Chapter 6: Faster 6
After entering the practice room I glanced around and inside the small room, there was a piano. Up to here was sothing I was familiar with and was a place that I had been pretty much living in, for the past month.
The only difference would perhaps be the table placed over there as well as the computer on top of it.
Tilting my head, I asked.
“There’s a computer here?”
“A few of the rooms are like that. Practice rooms starting with C are all reserved for the composing departnt.”
“Ohh...”
As expected of the composing departnt, they even had computers. Naturally throwing the bag on top of the desk and sitting down, Yu Minji spun the chair around once and grinned.
“Sit. I’ll explain it to you.”
“Okay.”
While pulling one of the distant chairs closer, I thought.
Yu Minji-sunbae.
I could guess after seeing her looking for in the classroom but she was quite passionate herself. After all, when I asked, ‘Do it right now?’ she gave a smile before heading straight to the practice room and said she would explain about composing as soon as we sat down.
For , this was good, since practising was a lot better than playing around.
Shrugging my shoulders, I sat down on the chair while Yu Minji had already started opening and looking for things on the computer. She turned the computer on, opened so apps and then took out a rectangular pad from the bag before connecting it to the computer.
“What is that?”
“You’ll see in a bit.”
When Yu Minji touched the pad several tis, a stave appeared on the screen. There were five black lines on top of a white page and when Yu Minji wrote notes in between those lines, they appeared imdiately on the staves.
Quarter notes, eighth notes, slurs and tuplets...
It was interesting to see the staves being filled up together with the movent of the digital pen. And with the press of the play button, it started playing.
“Oohh...”
“Well, it’s like this pretty much. During the admission tests we had to draw it by hand but these days, they’re all done on computers.”
Seeing the nonchalant Yu Minji, I was slightly baffled.
Wow that was modern. I sowhat thought that classic would have no relations to things like this, but they had been composing songs without a pencil and paper all this ti? With an interested gaze, I was looking at the staves that had appeared on the pad when Yu Minji suddenly grinned.
“Cute.”
After tapping on my head for no reason, she spun her chair around another ti.
“So, you wanted to learn about composing right? You learned Harmonic studies already so you should know about the basics... ah did you skip through them since you’re an opera student?”
“...No.”
She didn’t seem to believe it even after my response and just turned her head away.
“...”
It was heart wrenching that the perspective on the opera departnt was bad but I didn’t try to adjust it. Indeed in the opera departnt there were students like Lee Suh-ah who studied hard, as well as . Han Dasom was quite enthusiastic as well.
However, there were kids like our Jusup who only sang.
Since opera singers were fundantally executants that played only one lody, it was also a fact that they weren’t as interested in Harmonic studies as other instrunts.
...While I was giving several excused in my head, Yu Minji continued her explanation.
“Well, it doesn’t matter even if you don’t know. You still know what Harmonic studies are about right?”
“...Isn’t it a study on harmony and chords?”
“Right, harmony. Literally it’s about sounds being in harmony. What happens when sounds are in harmony; they are nice to listen to. Therefore, for us composers whose aim is to create nice songs to listen to, Harmonic studies are that important. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
After running several notes in harmony through the program, Yu Minji lightly placed the pen down.
“Composing... is similar to joining lego blocks. You take an A harmony block and attach it to the B harmony block. Just like how you can make spectacular dinosaurs by adding several of those rectangular blocks, it is our job to add these single-coloured chords into colourful songs. Any questions so far?”
As I watched Yu Minji spin around the chair comfortably with her legs apart, I thought.
Mhmm... so it’s like this.
To compose, you first need to have mastered Harmonic studies, and have a good skill to be able to attach lego blocks in a beautiful manner. In other words, to be able to tell which shape was the prettiest, you needed discerning eyes, or rather good ears.
...So this upperclassman who was the top student of the composing departnt had all that huh.
Seeing who was in admiration, Yu Minji smiled like she was looking at a cute junior and brought out a file from the computer.
“Now, let’s stop the theories there and go over to the pracs straight away. This prototype was sothing I made casually after listening to your song. Do you want to hear it?”
“Yes.”
Along with a click, I could hear the soft accompanint of the piano as a sorrowful lody flowed above the slow accompanint.
Hmm, a minor, with a dark atmosphere. The rapidly falling arpeggio straight after the introduction gave off an urgent feeling. From then, there was a strange sense of rhythm being felt.
Iya, that’s what it was huh? Feeling admiration, I opened my mouth.
“Ohh, the introduction was an offbeat huh? Like ‘Fur elise’, the rhythm is confusing and is interesting.”
Twitching her eyebrows, she replied.
“It’s boring to just start normally, so I added it in there.”
Indeed, after having it like that, it felt like the motif coming out later down the track was made clearer. It’s possible to have conversations like this when the composer’s right next to you huh.
Being sowhat excited, I started talking on and on.
“Swapping the sounds here seems to give off a big twist and I like it.”
“You do?”
“Woah... although it is going up, isn’t the jump too big? I think it hit a D5 just then?
“...Un?”
“In this part, it’s jumping from tonic to dominant so shouldn’t there be subdominant in the middle?”
“...That’s because it’s still a prototype.”
“I see.”
Seeing nod, Yu Minji’s expression beca blank.
“...You really studied Harmonic studies huh.”
Would I lie about sothing like that? Feeling dumbfounded, I replied.
“I said that just then though...”
“How much would a freshman in the opera departnt learn?”
“...”
That was true too. While I was scratching my head in slight embarrassnt, Yu Minji sparkled her eyes and opened her mouth.
“Then what do you think about this developnt?”
She then imdiately started printing out the music sheet, and her writing speed seed to be even faster than my reading speed. Slowly, I etched the notes into my brain and played it.
‘Mhmm...’
It was fast and passionate, and high. The lody that had been storming away with passion hit the summit and gradually sunk down. After that, the lyrical lody continued... but that wasn’t the important part.
With a sullen face I quickly stopped the song in my head and tapped the shoulder of Yu Minji who had been writing away in full concentration.
“Sunbae.”
“...”
“Sunbae!”
“Un?”
Finally coming to herself, she stared towards .
“The song’s good. It’s good but...”
“But?”
“This is too high.”
When I pointed at the staves, a beansprout that had shot all the way up to E5 was visible.
“...How would I even sing E5.”
I can’t even sing properly with C5 and yet 2 notes higher than that... I wasn’t sure how many people would be able to sing that with a male throat. Yu Minji who had unknowingly gone back to her relaxed appearance tilted her head.
“Ah, tenors can’t go up this high?”
“I need to cut my manhood off to reach that high.”
“Then do it.”
“...”
Is she for real?
After a glaring contest, I opened my mouth.
“How about we just add a soprano here?”
“Change it to a duet?”
“Yes.”
Yu Minji gave a grin.
“Is it that easy to put a voice part in? Another voice part coming in ans we need to change the harmony from scratch, and it’s not just another lody being added. Sing with a falsetto or sothing. Don’t say nonsen...”
“If we sing in a falsetto we’ll be losing all the vigour though?”
“...”
She closed her mouth.
Right, I wasn’t a professional countertenor and was just mimicking it so how would I sing opera songs with a falsetto? Staring at Yu Minji in thought, a question was ford in my mind.
“Can’t we just change it to a duet?”
“I’m telling you, it’s not that easy.”
Un? Isn’t it? It was similar to a duet part in Manon Lescaut so can’t we take a bit from there and add it in? While thinking all that, I suddenly thought of how Yu Minji was still only a second-grade high schooler and realising that she might not even know of this song, I nodded and reached out with my hand.
“Sothing popped up in my head, can I try?”
“...Okay?”
Yu Minji passed the pen over with a blank expression and after receiving the pen, I stood in front of the computer. A music sheet that had already been filled could be seen with one accompanint and one tenor.
“...”
At a glance, it seed like no holes could possibly be made in this perfect composition. It was the accumulation of chords which Yu Minji, the best composer of the second grade had built up so it wasn’t sothing that could be shaken by soone like who had never learned about composing.
But if we were to change the accompanint slightly...
“Uh?”
Yu Minji’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
She seed to have realised it.
It was as expected of the top of the second grade’s composing departnt, as she could tell from just a few changes in notes. The only thing she was lacking was experience.
After watching do that, she slowly opened her mouth.
“...This is that Puccini’s thing right?”
“Yes. I referenced Manon Lescaut a bit.”
“I didn’t think of that...”
It was unclear whether her statent was a lantation or of admiration but I scratched my hair as I stared at her. Rather than saying she couldn’t think of it, it was more correct to say that the world of classic was too large for a second-grade high schooler to understand everything of.
She was just lacking experience in other words.
I quickly moved the pen and filled in the notes.
The lody that was too high was given to the soprano while so of it was broken up to give the tenor so parts, with choruses in the middle. While I was fixing the music sheet, the pen slipped from my hand due to the sweat filling my palm.
“Huu...”
This ti, I held it tighter and when I raised my head after so more hard work,
A finished music sheet was right before .
“Is that okay?”
“...”
Together with Yu Minji, I read through the sheet silently.
Mhmm...
Certainly, because I was a beginner, it felt a lot awkward. There were so parts where the progress seed forced due to just sticking it there and I could also see segnts that ended in an awkward note.
But there weren’t any parts that made no sense harmonically so... wouldn’t it be better after Yu Minji polished it up a bit? I reflected on it and was nodding when Yu Minji turned her eyes towards .
“Hey...”
“Sorry?”
Ah, was I too rude? Thinking that I pulled my head back when Yu Minji tapped on it a bit before patting it.
“You’re quite good. You sure you’ve never learned composing before?”
“No way, I was just copying from other songs.”
“You didn’t copy – you were just referencing from it and they’re not even that similar either. That’s what’s called skill.”
Uh... it was a bit strange hearing that from her. Rather than soone like who just thought of a similar song before taking it, isn’t Yu Minji who had written that lody on the spot the real skilled person?
Since it would be weird for to bring it up, I quickly changed the topic.
“Ah right. Don’t we have to find a soprano now?”
Folding her arms, Yu Minji raised her head a bit.
“Right, but the pitch is a bit low and has to be dramatic so... it would be good if there was a zzo-soprano but it’s quite a rare voice type so... is there perhaps one from the freshn?”
Blinking my eyes, I replied.
“A zzo-soprano?”
*
Kim Sukwon smacked the door open.
Within the room of the club, [Cantabile], one could see several students here and there. After glancing over them, Kim Sukwon walked in large strides until he was standing at the very front.
“Our freshn juniors. I have sothing to say, can you guys co here for a second?”
“Yes sunbae.”
Glancing at the faces of the freshn students that ca up, he opened his mouth.
“As you all know, after around a month, the Improvent Concert of the composing departnt begins. So, the sunbaes of the composing departnt in [Cantabile] are in need of so perforrs and...”
“...”
The freshn students of the musical club, [Cantabile] all glanced around with deep breaths. Just from hearing up to there, they could guess what he was about to say.
He must be looking for perforrs who could volunteer for free and since it wasn’t the first ti, it was obvious that would be the case. And naturally, Kim Sukwon did not betray their assumptions.
“As you guys know, we, the composers need ti to compose songs and therefore we have everyone presenting their songs towards the end of the term in a large batch and thus, it’s hard for us to find perforrs.”
“...”
“You guys, as juniors of the sa club can help your upperclassn up a bit right? You know how important the Improvent Concert is to the final marks yeah?”
“Yes.”
With a satisfied smile, Kim Sukwon glanced around. Let’s see, the second and third grade composers including himself under the Cantabile were 3 people and since Kim Sukwon already had Kim Wuju, two or so more perforrs should be enough.
Who could obstruct that ‘Yu Minji’ quite well... After staring around at the faces, he made a bright smile.
“Lee Suh-ah? Can you help perhaps?”
“Sorry but I have a concour during that ti.”
“Ah, right...”
He needed a soprano but that was quite unfortunate. Isn’t Lee Suh-ah the only useful soprano amongst the freshn...
‘Ah, there was one more decent one.’
Kim Sukwon fixed his gaze at Song Mirae nearby.
“Mirae, you don’t have any concours right?”
“Sorry? I don’t but...”
“Then please think about it. Every single one of these performances add up to your experiences. And you over there, are you okay? You are? Good.”
After nodding his head once, Kim Sukwon made a smile. Yu Minji. There were lots of rumours that she had gone to the freshn classroom just then – she perhaps started composing.
“Hmm...”
Touching his chin, he thought of what had happened before. Jo Yunjae singing Nessun Dorma in front of the Main Building... wasn’t sothing to be worried about. Just in case, he had asked other freshn kids and had received a definite reply that Jo Yunjae wasn’t that good.
Besides, the only perforr Yu Minji has found seems to be one tenor so...
‘No matter how small the scale is, she would need at least one accompanist. When is she planning to finish looking for perforrs?’
Shrugging his shoulders, Kim Sukwon thought.
Oh well.
In the end, the results will be made clear after a month on the stage. After staring at Kim Wuju for no reason, Kim Sukwon let out a grin.
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