https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgcgmmoiwfo
OK, I love it. Clearly it was the good choice for Kalafina...
I also think
Arrietty's Song was a really good choice for them.
Wonderful composition and lyricism from Cécile Corbel!
This song plays to Kalafina's fantasy/adventure roots and experience. The percussion at the beginning had the feel of Obawo-san though subtler in the mix than Kajiura would have used it, I think.
I especially liked the vocal start with Keiko's voice saying the English lyrics. She was the best choice from the 3 ladies to start, so that was a correct vocal-arranging choice.
Yeah, it was definitely
simpler by Kalafina standards. Paid homage to the original, sharing the sections into solo leads, and adding straight harmonies (2- then 4-part).
I gotta say this arrangement reinforced my observation that Kalafina's sound is meant to be a
4-part harmony for its full, intended effect to shine through. There were 4 parts in the high chorus of this cover- Wakana took the high part (main melody) and also recorded the immediate 1st harmony (The vibrato gives it away that Wakana is singing the 1st harmony), with Hikaru singing below that (completing the 3-part harmony), with Keiko adding the 4th part with the main melody in a lower octave.
Often, in important sections of their Kajiura songs for that "sound", Yuriko would be singing an octave above Keiko (octave singing), with Wakana taking the main melody and Hikaru just below her. Well, in this case, Wakana recorded both higher parts.
I suspect that for a live performance of this cover, since there would just be the 3 of them, a more stripped down version live arrangement would be required for Kalafina, unless they added playback to complete the 4th (Wakana) part.
I would imagine one of 2 options for the chorus, either:
(a.) Wakana sings the 1st harmony (they leave out the high main melody completely), while Keiko retains singing the main melody an octave below as in this current release, and same with Hikaru retaining singing the in-between part.
A tighter but lower sounding chorus (like the first chorus in this cover).
(2.) Wakana sings the high main melody, Hikaru goes up to the first harmony part recorded by Wakana (Hikaru might struggle on the higher notes), with Keiko leaving the low octave main melody to sing what Hikaru was singing in this current release.
A tighter but higher-placed chorus like the 2nd chorus in the cover).
Particularly Wakana's synthesized voice in that first solo.
I also feel I heard artifacts from the slightly heavy pitch correction on her part, especially noticeable on the riffs/vibrato. I wonder why it was needed since it's in her middle range and should be more comfortable. It was less obvious later on in the song.
I am pretty sure there was "studio magic" for all of them to some degree.
Happy for everyone who likes it or thinks it's good.
I enjoyed it and at the first chorus (no high Wakana part) I felt like I got a glimpse of post-Kajiura Kalafina...