Japanese Media Addresses Ayu's Voice

[y_nathz]

Ayu, it's good that you realized that you need vocal trainings
I still can listen to your current voice but your voice from 2003 was waaayyyyy better

[ren'ai]

I really hope this is a wake up call for her. I haven't read the other posts but for me, her live voice recently, this past 2 years say, have been good at some points and terrible at others. So I know she CAN make get better if she tries.

[AyUmIXx]

let's get our hope high that she can be better!
can't wait for her next release!

[LacusClyne]

this is sad.....i really want ayu to rest and train her voice better...

i end up writing int he fan book, asking her to take a 2 or 3 months break too...

[panda87]

her voice has been changing. i've noticed her voice getting that strained sound since Secret. it's just not the same. i totally agree on the point that she needs to go on a hiatus, really, and retrain her voice. i feel a struggle whenever i hear her sing. her voice continues to change and she definitely can't sing her older songs with such that effortless sound anymore. it's been bothering me for the past few years and i never really addressed it into a real discussion, but here it is, before me, in the news... she needs vocal rehab/healing. even her studio recording songs, i hear the strain and increased raspy sound to her voice. i feel bad for her and wish her all the best.

[haikudasai]

Can someone please provide videos for this performances?

I haven't seen them but I've been saying for years that she needs to retrain her vocals because a lot of times she's yelling where she used to belt (which she's never been a particularly good belter).

I wonder what her warm up routine is.

10 years solid, she needs a break. No one's voice can handle that much usage... I wouldn't be surprised if her vocal chords dont have some sort of scar tissue formed.

[foxhana]

I thikn you can getthem in youtube. her kohaku etc. search for them. they are in good quality. I saw them some time ago, i'm not sure if they are stil lthere.

she's yelling because she cannot hear her own voice.. I hope her other ear holds up.

[truehappiness]

I'm watching the AT08 a cappellas and they're so fantastic. It's kind of weird how her voice was pretty fine in 2008 and then 2009 rolls around with the longer-than-usual tour, and she's back to where she was before AT08.

A similar change should be expected by the time AT10 starts, I think...

[haikudasai]

I saw the Music Fair Boys & Girls lol ... girl she needs to take a break. That was bad.

[jbrat2219]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

I'm watching the AT08 a cappellas and they're so fantastic. It's kind of weird how her voice was pretty fine in 2008 and then 2009 rolls around with the longer-than-usual tour, and she's back to where she was before AT08.

A similar change should be expected by the time AT10 starts, I think...

It was acapella, she could hear herself. She sounds perfectly fine when she can hear herself.

[truehappiness]

Some fans think otherwise, in my opinion.

I think they're a nice gauge of where she is vocally though. More people need to see them.

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

I'm watching the AT08 a cappellas and they're so fantastic. It's kind of weird how her voice was pretty fine in 2008 and then 2009 rolls around with the longer-than-usual tour, and she's back to where she was before AT08.

A similar change should be expected by the time AT10 starts, I think...

^ Honestly, the accapella's were the only time I thought her voice was good last year. Otherwise, most of her tv performances were all over the place. Days performances weren't too bad but I think its because that song was recorded with such a vocal staccatoish style to begin with.

[alterna88]

personally, I like her mature voice... I kinda didn't like her eary songs as much... I'm sorry... I just didn't like that high pitched "singing", I much prefer her rock style as it is now... though I have to admit after Secret, her albums kinda go down... Yet again, I really like Next level!!! I hope her next one will be good!! So I'm in the middle here... I think she just needs some rest... you know... its the same in art, when you are making masterpiece after masterpiece, eventually you'll get an artblock... she needs to take a break for some time and not sing at all!! I mean public appearences, after that her voice will burst out like crazy!!! Plus I think that a break will do good to her health as well!!! She is just tired...

Though, knowing her, she will not be able to go without singing and having fun for long... that is why she is working non-stop... she loves it...

[njanjayrp]

^ the problem might be with the loud instruments and the all-over the place performances, as the a capellas pretty much proved to me that she can still sing really well.

[Tony G]

How is the AT08 DVD any indication of how good her voice was at that time? Everyone knows her vocals are edited to sound better.

Also, the article brings up the Kouhaku '09 performance, which I think was one of her best vocal performances of last year. She sang Rule there almost perfectly.

I like her mature voice too, which I think started to come out after she released M. But her vocals to me were fantastic until CDL 07-08 when the ear deafness news came out. I was talking about this in the other thread - I think she became completly deaf in that ear around that time. Because her vocals just went downhill so FAST. There's no way her vocals could have been affected that much in such a short time because her 2007 TV lives were of a pretty good standard.

So the CDL 07-08 TV live was pretty bad to me, possibly worse than 09-10. Her Mirrorcle World performances suffered too - clearly she was still not used to singing without having hearing in one ear. Then during the A COMPLETE lives her voice seemed to have improved - signs of training to get used to singing with a deaf ear. Plus she had practice singing Mirrorcle World during AT08 so it sounded a lot better in the later lives in 2008.

Days lives weren't bad.

Hardly any TV lives during NEXT LEVEL. The one live she did (Rule @ Music Station) wasn't bad.

AT09 edited, so we can't really tell from that how her vocals were. Didn't read many reports about them being shockingly bad.

You were... lives, not that great. Possibly because song is hard to sing. Shocking Evolution performance at Best Artist.

She improved with every You Were... live.

CDL 09-10 quite bad, no editing.

So her vocals have fluctuated over the last 2 years since the deaf ear became public. Is her hectic schedule affecting her voice? Yes, last year and this year is the most tour dates she's ever done, but there are a lot less TV lives. Can training fix her voice? I don't think so. She's been a singer for over 10 years. She knows how to use her voice, and I think she's adjusted to singing with a deaf ear. Is it always going to sound great? No. Is it going to sound like she did in the past? Probably never. Is a hiatus going to help? No. Of course if she sings less she will sound better at the start, but once she goes back into touring the same problems will arise, IF her voice sounds bad because of her hectic schedule.

Really, everyone here can only guess why her voice has gone downhill. To me, it's her ear. You can pinpoint it to the vocal decline from CDL 07-08. She can't hear herself properly anymore and therefore she's off-tune and off-key a lot. Telling someone who has sung all her life to get "vocal lessons".. is it really that simple?

And anyone who thinks that "she's always had problems with her ear" - having "problems" and being completly deaf are two very seperate things.

[truehappiness]

How is the AT08 DVD any indication of how good her voice was at that time? Everyone knows her vocals are edited to sound better.

I don't believe the a cappellas were edited all that much... at least compared to the main concert footage. I remember people saying they were good live, anyway. Of course the DVDs are edited, but I don't think the extra footage is all that heavily edited in terms of the audio we hear...

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by Tony G

How is the AT08 DVD any indication of how good her voice was at that time? Everyone knows her vocals are edited to sound better.

Also, the article brings up the Kouhaku '09 performance, which I think was one of her best vocal performances of last year. She sang Rule there almost perfectly.

I like her mature voice too, which I think started to come out after she released M. But her vocals to me were fantastic until CDL 07-08 when the ear deafness news came out. I was talking about this in the other thread - I think she became completly deaf in that ear around that time. Because her vocals just went downhill so FAST. There's no way her vocals could have been affected that much in such a short time because her 2007 TV lives were of a pretty good standard.

So the CDL 07-08 TV live was pretty bad to me, possibly worse than 09-10. Her Mirrorcle World performances suffered too - clearly she was still not used to singing without having hearing in one ear. Then during the A COMPLETE lives her voice seemed to have improved - signs of training to get used to singing with a deaf ear. Plus she had practice singing Mirrorcle World during AT08 so it sounded a lot better in the later lives in 2008.

Days lives weren't bad.

Hardly any TV lives during NEXT LEVEL. The one live she did (Rule @ Music Station) wasn't bad.

AT09 edited, so we can't really tell from that how her vocals were. Didn't read many reports about them being shockingly bad.

You were... lives, not that great. Possibly because song is hard to sing. Shocking Evolution performance at Best Artist.

She improved with every You Were... live.

CDL 09-10 quite bad, no editing.

So her vocals have fluctuated over the last 2 years since the deaf ear became public. Is her hectic schedule affecting her voice? Yes, last year and this year is the most tour dates she's ever done, but there are a lot less TV lives. Can training fix her voice? I don't think so. She's been a singer for over 10 years. She knows how to use her voice, and I think she's adjusted to singing with a deaf ear. Is it always going to sound great? No. Is it going to sound like she did in the past? Probably never. Is a hiatus going to help? No. Of course if she sings less she will sound better at the start, but once she goes back into touring the same problems will arise, IF her voice sounds bad because of her hectic schedule.

Really, everyone here can only guess why her voice has gone downhill. To me, it's her ear. You can pinpoint it to the vocal decline from CDL 07-08. She can't hear herself properly anymore and therefore she's off-tune and off-key a lot. Telling someone who has sung all her life to get "vocal lessons".. is it really that simple?

And anyone who thinks that "she's always had problems with her ear" - having "problems" and being completly deaf are two very seperate things.

She said once on TA Blog that she was practicing to record the 10th anniversary verions, and was happy cuz she reached some notes she didn't in a while... The interesting point about it is that some people around here talks like she never had vocal training since 2001 or something, while that comment she made on 2008 makes it clear that (like any other live performer) she is having vocal training everytime... She never comments about relaxing on her blog, so, people around here thinks she sleeps 3 hours every night and work everyday... she never comments about vocal training, so, people around here thinks she never has it... etc

[alterna88]

I just think it soooo rude of them to write a mean article like that!! She is trying her best you know... most of the singers would break after having problems she had, especially with her ear problems!! And she is still going full strength!!! And I think Arena tour 09 proved it!! To what I've seen she 's put a superb show there!!! That proves to me she is still able to sing no mater what!! She is a pro after all!!! I think the Guilty album time was THE most difficult for her, the Countdown and the tour... She'll be fine now!! =)

[Crystal_Ageha]

Originally Posted by Tony G

...Telling someone who has sung all her life to get "vocal lessons".. is it really that simple?

And anyone who thinks that "she's always had problems with her ear" - having "problems" and being completly deaf are two very seperate things.

You're right, it's not that simple. Even for an amazing singer with perfect hearing, if, say, she were having trouble with her range because of incorrectly using her muscles, she would have developed a bad habit that affected her. So even though she may be perfect in every other aspect, it will still take some work to fix her bad habit.
As I'm sure you all know, habits aren't usually easy to break. It's the same with singing wrong and needed to learn to sing a different way. And for Ayumi, it will be even harder than my example there. She is completely deaf in one ear. This will forever affect her, and never again will she be able to sing the exact way she used to before she was completely deaf (just like I'm sure she had to get used to losing more and more of her hearing). Even if she starts to sound like she did five years ago, somehow, she won't actually be singing the same, because she's lost her hearing since then. She needs to learn to focus the hearing in her "good" ear, yet still keep her sense of balance. And along the way, she'll need to fine tune pitch naturally because she can't fully hear...etc., etc.
But with hard work and dedication, it is possible. We just need to give her plenty of time. Because not only does she need to break a few habits and learn to sing correctly with only half of her hearing, but she also needs to heal her voice...


And I'm glad you pointed out that starting to lose your hearing and actually being DEAF are, in fact, two very different things. If it's hard to understand that, just think of losing part of anything else, compared to losing it all (like, for example, being able to use four of your fingers on one hand, and then, for whatever reason, not be able to use any of that hand....very different, lol :\).

[truehappiness]

And as a side note to what Crystal Ageha has said, yes, there are singers who are half deaf as well (Elliot Yamin and so on) but I think that Ayu's had much less time to deal with the condition. (<2 years as opposed to someone having it since childhood being able to "sing well" with a deaf ear)