Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Learning Musical Instruments

Since the composers each had five partners this time, the rooms were not reassigned.

The singers would rest in their own rooms and only go to the recording studio next to their composer’s room when it was time to record.

When Jiang Qin returned to her room, all five singers were waiting at the door.

Yina was a singer from the Elf Clan with exceptionally delicate features. Her pointed ears were a distinct characteristic that set her apart from the Beastmen.

Hugh Dean, from the Mechanical Clan, was also easy to identify by his unique mechanical hand.

Cang Hong was an old acquaintance.

Trant was a male from the Empire with Mermaid Genes, a superstar whose fame was only slightly less than Yue Ji’s.

However, he and Yue Ji were not with the same agency.

Chu Rou, a singer from Four Seas Entertainment, was a veteran diva. She had a gentle appearance and a warm, homey aura.

It’s often said that the more people there are, the more drama there is, but for now, everyone seemed quite amicable on the surface.

They simply came to say hello to Jiang Qin before leaving.

Cang Hong didn’t really want to leave, but considering the show had just ended and Miss Jiang Qin must be exhausted, he couldn’t bear to keep her from her rest.

So, their interaction was just like everyone else’s, making it seem as if they weren’t well acquainted.

***

At five in the morning, the six of them gathered in the recording studio.

Considering how tired everyone was last night, and with so many people, Jiang Qin hadn’t asked them to do a voice test then, deliberately scheduling it for the early morning instead.

“Thank you all for coming. Because this theme requires a group performance, our schedule is extremely tight.

I hope you can all bear with me.”

Yina smiled gently. “Please, arrange things however you need to, Miss Jiang. We can handle it.”

The others had no objections either. Situations like this were actually quite common for them.

When they were busy, they often had no time to sleep while rushing between gigs. At least this time they’d gotten some rest.

Besides, only Miss Jiang Qin’s team got to rest. The other singers and composers hadn’t rested at all after the show.

They were probably still in their recording studios right now.

“All right, let’s start with a voice test.”

“Before the voice test, there’s something I need to mention. With a band theme, it’s very likely that not all of you will get a chance to sing.

I need to hear how well your voices blend. If they don’t, I might have to choose only one or two of you as lead vocalists.

Another question: in three days, do you think you can learn to play an ancient musical instrument from scratch?

My standards aren’t too high. You just need to be able to play this one song flawlessly.”

’As long as they practice hard,’ Jiang Qin thought, ’even if they just memorize the sequence of finger positions by rote, it should be possible, right?’

’But everyone is different.’

’So she couldn’t be sure if everyone could manage with such a brute-force method.’

None of the five singers dared to make any promises, only managing to say, “I’ll do my best…”

Hugh Dean said, “I’ll do my best to cooperate and meet your requirements.”

Cang Hong declared, “I can practice without sleeping!”

Trant: “…”

’If he had been assigned to Jiang Qin from the start, he’d probably be kicking up a fuss right now.’

But now that he knew this female truly had skills, he expressed that he would try his best, even if he was reluctant.

’It wasn’t that he was unwilling to learn an instrument.’

’He was just unhappy about her comment that some of them might not get a chance to sing.’

’In his opinion, out of the five of them, besides himself—a Mermaid Beastman—only the one from the Elf Clan could compete with him.’

’Shouldn’t she just pick him and her as the lead singers right away?’

’A perfect male-female pairing.’

On the surface, no one had any objections, least of all Chu Rou.

Although she was a veteran diva, her results from the few times she’d participated in the show before had been far from ideal.

Her fan count plummeted after every appearance.

The only ones left were some of her older, long-time fans who were no longer active in fan culture and had no time to boost her metrics online.

As a result, she was in a state of semi-retirement.

But it couldn’t be helped; Four Seas Entertainment had very few viable singers to field these days.

Furthermore, the company’s executives had given up on the idea of her making a comeback.

Since they expected to lose anyway, there was no point in sacrificing one of their currently popular singers. They just sent Chu Rou, who was used to taking the heat.

She’d been criticized many times before; one more wouldn’t make a difference.

Besides, the current Chu Rou didn’t have much market value left.

Her contract was expiring soon anyway, so in the eyes of Four Seas Entertainment, this was just a way to make use of a disposable asset.

***

The five singers entered the recording studio one by one.

Jiang Qin was actually already very familiar with Cang Hong’s voice, but she still had him go through the process for form’s sake.

“Okay, I have a general idea now. I’ll have the sheet music for you in about an hour.

In the meantime, familiarize yourselves with these instruments.”

Jiang Qin took a drum kit, a guitar, a bass, a keyboard, and a saxophone out of her Space Button.

“First, see if you can get the hang of them. If you can, I’ll go write the score. If not, I’ll make some adjustments.”

The five singers had no objections.

Then, Jiang Qin began teaching each of them the basics, having them practice “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” to get a feel for the instruments.

She, on the other hand, went back to her room to redeem the song she had chosen.

She spent the rest of the time lost in thought, letting the minutes pass.

She had to wait an hour before going back, otherwise her speed would be too unbelievable.

So she waited until 50 minutes had passed before she took the sheet music to the recording studio next door.

The recording studio was currently filled with a cacophony of sounds.

For the rest of the time, Jiang Qin began teaching them how to play the new piece, one by one.

The six of them practiced painstakingly from dawn until ten at night.

In that time, they only sustained themselves with a bit of nutrient liquid and some alertness potions.

“Yina, Cang Hong, Trant, and Hugh, the four of you just need to practice a bit more tomorrow to get more comfortable with it, and you should be fine.”

Interstellar People had quick minds and agile bodies. As long as they memorized the movements and the melody, they could replicate most of the song just by imitation.

So aside from being a little unpracticed, the four of them had no major issues.

Only Chu Rou was making mistakes with high frequency.

But Jiang Qin didn’t put too much pressure on her. “Chu Rou, practice some more tomorrow. If it’s really not working out, I’ll make some adjustments.”

’It was just that after the adjustment, her exposure probably wouldn’t be very good.’

’Her current plan was to balance everyone’s time in the spotlight.’

’Being sidelined wouldn’t be a good thing for her.’

’But if she really couldn’t learn it, then there was no other choice. Jiang Qin’s first priority was the quality of the final performance.’

Chu Rou pressed her lips together. She knew exactly what that “adjustment” meant.

’This was her only chance to turn around all the negative press from the past.’

’She used to complain that she was always assigned to low-skilled composers who dragged her down into obscurity with them.’

’But now, she was finally under a composer who had real talent.’

’Was she going to be relegated to the sidelines of the stage again because of her own shortcomings?’

’No, she refused to accept that!’

’She was only sixty-three this year! That was far from retirement age. She was still young enough to make her mark!’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep