*nospam*eiennoyume.com if you have any questions/comments/corrections.

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