Peninsula Cicada Song Diary

Chapter 71 Company Gap and Part Division (4k)

People look at me and they tell me that, judging by appearance alone, I look like a lazy bum, so

What? I don't care. I'm sorry, I don't care, I don't care...

""

These are lyrics that Pei Xiyan spent two days perfectly combining.

But the voices that sing them seem a bit off, their genders are wrong, and their appearances are even more wrong.

Pei Xiyan glanced silently at Park Jin-young, who was humming along to the music from the speakers in the corner of the office, and pursed her lips.

Putting everything else aside, Park Jin-young is a singer by profession, so his singing ability is completely reliable. His pitch is consistently good, he's not afraid of high notes, and he can even show off a vocal transition.

But there's too much air in my throat, Pei Xiyan thought to herself. It's not even a 50/50 mix anymore, it's at least 30% sound and 70% air!

He was completely unaccustomed to SM's scientific and popular singing style, which was a family heirloom of JYP's "air singing" technique, to the point that he now misses Kim Tae-yeon and Son Seung-wan terribly.

SM's singing style is still better, he thought.

"They understand the meaning of dalladalla better than I thought." Taking advantage of his self-absorption, Pei Xiyan casually tossed a sugar into the teacup in front of her. "Glug," the sugar disappeared into the green tea.

"What do you think of the lyrics, senior? Is there anything that needs to be changed?" He muffled his voice to hide the noise.

"Very good." Coming out of his self-admiration, Park Jin-young nodded. "Now we can discuss the division of parts."

"Then I'll have to ask my senior to lend me a recording studio," Pei Xiyan said.

"I've already prepared everything for you." Park Jin-young raised an eyebrow, then took out his phone and made a call. "Kook-young, call the ITZY kids over..."

""

"Let's finish our tea and then we'll leave." After giving the order, Park Jin-young hung up the phone, picked up his teacup, and said with a friendly expression.

Because sugar had been secretly added, Pei Xiyan drank it without much hesitation this time. The sweetness of the candy neutralized the bitterness of the tea, making it taste strange.

But it's better than pure bitterness. With that thought, he caught the candy falling into his mouth from the teacup with his teeth and drank the tea in one gulp.

Looking at Pei Xiyan, who remained unfazed, Park Jin-young inwardly praised her, thinking that he could brew stronger green tea from now on.

JYP's recording studio is about the same size as SM's, and there are sofas to rest on. There is also a huge sunglasses wall decoration in the background of the recording studio, as if reminding people who come to record that there are eyes watching you behind the sunglasses, and you can't relax when recording.

Pei Xiyan had just sat on the swivel chair for a while, leisurely swishing around a few times, when the ITZY girls walked in, led by their room leader.

"pdnim, producer nim."

With Park Jin-young there, the women standing together looked like trembling little quails seeing an eagle; they seemed very nervous.

"Children." Park Jin-young himself wore that harmless and kind smile.

"You've arrived." Pei Xiyan nodded to them, her hands clasped together on her thighs. "Well, I've finished the lyrics for our debut song."

Upon hearing this, the five girls' eyes lit up instantly. For a moment, Pei Xiyan felt as if five Ultraman were standing in front of her.

He picked up the lyric sheet from the workbench and handed it to them, saying, "Take a look."

"Kamsahamida." Huang Lizhi took the lyrics sheet with both hands, and five eager little heads squeezed together to look at the lyrics.

Whenever they see familiar lyrics, they shout and yell.

"This part is mine!" "It's mine!" "Mine's right here!" "Boom!"

Although the voice was kept as low as possible, the barely concealed excitement was like a volcano about to erupt, the shallow top of which could not contain the molten lava beneath.

"What do you guys think?" Pei Xiyan asked.

"There's nothing more perfect than this fusion..." Shin Yoo-na's excited tone quickly dropped after seeing Park Jin-young's face. "Perfect lyrics, hehe."

"Producer, you're amazing!" Shin Ryujin gave a heartfelt thumbs-up.

"That's amazing!" Li Cailing couldn't stop smiling.

"Thank you so much, producer!" Huang Lizhi led the members in bowing deeply to express their gratitude, a genuine 90-degree bow, full of sincerity.

Seeing lyrics they contributed to come out, and even their debut song, brings them an indescribable sense of accomplishment.

Filled with a sense of accomplishment, Huang Lizhi gently sniffed as he stood up, his eyes glistening with a faint sheen, like sparkling gems.

"This is a seed that you all planted together." Pei Xiyan looked at her and shook her head. "I was just responsible for helping you ripen it and then picking the fruit."

"Thank you so much."

They bowed again, and their overwhelming sincerity swept Pei Xiyan away like waves.

"Ahem." Pei Xiyan wasn't used to this, so she cleared her throat. "Now we should get down to business."

"Each of you sing a song for me a cappella, and I'll listen to your vocal performance first."

"Inside." *5

After the next hour of a cappella singing, Pei Xiyan had a better understanding of their individual vocal abilities.

He took a pen and wrote Choi Jisoo's name in the notebook, then put an A next to it. Her timbre and singing ability were excellent; apart from her slightly weaker high notes, everything else was outstanding, fully deserving of her position as the main vocalist in the group.

The other four people are about the same level.

Both are B.

Shin Yuna has a sweet, cloying voice; she can rap and sing well, but her voice lacks clarity. (B)

Shin Ryujin has excellent mid-to-low range vocals, which are suitable for rap, but his voice is surprisingly dry, with very little air in it, resulting in a lack of clarity. B.

Li Cailing has a very soft tone and good technique, but her vocal range is too narrow. Her lower limit is very stable, but her upper limit is not very high. (B)

Finally, it was Huang Lizhi's turn. Her vocal range was the widest in the group, and her technique was also very good, but her timbre was limited and not clear. B.

Looking at the four big Bs on the notebook, three of them were given Bs because the user used their real voice too much, and the listening experience was concentrated in the mouth and throat area, resulting in a lack of clarity. It sounded like a slap on the ear, giving the user a feeling of a plain, unfiltered voice.

But they don't actually have a completely natural voice, because there are some high notes in the a cappella performances that a completely natural voice can't reach, but they were able to sing them.

"Senior, is there something wrong with the vocal lessons at your company?" Pei Xiyan turned to look at Park Jin-young, her face serious.

"Junior, are you not satisfied?" Park Jin-young's face darkened, and because his face was already dark, this darkening made him look very scary.

The five members of itzy immediately tensed up, their eyes darting around nervously, unsure of where to look.

"Ani." Pei Xiyan glanced at them. "Actually, all five of them are quite good. Just looking at their vocal abilities, there aren't many in SM who can compare to them."

Park Jin-young's expression softened slightly.

"But senior, to put it bluntly," Pei Xiyan changed the subject, "if they had been taking vocal lessons at SM for the past month or two, they would be even better than they are now."

This statement shows absolutely no mercy to Park Jin-young, clearly stating the "company gap".

Park Jin-young's expression became unpredictable again, though it was mostly cloudy with little sunshine.

He couldn't deny Pei Xiyan's words. As the head of the society, he knew that what Pei Xiyan said was the truth.

JYP Entertainment hasn't had any notable main vocalists to date, while SM Entertainment next door has a strong foundation, from the diva BoA to the vocalist Taeyeon, and then to the later Sunyoung and Seungwan. These four main vocalists could form an ACE group and debut in the future.

After a long silence, Park Jin-young could only manage a wry smile. "Is the gap really that big?"

It sounded like they were unwilling to accept it, or like they had resigned themselves to their fate.

"It's not a matter of differences," Pei Xiyan sighed, getting straight to the heart of the problem, "it's a problem with teaching."

"But actually, each company has its own characteristics. For example, SM is specializing in vocals, YG is specializing in rap, JYP..." Looking at the expectation that appeared on Park Jin-young's dark face, Pei Xiyan paused for a long time.

He thought and thought but couldn't figure out what made JYP stand out.

As for dancing? Only Momo really shines, and even that is limited by the choreography of TWICE's songs. Their vocals and rapping are also lacking...

What else is there? Air singing?

If Pei Xiyan were to say this out loud, she feared she wouldn't be able to help but laugh.

"Now's not the time to talk about this." Pei Xiyan blinked, then changed the subject, looking at Itzy who was drinking water from a mineral water bottle to moisten his throat. "Are you guys familiar with the demo?"

"Yes." They nodded.

After listening to it for more than two weeks, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I know it by heart.

"Take the lyrics in and try recording." Pei Xiyan gestured with her chin toward the recording studio behind her.

The premise of dividing the song into parts is that each member records the song once, and then the appropriate sections are divided based on that.

The members looked at each other, and as the leader, Hwang Ye-ji took the lead and went into the recording studio first.

But it was clearly her first time recording. When she went in, she looked around at the equipment in confusion, not knowing what to do first.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Pei Xiyan leaned closer to the microphone on the production table. "Pick up the earphones next to your seat, put them on, stand in front of the microphone, wait for the demo to play, and just sing along with the lyrics."

His calm voice seemed to have a magical power to calm people down. Huang Lizhi nodded, exhaled the tense breath from his lungs, and then followed Pei Xiyan's steps one by one.

She put on her headphones, stood in front of the microphone, licked her lips, and as soon as the melody came on, she sang along to the familiar rhythm and beat.

"People look at me and they tell me....

"7

The beginning was fine, but when it came to the high notes of the song, the slapping sensation that she had felt while singing a cappella earlier hit Pei Xiyan's ears hard again.

He frowned, but didn't say anything.

This isn't a formal recording yet; it's just a test recording of parts, so there's no need to be too rigorous.

But Huang Lizhi saw his expression and realized he had made a mistake. He panicked, which not only caused him to miss the beat of the song but also sing the wrong lyrics.

Mistakes are like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger.

But Pei Xiyan still didn't say anything, just watched quietly. The only thing she said was when she finished singing, she leaned over to the microphone again and said, "OK, come out now."

Hwang Yee-ji felt this scene was very similar to what Yoo-na had said a few days ago. He quietly looked at you, and then, after leaving, said, "Can't you hear your own problem?"

Shin Yoo-na also noticed this.

No way?! She frowned and glanced at Choi Jisoo beside her, inwardly groaning that this unnie had actually guessed right!

After taking off his headphones and putting them away, Huang Lizhi walked out of the recording studio with a pursed mouth.

She walked straight up to Pei Xiyan, looking at her toes with self-reproach and guilt.

"Missing Song Hamida producer nim."

She knew there was a problem.

"This is your first time recording, isn't it?" Pei Xiyan looked at her, his voice still calm, but to Huang Lizhi it sounded like the calm before a storm.

"Yes," she replied softly, like a whimpering little fox.

The other members watched them nervously.

The expected accountability did not materialize.

"That's already great. Everyone makes mistakes on their first recording," Pei Xiyan smiled. "Besides, this isn't an official recording. You'll get used to it more with practice."

"Believe in yourself. One mistake won't kill you," he comforted her.

This is the fundamental theme of the song he wrote. Pei Xiyan has never been a tyrant in the recording studio; he prefers gentle encouragement to harsh criticism.

This is inseparable from Pei Xiyan's childhood experiences; he grew up with the encouragement of his parents and Pei Zhufa.

For example, his dad's classic line, "Well done!"

Huang Lizhi looked up, and the boy's warm, spring-like smile was reflected in her eyes.

"Yes, producer." She smiled and nodded slightly.

The members on the other side also breathed a sigh of relief.

"I told you, the producer is a good person," Shin Yuna whispered, proudly showing off her intuition to them.

The next person to record was Choi Ji-soo. With Hwang Ye-ji's example, they all knew what to do in it.

She truly lived up to her reputation as the company's designated lead vocalist from the very beginning. Listening to her sing, Pei Xiyan felt as if the slap had transformed into a caress on her ear.

Then it turned into slaps when it was Shin Ryujin's turn, then massages when it was Lee Chaeryeong's turn, and then slaps again when it was Shin Yoo-na's turn...

After being slapped in the ear three times, the test recording was finally completed.

While recalling the results of the test recording, Pei Xiyan carefully marked the appropriate verses for them on the lyric sheet.

"The initial introduction should focus on truth, followed by propriety..."

"7

After half an hour, Pei Xiyan handed the lyrics sheet with the parts divided to Huang Lizhi, who was not far away.

"Go back and master it well," he whispered.

"Yes, producer." Hwang Ye-ji carefully put the lyric sheet in his pocket, patting it to make sure it wouldn't fall out.

"Senior." Pei Xiyan spun around in her chair and looked at Park Jin-young, who had been slacking off at the fish all afternoon.

"That's all for today, kids, go back and continue practicing." Park Jin-young understood and waved to them kindly.

"Inside, pdnim."

'

The studio manager led ITZY out of the recording studio in an orderly fashion. As soon as the door closed, Pei Xiyan rubbed her temples, turned around in her swivel chair, and started working on the computer at the production table again.

The next step is to take the parts they divided from their respective test recordings and piece them together to complete the final demo.