novelraw Chapter 84 Singing Like an Actor
Chapter 84 Singing Like an Actor
As soon as the agent finished speaking those three words, Song Ze's mind went blank, and the famous scene from his past life that had gone viral across the internet automatically popped into his head—
He's tone-deaf, which made Wang Feng cry.
It is recognized as a "no-go zone" in the entire Chinese music scene, a biological weapon of recording studio level.
Song Ze glanced at the microphone stand, then at his sweating manager, and his lips twitched.
He should have refused.
The final dress rehearsal for "The Lone Warrior" wasn't even finished yet. In the first round of competition, which narrowed the field from eight to seven, Dimaxi's four and a half octaves were hanging over his head. He didn't have time to care whether other artists were off-key or not.
but--
More than three hours.
The sound engineers are on the verge of a strike.
Song Ze admitted that he did have a slight desire to see for himself just how fast it could run.
Purely academic curiosity.
"Let's go."
He took off his in-ear monitor and handed it to the recording engineer, then walked next door with his agent.
The agent jogged along, muttering to herself, "Ms. Song, you don't know how hard Ziyi has worked, it's just that talent is such a thing..."
Song Ze did not respond.
Talent is something that cannot be filled by hard work.
Especially pitch accuracy.
Push the door open and go inside.
The sound engineer rested his hands on the control panel, his posture exuding a Zen-like "I've given up" attitude. Two assistants stood against the wall, one lost in thought, the other secretly scrolling through his phone.
Center position.
Meng Ziyi stood in front of the microphone.
Her makeup and styling were exquisite, her hair was neatly styled, and her earrings were small silver teardrops, which made her face look clean and beautiful.
But at this moment, three words were written all over that beautiful face—
I can't.
She clutched the hem of her dress with both hands, twisting the fabric into wrinkles with her fingertips. When she saw the door open, she was startled at first, then recognized Song Ze, and took a half step back.
To take precautions.
It's quite obvious that they're taking precautions.
That's normal. A girl who's been ridiculed online for being a "drama queen" suddenly sees a male celebrity who's been labeled a "scumbag" walk in—
The scene looks utterly absurd.
Two people, repeatedly tormented by the internet, stared at each other in the rehearsal room of Hunan TV.
Song Ze ignored her guard up and went straight to the control panel to sit down.
When the sound engineer saw him, he jerked up, like a dying person seeing an ambulance.
"Teacher Song!"
"Give me the backing track."
Song Ze put on his monitoring headphones and glanced at the waveform on the screen—a mid-tempo ballad, not high in pitch and not complicated in arrangement, so it shouldn't have been stuck for three hours.
He pressed the intercom button.
"Meng Ziyi".
Meng Ziyi stood in front of the microphone, his body taut.
"Sing the chorus once, let me hear it."
Meng Ziyi nodded, took a breath, and opened his mouth.
The moment the first note came out—
Song Ze's back left the chair back.
They didn't leave voluntarily.
They were shaken away.
As for the pitch accuracy, how should I put it?
It's not just simple off-key singing. Simple off-key singing is like floating upwards or downwards, but at least it's still within the range of the musical staff.
Meng Ziyi's running style was completely outside the realm of music.
Song Ze took off one of his headphones and turned to look at the sound engineer.
The sound engineer gave him a smile that said, "Now you understand me, right?"
After Meng Ziyi finished singing the chorus, he realized he was doing something wrong, so he lowered his voice and the last few words were almost muffled.
She lowered her head, her fingers gripping the hem of her clothes even tighter.
Song Ze pressed the intercom button.
"Alright, stop singing."
Meng Ziyi's shoulders slumped.
She probably thought Song Ze was going to give up too.
But what Song Ze said next stunned everyone in the rehearsal room.
"Treat the instrumental track as background music, don't chase after it. Treat the lyrics as lines, and recite them in the most confident way possible."
Meng Ziyi looked up.
"Don't worry about pitch or melody. Just treat it like you're acting in a play. Just recite your lines to the beat of the drums, and don't worry about anything else."
The sound engineer turned to look at Song Ze, his face asking, "What are you talking about?"
Meng Ziyi also looked at him with a "What are you talking about?" expression.
Song Ze leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers twice on the table.
"You're an actor, not a singer. Don't sing like a singer, speak like an actor."
He paused for a moment.
"Bring some emotion, preferably anger. Just be like how you usually get angry."
Meng Ziyi opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
A few seconds passed.
"...Is it really okay?"
"Give it a try."
The accompaniment started again.
Meng Ziyi stood in front of the microphone, closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, his entire demeanor had changed.
She did not "sing".
The way she spoke was closer to questioning.
The lyrics that came out of her mouth were full of a defiant spirit, striking the drumbeats with a hard and direct force.
There is no melody.
There is no pitch.
But it has rhythm and emotion.
She turned a sentimental song into a monologue.
It doesn't sound good.
But it looks good.
The sound engineer straightened up from his chair, stared at the waveform for three seconds, then turned around and gave Song Ze an OK sign.
It works.
After Meng Ziyi finished reading the last word, he was also stunned for a moment.
She wasn't sure what she had just done, but she knew—the sound engineer hadn't pressed pause, sighed, or closed his eyes.
This is the first time in more than three hours.
"Let's do it again," Song Ze pressed the intercom button, "let loose more, don't hold back. You're not on a talent show, no one's giving you scores."
Meng Ziyi nodded and did it again.
This time I was more relaxed than the last, and I recited the "lines" even more forcefully.
The sound engineer quickly adjusted the parameters and gave two OKs.
After the third take, the sound engineer stood up from behind the control panel, walked to the door, clasped his hands together, and bowed in the direction of Song Ze.
Meng Ziyi rushed out of the recording studio and bent down directly at Song Ze at a perfect 90-degree angle.
"Teacher Song Ze!"
She straightened up, her hands clasped in front of her chest.
"Those smear articles online are all bullshit!"
Song Ze: "..." His mind was racing: Ziyi, at least hold up your strapless dress when you bend over, or he almost got a nosebleed.
"People say you're a jerk, but I think they're blind! You're not only professional, you're also a really good person!"
The rehearsal room fell silent for a moment.
The agent frantically winked at him from the side—"Stop talking, stop talking, please!"
Meng Ziyi completely missed the point, continuing to look at Song Ze with a sincere expression, conveying her heartfelt gratitude.
Song Ze was speechless.
He didn't know whether to be touched or to stop her.
This girl's thought process is truly bizarre. In front of a room full of people, she put "scumbag" and "great guy" in the same sentence, and she said it with such confidence.
Just then—
The system panel popped up.
[Target detected as exhibiting "extremely relaxed state" - extraction confirmed.]
[Successfully extracted sub-skill - Insensitivity (Resilience): Beginner (1/100)]
Song Ze paused slightly.
Insensitive force.
He glanced down at the description on the panel: This system is amazing, it can even extract this.
The essence of this thing is not "sluggishness," but a natural psychological defense mechanism.
This almost natural sense of relaxation, to put it another way—
Resistant to pressure.
Song Ze pinched his fingers.
The first competition will be held in just over a month, with eight contestants vying for seven spots. Dimaxi, Tan Jingjing, and Lin Yilian are all formidable opponents.
When he was rehearsing "The Lone Warrior" in the rehearsal room, his body was relaxed, but his nerves were still on edge.
Now the string has been loosened.
The two exchanged WeChat contacts.
Meng Ziyi skipped and hopped away with her agent, turning back to wave at him as she reached the corner of the corridor.
Song Ze stood there for two seconds, then turned around and pushed open the door to his rehearsal room.
The microphone was placed in the center, the lights didn't move, and the musicians remained in their original positions.
He walked over and stood in front of the microphone.
I don't have Dimaxi's four and a half octaves in my head, Tan Jingjing's national team singing skills, or Lin Yilian's queen aura.
It's just a song.
He nodded to the sound engineer.
The prelude begins.
When the first line of the verse came down, his breath pressure was very steady. The low notes followed his chest, and each word was deeply rooted at the bottom.
Up to the chorus.
Piano, drums, vocals.
Three things support the entire space.
Zhang Juan appeared outside the door at some point.
She had come to deliver tomorrow's call sheet, but stopped halfway through raising her hand.
The melody leaking through the crack in the door lingered in the air of the corridor, while the chorus line, "Who says only those standing in the light are heroes," emanated from the rehearsal room with a weight that seemed to be crashing down.
Zhang Juan stood at the door, the notice held in mid-air, motionless.
In the rehearsal room, Song Ze opened his eyes after singing the last note.
The phone screen lit up.
News about Yang Mi.
"Chen Weike's background has been investigated..."