Ayu's peak vocals?

[Ayufan11]

Hi there,

Do we know if Ayu ever had any vocal training? Also, when would you say she was at her vocal peak?

[Aderianu]

Last time ayu mentioned taking lessons was somewhere near You & Me release, or maybe at 2014. She lived in US and went to famous American vocal trainer, who also work with Chester Bennington, but I don't remember her name

[Chris85]

Yes, she talked about that vocal coach in 2014, that the coach told her that she was singing wrong and also that she didn't explain much. Then we had a successful Last Minute TV performance. Maybe as a result her pitch was pretty good during CDL 2014-2015, but unfortunately the coach didn't teach her how to stop screaming.

[visionfactory]

For BLUE BIRD single she posted "This time in the recording I'm being adviced for the first time by a singing teacher"

The singing teacher paid off as BLUE BIRD was one of her latest big hits

[Ayufan11]

Thanks guys

I got her Cirque bluray which should probably showcase her better vocals. I remember "Duty" being really good.

[Sim']

IMO, she sounded the best between 2002 and 2006, but her vocal peak was definitely (for me at least) during her A BALLADS - Memorial address days in 2003 : crystal-clear voice and perfectly controlled vibrato. Watch the Haru yo koi cover and you'll understand.

Everything before 2002 is too high-pitched/nasal for me, and something just went wrong when she came back from her "break"/eye infection to promote Secret (it was all fine until BLUE BIRD, but then her first JEWEL TV promos were, for me, the start of a long vocal downhill until now... just my opinion)

[Chris85]

Originally Posted by Sim'

Watch the Haru yo koi cover and you'll understand.

Yes, it was one of her best performances ever. However during the same show she sang another song, A Song is Born I think?, and it was terrible, because it was out of her range. A lot of her songs are too high for her, she's doing so much better when she can sing within her comfortable range.

Originally Posted by Sim'

but then her first JEWEL TV promos were, for me, the start of a long vocal downhill until now... just my opinion)

I agree. Her Jewel performaces were either hit or miss. I think her Kouhaku performance made the news because of how bad it was. Off-key performances started happening, like Fated (that's when her hearing problems got worse, right?). There were still some good ones, especially Together When... + No way to say (2007.12.23 HAPPY Xmas SHOW!!!), but yeah, it went downhill. The infamous Countdown Live 2007-2008 happened...