Chapter 3

Over the next three days, Du Xinghe stayed in the Cloud World to create "New Butterfly Lovers' Dream." Writing the lyrics, composing the melody, and arranging the music were all too easy for him.

In his former world, he had been hidden away by Chengtian for ten years, during which he did little else but study pop music and music history, thoroughly researching the popular songs of the past few decades.

He had studied why and how those songs that became hits managed to do so, all in an effort to absorb their strengths and apply them to his own work.

Now, in this new world, Du Xinghe, from the perspective of an industry insider, had scrutinized the pop music styles and trends of this world.

The pop music in this world, up to this point, was very similar to the early 1990s in his previous world. Both had just gone through a period of rapid and vigorous development, gradually revealing a bottleneck of monotonous styles.

Just look at the best-selling albums here; they were all uniform urban love songs, mass-produced like products from an industrial assembly line. Compared to the world Du Xinghe had left, and even compared to the music of ten years ago in this world, they showed less and less individuality and more and more similarity in theme.

The profit-driven nature of the music industry here was too severe. Record companies focused entirely on maximizing the profitability of songs and simplifying the production process, thereby neglecting the cultural depth and exploration of the music itself.

Indeed, the first batch of original folk singers had already established themselves in the mainstream music scene here, but as the commercial pie grew larger, their initial creative passion and creativity had been drained, and their songs had become increasingly bland.

One could say that the mechanical nature of the music creation process here had long overshadowed the early emotional and intuitive aspects.

At this time, if Du Xinghe were to introduce the ancient-style "New Butterfly Lovers' Dream," it would certainly attract attention. After all, the pop music in this world desperately needed fresh blood to stimulate the ears of the audience.

If the TV series "Bao Qingtian" were also to become popular here, the impact of this ending theme could be even more intense than in the other world!

With this in mind, Du Xinghe threw himself into the creation of "New Butterfly Lovers' Dream."

This song, which was based on the famous Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai's "Farewell to Cousin Li at Xie Tiao's Pavilion in Xuancheng," was a semi-literary, semi-vernacular work that blended the classical with the modern, perfectly capturing the essence and requiring no changes.

However, the song title needed to be changed; he decided to drop the "New" and simply call it "Butterfly Lovers' Dream."

The neo-classical style of the song didn't need to be changed either.

But the arrangement and instrumentation were something Du Xinghe had to figure out on his own, as he couldn't completely remember how the original arrangement was done.

He only remembered that this song, like the popular song "A Thousand Years of Waiting" from the same era, used Western instruments to play a classical Eastern melody, replacing traditional Chinese instruments like the zither, flute, and bamboo flute with string instruments to create a unique atmosphere.

With this direction in mind, Du Xinghe quickly arranged the song.

Next came the trial recording of the arrangement.

The arrangement of the song required a combination of bass, electronic keyboard, drum kit, violin, and other instruments, which Du Xinghe couldn't do alone.

His company's band had already disbanded, and Du Xinghe couldn't afford to hire external musicians. Reluctantly, he had to ask his classmates from Huaguang Art School for help.

When he was studying at Huaguang Art School, Du Xinghe was part of a band called "Chaos," where he was the lead singer and guitarist. The bassist was Ma Qi, a tall guy from the drama class; the drummer and band leader was Zhang Xiaozhe, the oldest among them; and the electronic keyboard player was his classmate Liao Nan.

None of them were formally trained in music, but they all had a good musical foundation. As long as the sheet music was clear, they could play it.

The instrumentation for "Butterfly Lovers' Dream" wasn't too difficult. Du Xinghe could play the violin himself, and by leading the other instruments with the main melody of the violin, he could easily complete the task.

In this era, students who had a bit of money all had pagers. That afternoon, Du Xinghe called Liao Nan and asked him to gather the members of Chaos at the Qingyun Building.

After hanging up the phone, it took less than an hour for the three band members, dressed in the light blue uniforms of Huaguang Art School, to arrive at the Cloud World Records.

Upon meeting, Liao Nan, with his Afu hairstyle, immediately punched Du Xinghe in the chest and exclaimed, "Du, you're really something! You just quit school like that, I really admire you!"

Looking at the rock posters plastered on the walls of the meeting room, the bulky Ma Qi also found Du Xinghe impressive and said bluntly, "If my dad could leave me a record company like this, I would have quit school too."

Zhang Xiaozhe gave Ma Qi a stern look and scolded him, "What are you saying! Don't talk so much nonsense!"

Zhang Xiaozhe was worried that Ma Qi's words might hurt Du Xinghe, who had recently lost his father.

Du Xinghe smiled and said, "It's okay, I've already gotten over it. Don't worry about it. I called you guys here today because I need your help."

"What do you need? Just say it, no need for all this talk," Liao Nan, who was a head shorter than Du Xinghe, said, punching his thin chest again, complaining.

Seeing the other band members express the same attitude, Du Xinghe smiled gratefully and got straight to the point, "Huashì has a new drama called 'Bao Qingtian,' and our company is supposed to create the ending theme. My dad was supposed to write it, but he only finished half before he passed away, so I have to finish it for him. I've already written the song, and now I need to arrange and record it. I called you guys here to help me record the song."

"Damn, is that all? I thought you were going to ask us for money. I didn't even bring my wallet, hehe," Ma Qi relaxed and laughed.

"Doesn't your dad's company have a band? Why not hire a professional orchestra?" Zhang Xiaozhe, the most meticulous of the group, asked.

"Without making you guys laugh, my dad's record company is almost bankrupt. All the employees have quit, and I'm the only one left. There's no money in the account, so I can't afford to hire an orchestra. I'm counting on this ending theme to turn things around."

"Is it that bad?" Liao Nan, who was usually cheerful, became serious upon hearing Du Xinghe's serious tone.

"Of course, I've been living on instant noodles for days," Du Xinghe pointed to a pile of instant noodle cups on the windowsill, which had been his meals and snacks for the past few days.

"I never thought your father's passing would have such a big impact on your family," Liao Nan said sympathetically. Seeing the once lively and playful Du Xinghe reduced to living on instant noodles, Liao Nan felt a deep sense of unease.

"Du, can we really record it well with our level? Don't let us mess things up for you," Zhang Xiaozhe, realizing the severity of the situation, took out his wallet and said to Du Xinghe, "If you need money, we can all chip in. You should still hire a professional orchestra to record it."

"No, no, we can do it ourselves," Du Xinghe held Zhang Xiaozhe's hand, which was reaching for his wallet, and said, "I called you guys here today to record a demo. Once Huashì approves it, I'll hire a professional orchestra to record it."

"Got it, then let's get to it. You two, get ready and help Xinghe out!"

At Zhang Xiaozhe's command, Liao Nan and Ma Qi rolled up their sleeves and entered the specialized recording studio for the arrangement.