What if Ayu still had the same voice as in the past?
 

I'm not sure if this has been particularly discussed before, and I may be silly for asking, but I've been listening to Ayu's old songs for awhile now (LOVEppears-Rainbow days) and I had a thought...

I don't know when Ayu began to lose her hearing, but I remember from somewhere around here (I think it was a tweet?) that when she found out about it, she just kept on singing in spite of the challenge she had to face. Now, suppose she decided to follow the doctor's advice back and took a brief hiatus to recover. Do you guys think her hearing could've actually improved and her voice (assuming her changed vocals are because of her hearing loss) could've stayed the same?

Or basically what I'm trying to say is, if her voice now is the same as her voice then, would her current career be entirely different? Would her popularity still have faced a decline? Would you guys still follow her?

If by "before" you mean 2006-8, then I would be ecstatic. But if you mean anything pre-Rainbow, omg no! I prefer her voice now to be honest. I couldn't stand that stuffy-nosed, squeaky, head-ache inducing voice she had when I first got into her.

I like her voice now and I liked her voice then...
I think its natural for any singer for their voice to improve overtime...
So I dont want it back, but I did like it.

I liked her voice then...and if that was her voice now, then so be it :shrug

Even if it was high-pitched...it's nowhere near the annoying sounds I've heard from other japanese artists.

I always considered her voice to have a very unique sound. She doesn't sound like a typical high-pitched girl. I mean, the style is there, but the sound....is different.

Anyways, I felt like back then she had a little more versatility with her voice, and just wished she could have utilized it more on studio recordings.

I'd take that any day over yelling, and ugly voice ayu...


I don't think she could have repaired the damage done to her vocals though...and her ear...it's really hard to say about that.

I could only live with the LOVEppears ayu voice (farthest back I'll go)
Any further and I'd rather be a YUI fan...

In some ways, I'd like it as I felt her voice was smoother back then (I know someone is going to jump all over me for this). It was less wild in terms of the vibrato and her range seemed bigger. On the same token though, I feel like many would be exasperated by the fact that Ayu's voice would remain unchanged & static. People would probably get tired of her & her music, and her sales would probably be worse than they are now. I'm sure they'd claim Ayu would not be growing as an artist. So who knows?

Personally, I do prefer her 'old' voice. I felt like her voice sounded the best from LOVEppears, I am... (Duty & Rainbow were awful imo), and from Memorial Address to Secret. After GUILTY her voice started to go downhill imo. It got a little better with RnRC & Love songs, but then started to regress once more with PQ. Nowadays, I can barely stand her voice in ballads. I mean, HBYA was nice, but her vocals were just :no. So basically, I think her voice has its ups and downs...Maybe there is no true "old" voice of Ayu.

The change she had on her voice from 2002 to 2005/6 was most likely she getting better singing technique than hearing loss... The way she sang before I am... was really damaging.

I miss her LOVEppears and Duty voice too. Voice in Duty just sound too sexy >.<

I really liked her voice around 2003/2004.

Honestly I cant imagine for example Party Queen with A song for xx voice lol. Its just... doesnt happen in my mind. And I like albums the way they are, its hard for me to say which vocal I prefer. Cause sometimes its PQ, sometimes MS, and my fav album is Duty lol. I dont know.

And I dont think that would change the way sales are and I dont know would I be a fan if she was singing with the same voice for 12 years and more.

Her hearing didn't get worse because she didn't follow the doctor's advice but because she probably had a progressive problem that didn't improve with treatment. I don't remember she ever mentioning that a break was needed in order for her hearing to have improved. Instead, she just mentioned she was sad to receive the bad news from the doctor saying that the damage was permanent and there was no available procedure to make it improve at all. Just take notice that her hearing loss was most likely not the result of acoustic trauma/damage to her ear (since only 1 ear was severely affected and the othert not), but most likely because of a specific ear disease unrelated to sound, so taking a break would not have made things better for her in that specific aspect.

I don't think her sales would have improved if her vocals were the same as the old days. maybe if her hearing was better, maybe she would have attempted to compose more songs? I dunno, because you don't necessarily need a fantastic hearing in order to compose something if you aren't already born deaf, or acquire deafness very early in life, though I'd consider that task quite difficult for someone who struggle with deafness and who really isn't a professional or usual hobby composer.

One thing I'm not aware of is whether ayu gets constantly bugged by tinnitus. If so, I'm not sure if that would necessarily reflect negatively over her music production recently. I think she mentioned a few times getting bugged by tinnitus but I'm not sure if it's a really casual/rare symptom or more constant and troubling.

I wish her voice was something like it used to be in 2003-2006. And to be honest, I'm pretty sure if her voice stayed the same, her sales would be better. It's definitely better to have that voice than that we have now beginning from 2008. I also think that her ear problem didn't have a great impact on the voice. Her voice got worse just because she never sang professionally. She used to yell at concerts too much and she rarely lip-synched, so she kept singing "wrongly" almost ruining her voice.

What I miss the most is the soft, gentle voice (Key, Secret, JEWEL, RAINBOW etc) and now it's really gone.. I agree with YUKARI that her sales would be better without the vocal damage.. But I guess there's still some hope. She sounds good in reminds me and RR.. But the ballad voice is totally gone.

I agree. There are some songs in which ayu and [insert girl J-POP artist] sing the exact same notes, and where ayu simply stands out by far, sounding less annoying and high-pitched. HOWEVER, there are some songs back than where she really pushed the "I" sound (the harsh "I" sound; like in 'rainy day'), but that was just ****ing powerful and awesome.

And what I praise her for till today is the fact that the vocals in her songs ARE her vocals (though processed for sure, but every artist gets processed) It's no overload of autotune, delays, echo's, frequency enhancing or whatever. I also LOVE her vibrato, I think it's epic.

+ I believe she has improved, I mean like; she does things she didn't do before, in "Do it Again" in the last chorus the "Fuete iku no mo genjitsu de" and just her voice in general, so strong. Really, she showed us that @ POWER OF MUSIC live performances.

The most important part though, is the emotion she captures in each word, which in my opinion is breathtakingly amazing. And if you ask me, she still is able to do that.

Her voice lately is just as good for me too.

If she still had her pre-2002 voice I would probably be a fan of her music but dislike hearing her sing it. I enjoy many of her old songs only sung after that era. Nowadays I think she made the best out of her situation and developed a powerful, controlled mezzo-soprano rather than the forced, nasal, constantly-off soprano of her early career. She always had the ability to put heaps of emotion into single words, that only improved to me, and that's what makes me enjoy her voice, since technically, she was NEVER a great singer and probably will never be. Even now that she has rather...average vocals(as in: they are pretty good for pop standards but NOTHING compared to truly great vocalists) it's a personal high for her.

Her voice is definitely changed result in held lot of concert each year
I don't like her voice now:no


1999~2001 is classic
2004~2006 is the best !

If Ayu still had the same voice as in Duty, say goodbye to 1 LOVE, progress, until that Day, Microphone, Love Song, Rule, Mirrorcle World, decision (and many others epic songs)...

I don't buy that her sales would have been stronger if her voice remained the same. I think people are looking for something to blame for the decline of her sales. When it's solely due to the economic climate and the changing music scene.

I love her voice the most from MY STORY to (miss)understood. I believe she's gotten better at singing. I don't really know but apparently she's now using proper techniques. Which I suppose is great. Personally, however, I don't like it as much as the aforementioned era.

Sometimes I just wish she wouldn't stress so much her voice, like she's doing now.
Too much shouting and vibrato are going to damage her voice, like her high pitched voice in the ASFXX - I am.. era.

She should make more vocal training like for Why... imo. Maybe she will comeback to her stunning vocals of RAINBOW - GUILTY era.

I would love her voice to be the same as back then, cos that's when I like her. I dun mind her high pitched voice. It's actually quite soothing to my ears. haha.

Although her voice has became quite deep now but it's powerful and strong. No matter how it is, I'll still support and love her. Ayu's the only artiste where I'm most comfortable with her voice. Just that I prefer her young voice back then.