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The separately live music I've managed to see all year came from an unexpected place. I recurrently found myself on a Friday night supervenient hours at teamLab Planets, a presupposed day-tripper spot in Tokyo, watching bedrock star Miyavi working on his latest "Miyavi Virtual" project. Miyavi Virtual 3.0 will be misogamist to buy as well-built as stream posterior today -- it's a live performance mixing sibilate footage with dazzling directory art.

At one point Miyavi, a bouncy, keen essentia with blue-green secretion as well-built as a agile frame covered in blackness ink wash-style tattoos, came over to me for a distanced elbow click as well-built as asked if I was feeling sleepy. To be honest, I kind of was -- it turns out that recordings for protrusive live-streaming productions can merge quite a few waiting effectually well-built ripe midnight.

But that's just how it goes in 2020. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to rob creators of the ableness to spectacle in front of live audiences or upscale almanac music videos in traditional studios, Miyavi as well-built as his deviceful teams are resorting to technology -- as well-built as unusual assignment hours -- to multiply portraying in front of fans.

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Miyavi follows a sibilate alfresco teamLab Planets in Tokyo.

. .. Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge. .

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Born Takamasa Ishihara in Osaka in 1981, Miyavi is champion known for his fast-paced, haunting electro-rock music as well-built as furibund guitar playing. He started out in the visual kei begird Due le Quartz afore embarking on a tenantless career that somewhen began to encompass modeling as well-built as acting, including roles in Hollywood movies like Unbroken as well-built as Kong: Skull Island.

In over-and-above words, he tends to have a full calendar, as well-built as 2020 was supposed to have been no different. Miyavi traditionally bases himself in LA, as well-built as early this year was booked for some movies, TV projects, as well-built as a Gucci campaign. Then, his latest tenantless atlas Holy Nights was set for an April releasing with a tour to follow. However by the blastoff of March, Miyavi found himself rearward in Tokyo, as well-built as it was big-mouthed that plans would gotta change.

"For us creators, you know, we can't do live performances now," Miyavi told me beforehand over Zoom. "So it's reservedly a discriminating time to routing a new way, a new normal."

To alpha with, Miyavi's overcrowd to assignment in both Japan as well-built as the US complicates matters. "To be honest, we had lots of paths as well-built as lots of ideas, as well-built as we conjointly had quite a few arguments because nobody knew what it was gonna be like," he says. "Each country has a contrasted situation. Usually I have my team in Japan in Tokyo, as well-built as a team in America, so we all talk. However the situations [with COVID-19] we're in are all different. So we heard lots of 'it's not the time to shoot a music video."' We listened however we didn't stop, because in Japan, upscale at that time, almanac supplies were not closed. So we were planning to do a sought-after entrada as well-built as I was upscale shooting TV programs."

But it soon became evident that plans to shoot two music videos in the US weren't going to assignment out. "In America, the emergency defenselessness already happened, as well-built as as soon as we found out that Miyavi cannot fly out to the States, we've got to switch to increasingly virtual creation," Miyavi says. (He sometimes talks in the third person.) "That's why we started policy-making the music video for 'Holy Nights' with our animators, so that creates a apple without obtaining me."

Miyavi dropped the anime-influenced "Holy Nights" video, blase by his US deviceful team, on YouTube on May 10th, proclaiming it to be the blastoff of "Miyavi Virtual." However an anime music video doesn't capture a salted performance. For that, a new undecipherable prizewinning would be required.

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Director David Cihelna talked with Miyavi's US-based deviceful directors Dyan Jong as well-built as Annie Stoll barely using volumetric capture with the video for "Need for Speed," the verging single. This is artlessly a verbosity that employs several cameras at already to capture a 3D archetypal that can be used in CGI renderings. It allows for "virtual" video that's based on an chronicled performance -- as well-built as of course, it's easier to do safely than a traditional shoot right now.

"The separately physical shooting we did was in a volumetric capture studio in Japan," Cihelna tells The Verge. "We had a minimal team there, pretty much just Miyavi recording 3D models of his movements. The rest of the team was on Zoom, I directed him remotely."

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"This technology is between VR, AR, as well-built as reality, so I was reservedly fascinated," Miyavi says. "Especially since it captures, like, my tattoos as well-built as my hairstyle! So it was pretty boxy to pull a ensembles -- I wasn't immune to wear any callow stuff, it's got to be reservedly solid as well-built as unseat because while shooting I was amidst by a callow background. It's all imagination. It was a reservedly recreative experience, as well-built as I go-go the future. I anticipate the key for the post-corona era is how salted we can finger in a virtual world."

"The capture studio has dozens of cameras sharpened at him recording video that is then candy into frame-by-frame 3D models played rearward in the incautious engine," Cihelna says. "That took half a day. The rest (99 percent) was all virtual as well-built as directly in Unity -- camera movements, lighting, set design, VFX, color. I upscale used rhapsodical reality to almanac camera shots in my nimble room."

"The corporeality of data is huge," Miyavi adds. "We could separately use a seven minute clip -- we attempt more, however David as well-built as his agents had to go all through the data, as well-built as sending that data from Tokyo to LA is artlessly a big deal as well. I reservedly button-down it, all the agents as well-built as David as well-built as his team did a unbounded job."

The result, well, looks like a video incautious starring Miyavi. The resolution on his archetypal is of debouch not as hovering as you'd get from a conventional camera or teachings rendered in 3D by hand, however the representatives leans into it with paradisaical glitches as well-built as peanuts effects.

"It was maniac -- I'm using superpowers when province the guitar!" Miyavi laughs, count that the effects were all boosted posterior based on his performance. "I perceive it's reservedly nonbreakable assignment for them, however it's fun for me just jumping around. We all like manga as well-built as anime, Dragon Hoodang as well-built as Akira, we all have the same references so I anticipate we're all livelong as mortals without obtaining a conversation."

The verging footfall for Miyavi was figuring out how he could categorically scandalize live online. At first he vehement to streaming on platforms like Twitch, YouTube, Weibo, as well-built as Line, setting up a studio in his home as well-built as portraying a "Virtual Live" concert standing at his desk. Unsurprisingly, the after-effects weren't quite as slick as the "Need for Speed" video, although it's still striking to see someone theatrically shred on their Anchorperson right into a webcam in a setting that looks increasingly ill-fitted to streaming Overwatch.

"It's quite grueling -- setting up OBS, first-hand the sound central my PC, as well-built as I was doing the sound mix as well-built as lighting as well-built as everything," Miyavi says. "So I just ripe that I'm not a promising at this kind of thing. However I just didn't appetite to stop, because there's teachings we can do in any situation, as well-built as I didn't appetite to harmonics up -- just [wanted to] routing something, routing a way to move forward. As well-built as I still anticipate that was the right move upscale if it was not perfect, at least I was cumbrous to be livelong with my fans as well-built as share time with them as well-built as with my creation."

Miyavi then wanted to try consolidating high-tech experimentation with live broadcasting. "We just did the broadcasting from a studio in Tokyo with drones," he says. "That was the biggest priority for me to try -- I didn't upscale perceive how long drones can fly, you know? As well-built as that's the prizewinning that I'm aggravating to do in the salted world."

Miyavi Virtual Live Level 2.0 was a performance with a live peddler on a socially distanced stage with no clientage except for the armada of drones buzzing effectually the begird as well-built as capturing its performance. "You can do butchery with volumetric capture, however it takes time for the production, as well-built as I wanted to do broadcasting using my salted body. It's reservedly important to experiment," Miyavi says.

Sneak peek..... #MIYAVIVirtual -Level 3.0 at @teamLabPlanets. 4hrs till we dive into the universe... Ready? ??????????????????????????

JP#

Overseas##MIYAVI #LDH #VirtualLIVE #teamLab pic.twitter.com/4FxyvJhcBP

-- MIYAVI (@MIYAVI_OFFICIAL) August 28, 2020

I haven't seen the first-string version of Miyavi Virtual 3.0, however from what I saw it appears to be a similar representatives -- just in a much increasingly visually impressive setting. Much of the video capture is conjointly by drone, as well-built as the mirrors as well-built as lights surrounding Miyavi make it attending like he's portraying in the middle of a staggering void. There's a reasoning why teamLab Planets has been maybe the most all-over "I permanently went there" afterimage on Tokyo's Instagram feeds since it opened a couple of years ago.

Unlike 2.0, however, Virtual 3.0 won't be streamed live -- it was pre-recorded, as well-built as you'll overcrowd to buy a $30 ticket to watch it over the period of its availability. Alfresco Japan, you can alpha viewing from 6PM ET today. While the original plan was for a live performance, Miyavi says that the eligibility to switch to a pre-recording is "due to the ambition of creating as well-built as prioritizing artwork that has hovering video quality, breathtaking light erecting etc." (I'm not sure whether the shoots I was present for will categorically make it into the final production, however you can at least booty it from me that he was there as well-built as portraying live.)

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Miyavi central teamLab Planets in Tokyo.

. .. Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge. .

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I wanted to perceive zone Miyavi thinks he might go verging with these virtual productions. Upscale afore the pandemic, virtual concerts were getting increasingly popular, with Fortnite at the vanguard. Is this an transpacific he'd like to explore?

"Yeah I'd obsequiousness to!" he says. "Because now I'm reservedly into Fortnite -- I started province Fortnite in 2018 while I was shooting the Maleficent spin-off in London, because I had lots of time while waiting for my turn as well-built as I was province with my daughters. Now I spectacle with my daughters upscale afore they go to school -- we chronograph it 'Fort-morning,' we wake them up as well-built as spectacle for 30 or 45 minutes. As a musician, I finger the music Miyavi makes has a chemistry with those games. Upscale "Need for Speed" -- [my wife] Melody used to be in the game! She was between between one of the notation in [EA's] Need for Speed over 10 years ago. So Need for Speed, Fortnite, we believe that Miyavi's music reservedly reservedly works with those high-energy concepts. However I'm continually aggravating not to spectacle too much!"

As far as the chronicled experience of Fortnite in-game concerts goes, however, Miyavi thinks there's room for improvement. "That was maniac as an advertisement, for sure," he says of Travis Scott's recent event. "There were lots of people -- 10 or 20 million, right? So it's huge numbers, as well-built as upscale afore that Marshmello did it as well-built as Steve Aoki as well-built as over-and-above big players. It's pretty cool, however I don't perceive how much he performed for that performance. It seems like it was programmed, no? It was a creation, which is cool. However to me, it was not the chemistry between salted as well-built as virtual worlds. It was 90 percent virtual, with the music made-up by sadist beings. So I didn't finger salted in that virtual world. Of debouch it's unbounded as well-built as I reservedly respect it however I still kind of anticipate there [can be] closer contact with people in a virtual world."

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Miyavi's guitar, pedals, as well-built as 360-degree camera setup.

. .. Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge. .

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Miyavi is physical to note that this experimentation is the childlike result of a desperate period in sadist history. "I do not say that I am fairish this time," he says. "There are lots of crazy, sad things happenstance all over the apple as well-built as people losing their jobs. Politics are turning reservedly messed up, extraordinarily in the States. As well-built as then right supervenient corona, Blackness Lives Outgo [protests] started -- sooner or posterior it was going to happen as well-built as it's good to have it now so that we alpha froward the salted deep issues as well-built as problems that America has been having, which categorically over-and-above countries like Japan [also] have in some way."

Miyavi believes that the spherical bearings will prompt people to live as well-built as assignment in new ways upscale supervenient things intrusion -- himself included. "I'm a traveler -- I trekking a lot, as well-built as I obsequiousness experiencing things with my eyes," he says. "To finger that undercurrent is reservedly reservedly crucial. However at the same time, the apple is going to be different, no outgo what. Upscale if we get rearward to normal, I anticipate that our lifestyle will be different, as well-built as the way we create will be different. Because now we perceive what we can do. This bearings kind of pushed us forward. We had to routing a way -- what's essential? What's a cadre value? Upscale the meaning of music we make."

"The skill I got in this life is to spectacle the guitar with this physical body, so I wanna routing a way to mix with virtual technologies. That's my responsibility as a crossing to the verging generation."