New single 'Dreamed a Dream' by Tetsuya Komuro out July 31st, 2020

[*Petit*]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

He seems to share the job with Naoki lately, but for a while Koji Morimoto was absent for albums like A ONE and LOVE again but then they split sixxxxxx.

Party Queen I think also suffered from being mixed by so many different people that the sound was a bit inconsistent.

However for Dreamed a Dream, I feel like the song is handled better than most of the "worst" mixes from the 2012-2015 era. It's also been a long time since we had a song like this as well aside from maybe We are the QUEENS but even that was quite some time ago!

The first song I remember listening to thinking the mixing was worse than before is Talkin' 2 myself, where it sounds like a "wall of noise" during the chorus. But I think one of her worst song in terms of mixing is Tell all. I love that song, but it doesn't sound like it went through compression before being released. It's really rough around the edges in other ways too though. Another song that I can remember off the top of my head that has issues is Mirrorcle world.

If I had to make a guess as to what the issue might be... I think it could maybe a be a money, time and scheduling issue? Something changed entirely in the way ayu released music after (miss) understood, going from a regular pre-set schedule every year with 3 singles and an album to random releases, as well as a greater focus on live performances. The industry was and is under pressure making less money, people started listening to LQ digital tracks instead of CD... I'm sure they'd made some difficult priorities. Also Ayu seems to sometimes make last minute changes, which might be more difficult to handle when there's no regular release schedule anymore.
Mixing takes a lot of time, especially when you have many elements in a song like in most Ayu tracks.


If you'd like to hear another example of sub par mixing, head of to my instagram where I posted a rock mix of Dreamed a Dream...

[Chibi-Chan]

Originally Posted by *Petit*

The first song I remember listening to thinking the mixing was worse than before is Talkin' 2 myself, where it sounds like a "wall of noise" during the chorus. But I think one of her worst song in terms of mixing is Tell all. I love that song, but it doesn't sound like it went through compression before being released. It's really rough around the edges in other ways too though. Another song that I can remember off the top of my head that has issues is Mirrorcle world.

If I had to make a guess as to what the issue might be... I think it could maybe a be a money, time and scheduling issue? Something changed entirely in the way ayu released music after (miss) understood, going from a regular pre-set schedule every year with 3 singles and an album to random releases, as well as a greater focus on live performances. The industry was and is under pressure making less money, people started listening to LQ digital tracks instead of CD... I'm sure they'd made some difficult priorities. Also Ayu seems to sometimes make last minute changes, which might be more difficult to handle when there's no regular release schedule anymore.
Mixing takes a lot of time, especially when you have many elements in a song like in most Ayu tracks.


If you'd like to hear another example of sub par mixing, head of to my instagram where I posted a rock mix of Dreamed a Dream...

I agree. It really started after (miss)understood. It wasn't too bad in talkin' 2 myself and I'm still able to ignore it here. But even though I loved Mirror and was so excited for Mirrorcle World, I always found it way too noisy and I barely listen to it. It annoys the hell out of me. Same goes for Tell All. What really bothers me with those two as well as now with Dreamed a Dream: They could have been so damn great. They have exactly the kind of J-Pop sound I usually fall for. But they are all so noisy I avoid listening to them. It's a shame.

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by Chibi-Chan

I agree. It really started after (miss)understood. It wasn't too bad in talkin' 2 myself and I'm still able to ignore it here. But even though I loved Mirror and was so excited for Mirrorcle World, I always found it way too noisy and I barely listen to it. It annoys the hell out of me. Same goes for Tell All. What really bothers me with those two as well as now with Dreamed a Dream: They could have been so damn great. They have exactly the kind of J-Pop sound I usually fall for. But they are all so noisy I avoid listening to them. It's a shame.

I tend to not think of it as going back quite that far, but maybe you guys are right. I remember the first track that it really screamed out to me was Party Queen itself. It was just soooo flat. And that continued for the next few albums. Then I thought Made in Japan got a lot better. Then it got worse again. Really, really weird. I also agree with truehappiness that this at least doesn't sound as bad as the Party Queen/Love Again era.

[summerain]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

I tend to not think of it as going back quite that far, but maybe you guys are right. I remember the first track that it really screamed out to me was Party Queen itself. It was just soooo flat. And that continued for the next few albums. Then I thought Made in Japan got a lot better. Then it got worse again. Really, really weird. I also agree with truehappiness that this at least doesn't sound as bad as the Party Queen/Love Again era.

In the case of "Party queen" specific track, it's clear for me it was intentional. The whole atmosphere of the song is build to emphasize the feeling of "void" the album wants to imply. That "rose-coloured" and "golden" vibes are awkward and totally fake and that's why I really like that "emptiness" of the arrangement.

The mixing of the album isn't superb, of course, but in terms of artistic choice, I think I get what she was trying to convey with that album-opener track. It's like when you're so drunk (or high lol) that the sounds around us are getting blurred and empty, representing the sadness within her at the moment, even if she was partying hard.