God's Song

In the two days that Jun Hyuk had been away, Kwak Hye Sung and Nam Seung Hee had finished recording their first mission song. Jo Hyung Joong’s studio was in the midst of mastering the track for release.

“Jun Hyuk, you’re here? You had a rough time?”

“No, I’m okay.”

The smile did not disappear from Jo Hyung Joong’s face as he welcomed Jun Hyuk.

“Well, things like this happen in life. Let it all go if it’s been taken care of.”

“Yes.”

Jo Hyung Joong spoke with a backpack over his shoulder.

“Sorry to do this as soon as you get here, but let’s go out. We need to work from another place.”

“Where are we going?”

“To record the 16 instrument orchestra. We don’t have a recording booth large enough to fit 16 people.”

“There’s a booth that fits 16 people?”

“Yeah. There are places abroad that are large enough to fit entire orchestras. The studio we’re going to now can fit around 20 people. They usually record movie OSTs there.”

Orchestral accompaniments are usually recorded once the MIDI operations are completed and each instrument is recorded separately. One violinist played the 1st and 2nd violin. They did not play together to record, but played separately and combined the tracks.

However, there were times when everyone recorded together in order to express the full emotion. The disadvantage was that as there were more people playing, they needed to keep replaying the piece if anyone made a mistake. Therefore, the cost and time made it common to record by track.

A recording studio in Gangnam had a booth that looked like a compact concert hall as if showing that it was used for recording tracks in movies. The 16 performers were already tuning their instruments in the studio.

“Teacher Jo, let us know whenever there’s something you don’t like. Aren’t we just instruments that are part of this music?”

The senior violinist who was the Concertmaster exchanged greetings with Jo Hyung Joong with humility. Though their fields were different, Jo Hyung Joong was an overwhelming presence as a producer in popular music. Jo Hyung Joong was not someone to underestimate even in the world of classical.

“You’re too kind. Is there anything for me to touch? I’m sure something like this will be easy for you. And this is Jun Hyuk, the pianist and arranger.”

The Concertmaster was surprised when he heard that Jun Hyuk was the arranger and pianist. This was the person who had made news on broadcast and online this week. He assumed that he would be good on the piano, but did not think that he would be able to arrange music.

“Oh, this is him. I thought he would be shy because the MIDI file I received was light... but his image is so different.”

Jun Hyuk’s image was so different from that of ordinary arrangers who locked themselves in the recording studio and wrestled with the master keyboard.

“Good, good. His looks are good and his music is as good as his looks. Ha ha.”

The Concertmaster laughed for a bit and took his place to start playing.

“Who is going to command?”

“That man just now is going to do it.”

“He’s just a violinist.”

“Yeah. Since the song is short and simple... the senior violinist usually takes the lead. There isn’t someone to command.”

Jun Hyuk’s face turned dark at Jo Hyung Joong’s explanation.

“I see. This song is easy to lose the timing in without a commander... I guess they’re really skillful performers?”

“Of course we brought in A class people. They’re performers of Fine Philharmonic. They’re fairly famous. It’ll be fine.”

The performers who had been facing the two people saw the Concertmaster nod lightly to them to send them a signal as he began to move his bow with power.

When the elaborate stringed instruments started and the introduction ended with 2 verses as though fireworks had gone off, Jun Hyuk got up from his seat.

“Teacher, let’s go. I think it’ll be better to do the MIDI operations and make the orchestra parts with the equipment.”

“What? Why... Why do you say that?”

Jo Hyung Joong stuttered as he looked up at Jun Hyuk in surprise.

“What can we expect from performers who can’t even read the scores? I don’t need to hear anymore.”

The performers who had been watching Jun Hyuk’s actions and words, stopped playing. Their faces were more distorted than the surprised face of Jo Hyung Joong.

“Hey! Hold on. What did you just say?”

The Concertmaster could not hold back any longer and yelled while the rest of the performers looked on in disbelief. They had never even heard such insulting words from the conductor. The machines are better? They could not read the score?

“You didn’t hear me? I said that you can’t even read the score properly. Did you hear me well this time?”

They could not believe Jun Hyuk who was yelling with a frown. No arranger made a judgment after just two verses no matter how the music did not come out the way they had intended.

They could not just stand back and watch if he was just copying a maestro he had seen in a movie or drama.

There were a few performers who had left their seats, and the Concertmaster came storming at Jun Hyuk with his violin.

“There there, let’s all calm down. Since Jun Hyuk arranged this song, let’s listen to his opinion first. Jun Hyuk, you have to explain carefully. It’s rude if you act like this all of a sudden.”

Jo Hyung Joong grabbed Jun Hyuk’s wrist and blocked him from the Concertmaster. From the Concertmaster’s stance, it seemed like he might throw his fist. He needed to get out of this troublesome situation. It was social etiquette to respect each other when they were not friendly and had met for the first time.