Chapter 78

As the heat of the dog days of summer and the White Dew period passed, the dry air gradually dissipated, and the city of Jinan began to feel the refreshing coolness of autumn.

Li Qian, riding his bicycle between school, home, and Old Struggle Records, no longer felt the intense heat and sweat that had plagued him earlier. Instead, he could now enjoy the cool autumn breeze, feeling a sense of refreshment.

Around this time, after about two weeks of traveling back and forth between Shuntian and Jinan, Li Jinlong finally completed the instrumental tracks for the five songs. For their small team producing the album, it was time for the first formal recording session in the studio.

Li Qian, in his previous life, was not a professional, and in this life, he had always been an outsider in the music industry. Therefore, even if the group 5 Elements of Us was not expected to have outstanding vocal skills, it was unrealistic to expect Li Qian to provide any adjustments or guidance in the studio.

His recording requirements for 5 Elements of Us were very simple: "If it sounds right to me, it's okay!"

The recording studio is a special place, and those who have never been inside might not fully understand its unique nature. In the studio, any minor flaw, tremor, or instability in your voice can be captured by advanced recording equipment and amplified to an extreme degree. Even if you think your voice is good enough, when you listen to your own recording, you might find it unbearable.

Although the album will definitely undergo post-production, where electronic devices and computers will be used to refine and process the sound, and even for some singers with poor vocal skills, the computer can edit together the best parts from multiple takes to create a relatively "perfect" version, there is no doubt that a direct recording in the studio can better convey a unified emotional expression.

Therefore, from the perspective of completing the entire song, Li Qian required 5 Elements of Us to try to complete the recording in one take, minimizing reliance on post-production.

Moreover, the most important thing was to perform steadily, regardless of vocal skills.

However, the problem was that 5 Elements of Us consisted of five people.

Old Struggle Records had the most advanced and largest professional recording studio in Jinan, with four microphone positions, theoretically capable of accommodating up to eight people recording simultaneously.

So, there was no technical issue with 5 Elements of Us recording together.

But when the recording began, Li Qian's brows furrowed, and they remained that way throughout.

Indeed, 5 Elements of Us had excellent singing foundations, and they had undergone professional singing and performance training after joining Huachang Records. They had even released an album and were no strangers to the recording studio. However, their biggest problem was inconsistency.

When five people recorded together, any instability from one person would immediately affect the overall quality of the song. In practice, even though they paid close attention, the issues never involved just one person.

Of course, the biggest problem was Xie Bing.

Among the five girls in 5 Elements of Us, Xie Bing's voice was not bad, and her vocal skills were decent. However, her voice was sweet and mellow, which made her sound particularly good when singing solo, especially without accompaniment. The issue was that the sweetness of her voice magnified any flaws, no matter how minor. In the timeline Li Qian had experienced, from the 1960s to the 2010s, "Deng Lijun" was always among the best vocalists in the Chinese music industry.

Moreover, Xie Bing seemed to be afraid of entering the recording studio.

In short, she was always one of the ones who made mistakes.

The song had been practiced thoroughly, and Li Qian had already given them all the necessary guidance. They understood his requirements, so the current recording session was a test of their stability.

Thus, they recorded one take after another.

Considering the need to protect their voices, even though they did not sing continuously and had plenty of rest periods, each recording session lasted no more than two hours, followed by a one-hour break.

So, in a full day of recording, they managed to record for a total of six to eight hours.

They did not even complete the simplest song, "Happy Baby."

By the end of the day, the five girls were all anxious, even the most stable and skilled Wang Jingsnow made mistakes multiple times, let alone Xie Bing, who was the most prone to errors.

During each break, the five girls would apologize profusely as soon as they left the recording studio. By the end of the day, they noticed that Li Qian, the producer, had a frown on his face, and his smile had almost disappeared, making their apologies even more fearful.

Although Li Jinlong had mentioned during their lunch that the current versions could be post-produced, Li Qian was still unsatisfied.

Alright, Li Qian knew that 5 Elements of Us were not like Liao Liao.

Given their style and market positioning, even with Li Qian's involvement in changing their image and direction, their songs would still not be carefully analyzed and appreciated by many, as they were aimed at the youth idol market, not the caliber of Liao Liao. However, for one particular song... once that song was released, Li Qian believed that people would scrutinize their performance and vocal skills with a magnifying glass.

Therefore, the previous strict requirements were all in service of that song.

If the first day didn't work, they would try the second day, and if the second day didn't work, they would start recording every evening from Monday, for two hours each time.

This went on, with Li Qian tormenting the five girls and himself. Finally, after switching to three different songs and recording for a full week, they completed the recording of their first song.

Subsequently, perhaps encouraged by this success, their recording process became smoother. In the following week, they completed two more songs, and their performance in the studio became increasingly stable and mature. As a result, the recording speed accelerated, and before the Mid-Autumn Festival, they completed one-third of the album's recording.

Including the previously recorded "Charge! Charge! Charge!" song, they had now completed six songs. The remaining three songs were: "Love Me!" written by Cao Zhan, which should not be too difficult as they had practiced it thoroughly; "Love Bird," which was relatively more challenging; and "A Night in the Suburbs of Moscow," which was slightly easier. Therefore, if they could maintain their current state, Li Qian was confident that they could complete the next one-third of the recording in a week after the holiday.

The final one-third of the album, of course, would be the last major song.

The song that had been sung for a century, regarded as a pioneering work of the fusion of Chinese and Western music, and considered one of the best Chinese music works of the entire 20th century, even a century later...

"Farewell"!

...

Xie Bing finally sat on the back of Li Qian's bicycle.

But in fact, she felt quite uneasy. She didn't know if Li Qian was going to give her some private advice or, to avoid making her too embarrassed, was going to scold her separately.

She was very aware that even now, her performance in the recording studio was the worst among the five, and at least half of the times, her mistakes ruined the recording.

She imagined that sitting on Li Qian's bicycle, hugging his waist, and letting him take her through the small alleys of Jinan would be a sweet and happy experience. But now, she was clearly only feeling nervous and anxious.

It was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and after discussing with Li Qian, the producer Li Jinlong gave them a five-day holiday. So, before the holiday, everyone went back to their respective homes.

It was not easy to be in any industry, but being a singer was even harder. Ordinary workers had various holidays to rest or visit their families, but those in the entertainment industry rarely had such breaks.

In the past, during national holidays like Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, New Year's Day, and Spring Festival, they were often the busiest times. The company would not let them rest but would arrange commercial performances for them to earn some performance fees.

This year, however, due to the album production, the company, for some reason, had not arranged any commercial performances for them after Li Jinlong brought them to Jinan for two months.

Now, with a hard-earned holiday, they all went home. Xie Bing also wanted to go home to see her parents, whom she hadn't seen for almost a year. But after much consideration, she only called home to report her safety and stayed in Jinan, practicing non-stop in the apartment the company rented for the girls.

Then, Li Qian's call came.

After that, she simply changed her clothes and went downstairs to sit on Li Qian's bicycle, not daring to ask where they were going or what they were going to do. (To be continued.)

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