Ayu's vocal this year...

[SolarAngel]

2007 was a hit or miss for me, like the together when lives. Some were pretty bad but some were really pitch perfect. 2008 was dismaying. Like some of you had said, it sounds like she's forcing her voice out and it makes the song sound very choppy. When she sings lines where the notes go down, she almost always goes flat like MW chorus. Gives me the impression that she's not being careful with her pitching at all.

AT08, maybe the live tv quality was really bad i don't know. But from what i remember, the evolution performance was just horribly flat. Maybe she can't hear the music so well but that doesn't mean her singing was lovely. I know many of us sympathise with her losing her hearing and all that, but we've got to be honest as well. She's off pitch most of the time.

The CDTV live was the most horrendous for me. She was on tune some parts in MW but SURREAL, a song which she should be extremely familiar with, was sung so poorly. She managed to hit some high notes and the verse was quite decent but the bridge and chorus was a disaster to me. I place a lot of importance on pitch and phrasing. The phrasing part was definitely ok but her pitch was everywhere. The only saving grace i can mention is that at least for the bridge, though she sang in a different key, it was consistently in that key. It clashed too much with the background music though. And again with descending melody lines, she just goes flat.

The thing about her forced singing, actually it's easier to hit the note on the right pitch if you sing notes individually rather than linking them together. But it's not working for her. I know she's so disadvantaged in the sense that she can't hear in one ear anymore but the fact is her live singing is kind of awful. I am a choir director and i wouldn't let her join my choir the way she's singing now because she can't even pitch properly. And i don't mean one or two notes off. She's in a very competitive and professional industry. I feel she has to find a way to improve her singing fast. Otherwise, she really just have her recorded tracks to get her by and we know how easily that can be tweaked. She has to buck up and look inwardly for self-improvement instead of breathing down the necks of her stage directors, dancers etc.

[ImpactBreaker]

Originally Posted by GRACE

Hearing is essential for vocals, especially for a singer, OP had a lapse in logic saying to separate them

LOL tbh it almost felt like: "why is it that artist x can't dance well anymore? I mean, don't bring the fact that they have a broken leg, and are still struggling with pain there because it's not like that that is the issue and it won't do, I want another explanation."

I wouldn't put 100% of the blame in her hearing loss, but that it can definitely make her performances worse, well I personally think it does. We human beings, need back up from our sensory systems. We have to hear properly in order to know how can balance our vocals. People who go completely deaf after they learned to speak, can still articulate speech, but they definitely develop a problem in the tone of their speech. I personally don't know much about singers who have completely lost one of their hearing, but that it could probably interfere, well that's likely. The fact that she has had the hearing loss for years isn't enough justificative to say that in the past years she had the problem but could sing better. Well, it's clear that the problem has only gotten worse over the years, so it could actually explain why the vocals used to be good but have been getting worse lately. She might probably be developing some vocal faults/flaws/bad habits because of that.

[GRACE]

Maybe her hearing waxed and waned over the years? Some days she could hear better than others, maybe. So, for some performances, she could hear herself and as a result was able to make herself sound better, and then some days, more often, she wasn't and therefore couldn't completely judge where she was off and how to fix it.

At least she's trying right? I'm sure with the money she's had to have made by now she could easily retire and live a nice quiet life, but she's working at it, that's good enough for me and tbh, her vocals don't bother me that much at all, no matter how bad people keep describing them as.

[ImpactBreaker]

Originally Posted by GRACE

Maybe her hearing waxed and waned over the years? Some days she could hear better than others, maybe. So, for some performances, she could hear herself and as a result was able to make herself sound better, and then some days, more often, she wasn't and therefore couldn't completely judge where she was off and how to fix it.

By the reports, symptoms and how things progressed, even though there's honestly little data, it does seem like it wax and waned over the years until it completely became a deep permanent loss.

[jbrat2219]

Originally Posted by GRACE

At least she's trying right? I'm sure with the money she's had to have made by now she could easily retire and live a nice quiet life, but she's working at it, that's good enough for me and tbh, her vocals don't bother me that much at all, no matter how bad people keep describing them as.

I completely agree!

[ren0210989]

i agree that some of her recent performances were kinda bad. she is way too exhausted from the tour and stuff.
her ear problem has caused some downfall in her vocal abilities, but it's not all it's fault.

[prussian blue]

lol i dont think its only for THIS year.

when i heard CDL06-07 TV version (which isnt edited), oh my god, i really couldnt take it anymore! especially in the first note of evolution... it was so terrible, that i really need to shut it. but she really do it better in CDL07-08. her vocal might be a little off, but its still acceptbale (not to mention she cant follow the key of "boys and girls"). her past concert didnt sing too well too, (i'm talking about her TV version, DVD version is neglect cause she edi it) and for the a-nation'08 i dont think its that bad. she;s alittle bit exhausted in boys and girls, but i think its quite okay, or maybe good! MW was okay too. so for the conclusion, i think ayu is still maintain her own sound's personality, its good sometime, and its bad for sometimes too.

[majrakun]

Originally Posted by se7entheaven

I was just thinking about this and wanna discuss with you guys
Don't you guys think ayu's vocal this year is quite dissapointing? Despite the half deaf issues...Let's not talk and mention about that...this is about her vocal...not about being half deaf...ok ^^

How can we not discuss her worsening vocals without bringing up her hearing loss issue? Isn't that one of the essential reasons of her vocal downgrade among other factors? Besides, if she is still dealing with tinnitus like IB said, it's not easy to sing. Trust me. I have the buzzing in my ears for quite awhile now (although it's not as frequent right now) and it's pretty hard to concentrate on other things at the same time with the ringing. I guess same goes to Ayu.

Even with the monitor on, you could still hear the ringing and it's very disturbing. Maybe that's why she couldn't "balance out" (if that's the right way to put it) her high and low notes like she used to. She probably couldn't hear herself or the music properly too. It's a pity that she couldn't sing they way she used to, but hey, it's still tolerable, at least to me.

She hasn't given up on us fans, or else she would have retired by now, so we shouldn't give up on her yet!

[SolarAngel]

I think what se7entheaven meant was let's not debate whether her hearing loss caused her singing to deteriorate or not, but rather whether her singing has actually gotten worse and i've got to say it has. Maybe it'd be much better if she sang a capella most of the time. It's just so jarring, how her singing clashes against the key of the live instrumentals.

Then again, someone uploaded several 2001 live performances and ayu's pitch was even worse than the CDTV one 2 days ago. So you could say she always had problems pitching. It's really only those rare moments where i listen to a live performance and it's truly wonderful. Most of the times whenever i watch her perform live, i have this feeling of trepidation. At least one thing's cleared up. From prussian blue's post, i gather that evolution was not lip-synched for CDL06-07. They must have used a pre-recorded track for the DVD.

[PEARL]

i like 2003!!~
shes working too hard.
i want her to take a break. ><
go on a holiday or smth ayu!~~~
i also realise that shes getting out of breath easily
like she kena forced to sing .. bleh. .

[waterballoon]

I forgot to mention this earlier but, do remember that her ear has been having problems ever since 2001. And over the years, it just got worse and worse, until the ear has totally lost its function late last year/this year.

It's not like she suddenly lost her hearing or anything, so I think her ear has been affecting her performance over the years... Perhaps that would help justify her a little?

Also, I think she has definitely changed in her tone of her voice. From a squeaky tone to a more throaty and soulful tone, which is definitely enjoyable.

I don't even know if age has anything to do with range pitching, especially since Peco looks like she's 50 and she can still hit her high notes... Hmm.

In any case, I think her earlier days as in ASFXX/LOVEppears/Duty's vocals were not really forced. But perhaps they're a little out of her ranger, or vocals that required her to move out of her comfort zone. Something like when a male singer uses his falsetto. Not forced per se, but I guess it's still pretty bad on her.

But again, if the super high notes were not in her comfort zone, then I wouldn't mind an explanation of just why would she compose songs for herself to sing that has notes that are out of her comfort zone (Endless sorrow, UNITE!, refrains of Dearest and M)...

Still, despite whatever that has happened, despite even if she sounds 'bad' now or whatever. I still think she's great. I downloaded the TV version of CDL 07-08 actually so I could hear for myself what her voice REALLY sounds like without avex's magic editing skills. They were indeed bad. SURREAL, in particular, was so off-tune.

But, hey, look at this year. Watch and listen the AT 08 clips, watch and listen to the a-nation '08 clips. How has she not improved from the end of 2007 to 2008? She's really trying hard to be as pitch-perfect as possible by just using one ear, and come on, it's far from easy. Like give her some credit for trying at least.

To support my statement above, if you have watched the live performances of Mirrorcle World in March. It's really bad. The last notes of every line was off-tune. But come AT 08, and her Mirrorcle World sounded SO MUCH BETTER. I could really tell that she has improved!

So, now, I would just say, I love her vocals.

[se7entheaven]

I agree with SolarAngel
sometimes i watched her singing and I'm just bored coz the way she sings...esp TV Lives...if DVD I know it's edited

[SolarAngel]

I do feel a little deceived in a sense. When i was a new ayu fan and listened to concerts like My Story, i really thought she was a fantastic live singer. Who knows maybe she did sing great in those concerts but i never thought that her singing could be edited so much in the DVD. But from the little i gleaned from the AT08 clip, it does look quite promising. Really looking forward to the DVD release =)

I also agree that her change from squeaky voice to a deeper 'from the stomach' voice is a nice change. Usually high notes sound a lot better when sung using a low pitched voice. I feel one of the best examples would be WHATEVER performed in her 2000 concerts compared to the performance in CDL04-05. She really owned that song then. I didn't even know the song then but her performance made me fall in love with it. Then i heard the album track and... meh. Give me her live anytime.

[lfe.]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

I don't even know if age has anything to do with range pitching, especially since Peco looks like she's 50 and she can still hit her high notes... Hmm.

I love your entire post. I think every point you made has some truth to it and makes sense.

Most of all, I love how you incorporate a Peco-age joke into your argument. I had to take a breather before finishing reading

[waterballoon]

^ Why thank you! Peco, despite being a total epic fail at harmonizing with Ayu, still impresses me - somewhat, with her vocal range.

Oh I forgot to mention about the vocals in her first three albums... Like someone mentioned that she sounded lower in her pre-avex days or something. Well, wasn't NOTHING FROM NOTHING like... hip-hop? Okay, honestly which hip-hop artiste in the world actually raps with a high, squeaky voice. I think that was so oxymoron... I wouldn't be expecting Ayu to be rapping her LIMIT or whatever songs from that era in her LOVEppears voice.

So I would say that she's not "forcing" herself to be super squeaky in the first three albums... it was probably really her original vocal range. And I still don't get why she composed UNITE! and Endless sorrow in such a high pitch if her voice doesn't belong to that range. She wouldn't be trying to kill herself, would she? Unless D.A.I wants to screw her over because they're too jealous of her when they composed Dearest (and the rest of her songs in the early days)...

[music_*]

I think, sometimes we tend to forget that she's only human.

[keikeiaznqueen]

Yes, her voice is different. She does go out of breath more often. Sometimes, the notes are cut short abruptly and sound choppy. (I think even in the Who... 10th anniversary version, there was a problem. There was a clip that was made and shared here that merged Who... from 2000 and Who... now together and clearly, Ayu elongated her notes more before and she does now.)

It was pretty clear in pretty much all of her Together When... performances that she struggled to sing the song without sounding a bit like she's going out of breath (except for the performance during CDL07-08 which was the best one.) Even during the JEWEL era there were similar problems but to a lesser extent. (I loved her surprised x'mas live performance of JEWEL.)

Ayu does sing better in songs like Talkin' 2 Myself, Decision and even A Song for XX (in a lower key) though.

I remember in an interview about Ayu's album, Secret, Ayu said that while she recorded until that Day... or Startin' (I think it was Startin') she started singing in a different way, and she discovered a new way of singing that she never knew her vocals could achieve? Like, it became more powerful all of a sudden and she didn't know she could do that. I think during Talkin' 2 Myself and so, she was trying to continue using those vocals too? Maybe that's why her vocals "changed", because her way of singing changed. (But so did her voice, in a few ways.)

I mean, it's like how Ayu's voice shifted from the A BEST/I am... style to the RAINBOW style. Her RAINBOW/MY STORY/(miss) understood vocals definitely had the most control and quality. (And also Secret to an extent I think, judging from her lives in that era which weren't too bad.)

However, I have to mention that, when Ayu sang Who... as an ACAPELLA during the 6/29 AT2008 concert, her vocals there were PERFECT. I was surprised for a moment because she didn't sound like the way she did in say, Mirrorcle World, or, maybe HANABI (where her voice was too loud and rough for the music and song, same goes for Voyage, as her vocals when she recorded she songs were smoother and more calming.)

So maybe it's when the music comes in that causes the problem, which leads to the topic of Ayu's hearing again. I won't go into that.

The other factors are of course just strain and perhaps habits...? (Possible smoking and drinking... oh, what about lack of sleep and rest in general? Stress?)

[music_*]

^ Lack of sleep and stress? I say yes. I watched the video of when Ayu arrived in Hong Kong and the media was mobbing her and she said something about not sleeping since yesterday(?).
She really needs a good rest.

[SolarAngel]

Originally Posted by keikeiaznqueen

Ayu elongated her notes more before and she does now.

(I loved her surprised x'mas live performance of JEWEL.)

Ayu does sing better in songs like Talkin' 2 Myself, Decision and even A Song for XX (in a lower key) though.

I remember in an interview about Ayu's album, Secret, Ayu said that while she recorded until that Day... or Startin' (I think it was Startin') she started singing in a different way, and she discovered a new way of singing that she never knew her vocals could achieve? Like, it became more powerful all of a sudden and she didn't know she could do that. I think during Talkin' 2 Myself and so, she was trying to continue using those vocals too? Maybe that's why her vocals "changed", because her way of singing changed. (But so did her voice, in a few ways.)

Very true like independence. For CDL07-08, the lines in the chorus were cut off too abruptly. That particular performance of JEWEL was excellent. I watched the kuohaku one before that and i thought it was a song ayu just couldn't pull off than i watched the christmas live. One of those precious few moments she actually gets it right.

For Startin', it seemed that the song needed to be recorded in a different way which she found a challenge but i always felt she excelled in that song. She's good with BLUE BIRD too. Funny thing is, i feel she does better in songs that are hard to sing in tune like inspire and CAROLS but songs which i expected to be relatively easy enough she goes off.

[Bad Wolf]

>maybe I could see your side of it more.

I don't care if you see my side of it more... O_o Honestly, I don't care that you feel the way you do and that it opposes how I feel. Believe and think what you want, what harm is it to me? You're the one who seems to be pressing me to give YOU some proof or answers and I really don't understand why since I'm not trying to push you or convince me otherwise.

Fast forward to 2000, when her voice was making a notable shift that it's still seemingly continuing in. Wasn't it around 2000 when she started having problems with her ear? Her ear's been degrading since around that time, right? Well, I wonder why her vocals are changing so drastically as she kept becoming more and more deaf >.>... Has anyone actually gone back and watched her in her old concerts after learning about her ear? Anyone else notice her constant need to adjust her ear pieces, and the occasionally hand to the ear accompanied by pained expression on face?

Yeah.

This.