Chapter 030 Accompaniment
"The bridge is a bit flat. Try making the bass line more complex and not just follow the melody." Qu Qinghuan sat next to the arranger, looking at the screen and touching his chin.
"How about this?" After thinking for a long time, the arranger rethought the idea, made major changes to the bass, and wrote a very fancy independent melody.
"Hmm... it's a bit too floaty, too separated from the bass drum, and not enough low frequency." Qu Qinghuan looked focused, "But the overall brighter effect is not bad."
The arranger touched his few remaining hair and began to make some modifications. He sighed silently in his heart. Collaborating with Qu Qinghuan made his already thin hair even worse. This music producer had too many experimental ideas. He finally understood why others said it was hard to work with him.
Fortunately, the arranger believed that he had some pursuit of music, so he stayed with Qu Qinghuan and polished it bit by bit.
*
Lin Chi Ran was finalizing the copy for his debut single while deciding on his image packaging, promotional clothing and makeup, etc. His schedule was even fuller than when he was an artist and he was extremely busy.
In the office, a thick stack of manuscripts is piled up in a corner of the table. It has been revised countless times from the first draft to the current version.
"Mr. Lin, thank you for your hard work in reviewing the following draft."
"Okay, just leave it there, I'll take a look at it later." He temporarily closed the design drawings of the stage costumes and took the manuscript.
The debut single focuses on the infinite possibilities starting from the origin, presenting a rich listening experience with diverse styles. While paying attention to musicality, it also reflects the multifaceted personalities and expressiveness of the members, and is full of experimental significance.
The title song "Escape" is a pop song that expresses one's feelings directly. It takes the reality and illusion of modern society as its entry point and looks at everything from the perspective of virtual life.
The B-side song "Daytime" incorporates some jazz-style rock music. When the permanent night falls, humans tear off the mask of daytime and show their absurd true faces.
"Virtual Bubble" is a virtual bubble, a relaxing city pop style, the hustle and bustle of the city under the neon lights on a summer night, and a surreal dream full of urban romantic atmosphere.
"Swing" disregards the past and the consequences, abandons all shackles, and swings happily on the dance floor. It is a modern electronic dance music with a psychedelic color.
Lin Chiran raises a question throughout the single - what is the boundary between fantasy and reality? When the so-called truth is all disguised, then what is real and what is false? How should we define it, and does it need to be defined?
Lin Chiran determined this conceptual direction in the early planning stage, and gradually improved it through song selection and lyrics writing, laying the tone for subsequent image packaging, record design, etc.
The copywriting currently being worked on is to use text to introduce the artist's background, record creation concept, musicians' understanding, as well as lyrics and production list, etc. Present what the music wants to express in a more understandable form to attract the audience.
Not long after Lin Chiran confirmed the script, Qu Qinghuan sent a message saying that the arrangement had been completed and that the accompaniment and vocal recording were about to begin.
*
The instrumental accompaniment needed to be recorded live, so Qu Qinghuan found the musicians from the composer's band and agreed to record it in the afternoon, but the keyboard player did not show up.
In the recording studio, Qu Qinghuan frowned as he watched time grow increasingly tight, and prepared to make a phone call.
"Don't wait. The keyboard player had a bike accident on the way here. He's in the hospital now." The band's lead singer Meng Yu, with a head of blond hair, walked slowly into the recording studio with his guitar.
Lin Chiran finished his work and took some time to check the progress of the recording. Not long after he came in, he heard Meng Yu's words and felt a little sympathetic: "Is he okay?"
Meng Yu replied nonchalantly, "It's fine. He turned while others were going straight. He treated red and green lights as traffic lights. Even the color blind know how to read traffic lights. He was lucky to have only a minor fracture."
"He's fine, but I'm not." Qu Qinghuan suddenly said, "We're about to record, where can I find someone? An electrician who can read traffic lights to record? Can he be more reliable?"
"Pfft." The sound engineer who had been listening to their conversation silently couldn't help but chuckle, and was glared at mercilessly by Qu Qinghuan.
"Producer Qu knows so many musicians, wouldn't it be easy to call someone to save the day?" Meng Yu said casually.
Qu Qinghuan's expression was a little subtle. Lin Chiran thought about the situation when he called before, thought about it and said, "If there is really no suitable musician, ask Jingxing to try? He happens to be in the company."
Meng Yu was a little curious. Although his band was relatively unknown in the circle, as a composer he had come into contact with many producers and musicians, but this was the first time he had heard the name Jingxing.
Qu Qinghuan calculated the time and felt that it might not be appropriate to find someone temporarily to take over, and it would be a waste of money to leave the recording studio empty, so he decided to let Jingxing give it a try.
Lin Chiran made a phone call and Jingxing came quickly.
"Brother Lin, what's the matter that made me come here?" Jingxing had just been practicing dancing and his breathing was a little disordered. He looked around curiously. It was his first time to come to the recording studio in the production department. The equipment was very professional and one could tell at a glance that it was very expensive.
Lin Chiran explained the situation, and Qu Qinghuan stepped forward to explain to him the key points of the part to be recorded today.
"Time is tight and we don't have much time to practice. You can try it first. It's okay if it doesn't work." Lin Chiran saw that Jingxing was a little nervous and said gently.
While they were preparing, Meng Yu went into the studio to record some guitar accompaniment. After Jing Xing became familiar with the music score, he returned to the control room and watched.
Right at the beginning, Qu Qinghuan chose to record the piano cadenza after the chorus of the title song, frequently changing the key and using a large number of complex ornaments to enrich the melody. It had a bit of a show-off feel, which was the difficulty of today's recording. If this part could be recorded smoothly, the other parts would not be a problem.
Jingxing familiarized himself with it several times, and pressed the keys with just the right force. Gorgeous notes slid out smoothly from his fingertips. The people in the control room felt relieved when they saw this, and Meng Yu on the side also listened with interest.
The final effect was perfect, Qu Qinghuan was very satisfied, and directly asked Jingxing to stay and continue recording.
When recording the B-side song "Daytime", Jingxing looked a little conflicted.
"What's wrong?" Lin Chiran could see that he seemed to have something to say.
"Uh, this part of the connection feels a bit weird." Jingxing looked at the music score. He tried this part many times but still felt it was a bit awkward.
Qu Qinghuan looked up: "What if I ask you to revise it? What do you think?" The phrase Jingxing mentioned was revised many times when it was arranged, and it always lacked that feeling. If it could be revised for the better, he would naturally not object.
Jingxing pondered for a moment and improvised the melody in his mind.
Meng Yu, who was bored and had started playing with his phone, suddenly had his eyes light up and looked at Jing Xing in the recording studio: "The adaptation is good." Although only a few details were changed, the feeling was completely changed, and the composer himself gave a thumbs up.
Qu Qinghuan made some revisions to the music score and dropped the pen in his hand, "Just record this improvisation!" When inspiration comes, you have to seize it in time.
Time passed quickly. Jingxing's rescue was very effective and he successfully completed today's recording task. When he walked out of the recording studio, Meng Yu stopped him and said, "Brother, you have good skills. Don't leave for a while and wait for me."
Jingxing didn’t know what Meng Yu was going to do, but he still waited for him obediently in the shed.
"Thank you for coming to the rescue." Lin Chiran said with a smile.
"No, no, I also want to thank Brother Lin and Teacher Qu for giving me this opportunity." Jingxing touched his head a little embarrassedly, "The level of the arranger is also very high, which gave me a lot of inspiration."
Qu Qinghuan suddenly interrupted: "You are very talented, don't waste it." Although he was talking to Jingxing, his eyes were looking deeply at Lin Chiran.
"Thank you." Jingxing was very happy to hear the compliment: "Brother Lin said before that there would be a chance for me to participate in the production, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon."
Lin Chiran nodded to him: "Not only the accompaniment recording, but also the composition and arrangement."
After hearing this, Qu Qinghuan looked away and concentrated on recording.
Unlike his nonchalant appearance, Meng Yu was very efficient. He successfully completed the recording of the guitar accompaniment and went straight to Jingxing after leaving the recording studio.
"Jingxing, I formally invite you to join our band." Meng Yu's tone was very sincere.
Jingxing was frightened by Meng Yu's sudden action and didn't speak for a long time.
Lin Chiran raised his eyebrows when he heard this. Is he trying to poach his girl? He didn't leave, just stood there and watched.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't you have a keyboard player?" Qu Qinghuan broke the awkward atmosphere.
"Oh, you mean the one who doesn't know the difference between red and green lights?" Meng Yu gritted his teeth, "He said he will go back to his hometown next month."
"Oh? Because I can't get enough food following you?" Qu Qinghuan exposed him mercilessly.
A crack appeared on Meng Yu's smile: "Yeah, I paid for his medical expenses." After paying the medical expenses, he listened to him crying for half an hour, saying how miserable he had been all these years. Not to mention being famous, he even had no food to eat.
"You have great skills, and are especially suitable for our band." Meng Yu tempted, "You are just one step away from becoming famous. Don't you want to take advantage of this opportunity?"
"Sorry to interrupt you." Lin Chiran said with a smile: "Jingxing is already a member of our group."
Meng Yu was stunned and looked at Jing Xing: "Do you already have a band?"
"It's not a band..." Jing Xing was interrupted by Meng Yu before he could continue.
"Then just join us!" He said excitedly. Ever since the keyboard player said he wanted to quit, Meng Yu had been planning where to find someone else. He didn't expect that someone would fall into his sight, giving him such a big surprise.
"It's an idol group." Lin Chiran couldn't bear to watch it anymore: "Jingxing is a member of our idol project."
Meng Yu's eyes widened: "Idol? What's the point of that? Can it be compared with a band?"
"It's not about whether they can be compared." Lin Chiran answered helplessly. They are not of the same type, so there is no point in comparing them.
Qu Qinghuan was in a good mood as he finished work early, a rare occasion. He watched them with great interest from the side and did not intend to interrupt.
"Hey, man, think about it, the band performs their own painstaking works. Aren't idols just fancy people who sing and dance?" Meng Yu usually never pays attention to idols. It is a very typical stereotype.
Lin Chi Ran's face turned unhappy after hearing this: "Then why do you write songs for your idol? To let a bunch of show-offs ruin your hard-earned works?"
Meng Yu was also unhappy: "Do you think I want to? If every musician can make as much money as idols like you, who would want to sell their own works to make a living? Don't be so ungrateful."
Lin Chiran laughed out of anger. Qu Qinghuan didn't dare to continue watching the fun. He didn't want to overturn and redo the plan at all, so he hurried to smooth things over. However, before he could open his mouth, he was stopped by Jingxing.
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