Just in time for Gakupo’s birthday, Internet Co., Ltd has announced that it is updating its Gakupo-based cell phone service and bringing it to the PC. First announced in April of 2009, the service allows for users to put in their own haiku lyrics and has Gakupo sing them out. More information about the application updates after the break.
On July 27, 2011, Internet Co., Ltd made the tweet announcing that they are spreading the application to the PC for free. They also said that they are working together with Twitter to let you share your creations via your Twitter account for your friends to see. You can also save your creations as Mp3 files and download as many as you like. While it is not as complex as the Vocaloid2 version of Gakupo, this application provides simple entertainment for Vocaloid fans around the world. But don’t take our word for it, try it yourself.
Below is a step-by-step instruction on using the application.
First you click on the 作成する. If you are having problems seeing the Japanese, you may want to change the character encoding.
Then you type in your standard 5-7-5 haiku in the three white boxes. You have to write it in hiragana. Katakana, kanji, and romaji will not be read. Gakupo reads everything literally, so don’t use はfor “wa” but わ for “wa,” for example. After you are done, click on the 作成 button.
Here you have the option to send it to your Twitter account and download it. If you want to listen to it immediately, click on the blue ダウンロード.
And you’re done! Gakupo will sing out whatever haiku you made. You can make him sing in Japanese, or you can make him sing absolute nonsense; the choice is yours! Just to show an example of what it can do, here is Matsuo Basho’s famous haiku “an Ancient pond/a frog jumps in/the splash of water” sung by Gakupo. Try it out for yourself!
Sources: Twitter, HMM, Internet Co., Ltd