I play wind instruments in Kansai.

"We are too."

Erika Toda placed her phone next to the instrument case and thought that, if nothing unexpected happened, this junior was probably trying to pretend to know something in front of her, his senior.

After all, An Hechun had once told her that "bad students have a lot of stationery," because An Hechun's academic performance was very poor, but she had all kinds of stationery.

20. Dress like an adult (5K)

Scattered instrument sounds filled the air as Miyamine Nozomi and Toda Erika looked at the tuner on their phone screens and steadily played alto A.

Miyamine Nozomi focused intently and carefully as she extended her lips, precisely guiding them to the edge of the silver flute head.

To determine if the pitch is correct, you usually only need to observe one point.

Two sound waves with similar but different frequencies will interfere with each other, producing a regular, buzzing sound.

This is called 'beat'. The larger and faster the beat, the greater the difference between the instruments.

However, Miyamine Nozomi and Toda Erika did not experience this phenomenon. Instead, they could feel the resonance of the sound increasing, and the middle notes of the flute became fuller and more rounded, as if they could perceive the entity in space.

The chest cavity vibrates slightly, and the tones of the two flutes blend perfectly—this is the sign that they are in sync.

Upon further inspection of the middle G and B, no unexpected issues were found.

Before Miyamine Nozomi could speak, Toda Erika, standing beside her, smiled sweetly:

"Hehe, we two seem to get along quite well. When we're tuning in with the seniors, something always feels a bit off."

"That must be the senior students' problem, I can't be wrong."

Gongling Wang spoke in a calm and clear tone,

"The pitch is right, let's begin."

"it is good."

Erika Toda raised her slender fingers, turned the pages of the sheet music to "The Swordsman's Entrance," and prepared to begin playing.

Gong Lingwang glanced at her, and seeing that his senior didn't seem to want to speak, he could only say:

“We use rhythm to break down and practice several sections with complex rhythms, especially this one.”

He raised his finger and continued:

“There is a syncopation and transition in this section, as well as a soft entry in measure 142, which we need to pay attention to.”

Erika Toda glanced at him in surprise, blinking repeatedly. This junior was speaking so convincingly that she was even starting to doubt herself. Her lips gently touched the cold silver:

"Oh oh oh."

The third flute is not responsible for the melody; Miyamine Nozomi raises the flute and sends breath into it.

The first note trembled slightly; it was the start of measure 127, just after the drum prelude before the swordsman's entrance had ended. The third flute was about to play two quarter notes in the interval between the snare drums.

Not long, not tall, but it must be accurate.

The two of them blew out notes at the same time, their fingering almost synchronized: the index finger of the left hand pressed down on the C key, and the ring finger of the right hand stopped half an inch above the D key.

Two quarter notes were played from the two flutes. Miyamine Nozomi felt something was amiss and deliberately lowered her flute, saying:

"It seems too early."

Erika Toda initially thought this junior was quite capable, but she couldn't really tell who was ahead:

"Huh? Really?"

"Have."

Gongling Wang rewound the recording on her phone, rewinding the previous recording to listen to it again.

Listening to the previous part again now, you can clearly hear some inaccuracies.

Gong Lingwang listened again and again. He wasn't particularly sensitive to this type of music, but he was better than most people. After listening several times, he finally concluded:

"Toda-senpai, you've grown taller."

"how is this possible?"

As a second-year student, Erika Toda may look young, but as a wind instrument player, she still wanted to maintain some dignity in front of her juniors, so she retorted without thinking.

"Why don't we try blowing it again?" Gong Lingwang turned around and looked around repeatedly.

"What are you looking for?" Erika Toda asked.

"pencil."

"Ah."

She pulled out a black pen from somewhere, startling Gong Lingwang into suspecting she had a hidden pocket.

By the way, the skirt has hidden pockets, but why are they there? What if someone gets stabbed?

Taking the pen and opening the cap, Miyamine drew a small downward arrow next to the note in her part of the piece for Erika Toda, indicating a reduction in intensity.

"Well--"

Erika Toda raised an eyebrow. She didn't really like her junior taking it upon himself to draw on her sheet music, but he probably meant well, so she couldn't very well say anything to him.

“Junior Gongling.”

The words that came out of her mouth this time carried a hint of coquettish questioning.

Was it the same when you were in Hokkaido?

"No, I'm often the one being treated like that by my seniors."

Gongling Wang said,

"They are stricter, after all, the difficulty of the goals is different."

"So that means you've received training at the national gold medal level?"

That's right.

“No wonder~” Erika Toda said, pursing her lips. “Again.”

Miyamine Nozomi didn't care. If Toda-senpai wanted to listen, she could listen; if not, so be it. He hadn't had any expectations of these people anyway.

Furthermore, the system didn't show any stock price increase for Toda-senpai, so it seems the system doesn't have a high opinion of her either.

The two played the same passage again, and with proper guidance from Miyamine Nozomi, this time the quarter notes were inserted cleanly, neither too long nor too short, and settled perfectly on the staff.

Erika Toda's breath wasn't very strong; she took a breath half a beat earlier than him, but she managed to stop the note the instant it ended, striving not to let any airflow linger.

"Yes, it's much better than before," said Gong Lingwang, his chest expanding slightly.

Erika Toda stared blankly at the downward arrow he had written on the sheet music; she could tell he had played very well this time.

It's true, he wasn't just showing off; he's really impressive...

"130, another eight-section rest."

Gongling Wang continued dismissively, picking up his pen to write a soft note in measure 156. Finally, the third flute passage had a slightly longer phrase, a four-measure crescendo ascending.

"And then here... and here..."

Erika Toda stared at him in disbelief. She never expected that this boy, who was a year younger than her, would be so meticulous in this regard.

This guy has more of a group leader presence than Hasebe and Okamoto, the only downside is—

This person is a junior from my school.

“How about Toda-senpai goes first? I’ll cut in on the third beat,” Miyamine Nozomi said.

"Uh, okay."

She initially felt she couldn't lose face in front of her junior, but he really had the skills, which made Erika Toda unable to resist listening to him.

In her mind, the hierarchy in the brass band was not based on academic year, but on playing technique, but the Haruki Brass Band did not seem to like the latter.

Her tone started first, with a wide and soft airflow. Gong Lingwang cut in on the third beat, with a noticeably brighter tone and a faster airflow, making the tone sound harder.

The two timbres intertwine and ascend, climbing from mp to mf, and then to f.

Section 160, Section 2, Group G.

This note is too high, and it's very easy to whistle with a flute. Miyamine Nozomi slightly narrowed her lips to concentrate the airflow and support it.

But Erika Toda lost her grip, and the flute in her hand went out of control in an instant.

The flute's tone, like a metallic wail, suddenly pierced Gong Lingwang's eardrums, causing him to involuntarily shrink back.

Erika Toda blushed and shrank back, not because she was hurt by the sound, but because she was embarrassed about blowing a shrill whistle.

"Toda-senpai".

A dry smile appeared on her chubby face: "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean, 'What's wrong?' You played it terribly."

"I'm sorry!" Erika Toda quickly bowed her head and said.

This junior really doesn't know how to comfort a girl! He should have said something like a warm, caring guy would have done it—

"Toda-senpai, you've done a great job! I'm so proud to have you as a senior. Let's keep up the good work!"

That's more like it! Who would immediately say she played badly?

"This sound wasn't produced by blowing."

"What do you mean?" Erika Toda asked.

That's a really strange statement. After all, what sound isn't produced by blowing?

"Senior, why is there a shriek?"

"Unstable?"

"It is harsh because the high-frequency overtones are too concentrated, the sound is too forward and too close to the lips. A part of our normal G sound is around the back of the head cavity, the upper palate."

Gongling Wang said in a calm tone,

"When you play this note, if you play it correctly, you can feel that the sound is not coming out of the flute, but rather from between your eyebrows, spreading out along the back of your head. It's as if the sound has been in your mouth the whole time without ever leaving your mouth."

"...Then, what should we do?"

"This isn't something you can learn just by talking about it; it takes a long time to master."

To solve the problem of flute whistling, frankly speaking, it would take a whole day to teach; it can't be solved in just a few words.

"But if you don't tell me, I'm even less likely to do it."

Erika Toda seemed a little anxious, her small feet, encased in indoor shoes, excitedly stomping up and down.

Gongling Wang was very puzzled:

"Strange, who exactly is in charge of the club?"

"Daidouji-senpai".

"She plays the trumpet, doesn't she?"

"After all, many musical instruments have similarities..."

"Nonsense. Apart from the flute, I don't know how to play the trumpet, let alone a brass or a woodwind."

Erika Toda pouted her chin in a wronged manner, gently tugging at his shirt sleeve with her right hand. The flute lying across her thigh shimmered in the light, creating tiny specks of light.

"Then teach me, junior, you're the best, hey~~~"

Her "na~~" was drawn out for a long time, with a soft, upward curve at the end, like a fishhook dipped in honey.

Seeing that Gong Lingwang was not moving, she picked up the flute again and poked his arm with the end of the flute.

The cold metal touched her skin through her clothes, but she laughed awkwardly, her ears burning, and the curve of her lips revealing a dimple.

"I want to drink water," said Miyamune Nozomi.

Anyway, I'm just idling around.

"Okay, I'll go buy it for you."

Erika Toda excitedly got up, grabbed her flute, and ran outside, only to bump into Kanon Tani, who was passing by the practice room.

I could feel her chest bob.

"Oh, why are you in such a hurry?"