Ayu's vocal this year...

[ohsixthirty]

i just watched the mirrorcle world/surreal performances from cdtv that some of you were mentioning as being vocally off...but honestly i didn't find them to be that bad at all. she doesn't quite make some of the high notes in surreal, true, but overall i thought the performances were pretty good. they are very consistent with most of her past performances.

now, if you want to hear some bad vocals...check out some of her lives of carols. those were bad bad bad.

[emi♡]

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 ^^

Even she didn't do so many TV performances, but from all the clips of her AT08 and recent lives, or even last MW lives in March...we can clearly listened to ayu's downgrade vocal....why so sudden? I mean her voice going worse and worse since last year (last year was still acceptable)

Let's not argue about how hard to sing Mirrorcle World (and other songs), those HER songs, she should tackle it herself well...she knows her song... whether lower down the tunes or whatsoever...it's her problem...but the problem is her voice...cmon...it's just 10years...I like her voice being mature now but she's almost sounds like forcing her voice out...then kept shorten the beats...(eg: listen to MW when she sings the part 'ima no konna mirai o.....darou-'KA') its not good as she force the part too hard...then Marionette performance...she sounds like out of breath or can't even scream...(e.g : 'ikiru -ta-me-')...

I hope you understand what I'm going to discuss...ayu still has the feel when she sings but she totally lost her vocal...I thought 10th anniversary supposed to be something nice

...


Poor Ayu. She's already OCD about how good her performances are, and then people have to go and criticize every little note. My god, just enjoy the performance.

When I started listening to her, I made the decision that her vocals didn't matter so much to me, because to me, they are drowned out by the awesomeness of her compositions, and the feelings in her songs.

She has not changed. Her vocals have always been edgy and bad at times, but now I don't think it's enough to say that she's totally "lost her vocal" and that she's disappointing because she can't hit certain notes...I think her accomplishments this year far outweigh however bad her vocals might be.

But whatever, that's just me.

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by touchedstar

now, if you want to hear some bad vocals...check out some of her lives of carols. those were bad bad bad.

lol. And I think Carols was one of her most consistently performed songs. The high note was always iffy, but the rest of the song was always very well performed.

Originally Posted by ImpactBreaker

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.

Yeah, it first started during her very first tour in 2000 (I believe she had an ear infection then?) and then got worse during the Dome Tour 01. It seems from 01-to early 06 her hearing was at least half gone in that ear by then (she said in 2004 she can't hear through the telephone in that ear), so it seems she did find a way to work around that handicap then in her live performances. It was then in 2006 sometime that it apparently went completely or almost completely and her lives suffered more from then on, but still they were at least better than this year. I'm basing this not just on the tv performances, but when I saw her live in June in comparison to the other times that I've seen her live. Which makes me think there is something else as well. Bottom line though, she needs to hire a specialist in both vocals and hearing and figure out how she can best work with the handicap she has. She also either needs to a) quit smoking (if indeed she does still smoke) and/or b) get her stamina and fitness back up so that she does not appear short of breath after only singing a song or two.

Originally Posted by SolarAngel

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.

2001 was a difficult time for her. Some of her tv performances from that period are all right, but overall I would say it is one of her worst years, after this one. I imagine its because this was during the time that the first major loss to her hearing occurred. That carried over into some of the performances of 2002 as well, but then by the end of 2002 and 2003 came and suddenly BAM, her vocals were very different and so much better. It seems obvious that she sought help to fix her singing then and it worked wonders really.

Originally Posted by 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 did see those concerts and her vocals were great at that time. They still did editing on the dvd, but there was no drastic difference between her performance and what was on the dvd. I do feel that she really was a great singer from 03-05 and even before that, I still enjoyed her live voice immensely. Even though a lot of people have problems with her high voice, for me I have no preference whether she sings high or low just as long as it is sung well. She sings low now, but doesn't sing well. She sang high and squeaky before, but arguably sang better technique wise. (her a song for album performances were especially smooth)

Originally Posted by InoriNoUta

>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.

Huh? I'm not sure why you are getting defensive. I thought this was a discussion thread where we would actually discuss our opinions. Otherwise it's just "she sings good" "she sings bad" and then whats the point in that? Either you want to discuss the issues or you don't, but at least be prepared for people to ask you about your opinion when you come into a thread that is meant for discussion. There is really no reason for you to be seemingly getting offended by me asking you why you think her vocals are good now.

[ohsixthirty]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

lol. And I think Carols was one of her most consistently performed songs. The high note was always iffy, but the rest of the song was always very well performed.

sometimes it was good...but i remember the first few times she sang it, i forgot on which shows, but i remember the notes were pretty off key. i also remember a performance of seasons around the same time that had the same problem.

i agree with emiko though...i don't mind if ayumi's vocals are sometimes weak when she performs live. she more than makes up for it in other ways.

[taskinillusion]

Her voice has definitely changed over the years.... but her lives seems to always be a hit or miss, but really, isn't that the way lives go? It IS LIVE afterall.... :/ I don't know, I really think she just needs to take a break from touring/singing so much.

[hiroshi_ben]

i think she sounded perfect in surreal!just a bit off in some "mini" parts...but tt doesnt matter...as long as ayu still can continue to sing with her current vocal i'll be happy!

[Bad Wolf]

There is really no reason for you to be seemingly getting offended by me asking you why you think her vocals are good now.

I'm not getting offended. I was commenting that I don't mind if you aren't convinced because I wasn't trying to convince you in the first place.

[PrincessAyu]

I saw the SURREAL and Mirrorcle World live... well she just can't sing like before anymore, and I think it's amazing she carries on despite her ear problem and everything, but I personally don't like the way she sounds atm but I can understand other people prefer this voice to her 2003 or so voice.

[luna7996]

The only thing that I don't like about her lives lately is the fact that she seems to be screamming a lot more than singing.I've notice that a lot on her live performances of Mirrorcle World.Maybe is just me thought.I think she would sound better if she calm down a little bit.For example a heard a lot of people comment that her acapella performances during this year Arena tour have been wonderful.Thats because if is acapella and there is no music everything is calmer and she doesn't feel the need to scream to be heard.But like I said before maybe is just me.

[SolarAngel]

^Lol! Erm i don't think she's overexcited, maybe just trying too hard, like forcing her voice out and stuff. Funny thing is for her later performances around 06 to present, i find her singing better when she uses a higher pitched voice compared to her lower pitched one. Around 03, she started using a lower pitch voice and it was fantastic. She also measured it with a higher pitched voice for some songs like fly high. Nowadays, the lower pitch voice doesn't seem to work for her. Like someone suggested, she may need a vocal trainer to help her get it back.

[Sundae]

I just finished watching the A-nation 08 performances and during Mirrocle World her voice does that fading away thing. I also don't think it's a matter of her being too excited. She's a vetern of the industry. She shouldn't be doing that. So it has to be something else. She was singing A Song For XX at ANation 08 and she sang that great. No trace of the fading away or that running out of breath sound. She sang Audience great. She sung those songs in a higher note than she sang Mirrocle World so maybe she does need a coach to make her sing those lower notes better. And again she sang July 1st better than Mirrocle World. Maybe it's a psychological thing? Those songs are older than Mirrocle World. Maybe something about that makes her sing it better.

[jbrat2219]

^ Maybe because she's sang those songs for years, but only sang Mirrorcle World for less than one.

-edit-

Just saw Mirrorcle World performance at a-nation... She sound fine other than that vibrato during the "oooh ha ha-haaaa"!!!

[ArchangelLegend]

I never thought Ayu's vocals are that great to begin with and so was never an issue with me. But everything else surrounding her pleases me so much more.

[Ayumi_lover]

Well I love her vocals at A-Nation 08! Yeah, her vocals isn't perfect as in studio tracks, but it is live. Changed not only her voice but her image. And I love Ayu in this year more than all other her years!! And also I mentioned that if Ayu sings song bad everybody is saying - oh! poor Ayu, she is bad live! And when she singing perfect someone always trying to say - she did lyp synch!!!
She just a human which can have problems with voice also. I don't know how to explain. Even shooting of MW PV wasn't good for her voice because there were really cold and she had open dress, etc. singing under the rain is not also good for her voice...

[jbrat2219]

After comparing her vocals from a-nation, CDTV and Hey! Hey! Hey!, I think she just had an off night during CDTV..... she was obviously in pain with her left ear and all, and her other two performances were stellar (considering her condition). I think she's getting better and better. And I also think another reason she performs Mirrorcle World so much is because it is a difficult song to sing and I think she's kind of trying to practice and practice and practice until she feels it's perfect. It's one thing to practice in rehersal, it's another to perform it live consistantly well. I think she's testing herself, broadening her abilities.

[se7entheaven]

^ YES !!!
Her Hey3x performance was LOVE ^^
IT WAS GREAT
she's back now ^^
glad she still can pull it ^^
That was like the best MW TV performance

[jbrat2219]

*_*; It really was amazing! Next is Music Station, right? I'm actually excited for it!

[Ayumi_lover]

WOW!! You like HEY!x3 perfomance??????
Is it possible?? She sounded like ill!!! Her voice wasn't as good as it was at CDTV!!!!

[emi♡]

^your use of punctuation marks is fascinating.

[jbrat2219]

Originally Posted by Ayumi_lover

WOW!! You like HEY!x3 perfomance??????
Is it possible?? She sounded like ill!!! Her voice wasn't as good as it was at CDTV!!!!

But at least she was on key lol