Chapter 9 What Then?
Jing Xiaoqiang knows how to spend money. In the past few days, he received more than 1,000 yuan. He first spent 300 yuan to buy a monthly membership card at the gym of a nearby foreign-related hotel.
The hotel business center said that apart from foreign guests, it is rare to see citizens coming to apply for cards.
This is a month’s salary for many people!
So he lived a very regular life as a breeder, exercising and eating, and eating and exercising.
But I will rehearse with the band for two hours every day. This is a basic professional ethics.
He was used to it when he was at the West Side Theater.
However, because this is the rehearsal hall of the symphony orchestra, there are very complete administrative schedules for practice during the day, and part-time musicians can only rehearse for a while before work at nine in the morning, mainly for an hour after lunch.
It is only because Jing Xiaoqiang's two pieces are interesting and popular that everyone condescends to rehearse them.
You can just play any song you like in the nightclub.
Moreover, the symphony dance hall used to perform ballroom dances such as the three-step and four-step, but now it has changed to a disco, which requires higher rhythm coordination and more complex instruments. More importantly, everyone’s fees have increased.
So Jing Xiaoqiang would arrive at the rehearsal hall early after morning exercises every day to help push out large items such as the piano, which he considered as strength training.
But he would not go to other people's rehearsal hall and play on the orchestra piano. No matter how much he wanted to, Antonio could not afford to embarrass himself by doing so.
He is a genius who has been pampered like a nobleman since he was young.
At most, Jing Xiaoqiang could only watch silently and simulate on his legs, just as if his hands were not used to it. He would buy one when he had money in the future to satisfy his interest.
But a musical talent emerged in the contracted dance hall , and this topic must have spread in the symphony orchestra.
Although except for the odd job of moving and cleaning, everyone in the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra has been called a genius at some stage.
But a genius like Jing Xiaoqiang is still rare.
First of all, the song "Lambada" was identified by the arranger of the band Bolanzhongqu as a Bolivian folk song, and the lyrics were recomposed.
Although it is strange to sing in Portuguese, it is the only way to make it authentic. Besides, in a place like Shanghai, where people come and go from all over the world, it is not impossible that the young sailors lived there.
But "Gangnam Style" is very shocking. The refreshing music structure, the skillful and majestic ups and downs of the rhythm, and the skillful rap interspersed are all breathtaking.
Then I listened to the musicians’ introductions, and the most outrageous thing was that this 18-year-old young man had a precise and keen understanding of the arrangement of various instruments in the entire piece of music!
It’s just like in those singing shows later, where the same song could be taken by different masters and rearranged with different instruments, rhythm, and performance methods to achieve completely different effects.
China is currently still at a stage where it has opened its doors and is being left far behind by serious music from Europe and the United States, and pop music is simply unable to catch up.
After several composers and arrangers analyzed the piece under various conditions, they couldn’t help but come over to watch.
The result was even more surprising, because while to the musicians performing the music sounded at best like singing voices with better pitch, the arrangers and composers heard some hidden techniques in it!
I was still unsure, so I secretly asked a professor of singing at a nearby music conservatory to come and confirm it.
Jing Xiaoqiang didn’t know. When he went to the gym to lift weights in the morning, he thought about it and decided on the third song.
In fact, it can be seen from this song that he didn't intend to do anything big at all. He just took out those familiar classic songs in his mind to deal with it.
This summer, maybe five or six songs will be enough to get me through.
When he returned to the orchestra after dinner, the old man at the door handed him the key to the door. He could rent a room in a tube-shaped building with a stove for two hundred yuan.
Jing Xiaoqiang thanked him repeatedly. He already felt it was very necessary to accurately supplement carbohydrates and proteins.
So he was in a good mood when he walked into the rehearsal room, and he didn't notice three or five men and women wearing black-rimmed glasses or sunglasses, sitting in the corner of the rehearsal room and fiddling with tape recorders in a mysterious manner.
Several musicians who were reminded greeted casually: "Are you still singing "Gangnam Style"? Do you need some more arrangement?"
Jing Xiaoqiang, however, pushed the blame on the original singer: "Bryan Adams wrote a song for Hollywood this year. A friend of mine sent it to me. Let's practice this today. It's a little slower and more suitable for ballroom dancing, so we don't have to spend the whole night in disco ."
"I Do it for You".
In fact, it should be next year that this song will become popular as the theme song of "Robin Hood".
It won an Oscar nomination and a host of other awards, becoming one of the classic love songs in Hollywood history.
Jing Xiaoqiang sang them casually, mainly because he didn't know much about domestic songs.
The eyes of several musicians lit up immediately, and some immediately grabbed paper and pen to take notes.
But even more discerning were the experts who secretly controlled the recorders.
Because this seems to confirm some of their speculations.
Bryan Adams has been popular for several years, otherwise he would not have gotten the opportunity to sing the theme song for a top Hollywood blockbuster.
The main thing is the voice of this emotional rock star , which is unique, rough, hoarse and affectionate, which is very different from Jing Xiaoqiang's previous singing which had no distinctive features.
As usual, this guy just did whatever he thought of. He was too lazy to write out the music score in advance. He just took the microphone and sang a cappella.
The guitarist and drummer quickly took their seats in silence. Even if they didn't know what to sing, cooperating with some sense of rhythm was the basic skill.
Sure enough, as soon as Jing Xiaoqiang sang the first sentence, the vicissitudes of life in his voice, which was later called "smoky voice", immediately echoed in the rehearsal room.
Except for the musician who was transcribing the score and writing furiously, everyone else, including the ones next to the tape recorder, had their eyes wide open and their backs straight.
Musicals are not something very profound. For example, Jacky Cheung’s ultimate dream is to sing his classic songs in a musical.
It is nothing more than expressing a story through singing and dancing, so the singers of musicals often have to add some body performance techniques.
Jing Xiaoqiang was so engrossed in his performance that he didn't pay any attention to the reactions of the people around him. He just wanted to perform the way he wanted.
As the singing lingered in the air, the musicians who had been taking a lunch break nearby came over and crowded at the door. Some of them were familiar with the vocal professor and nodded from afar.
But the attention was on the young man singing.
At this moment, no one thought of it as a dance hall rehearsal. This kind of slow rock full of emotional charm and a voice full of penetration and emotional expression were so beautiful!
Bryan Adams himself is a geek who never went to professional school.
We are all experts who graduated from music colleges, so even if we are not familiar with singing profession, we can appreciate it.
Is this a natural good voice?
Not at all!
Vocal music professor Zhou Qingyun closed her eyes and tapped her hands gently, becoming more and more certain of her judgment.
Jing Xiaoqiang was so immersed in it that he couldn't help but imitate the movements of playing the guitar. There were many people present who were familiar with plucked instruments, and his finger movements seemed ambiguous.
Probably not...
But it shouldn't be like this. The pronunciation and articulation should be at this level. There should be a beat or accompaniment for practice. Guitar is the most common tool.
These people must have never seen that Jing Xiaoqiang’s first song actually involved playing a tambourine.
So at the end of the song, the guitarist suggested to him: "First, bring a bass to play the rhythm, the performance effect will be better..."
It would be really boring to just stand there and sing this soulful slow rock, Jing Xiaoqiang nodded.
Just as he was about to take it and try it out, Zhou Qingyun came up and asked, "Young man, where did you learn vocal music?"
From what she heard, it couldn't be natural.
A musician immediately introduced the young man, fearing that he might be impolite, saying, "Teacher Zhou Qingyun is the leader of the Vocal and Opera Department of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the director of the National Young Music Talent Base, and a first-class professor..."
Jing Xiaoqiang understood the supporting actor's painstaking efforts: "Hello, I'm just here to do odd jobs. I want to apply to the drama academy."
There were sighs all around.
For a tall boy like this who can sing and dance, it would definitely be more profitable to go into acting. Life in a music school is indeed much harder.
Zhou Qingyun did not give up: "The music school can also help you improve your level in all aspects, whether you want to be a singer or an opera singer..."
Jing Xiaoqiang suppressed his laughter and said, "No, I studied dance design, stage art... to be specific, probably stage makeup."
I studied stage design in my previous life. How could I possibly repeat the same thing again? I had to learn something new.
He plans to see what difference his years as a senior commissioner for the makeup artists' union on Broadway have made.
This time the surrounding area is full of ashes...
The music academy has seen countless talented people, but it is absolutely rare to find someone who is so talented and doesn't care.
Zhou Qingyun was polite and earnest: "You have great talent and a good technical foundation. You must learn vocal performance, otherwise it will be a pity!"
Jing Xiaoqiang, who had been praised for his stage design in his previous life, smiled and said, "I learned it, and then what?"
Zhou Qingyun said: "Only then can we stand on a higher and brighter stage!"
Jing Xiaoqiang still asked, "And then?"
The vocal music professor finally focused and said, "It will allow more people to appreciate the charm of music!"
Jing Xiaoqiang smiled gently: "Isn't it now?"
Professor Zhou, who is 56 years old and has many students all over the world, was stunned.
