Chapter 154 - Album is Complete
Time flies,time passes by little by little, and unwittingly fleeting, just like a whitesteed flits past a gap. (TN: Chinese idiom that means time is fleeting)
In thetwinkling of an eye, the golden month of August has passed, and Beijing, asuper city with a population of 30 million, has entered the fragrant September,when the sweet-scented Osmanthus flower bloom, and the intense summer heatgradually stop rising under the chill autumn air. It is about to usher in thebest time of the year.
Blue SkyCreative Park, Nirvana Studio.
In therecording studio, Studio Manager Wang Changsheng, Music Director Wang Jing, RecordingEngineer Wang Hui and three other members of Nirvana Studio gathered together werestaring at Lu Chen with either nervous or expectant eyes.
Fine sweatswere seeping out from Wang Changsheng’s forehead, his eyes were a little dazed,and his right hand could not help trembling.
Wang Jing’seyes were still bright and vivid, but her action of her white teeth biting herlips exposed her inner emotion.
Wang Hui wasthe one who couldn't endure the most. The whole person was shaking. He pressedhis clenched fist on his mouth several times, as if he wanted to bite it hard,otherwise he would shout out uncontrollably.
However, LuChen couldn't see this at all. He was wearing a huge monitoring headphone andlistening to his own voice.
“WheneverI am lost in darkness, and fail to find the meaning of life,”
“Oh~the brightest star in the night sky, guide me toward you.”
The songgradually stops but the residual sound lingers in his ears, just like the bloodburning in his heart is still boiling hot!
After a longtime, Lu Chen took a long breath and opened his eyes.
Under everyone'sexpectant look, he took off his headphones, nodded and said, “This is good.”
“Yes!”
Three simplewords instantly set off a frenzy of joy in the recording studio. Wang Hui wasthe first to shout, and then all three members of the Nirvana band clappedtheir hands hard.
WangChangsheng smiled happily with relief. Even Wang Jing, who has always beencalm, smiled like a spring flower.
They havereason to be happy, reason to cheer, and even more reason to celebrate!
Lu Chen’sdebut album that was produced in Nirvana Studio was also the biggest and mostimportant order the studio has received since its establishment. It has takenabout two months, and now it has finally been completed.
Althoughthere were some problems in arrangement, accompaniment, recording andpost-production, and although they didn’t achieve the best outcome, everyonedid their best.
The tensongs of the whole album can't be said to be flawless, but they are sincerelyqualified to be called a boutique. (TN: boutique - premium product.)
Lu Chen isalready very satisfied.
100,000 yuancan have such an effect. It completely exceeded his expectations, perhaps thearrangement was a little bit green, and perhaps the accompaniment was notmature enough, but for this album “You Who Sat Next To Me”, it wasreally enough. (TN: Green - amateur/inexperience)
This littlebit of greenness and immaturity doesn't affect the main style of the work atall, and can even better show some temperament of campus folk songs.
He said wholeheartedly,“Thank you!”
Lu Chenfirst extended his hand to Wang Changsheng. For this album, the studio managerwas busy running around, so that the production team had no worries, withoutcredit for the hard work.
Then WangHui.
His work wasthe hardest. The recording and post-production were basically done by himself,often working late into the night.
And WangJing.
She wasresponsible for the arrangement of all the works. This Jingyin graduate has agood grasp of the style of the album and often encounters problems. She would oftengo to the trouble of revising and adjusting it, redoing it from the startseveral times.
Finally,there are the three band members, who also worked very hard.
Even if itwas mainly for their own sake and the studio, Lu Chen was still grateful.
Because LuChen himself participated in the production process of the album. He was veryaware of everyone’s contribution and efforts!
So, hewanted to thank everyone at Nirvana Studio by shaking their hands one by one.
Thefollowing things were simple. According to the contract, Lu Xi, who came withLu Chen, paid the balance of the production fee to Nirvana Studios. At the sametime, she also received the master disc of the album and the losslesshigh-quality audio files.
There are 10songs in the album "You Who Sat Next To Me". In addition to the title song“You Who Sat Next To Me”, there are eight works that form a unifiedcampus folk song style, which are “Love in The Wind”, “TheBrother Sleeping on My Upper Bunk”, “Cinderella”, “TheBright Times of Youth”, “Beauty”, “Those Flowers”,“Ballad of Time” and “Outdoor Cinema”.
As for thelast song, Lu Chen originally intended to use “Once You” as thefinale and a hidden surprise. However, considering the influence of “SingingChina” and the overall style, he finally chose “The Brightest Star inThe Night Sky”.
As for“Once You” and “Chasing Dream With A Childlike Heart”, let'sput them on the next album.
Taking acloser look, such a lineup can be considered luxurious. All the 10 songs are excellentworks, with enough highlights in both melodies and lyrics, and real classics asthe core.
For hisfirst album of his life, Lu Chen will never be vague!
However, thename of the album made him hesitate for a long time. From the perspective of publicity,“The Brightest Star In The Night Sky” is undoubtedly the mostappropriate. But it doesn’t fit the theme of campus folk songs very well.
Aftercareful consideration, Lu Chen chose “You Who Sat Next To Me”.
Lu Chenstudio has already made a deal with QQ Music. Lu Chen’s debut album will bereleased and sold exclusively on QQ Music Online, just waiting for this set ofaudio files.
QQ Music isthe largest music website in China, with a market share of more than 50%. Originally,it will be very difficult for new artists like Lu Chen, who is also anindependent artist, to promote and distribute their works on their websites.
However,because Lu Chen's live version of his several works he sung in “singingChina” has achieved great success in QQ Music, and has been downloaded numeroustimes, the website has attached great importance to this cooperation betweenthe two parties.
In QQ Music,there was no doubt that there are all kinds of clear and shady rules, and thereare covert deals on the homepage list. However, they can’t ignore a newsinger-songwriter with great market potential, so they are willing to exchange partof the benefits.
Thisrelatively equal status didn't come easily, but it was also due to Lu Chen’sstrength.
Otherwise,Lu Chen can go to QQ Music’s competitor, such as NetEase Music, popular radiostations and so on. With the quality and popularity of his works, the salesperformance will not be too bad.
QQ Music didn'twant to be a cheap competitor, even if the latter’s market share is not as goodas its own.
According toLu Chen’s plan, after QQ Music went on sale, his cooperation with Flying StoneRecords will be launched at the same time.
QQ Music + FlyingStone Records basically constitute a perfect album sales channel, referred toas “Double Fei". (TN: QQ is Feiton and Flying Stone is Feishi in the raw. Thereare "Fei" in them, thus the "Double Fei")
However,there is still a very important problem that has not been resolved, so it isdefinitely necessary to go through the QQ channel first.
“LittleChen!”
The call inhis ears made Lu Chen woke up suddenly.
Lu Xi askedcuriously, “What’s the matter?”
Lu Chen wasjust lost in contemplation by the issue of channels a moment ago, but now he hascome to his senses and quickly replied, “it’s all right…”
He also saidto Wang Changsheng, “Manager Wang, I have made a reservation at Jinghua Hotel.I invite everyone to have dinner together this evening. Now it’s almost time.Let’s go together.”
The conscientiousand responsible work attitude of Nirvana Studio made Lu Chen very impressed,and he will definitely continue to cooperate with them in the future, so he wasvery willing to further improve the relationship between them.
Lu Ximentioned that if the time is right, they will acquire Nirvana Studio to expandthemselves.
However, LuChen was unwilling to support his sister’s idea for the time being, because hecould see that Wang Changsheng and his family had deep affection to their studioand have spent a lot of painstaking efforts on it.
So, unlessthe other party raise it on their initiative, he won’t purchase NirvanaStudios.
When LuChen’s studio really needs to expand, hiring people to build their own shed wasnot a problem at all.
He didn'twant to be a shrewd businessman who calculates the gains and losses ofeverything.
“Great.Thank you, Brother Lu Chen!”
Wang Huiimmediately expressed his strong support and said with a smile: “I almostthrow up eating fast food box lunch every day. I want to have a big meal. Iwant to eat roast duck, braised pork ribs, sweet and sour fish… Ah!”
Wang Jingslapped him on the back of his head and glared angrily - can you be more shameful?
Wang Huilooked aggrieved.
Lu Chensmiled.
Wang Hui isa very simple tech-savvy person. He has no complicated thoughts. If he isfamiliar with someone, he will say whatever he wants to say.
In contrast,his sister Wang Jing pays more attention to details.
WangChangsheng hurriedly said, “Mr. Lu, let me treat this dinner thisevening.”
Nirvanastudio earned Lu Chen’s money, but also made Lu Chen treat dinner. That isreally too embarrassing!
Lu Chen saidwith a smile, “Manager Wang, you don't need to be polite. Everyone workedreally hard. It will be my treat!”
At Lu Chen’sinsistence, dinner will be his treat.
Everyoneleft the studio together.
Jinghua Hotelis next to the Blue Sky Creative Park, just a 10-minute walk away.
Lu Chenbooked a large box in the restaurant on the second floor of the hotel.
Aftersitting down, Lu Chen handed the menu to Wang Hui and said with a smile, "Ifyou want something, you can order whatever you like, and you don’t have to bepolite with me. This album can be made successfully, you were the first tocontribute!”
Wang Huihappily took it over and said, “Brother Lu Chen, I'm very polite to others,but I will not be polite to you. You're a local tyrant now. You can earn morethan a million yuan by participating in a competition. My big sister admiresyou very much!”
Wang Jing,who sat next to him, blushed and angrily said, “What nonsense are youtalking about?”
Wang Huistuck out his tongue and quickly ordered.
Afterordering, the dishes were quickly served.
Lu Chenpoured himself a glass of beer, raised his glass and said with a smile, “Firstof all, I would like to propose a toast to you all. Thank you for your effortsand helping me complete an excellent album. Thank you!”
After he finisheddrinking, Wang Hui and others immediately applauded.
Among thosewho are present, besides Wang Changsheng, everyone else were young people ofabout the same age. Everyone likes music and has a lot of common topics betweenthem, so the atmosphere in the banquet quickly became lively.
Halfwaythrough drinking, Lu Chen’s cell phone rang.
Lu Chen tookit out and had a look. The incoming call information displayed on the screen madehis eyes lit up immediately!
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