Ayu Schedule #9 [2008-2011] - TV Appearances, Magazines, etc.

[hidekirby]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

If you try singing Ayu's parts, I think you'll see what I mean.

I don't know... Its not something I just noticed, it has been some years. Maybe it's because she sounds lower, but there is still something missing to me...

[truehappiness]

At what point did you start noticing it? It would be interesting to compare performances side by side from now and the years you thought it was 'better'.

[relmy]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

But Ayu never lives up to people's incredibly high [and unreachable in most cases] expectations so sometimes people come out disappointed 99.9% of the time. It bugs to see people constantly say that Ayu isn't "up to par" with herself from whenever, but I think more often than not, it's that people are stuck in the past instead of looking towards the future.

But how is it stuck in the past to have high expectations of someone?

It is the quality of your past work that people use when judging what they expect your future releases to be like. If an artist released 3 albums you (plural) disliked, you wouldn't listen to their fourth, because you don't expect to like it. Or if someone released 2 albums you though were just "good" you wouldn't expect "great" from their 3rd. It also works with someone releasing 2 great and you expecting great again. People set standards.

I think I've said this before.

I think the reason most people consider "past Ayu" better is because we don't have to wait for the great songs. We can download an album, listen to it, and then move onto the next to find that "epic" track. Now we have to wait through singles etc... until Ayu releases that magic song. So it feels like disappointment, when in reality, when I myself look back at even my favourite Ayu albums, I think "wow, she released a lot of junk before making that magic". But it doesn't feel like disappointment, because I can just ignore the junk instead of having to wait for the next magic song.

It's why when people discover Ayu EVERYTHING is amazing, because you hop between albums, finding new songs, like with any new artist really. Then once you run out you just have to sit there and wait for that next magic song, not just have it ready and waiting to download.

Umm... major ot.

[truehappiness]

Well, from a vocal perspective, I think people look back on some eras and they remember her performances as much cleaner vocally and they 'sounded' better but I don't really think that was true for the most part. She did really well in like 2003-2005, I guess, but I recall always reading people's comments saying that her voice sounded 'off' for X performance during that period of time just as they do now.

[relmy]

That's true about anything, not just Ayu. When you enjoyed something, but seem to not enjoy it any longer, you don't say "it will improve", just "it was better, and isn't good now".

And specifically to Ayu, in my opinion, she did go downhill, for whatever reasons people attribute it to. The improvement has been more gradual though. I guess it all depends on which part of Ayu you enjoy the most, because while I think she's declined in some areas, she's improved in others and given new things for her fans to enjoy. But should the new things be at the sacrifice of the old? I don't know, I guess it depends on how you value what was lost and what was gained.

To use vocals as an example, 2003-2005 was good compared to 2006-2010. She's "good" now, but not at her (most widely regarded) highest standard. I think we have to accept that things like retraining your voice take time.

I think that's the problem though, part of Ayu's image is doing everything to the highest standard, so when, in a fan's eye, it isn't the highest standard, it's not good enough. It's a double edged sword really - of expectation, delivering quality... but not actually having a standard quality. Because in regards to music, quality is so subjective.

Like how Ayu calls everything "the best she's ever done" - I think her work ethic needs to be taken with the same pinch of salt as people take this comment. By that I don't mean she doesn't work hard, but that "highest standard" doesn't mean EVER, just what she's capable of at the time.

(Yes, I like writing long things)

[love in music]

Originally Posted by relmy

I think the reason most people consider "past Ayu" better is because we don't have to wait for the great songs. We can download an album, listen to it, and then move onto the next to find that "epic" track. Now we have to wait through singles etc... until Ayu releases that magic song. So it feels like disappointment, when in reality, when I myself look back at even my favourite Ayu albums, I think "wow, she released a lot of junk before making that magic". But it doesn't feel like disappointment, because I can just ignore the junk instead of having to wait for the next magic song.

It's why when people discover Ayu EVERYTHING is amazing, because you hop between albums, finding new songs, like with any new artist really. Then once you run out you just have to sit there and wait for that next magic song, not just have it ready and waiting to download.

Umm... major ot.

Yeah while this is OT ia with you and noticed the same but I notice a lot of people that prefer old ayu claim that they loved every single song up until a certain album (usually it's GUILTY or NL). To each their own but I myself really can't understand how people can love every.single.song on her pre-2009 albums and go on about how the quality of everything was just so much better than it is now. Like come on now. If everything in the past was sooo much better then girlish would be > Sparkle and that's obv not the case.

[relmy]

^ Exactly, I would rate GUILTY as my least favourite Ayu album, but I'd take Together When... over the two LOVE ballads in a heartbeat. Sparkle is a great example, it's a great Ayu track but it would not fit anywhere in her old albums, and it's a great song, regardless of how I feel about everything else on the album.

It's not like the past was perfect, she's always had bland ballads or staple songs. Close to you is just as bland as Meaning of love (to pick a song that gets a lot of hate) for me.

That said, I do like her older albums more, but I'd rate Love Songs as one of my favourite too. I just disliked her recent albums because I didn't the style of rock she did, then she did midtempo for Love Songs, and it was all good again.

Okay, I'll stop talking so this doesn't go off topic anymore.

[hidekirby]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

At what point did you start noticing it? It would be interesting to compare performances side by side from now and the years you thought it was 'better'.

Well, her voice has gradually got worse since 2006-2007 imo. I think it was with the JEWEL lives (not sure though). But You were... performances made me really worried. Since then her voice sounds "flat" to me, as she couldn't properly sing. Like it was impossible for her to hit a lot of notes. Her voice is almost staying at the same "level" (sorry for my terrible lack of vocabulary...).
I don't get this feeling with the CDs though. Her voice can sound husky and strained but she is still singing like she used to (her voice has changed, but it's something normal).

edit : I'm not saying it is always the case. But it's been a while I was noticing it. This last performance made me think about it.

[njanjayrp]

Ah as much as I would love Ayu to sound the way she did during A BALLADS/Memorial address and MY STORY era after all these years I am used to her voice being both amazing and really bad. It's not like she is getting worse with each performance, she has her ups and downs like everyone else, though yeah her voice has generally been going downhill since 2005. Like myself, there are many people who've been fans since then and before and I got used to the way things are. I am not expecting major improvements, but I am happy when she nails the songs, especially the older ones.

[truehappiness]

I think some of that has to do with the ear issue she was dealing with at the time in mid-2007. I would say that her TV lives have always been rather "okayish" but 2007-2008 was probably a dark time for her vocals especially. Since that period of time though, I think she's been improving steadily except for the hiccup she had with You were... and evolution which she acknowledged herself. I'd still like to know wtf went on with that performance.

Just for some performance comparisons...

HANABI from 2002


No way to say from 2003


JEWEL from 2006


Love song from 2010


Life from 2011
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xht3po_life_music

I think at some point between 2003-2005, she stopped singing with that nasally voice that she developed at some point after 2001... and somehow that was her 'comfort zone' when it came to singing live? I wonder a lot about her vocal choices sometimes when I watch older performances like... why did she decide to start adding a-a-a-a-a-a--a-a-a to everything and how come she stopped using that nasal voice?

Sometimes it seems like she might not be warming up properly for TV lives so it sounds like she isn't getting enough breath in when she's performing. She doesn't really have this problem during her own concerts so it's a bit strange to me.

[njanjayrp]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

I think at some point between 2003-2005, she stopped singing with that nasally voice that she developed at some point after 2001... and somehow that was her 'comfort zone' when it came to singing live? I wonder a lot about her vocal choices sometimes when I watch older performances like... why did she decide to start adding a-a-a-a-a-a--a-a-a to everything and how come she stopped using that nasal voice?

Sometimes it seems like she might not be warming up properly for TV lives so it sounds like she isn't getting enough breath in when she's performing. She doesn't really have this problem during her own concerts so it's a bit strange to me.

I wonder about that too. The heavy vibrato wasn't present from the very beginning and it only started to be really obvious during the RAINBOW singles era, though I've noticed that she started "introducing" it even during her concerts during 2000/2001, but I guess it didn't get really that obvious until 2002. I think PECO and YOKO also affected Ayu's singing style as it was when they started singing as back vocals that Ayu started to occasionally sound like a man and then the WO WO WOOOO WUU WUUU WUUUs started. I am sick every time I hear those two butcher the end of a-nation 05's HANABI performance. They seriously give me the creeps ^^ and I wonder why she kicked the old back vocals? Even though they weren't perfect they could actually sing and not make Ayu sound worse than she would sound alone, unlike the two now.

[hidekirby]

I read on this forum that singing whith your nose was easier. That may be part of the problem she has recently. But for example, I wont say she has a nasal voice in this JEWEL live at all. She is singing the same way that she is now I think. She is off-pitch most of the time but I can't say that she sounds "flat". She modulates her voice a lot.
The love song perf is fine imo. She doesn't sound "flat" here but it seems she has to shout and exagerate her voice so as to hit the notes.
In the last MS live she is not shouting (not that much though) and she doesn't really hit the notes...
She has to struggle a lot so as to hit them (hence exaggerating/shouting). That is the impression I have.
I hope I'm clear. I'm having a bit of trouble explaining it. But i think the lives you posted are good examples.

I never thought her left ear took a great part in this issue. I may be wrong but she gradually became deaf. And when she went to the doctor she didn't think she was deaf. She just thought something had changed.

Originally Posted by njanjayrp

I think PECO and YOKO also affected Ayu's singing style as it was when they started singing as back vocals that Ayu started to occasionally sound like a man and then the WO WO WOOOO WUU WUUU WUUUs started. I am sick every time I hear those two butcher the end of a-nation 05's HANABI performance. They seriously give me the creeps ^^

Haha!

[truehappiness]

I think her slight deafness in her ear was always present after DOME TOUR 2001, but it eventually turned into complete deafness at some point in 2006-2007.

It would certainly explain why vocals got a bit wonky during that period of time.

[kagami]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

I think her slight deafness in her ear was always present after DOME TOUR 2001, but it eventually turned into complete deafness at some point in 2006-2007.

It would certainly explain why vocals got a bit wonky during that period of time.

I think her ear has everything to do with it. She can no longer hear herself properly so she pushes her voice out more....which has strained it. But she has improved since 2008, for sure. I thought she sounded pretty good during ANother song and Why...a bit strained still, but good.

But really, Ayu has never been a great live singer. I remember watching some lives from 2000-2001 and thinking her voice was absolutely awful. Easily as bad as her worst performances from recent years. And I for one am glad she's not doing the uber nasal thing anymore because it just doesn't sound good. Unless it's a cute song lol

[YUKARI]

I always thought her voice got worse because

a. she does too many lives, she overloads her voice and doesn't soothe it properly.

b. she screams too much at her tours, this actually damages the voice a lot.

c. she smokes. I suspect ayu to be a smoker, since there was some paparazzi photo taken in night-club where ayu was partying with her staff. on the photo she was smoking, I remember she then even apologized for such a bad photo. I think it was 5-7 years ago.

d. the Miniere disease, which led her to deafness. of course, it's difficult to sing if you can't hear yourself.

these are my suppositions

[TeamAyu2004]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

Since that period of time though, I think she's been improving steadily except for the hiccup she had with You were... and evolution which she acknowledged herself. I'd still like to know wtf went on with that performance.

Can I ask what performance you are talking about???

[RayJason]

I think that she keeps improving with her voice, I like how she sounds in the first part of progress. I always thought that she sounded bad in the begin, with poker face, kanariya etc. And I never knew that ayu smoked O.o

[brener]

im not sure but i doubt ayu smoke >>"

[Yoake]

I think she stopped smoking some years ago when she see that her voice changed! Now, she did a lot of thing to protect it!

[Corvina]

Originally Posted by adantatu2

AyuGAME is right !!
the uploader makes the voice higher, you must watch the performance in youku

Yeah, I watched both performances on youku, cause they were posted on JPC.

I just want to enjoy her live performances. I'm not a pro, I don't know anything about technical being a singer, but Ayu doesn't capture me often with her voice recently or the past years. Don't know, maybe "flat" is a right word. It's just a personal opinion though.
And I think it's good that I still have some expectations with Ayu, cause that means I didn't lose hope that she can do better!