livetune (Vocaloid producer)

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livetune is a Japanese music unit or more specifically, a doujin music circle. Currently, it consists solely of musician kz. It was originally signed on to Victor Entertainment, and signed on to Sony Music Direct and Toy’s Factory before returning to Victor Entertainment.
The name "livetune" is derived from "Ableton Live" and "Auto-Tune" which are both software used for music production.

About the Artist

In September 2007, the song "Packaged" using voice synthesis software VOCALOID 2 Hatsune Miku as vocals was uploaded to Nico Nico Douga and muzie. The song gained popularity from fans and played a significant part in the Hatsune Miku boom.

The CD "Re: package" was released at Comic Market 73 in December 2007, and was almost sold out instantly due to its popularity. Due to this, on August 27, 2008, "Re: package" was released as a major debut via Victor Entertainment and contained new songs. It was the first time that livetune would use Miku's name and illustration on a major release.

The remix album "Re: MIKUS" released via Victor in the following year, and was mainly produced by kz using his DJ name at the time, RE:NDZ. In 2011, it was announced that kz would produce the song "Tell Your World" for a Google Chrome commercial. Around the same time, kz changed labels to Toy's Factory and resumed using the "livetune" label.

In October, the launch of the new project "livetune+" was announced. It consisted of a band with kz and model Anna Yano. livetune+ belongs to Asobi System, which is produced under Warner Music Japan.

Members

kz
Currently the only member of livetune, he is a songwriter, composer, arranger, and music producer. Since he began his career with Vocaloid music production, he has released over 8 albums, collaborated with over 40 artists on various projects, and appeared in over a dozen official remixes for artists such as BUMP OF CHICKEN and Zedd.
He is also the creator of ClariS, a 2-person singing unit who started out singing songs on Nico Nico Douga where kz first noticed them. They were known for being only 15 years old when they began performing, but now they are well known for singing anime theme songs.
kz formerly began remixing music and DJing using the name "RE:NDZ" but more recently has simply used "kz" or "kz (livetune)" for his DJing activities. He has performed in over 10 countries and 100 events since he started DJing. Stylistically, he tends to play more club-heavy electronic dance music (EDM) during his sets as opposed to electropop, the style he usually produces. kz was born in Miyagi prefecture.
かじゅきP (KajukiP)
Former member. He participated in the production of "Re:package".

Info

Vocals
livetune creates many songs using Hatsune Miku and releases them on the Internet. livetune is known as a "Vocaloid Unit" by other Vocaloid music producers even though it now consists of one member. livetune also uses the pitch-correction software "Autotune" to process Hatsune Miku's vocals in order to create a more unique sound. Additionally, livetune does not exclusively use Vocaloid software for vocals and has collaborated with various human vocalists. High-profile examples include Fukase from SEKAI NO OWARI for the song "Take Your Way" and Yuuki Ozaki from Galileo Galilei for the song "FLAT".
Musical Style
Features a lot of upbeat arpeggios and four-beat, livetune tends to produce electronic music. Though the group can also produce a wide variety of musical genres, ranging from ballads to pop to even radio commercial jingles.
Ableton Live
kz shows a strong love of the music production (sequencer) software "Ableton Live" and had often included the logo of the software into videos he released on Nico Nico Douga.

Popular Songs Featuring Hatsune Miku

livetune has released an incredible number of songs, but here are our top seven most recommended.

Links

Vocaloid
Hatsune Miku
YouTube channel
Twitter account
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Wikipedia