Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Dancing, writing songs, and training my limbs...
Jeon Seong-ae has entered a period of intense activity. As a freshman in a girl group, she not only has to master her choreography before her comeback, but also has to familiarize herself with the group's operations and ecosystem. While she has memories of being a girl, she doesn't actually understand the industry. Ever since becoming a trainee, she's been living a routine of going back and forth between school, practice, and the dorm. Moon Eun-joo has effectively shielded the girls from the outside world.
Returning to the young body of 21, Xingai felt the most intuitively that she had abundant energy and excellent physical functions. Although she could dance, unfortunately she was not good at girl group dance, but her body could do it, and she had practiced for so many years that it had become like instinct.
Quan Xingai's goal is to combine her instincts with her own dance philosophy and expressiveness to become a new person. So lately, she's been pushing herself to practice diligently, taming her limbs and dancing with her head instead of her subconscious.
In addition to practicing dancing, she began to listen to the team's previously released albums repeatedly and watched a large number of videos of the team's past performances. She was familiarizing herself with her new identity and the style of the girl group. She also listened to the songs that were at the top of the market charts. For a moment, she seemed to have returned to the past.
She recalled going to Waiji with her dad that year and accepting an invitation to teach a trainee. It was during her time as a vocal instructor at Waiji that she met Kwon Ji-yong. Back then, GD was still a fresh-faced kid who hadn't debuted yet, but he already held absolute authority among the trainees. He had a strong leadership aura, and when he heard he'd become the leader of a boy group, he made all the necessary preparations from the start.
Jeon Seong-ae had watched him grow from a baby dragon to a leader, and now—the roles had reversed, the baby dragon becoming a senior, while she had become a member of the idol group, albeit a drag. Jeon Seong-ae had been avoiding work, but now was a matter of life and death, and it was no time to casually talk about retirement.
"Sarah, it's been a few days. Are you really serious about discussing the arrangement of the single with me?"
Mike was a second-rate producer on the American music assembly line. He was considered second-rate in the United States, but after receiving Wen's invitation and coming to Korea, he became first-rate. So he has been very happy in neon in the past few years. The only problem is that the company has almost no creative talent. He can only buy songs from the company and communicate with producers from other companies to generate inspiration.
"Yes, Mike, don't you think the concept of returning to a rebellious single is a bit boring and monotonous?" After practicing dance every day, Quan Xingai would run to producer Mike's studio.
In fact, Mike didn't take the girl seriously at first. Of course, he knew Quan Xing Ai and knew that this poor girl had been under pressure from public opinion and the media in the past few years, but this was not enough to make a mature and experienced producer believe that the girl who survived the disaster would become a musician and compose songs after her return.
"Do you want to change your single?" Mike was chewing gum and was about to go to Itaewon for a few drinks after get off work.
"I just thought you might be willing to give me a chance to borrow the production studio?" Sarah clasped her hands together and blinked her big eyes. Mike thought of his daughter, his divorced ex-wife and her child, who was younger than Sarah.
"Okay, what do you want to do? But you can't use it alone, I'll accompany you." After thinking for a while and looking at the time, Mike said unhappily, then went back to the production room.
"Thank you very much! Mike, we can communicate in English. Your Korean sounds a bit difficult to understand." Quan Xingai shrugged.
"Sarah, you've changed a lot. Have you gained enlightenment after experiencing life and death?" Mike readily switched back to English. Phew, feeling much more comfortable.
"Maybe. At least I have a lot of inspiration now. I just want to find a better development direction for the team. What do you think about me developing in the direction of producer?"
Quan Xingai just wants to find some sources and support for her future actions. It is impossible for her to suddenly say in the short term that she can actually play many instruments and compose songs. This is too unbelievable, so she is instilling in everyone around her that she is learning to be a creator.
"Little Sarah, you should take it step by step and create a melody or write lyrics first."
"Mike, actually I have started trying to arrange the single myself since I came back from the hospital. How about you listen to it? I used computer software to synthesize it, so the effect is a bit poor. I wanted to borrow the production studio just to try out the effect of the finished product. By the way, I also simply filled in the lyrics of the demo, just to emphasize the expressiveness of the accent. It is not the complete version." Quan Xingai raised his mobile phone, looking harmless.
Mike raised his eyebrows exaggeratedly. Little Sarah had indeed changed a lot. He liked such hardworking and diligent children who never gave up, so he nodded and agreed to listen to Sarah's arrangement of the song.
The file on the mobile phone was transferred to Mike's computer. Using the top equipment in the production room, he opened the "Untitled" single that was simply adapted by software. Quan Xing Ai and Mike frowned, and then as the impactful prelude of the adapted electronic pop dance music sounded, Mike nodded, there was something.
The song follows the golden formula of Verse-Chorus, and listeners can be quickly captured by the memorable points. The main melody has not been changed much and is still based on simplicity. In terms of lyrics, Sarah repeatedly uses short phrases to create suspense, which then explodes in the chorus.
"Wow, you can actually write songs? Did you adapt and produce this independently?" Mike found that all the lyrics of Sarah's song were in English. The repeated consonants in the chorus made it sound very good. He even started humming along halfway through listening to it.
Yes, this is the essence of electronic pop dance music, melodically intoxicating.
"The mobile app is still terrible. I've been groping my way through it, and I feel like a lot of the sound effects don't live up to what I'd like." Xing Ai blinked and feigned distress. "For example, in the chorus, I actually think it would be more interesting if my voice were a little drier and more mechanical, but I don't know how to process it on the software."
"I'm starting to be interested in you, girl. Did you go to heaven and have your brain kissed by God?" After listening to the entire song, Mike immediately dragged the file into the production tool and changed all the low-quality and rough electronic synthesis effects of the software.
"Maybe... How about it, Mike, are you willing to teach me how to be a producer?" Quan Xingai smiled. Perhaps she was not fully ready to face music and creation again, but every late night when she faced those melodies, her musical sense and melodic instinct had overcome everything, not to mention that it was not creation but adaptation, which was not too difficult for Quan Xingai.
"Of course, I won't miss the birth of a genius."
Mike completely forgot his original plan to go to the bar, and spent the whole night in the production studio with Quan Xingai discussing song production. In fact, the company has always had songwriting classes. He simply taught Xingai the process of using the professional equipment in the production studio, and then spent all his time discussing songs.
In the second half of the night, the teammates who had not waited for Xing Ai to return to the dormitory came to the production room together.
"Ah! You're here just in time. A few days ago I said I wanted to make some changes, but I only had simple computer synthesis software. Now I have professional equipment and Mike has re-produced my new song. It's a good opportunity for us to listen to the results together."
Before coming to the production studio, Yin Yanzhen thought that Xingai was probably still in the stage of learning to compose. Unexpectedly, after coming here, she had already produced a newly revised song. Senior Mike even nodded approvingly and kept saying that Xingai was a genius.
"Wow! Xing'ai, did you modify this? I feel like you grasped the melody right away! It sounds similar to the previous one, but seems to be more concise!" Jin Wen hugged Xing'ai excitedly after listening to half of it.
"Indeed, Sarah made bold subtractions based on the original song, which is a stroke of genius for new songwriters, because beginners usually add various elements due to too many ideas, which makes the song become ordinary. But Sarah is different. She deleted some unnecessary tunes in the original song. After re-adjusting, the song sounds like a completely European and American electronic pop song." Mike said with relief.
Quan Xing Ai was still sitting in Mike's position as the main producer, adjusting every detail of the scale. But Mike had already pressed the pause button for her.
"But genius girl, there's a big problem with your new song. Have you guys noticed it?"
"Problem?" Quan Xingai was attracted by Mike's question and held her chin with a serious expression.
"It sounds great! I think this song will be a hit just based on the melody alone," said Kim Eun-mi.
Yin Yanzhen said hesitantly, "I didn't hear the problem. I just feel that this song, well, doesn't have a Korean flavor. It seems like a song suitable for European and American divas like Lady Gaga."
After hearing what Yin Yanzhen said, Quan Xing'ai was shocked. She came to her senses and realized the problem...
Mike spoke up simultaneously, "Yes, your intuition is very sharp. The problem is, Sarah, your creation is too close to European and American pop styles. It's not a dance song for a girl group. If there was only one singer, and they were European and American, this song would undoubtedly be excellent. But you are a Korean group. If you want to be a producer, you must first consider regional styles and popular trends. You must also learn to remember the vocal characteristics of each teammate and consider different parts and forms of expression when creating."
"I'm sorry, I did make a basic mistake. I completely got the performance wrong. This song needs further revisions." Quan Xingai lay on the table with only her big eyes exposed, looking pitiful. She did commit the sin of arrogance. She relied solely on her own experience to change the song into a successful model of the past.
"Oh my God, why are you still depressed? Did you hear what Senior Mike said? Xing Ai has been adapted into a song suitable for European and American divas!! You are simply amazing!" Jin Wen was already muttering excitedly. They really didn't expect that Xing Ai had been studying and working hard silently.
"No wonder you always disliked GD senior in the past few years, because our Xingai is also a genius!" Kim Eun-mi suddenly realized and said to herself seriously.
"Then let's help Xing'ai create together. How about we join in the creation?" Yin Yanzhen was very excited. She was also inspired by Xing'ai's creation.
"The four of you can start by writing the lyrics, and Sarah, all you have to do is record your voices. Only by knowing each other's voice characteristics and strengths can you adapt this comeback song into a song that suits you." Mike's experience was revealed at this moment.
All Star Love's confidence was somewhat hit. She won 3 Grammy Awards and was hailed as a genius comparable to John Lennon in the music industry, but she failed in K-pop.
She shouldn't underestimate this small idol circle, and shouldn't rely solely on her instinctive sense of melody and past "historical records" to lazily adapt songs. She still has to learn to start from scratch.
But the excitement on her teammates' faces infected her, and Quan Xingai soon started laughing too.
"Then why don't we just record this song once first! Then I'll make adjustments based on what everyone has recorded."
"Girls, this is the hardest-working and most dedicated effort you've made in over three years. This comeback single will be a success," Mike exclaimed.
"Of course, we are the 'Crazy Sweethearts'. Sooner or later, we will let those talkative guys know how powerful we are." Quan Xingai made a face and then touched his nose arrogantly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
