Chapter 5 Chapter 5
2007 began like this. Before I knew it, Lia had already been in Korea for almost a year. Time had flown by. Baoheng kept her word, and soon, Lia's course was adjusted.
In addition to basic vocal dance, she gradually found time to visit Teddy's studio. At first, she thought Teddy would be arrogant like a musician and would be cold to her.
I didn't expect him to be so close to me. Because Teddy is also from the United States, there is no need to follow the etiquette of seniority in his recording studio.
Without having to worry about those annoying honorifics, the recording studio gradually became the second place where Lia felt comfortable, besides the dormitory. Whenever she had free time, she would go to the recording studio.
When it comes to music, Teddy answers all his questions without holding back.
"When writing a melody, you have to imagine the imagery of the lyrics," Teddy said to Lia as he adjusted the track. "A good melody should conjure up a story in people's minds after hearing the first two lines."
Lia nodded earnestly, quickly writing down her thoughts in a notebook. "But what about inspiration?" She looked a little confused. "Why does Oppa always have new inspirations?" Teddy laughed.
She looked so much like a good student asking questions in class, which was a novel experience for him. "Wait until you have a few more relationships, and your inspiration will keep coming." He winked at her.
Lia instinctively thought of Kwon Ji-yong. What about him? Did his songs also draw inspiration from love? Of course, Teddy wasn't always available to teach her.
He needs to be responsible for the album production of several major artists of YG company at the same time. When he is busy, he often has no time to eat, and sometimes even sleeps in the recording studio.
While he was busy, Lia stayed quietly by the side, watching, listening, and absorbing everything she could.
Unlike the chaos she imagined, Teddy's music production can be described as well-organized, just like building a solid house, with each step having a clear plan and rhythm.
Inspiration is only a small part of the process. What really supports the realization of the work is the accurate judgment, adjustment, and repeated meticulous polishing during the process.
In addition to Teddy, she also began to occasionally contact other YG producers, such as Kush. Although there is no clear gender threshold in the music production industry, in Korea, women engaged in arrangement and production are still a minority.
YG's production team is composed entirely of men, so during her first few days in the studio, Lia could always sense inquiring eyes peering through the glass door.
Everyone was curious about what kind of newcomer had caught Teddy's eye. Kush was among them. Perhaps due to his youth, he had a quirky personality and looked only a few years older than Lia.
YG seems to have a special preference for musicians with overseas backgrounds. Since they grew up in similar cultural backgrounds, it is naturally easier for them to communicate.
Lia always maintained a cautious respect for Teddy, but when facing Kush, she couldn't help but be more casual.
When Teddy is not around, Kush occasionally takes her to listen to beats and lets her observe some simple arrangement work. Of course, this guy's attention span is very limited, and most of the time he is more like an MSN addict.
Shortly after they met, he mysteriously handed Lia an invitation to a MSN group chat. "YG's strongest producer group," he boasted to her. "Only qualified people can get in. We're giving you a backdoor."
A producer group? Lia was a bit flattered. Nervously and excitedly, she opened her phone, imagining the producers chatting and discussing music creation.
The next second, a pop-up appeared on the screen - K-Flow invites you to join the group: [YG Slave Producers] [YG's Slave Producers] Lia was silent for a second.
She raised her head expressionlessly and looked at Kush. "Da Da~" Kush spread his hands cheerfully, "Welcome to the slave family!" ...
There were only three people in the group: Teddy, Kush, and Kwon Ji-yong. Kush was typing away, and the next second, a new message popped up in the group chat. K-Flow: [@JiYo]
Look! Teddy's new apprentice! K-Flow: [@NeonL] Come say hello to Master G!!! Lia was just hesitating whether to say anything when a new message popped up on the screen.
JiYo: ??? A few seconds later, a new bubble popped up. JiYo: What's going on? I just woke up, what are you doing? BigT: Kush, why are you bringing someone in again?
K-Flow: Let me introduce you to Teddy's new apprentice [@NeonL]. K-Flow: Lia, let me introduce you to our YG's busiest artist and slave producer - G-Dragon
[@JiYo] There were only three people talking, but the scene suddenly fell into chaos. Lia felt like she couldn't get a word in. Fortunately, a reply came quickly from the other end.
JiYo: So it's Lia. Teddy actually accepted an apprentice, hello there [smiley face.jpg] BigT: Not an apprentice, just a rag picker. NeonL: ...?
Lia stared at this, feeling the need to defend her dignity. NeonL: [picking up trash.jpg] The group went silent for a second. The next moment, Kush laughed out loud, letting out a long string of bubbles.
K-Flow: hhhhhhhh Okay, little apprentice, you'll definitely have a bright future. JiYo: No, I want to follow my brother [@BigT] and pick up scraps too [holding face.jpg]
BigT: All the work done? [Working wholeheartedly.jpg] K-Flow: User exiting the group chat… Lia couldn't help but smile. Just as she lowered her head and was about to continue typing, a message popped up in the lower right corner of MSN.
From JiYo: Friend Request Kush peeked in and casually added, "Zhilong has been busy with his debut recently, otherwise you would have met him a long time ago." He thought for a moment and asked, "You haven't met him yet, right?"
Lia stared at her phone, her fingertips tapping the screen lightly, lingering on the "Accept" button. Of course I've seen it before. I just didn't expect to be asked for contact information here first. * The slave producer group isn't very active.
To be precise, Kush was the only one who kept sending messages in the group. He looked like an idle and unemployed vagrant, and Lia really didn't know where he found the time to secretly create.
Teddy rarely speaks in the group. Judging from the current situation, before Lia joined, the only one in the group who would support Kush was probably Kwon Ji-yong.
But he is probably tormented by his artist schedule now, and he often responds to messages one or two days later. If you don't know him, you might think he is in another time zone.
As a result, Lia, the youngest, was forced to become Kwon Ji-yong's successor, bearing the brunt of Kush's messages. So, that's why Kush invited her to join the group... professional discussions, sparking inspiration...
Lia felt like she'd been ripped off. Now she was just a free companion, available year-round. One evening in March, Lia walked into the recording studio, backpack in hand.
She brought her arrangement work to Teddy, who had recently been teaching her how to lay out a drum kit, to check.
On the swivel chair in front of the operating table, someone was lying on his back in a lazy posture, with a hat covering his face, and his fingertips tapping lightly on the table to the vibrating beat from the speaker, looking immersed in it.
The man's style was so striking that even with his hat obscuring his face, Lia recognized him instantly. It was Kwon Ji-yong. She subconsciously slowed her pace. This was the first time she'd seen him in the studio.
Even though they were MSN friends, they had never chatted alone outside of the group chat. She knew that as a "slave" of YG, Kwon Ji-yong was always in the recording studio.
But Bigbang is still in the debut promotion period, and Lia didn't expect to meet him here so soon. She couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
After careful consideration, she didn't immediately interrupt him. Instead, she quietly walked to the sofa and gently put her bag down. Then she pulled her phone from her pocket and glanced at her inbox. Sure enough, there lay a message from Teddy.
"I have something urgent to do today, Zhilong is covering for me^^" Lia couldn't help but sigh. If she had seen the message earlier, she might have been able to rush back to the dorm to wash her hair before coming back. The song quickly ended.
Lia walked closer to the operating table and greeted him softly: "Senior." Quan Zhilong took off his hat and squinted slightly to adjust to the light.
Then he looked at her lazily, smiled and winked at her: "Brother Teddy has something urgent to do, so I'll come to check your homework today." Lia was stunned. This was the first time Teddy stood her up.
She was a little curious: "Why did something suddenly happen to Teddy Oppa?" Kwon Ji-yong reacted quickly and immediately grasped the key point.
He frowned at Lia, with a slight complaint in his tone: "Why do you call me 'senior' but call Teddy 'oppa'? After all, we have exchanged phone numbers!" Lia couldn't help but roll her eyes in her heart.
She whispered back, "Is that considered an exchange... Oppa?" Feeling a little guilty, Quan Zhilong immediately changed the subject, calmly betraying Teddy by saying, "It's my girlfriend. They had a fight."
"Huh?!" Lia's eyes widened in shock, and her attention was immediately diverted. She hadn't expected Teddy to have a girlfriend.
Perhaps because the other person's image in the recording studio was so strict and professional, Lia had never even thought about it. She couldn't help but ask, "Why are they arguing?"
Quan Zhilong shrugged. "I haven't asked yet, but I'll give you a tip." He looked confident, as if he was very experienced. Lia leaned in and asked, "What's that tip?"
"Buy flowers, write a song, kneel down." Quan Zhilong counted on his fingers seriously, "One of them will work." Lia laughed: "Are you seriously suggesting that Teddy Oppa kneel down?"
"Oh, little kid, you don't understand." Quan Zhilong sighed pretentiously, "Women like this." - It's a pity to believe it. Lia thought to herself, she has never eaten pork, but she has seen pigs run.
After chatting about gossip, Quan Zhilong finally remembered the main topic. He casually asked, "What did you learn from Teddy last time?" Lia thought for a moment and replied, "Drum arrangement."
Quan Zhilong was a little surprised and raised an eyebrow. "You're making pretty good progress. Let me hear it then?" Lia had been lost in gossip a moment before, but now that she was called to task, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous, like an elementary school student whose teacher suddenly checked her homework.
She obediently turned around and took out the USB drive from her schoolbag, copied her rhythm sample into the computer in the recording studio, and played it. The rhythm coming out of the speakers was not abrupt, but she could hear that some parts were not smooth enough.
She had actually revised it several times, but she always felt that there was a subtle sense of disharmony and couldn't find the problem. Quan Zhilong listened carefully, nodded at her, and praised her: "Not bad."
Lia nodded, then looked at him eagerly, waiting for the next part. Her expression was so serious that Kwon Ji-yong couldn't help but smile. He added, "You're doing much better than when I was a trainee."
Lia didn't quite believe it. He was probably just being modest, but she couldn't help but feel happy. She scratched her head and asked, "Oppa, doesn't that sound a little weird?"
Quan Zhilong was a little surprised and raised his eyebrows at her and said, "Oh, you can hear it yourself? It can indeed be better." As he said that, he pulled a chair for Lia to sit down, and then opened the music arrangement software with ease.
He pushed the drum track forward a bit, making the bass drum's accent hit half a beat earlier, and then fine-tuned the dynamics of the high-frequency drum. "Try this," he pressed play.
Lia was surprised to find that the smoothness of the entire sample immediately changed completely - not only was the rhythm more tense, but the previous sense of disharmony also disappeared.
"Groove." Quan Zhilong said, leaning back in his chair lazily, as if he had just fiddled with the instrument casually. "The drum beats don't have to be completely aligned with the beat. A slight offset will make it feel better." Lia was a little shocked.
This kind of adjustment doesn't have a strict theoretical standard, but rather relies on the producer's own sense of rhythm and production experience. Because of this, even though Teddy had taught her the logic of drum layout in detail, she still couldn't make this level of adjustment.
——This person always manages to amaze others with his effortless performance... She sighed. Then, she lowered her head and carefully wrote down the adjustment steps, intending to study the differences between the two pieces of music carefully when she got home.
After Quan Zhilong finished adjusting the settings, he sat quietly and watched her take notes for a while. As if remembering something, he casually opened a demo and dragged the file onto the new track. "Want to try this?" he asked.
Lia looked up at the screen. The file name was marked in small letters below the taskbar. Idiot.
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