The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 131

# 13 Eureka

“The spotlight is on my… ahem… Sorry. Let me try again.”

Guess I didn’t practice enough.

Halo watched Jang Jin-soo with his arms crossed.

Jang Jin-soo, behind the glass, seemed a bit frozen.

“Anything to say?”

Kang Young-min, also watching Jang Jin-soo, asked.

Halo shrugged.

He couldn’t believe there was a voice crack in such an easy part, but he didn’t intend to argue. This song had already left his hands. Besides, judging by how he occasionally glanced at him,

“Can I sit down too? I feel like I’m making it harder for him.”

“Sure.”

Kang Young-min instructed Jang Jin-soo through the microphone. Halo pulled a plastic chair from behind and plopped down. Surprisingly, his frame was hidden by the computer monitor.

The recording started again.

Looking at the digital clock, it was 12:42 PM on Sunday.

It had been almost an hour since he arrived at HY Studio.

Halo was relieved that the recording was going smoothly. Just two hours ago, he was contemplating recording with his phone.

Leaning back deeply in the plastic chair, he recalled the morning that felt like the calm before the storm.

#

“Oh, what do we do?”

Jang Jin-soo looked back with an anxious face.

The audition submission deadline was Sunday at 11:59:59 PM. Less than 24 hours left.

He should have finished recording and sent the file already, but he had hit a snag.

“I’ve been looking all day since yesterday, but everything is fully booked.”

It wasn’t just the entrance exam season that was the problem. It was actually difficult to find a studio that could be booked the next day, or even the same day.

“Should I just record with my phone and submit it?”

Jang Jin-soo trembled.

The application guidelines allowed mp4 or mov formats, so it would be acceptable. He knew that quite a few people actually submitted phone recordings.

If you just show your skills, what does the file format matter? However, that was a story for people confident in their skills. If there was anything lacking, he wanted to at least get the format right.

“Let’s look for more places until before lunch. We still have time.”

Kim Deok-soo also put down his comic book and picked up his phone. He had already contacted everyone he knew. They were all happy to hear from him, but they were hesitant about same-day bookings.

While they were busy, a vibration rang from somewhere.

“Hey, it’s yours.”

Jang Jin-soo picked up Halo’s jacket.

The latest model phone fell onto the sofa with a thud.

Jang Jin-soo gestured for him to answer the phone quickly and read his lyrics with a pale face.

010-####-####

“?”

He thought it was Noh Hae-il’s mother, but it was an unknown number.

[Hello? Ah,]

A voice mixed with mechanical sounds.

It sounded familiar yet strange.

[Noh Hae-il, student?]

“Who is this?”

[Student! It’s me, it’s me.]

The intonation sounded familiar, and then the man on the other end of the phone said,

[HY Studio. We met on Wednesday, remember?]

“Ah.”

Halo finally remembered the man he had seen when he first came here. The producer—no, the owner of the studio, the engineer.

Noh Hae-il’s self-composed song and the subsequent chaos flashed through his mind. He had been so out of it that he had forgotten.

Right, he was going to record as soon as he got here.

[So why didn’t you check your email? I spent all night mixing and mastering perfectly—]

In the very clean and pleasant recording studio.

The work environment, which wasn’t bad, even though he hadn’t seen this person’s skills, came to mind.

Halo let Kang Young-min’s words wash over him and opened his mouth.

“Is the studio free by any chance?”

[Huh?]

Kang Young-min’s voice cut off for a moment and then came back.

[Are you going to record again? Why? What didn’t you like? The schedule is empty this afternoon because it was canceled, but…]

“Until what time is it free?”

[Generously, two thirty?]

Halo checked the time.

It was just 11:30 AM.

“That’s enough.”

[No, wait, student, so what’s the problem?]

“I’ll tell you when I get there.”

That’s how it happened.

Kang Young-min seemed to have a lot to say to Halo, but he was going through the recording process with Jang Jin-soo.

Exactly after receiving the MR [music recorded without vocals].

“Is it a Soyou audition song?”

“Yes! How did you know?”

“It’s obvious at a glance. But isn’t the deadline today? Why are you recording now?”

“It’s a long story… I changed the song in the middle.”

“Hmm, I see.”

With a small question, he started working. Like a professional engineer, he precisely guided Jang Jin-soo.

“The song is good.”

Kang Young-min, who had been listening to Jang Jin-soo’s music for a while, said a word. Halo slightly raised the corner of his mouth.

“Do you think I’ll get in, sir?”

Jang Jin-soo, who was drinking water for a moment, was overjoyed.

“I don’t know. But I think you’ll get through the first round. The song is that good.”

“What about the skill-.”

“Skill is important too, but if the song is good, people can’t help but be more drawn to it. Is this student’s song?”

“Uh-.”

Jang Jin-soo slowly turned his eyes.

Noh Hae-il seemed uninterested, as if telling him to do as he pleased.

Noh Hae-il added that he made it based on Jang Jin-soo’s song. But it’s a completely new song.

Jang Jin-soo pondered and rolled his eyes.

“Well.”

“What does ‘well’ mean? What are you going to do if someone asks you later?”

“If they ask-.”

What should I answer?

After a long time of thinking, he opened his mouth.

“A friend refined it….”

“A friend? Who?”

Jang Jin-soo’s gaze moved. Following him, Kang Young-min’s gaze also moved.

“Could it be that this song was also made by the student?”

Kang Young-min, who discovered Noh Hae-il, was soon startled. At that moment, the word ‘refined’ was already forgotten.

He had already heard Noh Hae-il’s self-composed song.

He knew that his composing skills were no ordinary matter, as much as his vocals. So he understood the origin of the song and was once again embarrassed.

“This?”

Back then, the genre was ballad, but now it was a completely different genre.

“No, this is a completely different genre.”

Besides, back then, there was still a sense of freshness.

Freshness was felt in the lyrics and some melodies that you would think were written by a student.

But this song, which he heard after reuniting in a few days,

It is so trendy and sophisticated that the ballad is not thought of at all. There is no trace or habit of the same composer.

So it was like a song made by a completely different composer.

“…You didn’t check your email because you were making this.”

Kang Young-min, who somehow understood that he had just forgotten, was newly impressed.

“That’s possible.”

He still couldn’t believe that such a young child made this song. But now he thinks it’s possible.

Yes, if it’s a young genius who made a song in fifteen minutes, this variation may be possible.

“Okay, let’s start again.”

Kang Young-min put Jang Jin-soo back into the recording room. The schedule was tight to finish by two o’clock. He said he changed the song in the middle. His lack of practice was visible, so he had to do it more tightly.

Because it is the engineer’s ability to make people who can’t sing look like they can sing well. The second round is up to this student in the future.

#

“I’ll make an exception for you today. But I’ll never make an exception again. Okay?”

“Thank you so much.”

Exactly at 2 p.m.

After a storm-like recording, Jang Jin-soo was exhausted. He staggered like a zombie. His face looked like all the oxygen had been sucked out of his lungs.

“Be sure to get into Soyou, student. If you get in and do well, you know later, right?”

At Kang Young-min’s words, Jang Jin-soo smiled and nodded. He didn’t seem to care what he said now.

“I don’t usually say this, but fighting [a Korean expression of encouragement, like ‘good luck’].”

“Yes! I will definitely be number one!”

Kang Young-min encouraged him with a satisfied look and looked to the side.

The introduction was over, and it was time to find the main point.

Kang Young-min still had a lot to say to Noh Hae-il. He had saved it because he had work to do. Now was the time.

“What are you going to do in the future, student?”

“Me?”

“Jin-soo’s friend is going to Soyou, but don’t you have any plans?”

“Ah.”

Halo nodded.

Yes, he had something to do too.

Jang Jin-soo’s situation was much more urgent, and he had only helped because he was involved, but his task was just beginning.

The obstacles to recording his album have all been resolved. The brothers agreed more readily than he thought to his request to teach him about MIDI [Musical Instrument Digital Interface, a technical standard]. They said they would teach him if he came to the hideout every day. He didn’t think they would accept it so easily because he had refused once. He wondered if they could be so nice to a kid they had only seen for a few days.

They are unusually altruistic people, even if not musically.

The session was resolved with MIDI, so the remaining task was album work. This is a problem that has not yet been resolved.

‘Does this person know more because he’s in the industry?’

Kang Young-min is waiting persistently as if telling him to say anything. Halo opened his mouth with a question instead of an answer.

“How do you usually release albums here?”

“Are you going to release an album? Oh!”

Kang Young-min was overjoyed as if he had been waiting. He didn’t know why this person liked it. Soon, Kang Young-min, who realized that Halo had asked a question instead of an answer, thought seriously.

“Well, to release an album, you usually go to an agency and make it. You have to go through an agency for production or distribution.”

“Then can I make it right away?”

“No.”

At the question that sounded naive, Kang Young-min thought that Noh Hae-il was a middle school student.

“In the first place, to make an album, you have to be decided as a debut member. Some kids take several years just for that.”

“Can I make it right away if I debut?”

He feels confident in the question that comes right in. It’s as if he’s saying that he’ll definitely debut.

“No, you’ll prepare the album after making the debut decision. You should think at least 6 months to a year.”

“It’s late.”

“It’s late, it’s at least half a year. It takes longer.”

Noh Hae-il’s face darkens in an instant.

Is there a reason to release an album in a hurry?

Kang Young-min was curious about what was going on in this little head.

“Is there any other way?”

“If you don’t go to an agency and debut, ah.”

Kang Young-min exclaimed.

Then he pointed to Jang Jin-soo, who was standing next to him blankly.

“You have to go to an audition like him. These days, if you’re popular, they release the music right away.”

“Audition.”

“But there aren’t many audition programs these days.”

Jang Jin-soo’s face, who was listening to the conversation between the two, slowly darkened. What he was thinking was obvious.

“How long does that take?”

“If you pass the first round, pass the second round, and think about appearing on TV, you should take two or three months.”

“Ah.”

This is also late.

“Are you going to Soyou too…?”

“No.”

He asks in a sinking voice.

He’s good at saying things he doesn’t mean.

Halo scoffed and shook his head.

He’s not so shameless that he’ll take food from a kid.

“Is there any other way?”

“If not, you’ll have to make it yourself. Korea basically doesn’t distribute unless you have a record company, so you’ll have to think about a contract.”

Halo tapped the edge of the chair.

None of them are satisfactory.

That damn contract.

That damn record company.

He doesn’t want to get involved, but he keeps getting involved.

Kang Young-min shrugged his shoulders because he had no more solutions to offer.

“By the way, what are you going to do with the song we recorded on Wednesday? It’s a waste to keep it.”

Kang Young-min brought up the main point.

He was most curious about how Noh Hae-il would use the recorded song he had worked on.

And he asks. Will you just use it for personal storage or for submitting to school?

He wants a lot of people to hear it.

Kang Young-min wanted to let other people hear the song he thought was good.

“Aren’t you going to upload it to YouTube?”

If his composing skills are this good, he should have already been known. But the reason he hasn’t been known is. Isn’t it because he doesn’t show his work to others at all? Kang Young-min, who was mistaken, urged him unlike himself.

“YouTube?”

“Why, I told you about it. Back then.”

Noh Hae-il, who doesn’t seem to remember at all, is frustrating.

“YouTube.”

Noh Hae-il, unaware of the frustrating speed, repeated it as if retracing it.

At that moment, Halo was thinking of ‘YouTube’. Kang Young-min misunderstood that Halo was not interested in YouTube at all, but it was not.

The report of the countless music Halo heard was on YouTube. He heard timelessly loved masterpieces there without paying any cost.

The library of music.

He said that with ‘YouTube’.

Come to think of it, Kang Young-min said this with YouTube before.

Anyone can upload their work here, share it, and make money.

“!”

Halo raised his head sharply.

The albums piled up on Kang Young-min’s studio shelf disappear like shooting stars.

‘Why was I obsessed with the album form?’

He naturally thought that he had to leave a square album.

Because that was the only album in his era.

But this era is different.

Even if he didn’t buy a square album, the album existed, and even anyone could listen to it.

‘My purpose is not simply to release an album.’

The album is just a means.

His main purpose was for anyone to listen to his song and recognize that it was his song.

Eureka.

Halo took a step forward.

It didn’t matter who called him.

Now that all the difficulties have been resolved, all he has to do is move forward.