A Musical Genius Who Plays Memories - Chapter 49
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 49. Blue Night (7)
After finishing the tuning for a few minutes, Aunt said.
“Clean tone would be good, right?”
“What’s clean tone?”
“Right now, this sound here? A sound without any effects is called clean tone. And.”
Aunt touched the music program.
The guitar’s sound changed subtly.
As Aunt gripped the pick and moved her right hand forcefully.
Jaaang-!
The guitar’s sound changed.
It was a rough sound that would suit rock or heavy metal.
“This is with drive applied. Rough, right? It’d probably be hard to use for the current melody.”
She said that while touching the program once more.
‘But if used well, it might be possible?’
Of course, it couldn’t be used throughout the entire piece.
It might be fine if used to catch the ear at the song’s highlight.
‘But not now.’
First, I wanted to complete the song.
Even if short, I wanted to make a song that I’d like when listening to it.
“Should we just lay down a drum beat? Aunt made one before that should match well with this song.”
Dun tat dung-dung tat-chi-♪
It was light, like the footsteps of someone walking lightly.
Had Aunt already made several drum beats that I wanted?
She truly seemed like someone with tremendous talent.
Seeing how she grasped my intention immediately after hearing my performance, she was definitely an amazing person.
Then Aunt’s guitar would show me something even more wonderful, right?
‘It feels like Aunt will decorate those scenes I saw even more beautifully.’
While I was thinking various thoughts, Aunt finished her practice and preparation.
She was finally checking the guitar before recording.
Jwaang-♬
The guitar seemed to echo in a cave.
The repetitively echoing sound was rather quiet.
The guitar sound that disappeared without being noisy instead stuck in my ears.
It seemed like disappearing light in the city, present yet absent.
“I’ll start.”
Click, the music played.
Aunt lifted her toes and lowered them to match the beat.
The sounds of the piano and synthesizer I made could be heard.
And somehow, even though no adjustments were made, the drum beat Aunt created was leading the two instruments so naturally.
‘The song came alive with the drums!’
The drums were filling the empty parts of the song.
There was a stream and passing cars, but no people.
The drums were the people.
Passing people.
Their footsteps were the drum beats.
Quiet and slow but strong, those small footsteps gathered to become drums.
And one more thing.
Ding-♬
Aunt played the guitar.
Though there had been several practices, she still entered at perfect timing and harmonized with the song.
Her guitar was like a puzzle piece that fit the song perfectly, and finally I began to see what I wanted to see.
‘Wow…’
I couldn’t help but be amazed.
Aunt’s appearance as she concentrated and played guitar was so cool.
She slowly shook her wrist to slowly lead each note.
The guitar sound wasn’t loud, faintly disappearing to the point where it would vanish if you didn’t pay attention.
That’s why it was good.
Because it didn’t stand out.
In this song, the guitar wasn’t the main element.
‘Aunt knows what the guitar should do. And she’s expressing it perfectly.’
Her existence was a blessing to me.
If Aunt hadn’t been here, I might have left this song unfinished.
In the meantime, the appearance of Cheonggyecheon that I remembered would change.
The scenery of that stream, forgotten and confused with other memories invading, would fade in color.
But that didn’t happen.
Because Aunt was playing.
Diing- ding-♪
There were many things in the stream.
All the city’s lights were contained in the stream.
Buildings, people, cars and traffic lights, the light from cell phones.
Everything was light.
To contain all of that, day was too hot, so the cool night was appropriate.
City Pop probably wanted to express something like this, didn’t it?
Music to express those lights visible only at night, not during the day.
‘Fun! Enjoyable!’
Even sitting still, my body swayed.
That was proof of how excellent Aunt’s performance was.
Ding- diding- ding-♩
Aunt’s guitar picked up pace.
The guitar melody I had composed changed a bit more naturally.
It wasn’t a bad change.
Rather, it was a good change.
Aunt was filling the gaps in my knowledge about guitar.
‘This is guitar!’
Probably, Aunt Sujin seemed to want to say.
That this is the current instrument.
That this is current music.
I felt it deeply.
It was so beautiful that I almost teared up.
Ding-♬
The night continued.
The cars disappeared.
The stream also stopped at some point.
My piano and synth stopped, but Aunt’s drums and guitar didn’t stop.
They were naturally showing the song that would continue forward.
In Aunt’s own way.
What could probably be called a solo performance continued.
For a moment, our eyes met.
She was smiling innocently while continuing her slow performance.
She seemed to be asking if I could do this too.
‘I can do it. No, I will do it. I’ll practice until I can play the guitar magnificently too!’
I continued to watch Aunt’s performance.
I captured that incredibly wonderful performance in my eyes.
I would somehow make it happen.
There was still plenty of time.
***
“Actually, music isn’t something that can be created overnight. We’re not just making beats.”
Aunt said after finishing the recording.
That was a fact I knew all too well.
An idea sketch could be done in a day.
A rough conception of how to proceed and what harmonies to use was sufficient for that.
But the moment you got into the details, it became difficult.
How to give strength to each individual note.
How to move people’s hearts, how to express the scenery I saw and the memories that came to mind.
When I pondered that, a day wasn’t enough—even a month would be insufficient.
‘Should I revise what I composed for the children last time? I think it could turn out well.’
I decided to set aside that thought for now.
I needed to focus on what I was currently composing.
“But this much is enough.”
Aunt Sujin pointed at the monitor with her finger.
1:42.
It was the combined time of the melody I composed and the guitar Aunt played.
Considering that typical songs are around 3 minutes, it was like we’d made half of it.
‘Still not enough, but it’s okay.’
There’s a saying that starting is half the battle.
But I had started long ago.
The moment I thought about creating a song was the beginning, and now I had made half the song.
That meant it was almost as good as finished.
“I’ll take care of the rest.”
“You will, Aunt?”
“I need to do the mixing and producing. So if Heeseong’s music is a plant, I’ll be watering it.”
“Can’t I do that too?”
“Heeseong could do it and more. But mixing is work that takes an enormous amount of time.”
“That’s right. Once the work starts, you won’t hear from Aunt for a while.”
“Huh…! But what are mixing and producing?”
Aunt kindly answered my question.
Mixing was the work of balancing the sounds made by instruments.
Producing was literally structuring the overall framework of the song.
‘That’s not much different from what I do!’
Working your body to exhaustion to complete a song.
Indeed, making music required physical suffering.
“Well then, shall we go get some food?”
“What? Already?”
“Heeseong, why don’t you check the time?”
“7:50…”
Grumble.
That sound did not come from my stomach.
It didn’t.
“Our nephew seems hungry. Now we need to save the file.”
Aunt called me.
Her voice was playful yet serious at the same time.
“We need to decide on a title, right?”
“Ah.”
The title was the song’s identity.
It was close to an identity that told people what this song was.
The role of easily conveying the story I wanted to tell.
Painting titles were like that, and sculpture titles were too.
So I would speak of the scenery I saw.
‘City? Night scenery? Light? River?’
None of them felt right.
I closed my eyes to think of a better title.
The night at Cheonggyecheon where the river flowed.
The night from the past when I walked through dark alleys.
There was one thing the two nights had in common.
They were blue.
Deep nights were always blue.
Therefore.
“Blue Night.”
“Hm?”
“The title is Blue Night!”
I told Aunt.
A smile formed on her lips when she heard my words.
The title came so easily, and we could leave the music studio with comfortable hearts.
The next time I came to this music studio, the song would probably be quite magnificently completed.
***
In Yoon Young-hoon’s car on the way home after dinner.
Hwang Su-jin, who was looking at Heeseong sleeping in the car seat, said.
“Wait, why does Heeseong eat so well?”
Hwang Su-jin chuckled as she looked at Heeseong with his full belly.
The child who became endlessly serious when making music was no different from other children when it came to food.
She wanted to tell everyone that her cute nephew had tremendous talent when it came to music.
“Sis, how was what Heeseong composed?”
“No need to say more, it was absolutely the best. But does Heeseong know how to play guitar?”
“No, I can’t play guitar so I couldn’t teach him. Who knows though. He might have taught himself.”
“That’s possible. You know that guitar line Heeseong played on piano? The guitar sound I played seemed intentional.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Hwang Su-jin continued.
“I really turned on the effects without any thought. And then I played once?”
“You played?”
“The connection between notes was so natural. Other notes came out at the timing when the guitar sound disappeared.”
“Like blinking lights?”
“That’s it! That’s right! Appearing and disappearing. It seemed like that was repeating. Like lights.”
The two fell into brief silence.
They were probably thinking the same thing.
How good Heeseong’s song was, and how accurately it made them feel what he expressed.
The conclusion was one.
“He’s definitely my son.”
“He’s definitely my nephew.”
Thanks to their proud Heeseong, bright smiles bloomed on both their faces.
Yoon Young-hoon said.
“Sis, recommend me a guitar.”
“Why, are you going to play it? I did play pretty coolly though.”
“I’m not going to play it.”
“Then?”
“I’m going to give it to Heeseong. I’m thinking of giving it as a Children’s Day gift.”
“Ah? Wait a minute. I’ll find one for you right away.”
Yoon Young-hoon recalled the conversation he had with Heeseong in his music studio.
He had promised to give Heeseong a gift if he got the right answer.
But since the child had given him a satisfying answer that exceeded the correct one, he was thinking of giving him a gift worthy of that.
“Oh.”
Hwang Su-jin reacted as if she had found a decent guitar.
Yoon Young-hoon said curiously.
“Did you find one?”
“Look at this. How about mint color?”
“Doesn’t seem bad?”
“This is really good quality. It’s even short since it’s for children. This should be enough, right?”
The two people smiled warmly thinking of Heeseong playing the guitar.
And they even looked forward to the music that would be born from the child’s hands.
“Drop me off up ahead.”
“Alright, don’t overdo it too much. Take it easy.”
“Got it, go inside. Give those macarons to Jieun.”
“Yeah, go in.”
Hwang Su-jin looked up at the company building, lightly loosened her stiff shoulders, and sighed.
Now it was the start of tedious work.
***
“You’re here?”
“…What are you doing?”
Hwang Su-jin entered the music studio and witnessed an unpleasant scene.
There was her brother, Hwang Su-yeol, exercising with his shirt off.
Whether he enjoyed bothering his sister or not, Hwang Su-yeol would sometimes come into her music studio to exercise.
“Why are you doing this, really!”
Smack!
Hwang Su-jin struck Hwang Su-yeol’s back with her hand full of irritation.
The ‘smack’ sound echoed through the music studio, and Hwang Su-yeol writhed in pain, unable to say anything.
“Agh! Ah, damn! I brought you a gift!!”
“Huh? A gift?”
“I was going to give you a gift while I was on a business trip!”
“You should have said that first!”
“You hit me before that!”
The two people were busy bickering.
A man and woman over 40 were fighting childishly like elementary school students.
“Ha, I’ll check the gift later. I need to work right now.”
“What work?”
“I’m going to submit it to a contest. To Lumos.”
“…There? Why?”
“Hmm? Well, because Heeseong wants to do it?”
“Really? Then it can’t be helped. I want to listen too.”
Hwang Su-jin thought for a moment and then gave permission.
Hwang Su-yeol looked like someone obsessed with muscles, but he was also a proper musician.
He had written lyrics for numerous songs and was someone with deep musical knowledge.
Clack-!
Hwang Su-jin pressed the keyboard refreshingly.
Sounds that were not yet complete and unorganized flowed out.
But even so, the hidden landscapes within began to show.
The memories that Heeseong had always imagined, thought about, and struggled to recall were flowing by one by one.
“How is it?”
The short song ended, and Hwang Su-jin asked with some nervousness.
Hwang Su-yeol had a blank expression for a moment, then nodded his head.
Then he said firmly to Hwang Su-jin.
“How about not giving it to Lumos and just releasing an album instead?”
Those words were the highest praise among all the praise Hwang Su-yeol could give.
Hwang Su-jin seemed satisfied and smiled, showing her teeth.
But she couldn’t easily accept Hwang Su-yeol’s opinion.
After all, this song belonged to Heeseong.
Hwang Su-jin grabbed the keyboard again.
It was to make sure her nephew wouldn’t be disappointed when he came back to the music studio.
Since no one could stop Hwang Su-jin once she started concentrating, Hwang Su-yeol gathered his clothes.
Then he very quietly closed the door to the music studio.
Through the hallway window, shadows created by moonlight could be seen.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
