[2016.05.11] Morning Musume '16 - Tokyo to iu Katasumi/The Vision/Utakata Saturday Night

[Zoe]

Kanon sounded great during the verses, but I think the chorus was too high for her.

[Noa]

Kanon sounds really good.

Ikuta and Iikubo make me feel better about hearing my own voice when I'm recording fan dubs.

[Anderei]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Saya" data-cid="197904" data-time="1464978184">
She got these moments now where one note will sound good, and then she goes back to being shouts and off pitch.

Ogata is worse than Eripon....</blockquote>


Yeah, but Eripon's got three and a half years on her so I would hope she's at least better than Ogata.

[DonJuan]

I've read about Zukki getting singing classes and I wonder if Ikuta did, too. Because if she did... I wonder what the hell they were doing lol.

[MejraThea]

Yeah, last week when we were like "Fuku and Kudou sounded horrible" I TAKE IT BACK. Erina sounded nice when she used her head voice, Harunan however seems completely incapable of using head voice. Kanon was definitely the best of these three. And better than Kudou and Fuku, as she wasn't painfully nasal.

[JPope]

[quote="Zoe"]
Kanon sounded great during the verses, but I think the chorus was too high for her.
[/quote]
 
Yeah, I don't know why they don't record these songs in a key that is more suited to their singers. Even one full step down would make a huge difference for the singers while still retaining the feel of the music.

[WonderBuono]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="JPope" data-cid="197913" data-time="1464990412"><blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Zoe" data-cid="197908" data-time="1464986287">
Kanon sounded great during the verses, but I think the chorus was too high for her.</blockquote>


Yeah, I don't know why they don't record these songs in a key that is more suited to their singers. Even one full step down would make a huge difference for the singers while still retaining the feel of the music.</blockquote>


Haruna sounded like she struggled with the lowest notes though. It's hard to put a song in the right key when you've got 12 very different singers all singing the same melody.

[JPope]

[quote="WonderBuono"]
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="JPope" data-cid="197913" data-time="1464990412">
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Zoe" data-cid="197908" data-time="1464986287">
Kanon sounded great during the verses, but I think the chorus was too high for her.
</blockquote>


Yeah, I don't know why they don't record these songs in a key that is more suited to their singers. Even one full step down would make a huge difference for the singers while still retaining the feel of the music.</blockquote>


Haruna sounded like she struggled with the lowest notes though. It's hard to put a song in the right key when you've got 12 very different singers all singing the same melody.
 
[/quote]
 
That's true, this song does have a pretty wide range. A lot of the girls had problems hitting that low note, and doing so with much volume. It's probably at the exact key it needs to be in order to make it work for most of them.

[Zoe]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="WonderBuono" data-cid="197916" data-time="1464997248"><blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="JPope" data-cid="197913" data-time="1464990412"><blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Zoe" data-cid="197908" data-time="1464986287">
Kanon sounded great during the verses, but I think the chorus was too high for her.</blockquote>
Yeah, I don't know why they don't record these songs in a key that is more suited to their singers. Even one full step down would make a huge difference for the singers while still retaining the feel of the music.</blockquote>
Haruna sounded like she struggled with the lowest notes though. It's hard to put a song in the right key when you've got 12 very different singers all singing the same melody.</blockquote>
They would be better off if they wrote the parts for specific girls rather than having all of them singing everything and then picking and choosing from there.

[Farrah]

[quote="Thea"]
Yeah, last week when we were like "Fuku and Kudou sounded horrible" I TAKE IT BACK. Erina sounded nice when she used her head voice, Harunan however seems completely incapable of using head voice. Kanon was definitely the best of these three. And better than Kudou and Fuku, as she wasn't painfully nasal.
[/quote]
 
Haruna's head voice actually sounds way healthier to me than Erina's haha because you don't hear her voice crack into it so it transitions from chest to head voice very smoothly, whereas Erina's voice cracks into it and she drops her larynx so her vocal tone changes completely when in head voice.
 
Zukki was the best of these.  Not particularly good or anything, but the best.  Pretty much EVERYONE is singing through their nose which is very frustrating to listen to after awhile LOL.  But I feel like a lot of Japanese people are very nasal singers and speakers.

[MejraThea]

I agree with that last statement, definitely nasal singers. I can go nasal or not but when I'm recording to an H!P song I usually go nasal because I stick out in groups if I don't. But I don't really like it...

[yuzuriha]

[quote="JPope"]
Zukki is arguably better than Sakura on this song. She definitely sings with more soul than anyone in the group.
[/quote]
 
I finally watched both of these and even with Sakura as my oshi I have to say I agree here.  Zukki blew me away and I heard sakura get into the shout singing at one point (can't remember specifics right now).  That is the kind of singing that physically hurts my voice when I hear it (except somehow Risako when she was a kid because my brain is weird).

[Anderei]

Monthly ranking at #3 with 119,877. 
 
Utakata is now the 4th most liked video on their channel (1-3 being 123 and Help Me's dance shots and the MV for Wagamama) and now that it's passed Sukatto in views, it's their most viewed MV since Tiki Bun.
 
Meanwhile, The Vision has yet to hit a million views because I guess no one in Japan likes it either.

[DonJuan]

It's not a bad song, it's just pretty basic in a way that doesn't catch you. Basic is ok, heck, Utakata is pretty basic, but it's catchy and fun.


Personally, I still believe The Vision suffers from its arrangement.

[Purin-chama]

New episode of Upcoming! with Masaki and Ayumi singing the song now.
 
Ayumi does better than a lot of the previous girls hitting the notes in the chorus. She's shouting some, but it gets the job done. Her falsetto is a lot stronger too. Seeing as she is never considered a good singer, I'm amused by this

[aisasami]

[quote="DonJuan"]
It's not a bad song, it's just pretty basic in a way that doesn't catch you. Basic is ok, heck, Utakata is pretty basic, but it's catchy and fun.


Personally, I still believe The Vision suffers from its arrangement.
[/quote]
 
I think some parts of the arraignment works really well for the song. However, if they could of used regular percussion for a more natural sound than the drumkit and the annoying clapping track, the song would be a bit better. 
 
I don't think Momusu performed THE VISION on other shows or other means than the usual promo events and concert dates, right? I think the song and the music video just suffers from the lack of being promoted.

[Anderei]

Generasia lists seven performances for this single and three of those are from Girls Live so there wasn't much tv time for any of the singles.


Last single has an MV under a million views too so it's not alone. All of the MVs from the last single are under 1.3 million views so Utakata really is just the exception.

[JPope]

[quote="Myst"]
New episode of Upcoming! with Masaki and Ayumi singing the song now.
 
Ayumi does better than a lot of the previous girls hitting the notes in the chorus. She's shouting some, but it gets the job done. Her falsetto is a lot stronger too. Seeing as she is never considered a good singer, I'm amused by this
[/quote]
 
She has some decent moments, but just when you think she's got it together, she doesn't.
 
Sato starts out rough, and just when you start shaking your head in Maa-fueled frustration, she settles in and does a fine job.

[TicTacAnyone]

[quote="JPope"]
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Myst" data-cid="198039" data-time="1465579697">
<div>
New episode of Upcoming! with Masaki and Ayumi singing the song now.
 
Ayumi does better than a lot of the previous girls hitting the notes in the chorus. She's shouting some, but it gets the job done. Her falsetto is a lot stronger too. Seeing as she is never considered a good singer, I'm amused by this
[/quote]
 
She has some decent moments, but just when you think she's got it together, she doesn't.
 
Sato starts out rough, and just when you start shaking your head in Maa-fueled frustration, she settles in and does a fine job.
 
</div>
</blockquote>
 
That seems to be Maa's biggest fault... She takes time to warm up when singing. Even though they definitely have warm-ups already done lol. But I don't see how anyone can watch this and say she's a bad singer. Especially when I feel like her intonation makes up for any mistakes she might have. It's a very important part of her, the way she makes a song more interesting like that.

[Zoe]

Masaki definitely puts a lot of character into her parts. I'm a little surprised the vocal director allows it, to be honest. I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing though, you would just expect it more from someone in a smaller group.


It seems like she's had the best first-take success rate thus far.

[JPope]

Yeah, Masaki definitely sings with more character than anyone else on this, with the possible exception of Zukki. Her running out of air on the four bars of "Do it, do it, do it, do it" was pretty funny. The way it's edited suggests that they kept that take, which seems ludicrous. 
 
 
As bad as a lot of the girls sound on this, this seems like a difficult song to sing, even for legitimate non-idol singers. The range is rather wide, and some of the intervals are tricky. I'll leave it to the actual singers here to tell me if I'm right or talking out of my ass, but that's the sense I get, anyway.

[momoirosaya]

Masaki really knows how to make things her own. That's why even if the song isn't best fit for her voice, it's still fun to listen to/watch her perform.


Ayumi has gotten better at singing, but I feel like she doesn't know how to make her voice sound pretty. If she could do vibrato I think she would sound better.

[aisasami]

[quote="JPope"]
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Myst" data-cid="198039" data-time="1465579697">
<div>
New episode of Upcoming! with Masaki and Ayumi singing the song now.
 
Ayumi does better than a lot of the previous girls hitting the notes in the chorus. She's shouting some, but it gets the job done. Her falsetto is a lot stronger too. Seeing as she is never considered a good singer, I'm amused by this
[/quote]
 
She has some decent moments, but just when you think she's got it together, she doesn't.
 
Sato starts out rough, and just when you start shaking your head in Maa-fueled frustration, she settles in and does a fine job.
 
</div>
</blockquote>
 
A lot of those performances were for "Utakata" too. And, "The Girls' Live" isn't a great source of promotion as it's on very late and not on prime time hours for non-fan viewing.  

[DonJuan]

Masaki is not a bad singer, especially not in a group with the Harunas, Ikuta, Akane, Ayumi... but she's not a good singer either. She has no control over her voice - which isn't very attractive as a singing voice either.

[yuzuriha]

Much like with Reina, I just hate the quality of Masaki's voice.
 
And JPope I haven't tried singing Utakata all the way through yet but I'll be recording it soon for a cover so I'll let you know my take after I sing it. 

[JPope]

I can see people not liking Masaki's voice -- it's... unique. I happen to like it for idol-pop, though. 

[WonderBuono]

I like her recording voice better than her live voice. It's different somehow.

[Shoujo Q]

First performance of Utakata Saturday Night w/o Zukki.

https://youtu.be/zTajGCPCuOI

[MejraThea]

Mizuki. Interesting.

[DonJuan]

I guess it makes sense for representation stuff. I would've preferred someone else though, since Mizuki already got a bunch of Sayumi's and Riho's old lines - and speaking parts don't require any musical talent lol.
Would've liked to see Maria, or maybe even Ogata. 
 
Sooo...
- Ayumi got the duo line with Masaki
- Erina got the whispers 
- Mizuki got the speaking part.
 
Since they usually cut performances short after their main promotion time I guess it will take some time until we hear Zukki's lines before and during the second chorus again.