Chapter 1576 - Rehearsal
"Stop! The gong rhythm is wrong again! The string section isn't steady either!"
Nan Gonghao lowered his baton weakly—it served only a decorative purpose, really, because the naturalized musicians didn't understand what conducting diagrams meant at all.
"Eh, I think let's take a break first. It's such a hot day." Okamoto, head of the Lingao Central Experimental Art Troupe, wore a slightly gloomy expression that formed a sharp contrast with the dazzling summer sunlight streaming through the window.
His partner, Deputy Head Dongfang Ke, leaned against the old Nie Er piano, pinching the black hair tie on his forehead with his right hand and tapping on the piano case with his left. "Obviously, musicians of this era aren't accustomed to what's called multi-voice interlaced rhythm. In my opinion, it's very difficult to achieve a cheerful style of music with a folk orchestra."
Nan Gonghao walked down from the conductor's podium—a makeshift platform of piled wooden boxes—sweating profusely. He picked up a glass of iced kvass, drained it in one gulp, wiped his mouth, and said: "Actually, the performance level of that woman surnamed Liu and Wang Qisuo from the Garrison Battalion is still very top-notch. It's a pity that traditional folk musicians can't talk about understanding and controlling the style we Senators prefer—even imitating it is very difficult! I've spent a lot of effort correcting the naturalized musicians one by one! I'm exhausted! Folk ensemble isn't so easy to create the atmosphere of a gala from the old spacetime. By the way, there's also the problem of amplification and mixing in the large venue we mentioned last time—if you don't want the Cultural Festival to sound like a funeral band, you still have to think of some solution."
Thinking of that effect, Okamoto's face looked even uglier. He glanced at the girls from the Checkered Skirt Club gathering across the way, waiting for dress rehearsal. Their checkered short skirts fluttered, and they wore new gray wool vests with red silk knots on their chests, various head flowers in their hair, chattering away—full of youthful vitality.
Thinking that they didn't need to open their mouths to sing at all, just dancing to the backing track—even if Liu Shuixin frowned at their dancing level, at least they had the level of high school art enthusiasts. The otaku Senators would be mesmerized... Okamoto's heart twisted into knots.
"Then why don't we just change the performance piece to something like Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon? The style is closer to the aesthetics of southern people, and the rhythm is relatively slow—conducive to maximizing the strengths of the top string musicians."
Nan Gong said: "That's doable, but wasn't your original intention of doing folk music ensemble to liven up the atmosphere and warm up the field? At least have something like Jubilant! The musical style of Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon and the like doesn't match the Senate's requirements either!"
Dongfang Ke straightened up, pointed to the piano, and said: "Actually, for those red songs, just use a piano four-hand duet. Doing an opening act that way is much better than this messy orchestra. For amplification, just put the microphone stand next to it. And then Nan Gong, use your own computer to make a click track with rhythm parts, creating the feeling of a pop piano performance from the old spacetime. Then invite Ms. Liu from the Checkered Skirt side over for a moment. I'll ask her if she still remembers some simple teaching pieces. If not, I can play solo—just add a track for the accompaniment part."
Nan Gonghao seconded: "That's a good idea. Making an arrangement with various sound effects isn't hard. Actually, if you're used to a MIDI keyboard, just hang string and drum samples on different octaves of the keyboard, match it with a click track, and it's a very complete performance. What piece should we choose?"
Dongfang looked out the window. The silhouette of the Executive Committee Building in Bairen City stood tall under the westering sun. When he turned his head, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. "Let's use Good News from Beijing Reaches Border Villages. Hmm, of course, change it to Good News from Lingao Reaches Li Villages—expressing the heartfelt love of the Li people for the new Executive Committee with Chairman Wen and Ma Gong as the core, ha..." As he spoke, he rarely couldn't help but smile.
Nan Gonghao didn't seem to catch the reference and nodded: "The piece is very cheerful and enthusiastic. The accompaniment sound effects like bells and horns are ready-made in the sound bank. It's not difficult. Moreover, we can actually use naturalized citizens to play these simple instruments on the spot—the momentum will be greater. Let's decide on this first."
On the other side, Okamoto was already laughing and crying at once, and had to agree: "Okay, okay, just this one. Today's rehearsal ends here for now. I'll go find Liu Shuixin." As he spoke, he turned around and whispered: "This Dongfang is bullying the Executive Committee people for not knowing the background of the piece. The venom is too strong!" He suddenly frowned again. "I know this version. It's said to be a folk music performance, but it's actually a modern folk orchestra performance. The timpani, cello, and double bass inside are Western instruments. We can't find corresponding instruments and players..."
Nan Gonghao said: "This isn't a big problem. We can use an 88-key MIDI keyboard to hang timber samples for real-time playing. The 88 keys can be divided into three keyboard areas—one plays the timpani timbre, one plays the cello, one plays the double bass. Additionally, if we can't find that kind of bass horn instrument, that timbre also needs to be played with a MIDI keyboard. The sampling sound source software can be edited ourselves, distributing the timbres of three instruments in different octaves across a set of keys. But this way, it may require two or three people to play this keyboard together, each responsible for one or two timbres. Of course, if there are more MIDI keyboards in the Planning Agency's warehouse, it would be more convenient. We only have one that I brought myself. I see there's also one in the recording studio—I'm afraid it can't be borrowed."
"I see this bunch of ani—" Okamoto swallowed the rest of the word hurriedly; he still had to go to the Planning Agency to ask for help later. "—wouldn't think so thoroughly."
This remark was not speculation. There were almost no artists in the Senate's core layer. Within their scope of thinking, remembering to bring some musical instruments and recording equipment was already quite good.
"It doesn't necessarily have to be a MIDI keyboard," Nan Gonghao said. "Electric pianos, electronic organs, and synthesizers can also be used as MIDI keyboards."
Dongfang nodded: "Electric pianos might not be available, but there should be electronic organs brought by someone. Let's post on the forum to look for them. If there are enough keyboard players and equipment, we can simulate the effect of any band completely. Of course, the sound details played with keyboard sampling timbres will be slightly different from real instruments. As for the bell and woodblock sounds in the music—those should be easy instruments to find. If we really can't find them, making them on the spot is no problem. Playing this stuff is also very simple. Percussion players in opera troupes can handle it proficiently."
"I'll go post right now!" Okamoto couldn't wait.
"No rush. Let Nan Gong transcribe the score from the original orchestral recording first and make the timbre samples. You go report to implement the equipment first. We two will discuss the arrangement." Dongfang's expression had returned from smiling to normal.
"This is probably too tight. Tonight I have to re-arrange the music for the girls of the Checkered Skirt Club. They're waiting to enter the recording studio." Nan Gonghao showed an expression of helplessness. Continuous rehearsals for more than ten days, serving not only as composer, arranger, and conductor but also as music teacher—he had never been so tired, physically and mentally exhausted.
"What?!" Before Dongfang could speak, Okamoto already showed an exasperated expression. "You actually..."
"Pop music is also a kind of art." Nan Gonghao obviously wasn't as "irreconcilable" as the director and deputy director of the Art Troupe.
"Forget it, Okamoto. The girls of the Checkered Skirt are also working very hard. At least give them a chance to show themselves." Dongfang Ke wasn't as resistant to idol groups as in the past. Watching them go from completely unfamiliar mechanical imitation to being able to complete several dances now—even with a certain expressiveness—this feeling was completely different from watching a finished performance directly from the audience.
Saying that, he sat down in front of the piano, his ten fingers flying, tapping out a passionate melody. Nan Gonghao went to direct the folk orchestra in packing up their instruments.
While the Art Troupe was racking their brains over performance issues, several big shots of the Checkered Skirt Club were also racking theirs.
The problem they worried about was no different from Okamoto and the others: the on-site amplification and mixing equipment had not yet been finalized.
Regarding the importance of amplification and mixing equipment, Wu Ciren had already been "educated" by Liu Shuixin. The first performance wouldn't be in the small theater of one hundred seats they had envisioned, but in a massive gymnasium.
In such a venue, without amplification equipment, unless one was an Italian opera singer with years of special training—able to open the oral cavity wide, lower the larynx, enlarge the pharyngeal cavity, open the nasal cavity, and use the appropriate amplification of the pharyngeal, oral, and nasal cavities to drive the resonance of the head and chest cavities, turning the body into a "large human resonance box"—the audience couldn't hear what was being sung.
Not to mention half-baked singers like their newly assembled idol group. Even someone with professional training like Liu Shuixin couldn't sing standing here without an amplifier.
Since the appearance of microphones and speakers, singers no longer needed to rely on their bodies to create huge volume; volume was determined by the power of the speakers. Therefore, pop singing—which was more natural, closer to human vocal habits, and easier to resonate with listeners' hearts—swept the globe.
Then, coupled with the progress of recording technology, there was soil for the survival of idol stars.
No matter how "singing skills are not required" for idol stars, they at least had to be audible! At least make people feel "it sounds pretty good" to attract fans.
So, after several vocal training sessions, the gentlemen of the Checkered Skirt Club gave up the idea of live performance—although the amplification equipment had been roughly resolved—they didn't even have the idea of half-open mic, and completely firmed up their determination to "lip-sync."
For idols with no vocal foundation and insufficient training, it was simply too difficult to adapt to live performances, even with amplifiers.
(End of Chapter)