Chapter 190: New Song and New Album (Two-in-One)

PS: Thanks to book friends Xianyun Muzi, Qianyin Ailu, The Fat Otaku Who Can't Write Books, and Lingmeng for the tips. Thank you!

After the first day of filming tasks concluded smoothly, the mentors were arranged to rest on the floor above the trainees' dormitories.

Because they finished work relatively early, the mentors, having nothing to do, ran back downstairs to interact with the trainees again.

This was also a rare opportunity for the trainees to have close contact with the mentors. Previously, they were filming the show and were somewhat restrained, but now they had opened up a lot, even though there were cameramen filming both times.

The place where the mentors and trainees interacted was a large practice room, originally intended for the full-member assessment tomorrow, but today it was temporarily used to hold a discussion session.

There weren't an overwhelming number of trainees who came over to chat with the mentors. Most trainees were still thin-skinned; even if they knew their roommate was talking to a mentor next door and were anxious like a cat on a hot tin roof, they still didn't dare to come over and take a peek.

As for the trainees who did come over, those from Class A and Class B made up the majority. Because Chunzi had a good relationship with Wen Xia, she sat directly next to her upon arriving.

"It's such a pity you weren't home yesterday. It was Luo Quan's birthday, and Luo Quan's mom and dad both came," Wen Xia said to Chunzi with a look of regret.

"There was nothing to be done about that." Chunzi's tone was also very annoyed. "When we entered, the production team told us that unless it was a special situation, we weren't allowed to go out."

"By the way, where is Quan-chan? Didn't she come over with you?"

Wen Xia thought for a moment and said, "She seems to have gone to record a song."

Chunzi was puzzled: "Record a song? Is it for the show?"

"Didn't she say before that she wanted to release an English album? Inspiration struck, so she went to use the production team's equipment to record."

Hearing Wen Xia's words, several female trainees nearby gathered around with curious expressions.

Lin Yuxiao: "Mentor Luo Quan is releasing a new album again?"

"An English album. It's said that she even invited Gao Liang for one of the songs." Wen Xia spread her hands and pointed to Gao Liang, who was playing with his phone to the side.

Gao Liang was seen staring at his phone with a serious expression, his fingers typing non-stop. Seeing him like this, a group of female trainees felt like they were about to melt.

"So handsome."

"I can't handle this serious look."

The trainees cheered in low voices.

Gao Liang didn't notice this; he was just having a headache because the Chinese fans were truly too enthusiastic. He had just opened his Weibo account and already had over five million followers, and his first greeting post had nearly fifty thousand comments if he wasn't careful.

According to custom, he had to reply to these comments.

However, he could only pick a few out of the tens of thousands of comments. To show his sincerity, all of Gao Liang's replies were in Chinese.

He certainly couldn't use input methods like Pinyin or stroke counts, but he had Baidu Translate.

This was a practical tool Luo Quan had shared with him, which could convert between Chinese and English at will. Although it was all machine translation and sometimes the meaning didn't quite come across, it was relatively reliable in most cases.

Gao Liang would read a comment using Baidu Translate, then type his own words of thanks, translate them, and then copy and reply.

Because there were simply too many fans, after he replied, new comments would appear one after another, and Gao Liang had to translate again, so he was a bit flustered for a while.

As for Luo Quan, she was indeed preparing for her new album.

In the blink of an eye, half of April had already passed. Luo Quan had previously said she would try her best to bring home a Grammy trophy for China this year.

This certainly wasn't just talk; she had the strength to do so.

Taking advantage of the ready-made equipment at hand, Luo Quan prepared to record a lead single for the new album first and release it tonight as a teaser.

Of course, it wasn't just this one lead single that she was going to record later.

Yesterday, two Japanese animation production teams had approached her, wanting her to produce the OP and ED for their animations.

The animations were basically finished, and they were just missing these two things.

Luo Quan had heard of both these animations: one was called "Re: Zero − Starting Life in Another World," and the other was called "Domestic Girlfriend."

Both were very good series, especially the former, which was the dominant series of the season when it aired on Bilibili, a rare hit series with over a hundred million views. What Luo Quan was going to produce for this series was the ending theme.

As for "Domestic Girlfriend," she was to produce the OP. The expected broadcast times for both series were different from her previous life, which could be considered Luo Quan catching up with both just in time.

So, she had a total of three songs to complete tonight—not many, but not few either.

The recording studio wasn't in the dormitory building; Luo Quan specifically ran to the Xiaoshan International Film and Television Center, a few hundred meters away.

This center covered a very large area, with special filming locations similar to Hengdian, as well as several buildings providing indoor filming. The buildings also had a lot of equipment for film and television production, which could be said to be quite complete.

Today, it wasn't just the "Produce Girls' Generation" crew at the Xiaoshan International Film and Television Center. Luo Quan went in, and just as she reached the second floor, she saw an acquaintance.

"Eh, Luo Quan?" Qin Yi and another male star were preparing to go downstairs when they saw Luo Quan walking up towards them.

"Qin Yi!" Luo Quan was also a bit surprised; she didn't expect to see this male star she had worked with for a while here.

"What are you doing here?" Qin Yi asked curiously.

"Recording a show, Produce Girls' Generation. I'm a mentor."

As soon as Luo Quan said this, Qin Yi reacted. Recently, this variety show had shown signs of becoming a phenomenal variety show, and people in the industry had basically all heard of it.

"So that means Wen Xia is here too?" Qin Yi said, glancing ambiguously at his friend beside him.

Luo Quan was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood: "Then you must be Qin Yi's good friend, right? I've heard him mention you!"

"You know me?" The boy said in surprise, looking at Luo Quan: "My name is Zhang Zifeng, and I am indeed Qin Yi's good brother... Did he say anything bad about me to you?"

"That, not really, he just asked me about a lot of things." Before Luo Quan finished speaking, Qin Yi suddenly started coughing violently as if he had caught a lung disease.

Zhang Zifeng frowned and looked over: "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, I choked on my saliva." Qin Yi waved his hand hurriedly, not knowing if it was at Zhang Zifeng or Luo Quan.

"Well, I have something to do, so I'll go up first. We'll chat again if there's a chance." Luo Quan understood Qin Yi's meaning and hurriedly slipped away.

After Luo Quan left, Zhang Zifeng hugged his good brother and said with a "kind" expression: "Old Qin, did you reveal any information to Luo Quan?"

Qin Yi's expression was normal: "What information could I reveal?"

Zhang Zifeng said seriously: "I'm warning you, I only have a good impression of Wen Xia, I don't have any intention of taking it further, you must not say anything."

"Don't worry, you know my mouth, it's tighter than a security door!" Qin Yi said, patting his chest with a thud.

Zhang Zifeng then let go, and the two continued downstairs.

As for Luo Quan, she had arrived at the third floor, where there were basically no stars, only behind-the-scenes production staff from various crews.

There were many rooms, and there were many people in the rooms.

The layout of this floor was in a 'hui' shape, with each side responsible for a type of media production. For example, where Luo Quan was, there were several rooms responsible for video editing, which was also the room with the most people.

Luo Quan walked and looked along the way. When she reached the middle, she happened to see the chief director of "Produce Girls' Generation," Director Huang, who was discussing something with Deputy Director Li and Zhou Yangwen.

And Zhou Yangwen was obviously just offering some opinions, so he wasn't particularly focused. When he looked up, he happened to see Luo Quan passing by, and he immediately walked out: "Why did you wander over here?"

Luo Quan smiled and replied: "I came here to see if there was an empty recording studio; I want to record a few songs."

"You're releasing a new album?" Zhou Yangwen had actually been thinking about Luo Quan's new English album for a long time, but he had been too embarrassed to ask her, after all, she still had to produce the debut album for the show's crew.

Luo Quan nodded: "Yes, there was no equipment in Jingcheng, and since there's equipment here, I'll just borrow it."

"Have you contacted a promotional company?"

"Do I still need a promotional company?" Luo Quan was stunned for a moment. "Isn't it enough to just post on Weibo?"

Zhou Yangwen smiled: "With your fame, you can indeed get attention without a promotional company, but that's ultimately not as direct as a professional company taking over.

Besides, in addition to promotion, things like sales channels, fan benefits, album covers, and MVs all need to be solved. Can you handle it all by yourself?"

"I probably won't film an MV, but I should prepare the album cover well." Luo Quan said this and also smiled: "Director Zhou, I understand what you mean. For this album, I will definitely choose Tencent Music for the domestic premiere... if you are willing to buy the domestic copyright."

"Twenty million, I want the permanent exclusive authorization for your new album in China!" Zhou Yangwen was exceptionally generous, giving an unimaginably high price.

"In addition, the platform can give you a 50/50 split on album sales. This is already the split for top domestic singers; no one can give higher!" Zhou Yangwen was very confident; he felt that Luo Quan had no reason to refuse him.

Luo Quan indeed had no reason. From the very beginning of their contact, Zhou Yangwen had always shown her goodwill and had been looking forward to the cooperation between the two sides for a long time. Now that she had just let out the news, the latter had given such a high authorization fee; this sincerity was already very great.

"I hope we can cooperate happily." Luo Quan extended her hand, and Zhou Yangwen smiled and shook it.

"But I have a small request."

"Go ahead." Luo Quan's expression remained unchanged.

"Both you and I hope to sell good numbers for this album. I trust the quality of your songs very much, but it's an album after all, and it's still a bit unreasonable without an MV. Can you film one for a song? After all, this can be considered the first official MV you've filmed since your debut."

Luo Quan let go of his hand, thought for a while, and said: "It's possible, but can I be the one to decide how to film it when the time comes?"

"You can also be a director?" Zhou Yangwen's eyes widened.

Luo Quan couldn't laugh or cry: "Of course not, no matter how much of a genius, it's impossible to know everything. I just have some ideas, as for whether they are good or not, we'll have to see after filming."

"No problem!" Zhou Yangwen nodded in agreement. "By the way, are you going to record the song now? Do you need me to contact a few music producers to help?"

Luo Quan asked: "If I ask people to help, I have to pay, right?"

Zhou Yangwen laughed: "If it's you, it can be free."

Luo Quan waved her hand: "Then forget it, asking people to help without paying is too improper. I can handle the music production by myself, no need to trouble others."

Zhou Yangwen nodded: "Then... alright. I'll arrange for people to prepare the promotional work. Your first lead single is ready..."

"I can hand it in tonight." Luo Quan's tone was very firm.

"Alright, waiting for your news." Zhou Yangwen said with a relaxed mood.

Cooperating with this kind of star is pleasant; you almost don't need to worry about anything, just handle the internet part well, and the person is straightforward and doesn't bargain with you, unlike some other stars who don't have much fame but put on big airs.

After the two said goodbye with a smile, Luo Quan wandered around and came to the recording studio.

After all, it was a film and television center, and there weren't many recording studios here, only four, and it seemed like every one of them was occupied.

Luo Quan looked outside, and it seemed like everyone was quite busy.

Fortunately, it wasn't very late, and waiting here for a while wasn't a big deal.

But luckily, Luo Quan was seen by an "acquaintance."

Actually, it couldn't be called an acquaintance, just someone she had met once and spoken a few words to.

This acquaintance was Cao Mufeng, who had received an award with Luo Quan at the Weibo Night last time.

He had just finished recording a line of lyrics and took off his headphones to rest, when he suddenly saw Luo Quan standing outside, so he got up and walked out.

Several producers in the room looked at him, not understanding why he suddenly stopped recording.

"Luo Quan?" Cao Mufeng called out to Luo Quan, who was playing Candy Crush. The latter looked up abruptly: "It's you, what a coincidence!"

Cao Mufeng was curious: "Are you here to record a song too?"

"Yes, but it seems like they are all occupied."

Cao Mufeng invited her: "Come to my room. I don't have many lines left anyway, I'll hand it over to you when I'm done."

Luo Quan certainly wouldn't refuse such a good thing, said thank you with a pleasant mood, and then walked in.

The recording studio was actually divided into two parts: one was a recording booth that was relatively isolated from the outside world and very quiet, responsible for the singer to sing and record inside; the other was a production room near the door, responsible for producing the accompaniment and adjusting and modifying the recorded audio.

After walking in, Luo Quan stayed in the production room, while Cao Mufeng, who was originally prepared to rest for a while, walked into the recording booth and continued to work.

Don't look at how Luo Quan usually records a whole song in one go; in fact, recording a song like her is very rare in the music circle. Most people record the main and chorus parts twice, record in four places, and some even stop for a while after recording two or three lines, and others record line by line.

The latter are usually those traffic stars with poor singing skills. Recording a complete song once, even top tuners would feel it's impossible to modify, in other words, it's unusable.

So they can only let these people record line by line, trying to make the breath and pitch reach a level that can be listened to, and then they perform tuning and editing in the later stage.

Because recording line by line is too time-consuming, such a song often takes a whole day to record, and sometimes it's not even finished.

Of course, Cao Mufeng is definitely not a traffic star. Before Luo Quan appeared, whether it was creative talent or singing skills, he was the top existence among young domestic musicians.

The reason why he recorded like this this time was mainly because this song was relatively difficult, and the recording studio version must pursue perfection, so he used this method to record.

Luo Quan also stood in the music production room with her arms crossed, watching Cao Mufeng sing alone in the recording booth. There were no extra headphones, so she couldn't hear anything.

And the two producers sitting in front were moving the mouse on the computer, clicking here and there, while the other was manipulating a platform full of buttons.

However, the frequency of their operations wasn't particularly frequent; it seems Cao Mufeng's singing didn't need much adjustment.

After recording for about ten minutes, Cao Mufeng walked out of the recording booth, his face looking a bit flushed due to the continuous high notes just now.

The song recording was finished, and after a simple adjustment by the two producers, it was saved.

A song certainly wouldn't be finished that easily; post-production would require at least two hours of work from both of them, and this was just to clear the space for Luo Quan.

However, Cao Mufeng didn't turn to leave; instead, he stayed in the music production room and said to Luo Quan, "I've always heard that your song production is lightning-fast, with a song taking no more than three hours from recording to final completion. I've always been quite curious—you don't mind if I stay and watch, do you?"

"Of course I don't mind." Luo Quan didn't have anything to hide; after all, the craft of song production couldn't be learned just by watching, and besides, it wasn't some secret technique, so she wasn't afraid of Cao Mufeng stealing it.

First, she had to produce the accompaniment for the song she was about to record.

The accompaniment for the title track of the English album she was recording was primarily piano-based, slow-tempo, and not particularly difficult.

However, there was no piano in the recording studio, only an electronic keyboard, and the tone of the electronic keyboard didn't meet Luo Quan's requirements, so she had to settle for the next best thing and use computer software for synthesis.

Then, the three of them watched as Luo Quan, wearing headphones, clicked away at the simulated piano keys on the computer, playing a melody with one hand.

The entire melody was about four minutes long. Luo Quan adjusted the tempo, listened to it once more, and after confirming there were no issues, she saved and transmitted it directly.

"That's it?" Cao Mufeng said in surprise as he watched Luo Quan take off her headphones and stand up. It wasn't just him; the two producers behind him also found it absurd.

"The accompaniment is just this one piano piece? Wouldn't the elements be a bit too sparse?" Cao Mufeng asked. He was a standard academic, and many academics judge the quality of music based on the variety of the arrangement and the diversity of the timbres.

A high-quality song with high musicality often has many melodic changes, rich accompaniment, and diverse arrangement timbres, with the lyrics and composition becoming secondary.

And the accompaniment Luo Quan produced consisted of only a single piano track from beginning to end. Even as a demo, wouldn't it be a bit too hasty?

Luo Quan smiled gently: "A good song is never determined by the number of its elements; what fits it is the best."

Cao Mufeng was struck as if by lightning, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.

"Do me a favor—when I record the song later, help me play the accompaniment," Luo Quan said as she walked into the recording booth.

Cao Mufeng took a deep breath, put on his headphones, and sat up straight.

PS: Everyone can try to guess this English song. Hint: The person who sings it has a highly recognizable voice and has won countless awards in the last ten years.