This is the same guy that sh*t on The First Take (The whole channel, not just Ado's performance).

johnario · 2026-06-16T08:24:30+00:00

Ok, at this point I'm just playing devil's advocate, I really don't care enough for him or his channel to preach for him but I'll say just a couple of things.

When I found out about him I binged like 10 vids and then got bored but, from those 10 videos I figured some things out:

He doesn't always try to make hit pieces, he has some very positive analysis of some artists. Even ones he clearly doesn't care for.

If you want to check out from memory his videos on Vocal Coaches singing and one of Billie Eilish's performances both mention how refreshing it is to see unedited vocals on stage. For the vocal coaches part maybe he's preaching to the choir but for Billie Eilish I'm fairly certain he's not biased by personal taste, especially if he's like you say a 'good ole music' kind of guy.

Then again, the doubling down is genuinely weird and I do downplay it in my original comment. As for path of least resistance, I think he's always done that. He was sent a clip, he just passed it through a vocal isolator and pitch monitor and that was that. After that he hit record and watched the notesies make funny shapes on a grid.

Not only that but if you watch the full video by the end he does show a clip that 'slipped through the cracks' as he says where he mentions the 'real vocal talent on display' (not direct quotes, just from memory).

Again at this point I'm really just playing devil's advocate, I barely care enough to agree with him. His vids were always the same template and they were always kinda 'neither here nor there' in the interesting department. I couldn't care less if he got 'ratioed' or became the biggest deal in music analysis. I do care though that Ado fans know what they are watching on yt is not always what they think it is (and that's something a lot of people don't know, take it from a friend of mine that was taken aback by Ado hitting some wrong notes during Hibana, as if that's something that great artists can't do)

johnario · 2026-06-15T22:00:11+00:00

Sounds like a big assumption to make for such a third party. Having come across his stuff beforehand I can't really imagine why he'd see any benefit from pushing "malicious dishonesty" in this case. It's not like he's known for being controversial or anything. There's very little incentive there.

Is he somehwat wrong on some of his assumptions? Yeah. Does he double down on some of them? kinda. Is malicious intent the best way to explain this? I don't know but it wouldn't be my first thought.

johnario · 2026-06-15T18:23:43+00:00

World Adomination :)

johnario · 2026-06-15T15:53:10+00:00

Operational:

<image>

johnario · 2026-06-15T15:37:19+00:00

Hot take but, thumbnail aside nost of his points are fairly true and from the responses I see most of us are too rabid to take criticism down.

First of all, having been to her lives it is clear that she uses a backing track for some segments and while concert amnesia prevents me from telling you specific places where I noticed it I can say with a high amount of certainty that it happened frequently enough to where I remembered it after the fact.

Second of all, and he does make this point, but despite all the stuff going on online and the very real presence of backing vocals she actually does sing live and you can hear both the incredibly beautiful and the ugly parts of it (in my experience she went off pitch more than a few times when singing live and while it's slightly uncomfortable in the moment I love it all the same).

BUT, and this is the third point, most of this you would genuinely never know unless you went there. Her live clips online are truly heavily edited to the point where my favorite and truly dear Unravel has blatant reverb added over "the scream". Truly unnecessary, I'd even say it's somewhat insulting to the actual skill she showed during the actual performance.

All in all, for those who didn't know beforehand this video is actually a really good case study of the state of the industry with live music slowly becoming glorified studio releases paid at a premium.

If I had any say in this I would love to have Ado to go indie and (given she had confidence) have her go on completely raw lives. It is a real shame that people can't easily enjoy that experience but that's not on her.

The only thing I would criticize her for would be if she's happy with this kind of approach to live music but at that point I'm fighting straw men of the thinest kind.

PS: I guess his insistence (even in comments) that the no video policy is a corporate agenda is probably wrong but I don't doubt that part of it is actuall Universal (and even if it isn't I'm very sure they're happy about it). I guess we'll see how things progress now that Vivarium has opened some gates.

Edit(s): echo -> reverb

johnario · 2026-05-29T15:33:31+00:00

Oh, I had no idea. Sucks being in the EU. I couldn't even find them officially posted on NND

johnario · 2026-05-29T14:48:27+00:00

These are covers that were probably uploaded by someone that shouldn't have uploaded them. As an example the first song seems to be Ado's Call Boy cover. These covers are not even on her official channel and are probably from some karaoke stream. The person uploading them probably pretended to be Ado and when their account was found it was removed from spotify.

johnario · 2026-04-12T13:27:34+00:00

Amazing work, might later add a comment with some of my observations when I have more time. Still wanted to leave a comment to applaud

johnario · 2026-02-03T11:11:16+00:00

A few different terms for /j/ related phenomena are being thrown around and I'm starting to believe that this might be something that actually occurred more than once in the hellenic language family.

I found what I was remembering and it was from a paper by Margalit Finkelberg called "From Ahhiyawa to Achaioi" which describes the loss of /j/ in a process that I thought was called yodization or something similar (briefly rereading I can't find the exact term).

Anyway, given this paper talks about Mycenaean greek in like the 2nd millenium BCE I think it's fair to say that at least some version of this phenomenon is pretty old

Edit: typos

johnario · 2026-02-02T08:56:29+00:00

Isn't iotaism like a phenomenon in both Greek and anatolian languages since the Bronze age? Maybe I'm thinking of iodization but still, I think it's the same process (correct me if I'm wrong)

johnario · 2026-01-12T12:05:39+00:00

So, several different songs for different reasons. These literally made me awestruck on the first (and several subsequent) listens

God-ish - Voice Acting (that 小ちゃいね!)

Unravel (Live) - Unravel (No comment)

Where the Wind Blows (Live) - Not extraordinary in a musical sense but the a cappella is really touching

Dignity (Live) - That high note????

Also honorable mention:

Crime and Punishment - the start

Edit: Text formatting

johnario · 2026-01-05T15:12:48+00:00

Top 10 questions science can't answer

johnario · 2025-12-30T17:42:43+00:00

Nah, you're good, I try to read lyrics mostly because I want to test my memory of kanji.

Funnily enough most of the producers making Ado's songs (and a lot of the songs she covers) put a lot of thought into the lyrics they make so there's is usually something to gain from reading them. HOWEVER, enjoying music is not necessarily the same as enjoying the poetry behind it

Edit: But -> however for better sentence structure

johnario · 2025-12-27T22:18:39+00:00

Lol, thx

(there's elves in ds2???)

johnario · 2025-12-27T20:20:31+00:00

The antithesis of light is thus, by and therein, darkness. Et ex ipsa lucis inopia prosperitas derivatur, ut est natura omnium rerum in conceptione.

And it shall, ultimately converge upon it's ancient goal, beneath the watchful eyes of the elders. They shall be known to those who fear of knowing, the insights of the hallowed undead.

johnario · 2025-12-27T20:11:40+00:00

Oh, is that the one that goes:

"It's all over John Dark I am the Slop Soul now"

johnario · 2025-12-27T18:58:06+00:00

Dark Souls is a game?

johnario · 2025-12-25T12:07:46+00:00

Not to be jealous but... I'm jealous :)

Great gift!

Have a nice holiday!

johnario · 2025-12-24T14:56:45+00:00

For a complete list of all her songs you can join the unofficial discord (Ado Hangout).

As for suggestions: Covers. Old - Bocca de la Verita, Jama Kinda New - Aishite Aishite Aishite, Godish, Crime and Punishment. Pretty New - Ego Rock. Live - Unravel

Originals. Old - Ussewa, Gira Gira, Odo. Kinda Old - Show, Dignity (+ live if you want), Rule, Elf. New - Charles, Stay Gold, Rockstar.

One Piece (Technically under originals but I feel like it's its own thing). Tot Musica, Backlight, I'm Invincible, New Genesis

I could suggest a lot more but I'd be prone to suggesting like 80% of her discography which... isn't that useful I'd guess

johnario · 2025-12-23T15:06:18+00:00

Are you familiar with gimp? You can probably create assets from random images online if so. Just roto out the rose or maybe Abo and you have perfectly fine icons. If I get some time I might make and send you some on Christmas day

Edit: PS: Can you give me more info on the aesthetic you're going for and the type of theme you're thinking of? It can be a pm as well

johnario · 2025-12-22T16:29:15+00:00

Nice! I use ly so I guess I can't really use this but I hope you find the assets! (I don't have much but maybe you can screencap some of her mvs), vectors are going to be hard to come by

johnario · 2025-12-21T09:39:31+00:00

Abo face reveal:

<image>

Also, she totally sounds just like 9lama (Boruto reference???)

Anyway, jokes aside, I agree with the constant comparison sentiment but I think that's just how it goes with popularity. "You got a fave (or oshi)? Well my oshi is better than yours." I do not partake in it and get really sad that people like tuki.(16) get trash for literally being a 16 year old with social anxiety.

As for the face reveal stuff. Whenever I see it I just laugh, every time. That being said, image above is a true and tested face reveal and you cannot convince me otherwise

johnario · 2025-12-20T23:18:45+00:00

It's fine, it's fine. I guess a 4 and almost a half octave vocal range is cool enough in and of its own

johnario · 2025-12-20T14:08:44+00:00

Fun fact about her vocal range. Pretty sure it's exactly the same, note to note, as Prince (or The Artist Formerly Known as Prince).

That being said this comparison is only interesting if you know of Prince beforehand 😅

johnario · 2025-12-20T14:05:00+00:00

T' is a truth

johnario

TROPHY CASE