dkrc Is Chapter 27 really that high quality?
Is Chapter 27 really that high quality?
On May 15th, the nearly twenty-day recording of the song officially came to an end. In the recording studio, Zhang Songyu rubbed his sore and stiff neck, realizing how much effort had been spent over the past few days. The length of the work wasn't the hard part; the most grueling part was meticulously refining Qianqian's vocals again and again, repeatedly scrutinizing details and fixing flaws, which almost exhausted most of his energy. But when he picked up the finished cassette tape, all the fatigue instantly vanished, and his mood brightened considerably.
"I never expected to find such high-quality original works in a small place like Jiangcheng," Zhang Songyu murmured to himself. Xie Anran's songs are absolutely top-notch in the children's song circle, and they would still be able to stand firm even if they entered the mainstream pop music scene.
Putting aside artistic depth, its catchiness and popularity are simply unparalleled. Several songs have catchy and addictive melodies. As an industry professional who has been deeply involved in arrangement and mixing for many years, Zhang Songyu has heard many hit and catchy songs, but he has rarely seen this kind of spiraling and progressive arrangement structure.
This formulaic, progressive arrangement should have only become popular a decade later, spreading and becoming a viral template through the Peninsula music scene. While these songs lack artistic merit, their destructive power is immense, and in the future era of short videos, they would undoubtedly have become unstoppable.
"Anran! Recording is over!" Qianqian, who was always full of energy, showed a rare look of relief on her face when she heard the words "recording is over." She was relieved that she no longer had to practice and record songs day after day.
Xie Anran couldn't help but laugh as she watched: "Yeah, it's over. Our first album is finally finished recording."
"I never knew singing could be so tiring," Sisi said with her hands on her hips, her expression serious.
"I told you before, singing is really physically demanding," Xie Anran teased, pinching her cheek with a smile.
Not to be outdone, Sisi pinched Xie Anran's cheek and said with a grin, "Anran, your face is so soft!"
"Let go! Let go now!" Xie Anran struggled frantically.
"Haha, Anran's shy and angry!" Qianqian smiled mischievously, turned around and ran out of the recording studio in a flash, her steps much lighter. Xie Anran helplessly rubbed her cheek that had been pinched, and slowly followed after her.
Zhang Songyu walked up to Xie Anran, his eyes full of admiration, and opened his arms to give him a celebratory hug: "Anran, you've made an album of absolutely top-notch quality!"
Before Xie Anran could react, he was hugged, and a strong scent of cologne hit him, almost making him cough. "Teacher Zhang... let go... you smell too strong." He couldn't help but gently push him away.
Zhang Songyu paused for a moment, then burst into hearty laughter: "Don't like cologne? It's a man's second charm."
"Thank you, but I don't like it." Xie Anran shook his head decisively. He didn't like these strong perfumes in his past life, so he naturally wouldn't like them in this one.
"You'll understand when you grow up." Zhang Songyu chuckled, casually pulling a cassette tape from his pocket and handing it over. "Here, this is the original master tape, it hasn't been mixed yet, I'm keeping it as a souvenir for you."
"Thank you, Teacher Zhang." Xie Anran quickly accepted it. This was his first album, and perhaps his last, making it incredibly meaningful, and he cherished it dearly.
"By the way, I saw that you marked a lot of arrangement ideas on the sheet music. Do you want to work with me on the post-production mixing?" Zhang Songyu asked half-jokingly.
"Okay." Xie Anran agreed without even thinking.
Zhang Songyu was stunned: "Eh? You really want to participate? Arranging and mixing is incredibly tedious; it's just constantly cutting, piecing together, and tuning, which really tests your patience."
"Yes, I want to do it too." Xie Anran had his own plans. He knew the key to the songs' explosive popularity, and the post-production mixing and arrangement had to be done according to his ideas in order to maximize the power of their brainwashing and spread. He had to personally participate in and control it.
"Okay, let's work on it together another day." Zhang Songyu became even more curious, wanting to see what unique arrangement ideas this kid had. The two chatted briefly before saying goodbye, post-production work was postponed until tomorrow, and they still needed to work with the accompaniment band. In this era, there was no computer digital arrangement, all the background music materials relied entirely on live recordings, and there was no room for carelessness.
On the way back, Sisi couldn't wait to put the cassette tape into her Walkman and listen to her first album on repeat with her headphones. The very first song was "The Pig Song." Xie Anran's clear and resonant childlike voice came through the headphones first, followed by her own crisp and tender voice, which sounded exceptionally genuine.
"Mmm...it sounds so good!" Sisi's face flushed red with joy. "I'm so amazing!"
Xie Anran listened from the side and chuckled to herself. This final product was the result of Qianqian's repeated recordings and polishing. If it still didn't sound good, Zhang Songyu should have jumped into the river.
"Come on, let Mom hear it too." Liu Xiaoli looked on with envy, full of curiosity about the final product. Laymen listen to songs by listening to the whole thing, but during the days of recording, she had only listened to fragmented clips and had no idea what the final product would be like.
Although reluctant, Sisi obediently handed the Walkman to her mother. Liu Xiaoli put on the headphones and listened for a while, her expression gradually becoming somewhat subtle. Seeing this, Zhang Yun also went over and took one of the headphones, her expression similarly peculiar after listening.
"It's not quite a children's song, though," Liu Xiaoli said, struggling to find the right words. "It sounds a bit noisy, but it's strangely catchy."
"That's right, the two children's voices are a perfect match, and listening to them makes you feel relaxed," Zhang Yun echoed, expressing her feelings. These songs don't have the deep emotions of traditional songs, but they have their own healing magic, sounding cute and heartwarming, and inexplicably improving one's mood.
"Anran is such a joyful child." Liu Xiaoli listened to several songs in a row, and looked at Xie Anran, who was being teased and played with by Qianqian, and praised her with a smile.
"This child is thoughtful and considerate," Zhang Yun said with a hearty laugh.
Xie Weimin, who was driving, was filled with helplessness. He could only listen to his family's heated discussion the whole time. He couldn't concentrate on listening to music while driving and couldn't get any benefits at all.
"Stop messing around, Qianqian. I'll get the Walkman back for you." Xie Anran pushed away the clinging Qianqian with difficulty and quickly took the Walkman back from Liu Xiaoli.
"Thank you, Anran!" Sisi took the Walkman and happily put on her headphones, immersing herself in the music.
Xie Anran wiped the thin layer of sweat from his forehead and glanced discreetly at his task roll. Album recording was successfully completed, with the progress bar already at 30%. Once post-production was finished, the progress would likely reach 50%. Only the ultimate goal of selling 100,000 albums remained, and he wondered how difficult that would be. He gazed at the street scenes rushing past the car window, silently calculating the next steps.