Wakana solo career

VyseLegendaire said:
The word honkiness never deserved to be abused thusly.
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TBH I'm not even sure what it means, lol.

Laurant said:
Wait what? Nani? Excuse me? rrrrrrrrrrright i think we have very different views of wakana :XD: i thought wakana was flawless in YKL9 - thats where i first heard her
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We mean the live ustream (Day 1) not the home video release (Shibuya special), just in case you're thinking of that.

Laurant said:
You see i'm comparing her voice from both videos and i think that if anything she has improved.
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Hell yea she improved between those two videos.

I'm absolutely happy for her if she really has improved and the recent lives are not fixed up in post. And regardless of that, I'm also thrilled for her to have appearences this good on TV. Get that promo!
 
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grunty said:
TBH I'm not even sure what it means, lol.
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When there's too much nasality when singing. It's more evident (and annoying to listen to) in high notes, which is also when Wakana usually sounds honky.

Laurant said:
but how do we actually know that "Wakana's honkiness is a problem of her bad technique."
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Because it's not always there. In one verse she's fine, and the next suddenly WHOOPS HONKY. It's a vocal placement issue. She also sometimes sings closer to the throat, which is not something a pop singer should do because it sounds like Kermit the Frog. Just listen to Shakira live.
Some nasality is ok (Yuuka), btw. A lot of nasality is ok too (Kajiura sometimes sings like this), but that's a completely different style of singing, and it's obviously not what Wakana is going for.
 
Quing @Kowz (omg this term hasn't been used in so long), have all my praise and love.

Anyway @Laurant, we're not saying that Wakana hadn't improved, because based on some unofficial audio recording of some few last Kalafina lives she was already improving but still not on the level shown in these past TV performances. Not great and flawless, but at least she can actually stay in tune and just got some flat notes here and there. That in itself is already a big improvement compared to her "unedited" performances in 2011-2015, where she's either completely out of tune/went out of tune most time than not or being extremely flat throughout the song. It's just that the did incredible by her standard on these tv performances for her solo that kinda threw us off. It's just kind of hard to believe that she could sound so good singing after years of disappointment, especially since the studio version of Toki wo Koeru is quite a disappointment in itself.

But in the case she has actually improved herself, GOOD FOR HER. We're also glad she's improving. We're here just pointing out facts that she isn't always flawless and while we did use some harsh words, it doesn't change the fact that the Kalafina live in DVD/BD releases don't always mirror their actual live singing ability - something the people of Kalafinatopia on tumblr couldn't understand.
 
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Kowz said:
Because it's not always there. In one verse she's fine, and the next suddenly WHOOPS HONKY. It's a vocal placement issue. She also sometimes sings closer to the throat, which is not something a pop singer should do because it sounds like Kermit the Frog. Just listen to Shakira live.
Some nasality is ok (Yuuka), btw. A lot of nasality is ok too (Kajiura sometimes sings like this), but that's a completely different style of singing, and it's obviously not what Wakana is going for.
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It's also a matter of closed vs open throat, and a high larynx when Wakana sings. The problem with Japanese singing is that there isn't a lot of vowel variation, and they tend to sing like how they speak (nasal), so that "honkiness" is more pronounced since she's using more vowels that tend to be nasal and closed. You can hear the honkiness most on "iiiii" sounds (like in "key") and "uuu" (like in "shoe") where it's pretty hard for even veteran singers to not sound honky without changing how the vowel sounds, which is technically what they're supposed to do.

I've shown videos of Wakana to my singing teacher to see what she had to say on the matter regarding her old and new voice, and it was a mixture of a vocal placement, nasality, larynx position, throat tension and vowel shaping. I won't bore you with the technical details, but simply put, she had objectively better technique back then. I don't want to keep resurrecting this discussion and keep beating a dead horse, though.
 
https://twitter.com/Wakana1210staff/status/1105763957707497472

お台場・ヴィーナスフォートのリリースイベント映像から、「翼」のライブ映像（Short Version）がアップされました
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDP4x9ebsLE
 
^ spare her voice. One of the reasons she had all the vocal issues in the first place were the countless rehearsals and tours as Kalafina. Just like everything if you overuse something it breaks at the end, so she needs big rest periods.

I dont know about the vocal couching ect but didnt she have that back in vol 2 too when her singing was still the old technique ?
 
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Wakana's album is up on Spotify, Just started listening to it.

It's actually good. Yakusoku no Yoake is just the first track and I think I'm in love. The Celtic vibes, the flute, the instrumentation, the melody...I'm surprised at how good it is, given how disappointing Toki wo Koeru Yoru ni was.
 
Up on Apple Music/ iTunes as well! About to take a listen in the shower ~~~

Edit: Agreed with Kirito- first song “Yakusokuno yoake” is AMAZING. Love the structure of the song, her voice her power, and that flute (what instrument is that?).... wowowowowow WAKANA.

Also like the last song “Ai no Hana”.

Haven’t explored much of the middle tracks...
 
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Wakana album is in iTunes too.

I really like the variety of the songs, I expected more songs like Toki wo koeru yoru ni, I'm pleasantly sorprise.

I love Yakusoku no yoake, Hard rain, Kinmokusei and Boku no Kokoro no Tokei:sohappy:

I have a problem with the second voices in Tsubasa, I prefer the live version and ... I don't understand Kioku no Hito.
Wakana left her comfort zone with her solo album. I'm so happy:w00t:

1. Yakusoku no Yoake: I love it!!! Wakana sounds full of energy in the chorus!!! :love:
2. Tsubasa: I prefer the live version... Don´t like the second voice in the chorus...
3. Ruriiro no Sora: I don't expected it, is so different, but I like it. I imagine Wakana walking in the beach singing this song....
4. Nagareboshi: Is nice like a lullaby but forgettable...
5. Kioku no Hito: I don' know. I really like the chorus, but i don't like the verse, I feel it like two songs diferents...:punched:
6. Toki wo Koeru Yoru ni: Is a nice song, but is simple.
7. Hard Rain: I love it!!! I don't expected that her voice fits this type of song, Wakana you are amazing! :TdT:
8. Kinmokusei: I love it too!!! This song is so emotional
9. Boku no Kokoro no Tokei: I really like this song. Is repetitive, like a clock, but is does not bother me. I'm so curious about the lyrics.
10 .Toki no Ne: I imagine Wakana so happy singing this song in a concert. It reminds me Mahiru...
11. Ai no Hana: I imagine this song like the ending of a romantic movie. I like it, is a quiet song to end the album.
 
Aside from the single tracks, I've only listened to Kinmokusei and Yakusoku no Yoake and enjoy the both of them, but Yakusoku no Yoake really blew me away. :love:

I hope the other tracks are good. I've been worried that the types of songs Wakana would have on the album wouldn't be the kind of music I like to listen to (like TwKYn) because I do want to support her.
 
Going off the samples literally every song is better than Toki wo. I guess they got the worst out of the way first? lol.

Also going only off samples, unlike the others, I think her voice on Yakusoku no Yoake sounds the worst actually lol. (Next to Toki wo.)
 
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You should listen to Kioku no Hito in its entirety. I don't even remember how the song sounded like but i remember the experience of taking my earbuds off because of how strained and honky she sounded... I haven't listened to Yakusoku no Yoake and now I don't really want to lol
 
I'm fond of Yakusoku no Yoake, Ruriiro no Sora, Nagareboshi, and Hard Rain. The grooviness of ruriiro no sora is neat, while hard rain gives me film noir-ish vibes.
 
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