I love the way Maya raises her right hand high when she's going for those high notes (especially when Belting), instead of raising her head up. That's good vocal technique there. The raised hand opens up her ribcage and allows the lungs to give her solid breath support and she avoid tension in the throat
@@MorioDaichi You're right about Hikaru depending on the throat a bit for belting power. Not singing from below. Just watch the posture in this song during the belting phases. Compare how Hikaru and Maya stood when belting the chorus passage.
I became a fan of Kalafina just recently and the first time I heard this song was during their 10th anniversary concert. I thought it was great but this, with Maya, holy shirt it was mind-blowing!!! I couldn't stop my goosebumps!!!
Next level right here. Their voices were all still young in this performance and Maya helped to complete the live harmonies much more fully. There was much less reliance on the recorded background vocals. There were a bunch of layered vocals and dual harmonies that she performed, providing a medium low range that freed Keiko to rest at times, and her belted section showed her power with a comparable tone to Hikaru's.
I always get chills hearing Maya's part. She had already left the group by the time I knew about this group, so I only knew her in this song. She really has a powerful voice. Almost similar to Keiko's.
Impossible for me to watch this legendary masterpiece without tears in my eyes... Hikaru's voice is just OMG ❤ Though I prefer Wakana's current voice, this is by far the best live version to ARIA 🥹
Watched this again and I have few wishes: 1. We could watch a high-res and full-width version of this live performance. 2. We could watch a rehearsal video for this performance with all four singers. 3. More vocal teacher/coach reaction channels listened and reacted to this. 4. Maya was active on social media so we could see her activities in music/dance/etc.
Which recorded version exactly? The very original one of the movie or the Aria Live from the 5th Anniversary disc? The Aria Live of the anniversary disc is awesome too. Everyone should listen to that version. It sounds way different than this one and the original.
i was never into kalafina until after they disbanded, and i cant seem to find many performances with maya. as much as i love the three of them, there's just something about her belting voice that is just so magical (but like the same goes to all of them lmao)
We are in the same boat! I totally agree with you. I also discovered Kalafina post-disbanding, through a RU-vid recommendation to their 10th Anniversary Budokan llve, and the mystical "Ring Your Bell" intro caught me and bound me (they sounded like angels) even though I could never imagine watching a 2-hour-plus RU-vid video. I watched it all through! I have become partially obsessed with hearing Maya sing live from this period. Her tone and obviously punching below her maximum high pitch and power (it seemed oddly easy for her) belting the same chorus part as Hikaru, made me excited to hear more of her. What I even noticed is that Keiko amplified her volume for her harmony low notes when singing with Maya, to match the slightly higher power of Maya's belt compared to my favourite girl, Hikaru. I am interested in Maya's head voice, her highest pitch, her low notes, dynamics. I wish we had a documentary on just her.
If someone would post the Sprinter LIVE of this performance we would see Maya with her full potential, but anyway Maya's career is short to be honest due to personal reason for letting her finish college first but sadly she didn't came back after making that decision ):
@@catsinni I heard that she joined a dance group or something. It's similar to Kawashima Yuuka (founding member of Perfume) who left the group for school and then tried multiple times to come back into entertainment with series of relative failures, while the group went on to become one of the biggest in Japan .
I'm with you. There would have been more variety and energy in their voices, and maybe Hikaru and Wakana wouldn't have had to strain their voices so much since the load would have been shared.
Huh, it's so crazy, a while back I was searching frantically for the old version of this song with Maya in it, and now it just pops up randomly in my auto queue! Thanks for the upload!
It's so easy to confuse Maya and Hikaru sometimes (especially when they're belting). All this time, I thought 4:05 was sung by Hikaru... Then I took a glance at the screen lol.
Same! It’s just Maya’s doesn’t have the “metallic” element Hikaru’s voice has - it’s softer. I’d say her voice is like a mixture of Wakana’s and Hikaru’s.
They have similar tomes. I think she has just a teeny bit more power than Hikaru and a slightly richer low range, though Hikaru is my favorite. I saw this because she covered some mid-low notes (that gave Keiko rest at some points) and she holds her mike further away from her mouth almost all through the performance.
It's not very clear if she left for school, yes, but it is confirmed that Maya's decision was at the behest of her father. He wanted his daughter to have a different career. In Japan, parents, especially fathers, have a lot of say in their children's lives. It's highly unlikely that Maya will ever perform with Kalafina again.
I dont know about her father, but its confirmed that she has return to her hometown, has finished her school and now she's in some dancing group, married and with a child too.
maya gave a reason in twitter,she said that because she was lack of strength。But i think it's a euphemism and the truth is she was eliminated by corporation。
OK, just listened to this again and Maya was awesome: 1. Her voice is powerful, loud, rich and piercing. 2. She can obviously out-dance everyone else. Does anyone know her social media - Twitter, etc.? Does she have a website?
I wish Hikaru's voice could have a chance to heal. I feel like there is a problem now. Maybe nodes? That would be so sad :( I love Hikaru and want the best for her just as much as the other members.
I don't think Hikaru's voice will come back. But it's really not a problem, I already get used to it. Her vocal cord is changing while she is getting older, therefore she has to change her way to sing. And so does Wakana. Besides, Kalafina has TOO MUCH work for lives, if Hikaru is still using her previous way to sing, it will hurt more.
What exactly happened to her voice? I mean, I know she sounds quite different now, if not worse. Did she hurt her throat or something? Is it because of the extensive live shows, so much that it exhausted her voice, or anything?
I think it's a combination of neverending live shows and work (especially from 2014-on as they become more popular) and Hikaru's vocal cords changing as she gets older, as the person below said. In addition, Hikaru has frequently been required to strain her voice in songs by singing to the top of her range (like in this song) or, more frequently, by lowering it just barely above breakage (a la Magia)... It may just be that her voice isn't meant to do that all the time, even if it sounds really cool. She also has said that it takes a lot for her to take care of her voice, she takes a lot of steps to protect it.
honestly I think Hikaru's voice sounds fine despite changes. It's Wakana's loss of breath and difficulty in singing that worries me recently. I always hear her gasping/hiccup sound both in live & recorded.
I don’t think that there’s nearly as much to worry about with Hikaru, or Wakana, at this point in comparison to when you all posted this. Vocally Hikaru has changed pretty drastically - my personally most audible times hearing this would include sitting down on the 9+ONE and 10th Anni concert videos and focusing only on drastic requirements, like her falsettos in the 9+1 Oblivious and the 10th Anni’s Lirica. However, I don’t think anyone yet knows if Hikaru got what’s often labeled “the singer’s surgery” as Wakana has. (I will say the surgery helped her a nice amount but oh my God she STILL CANNOT BREATHE. It’s just too much of a habit at this point although it’s noticeably better in comparison to, say, Red Moon era.)
Her voice was so powerful and more just a bit more resonant than Hikaru's. The way she holds her microphone away from her face shows that she had enough vocal power to project to the mike! She was really missed as a force in Kalafina.
Luego de verlo varias veces me fijé en lo similar que es el Belting de Maya al de Hikaru, pero en su voz más central hay un punto intermedio entre Hikaru y Keiko demasiado increíble. Le da una llenura preciosa a la canción.
Yes! Maya is sorely missed. I can imagine how much fulness she could have given to other songs we know, since she covered high, middle/lead, and low parts in this song. A really versatile singer. And her mix belt was balanced and powerful (she also had stronger head voice than Hikaru and could match Wakana to my ears).
+Delian Jay yup. unlike Wakana and Keiko, she has an average Japanese typical voice. Wakana and Keiko are taking their level out of Japanese typical singer. If you know what I mean.
Good question. Overuse of her voice in too many live singing arrangements and being written a lot of music in her higher range. Probably not having a consistent vocal coach to help keep her voice healthy through the rigors of a decade. Also age changed her voice...
@@TRal55 If we feel like this, I imagine how she feels knowing in her memory and mind that she can "hit" some notes but her body/voice won't do what she wants it to. And she experienced the deterioration/change firsthand.
@@TheSeeking2know Definitely. It's upsetting to know that that can even happen. I never knew someone's vocal power could change like that. I definitely feel for her.
