Superstars of Tomorrow

Xue Jing had once told Fang Zhao that, in the music world of the New Era, symphonic structures had a rather refined flavor and were different from the more common musical styles in the New Era. The public did not have a high acceptance toward it, and there were not many who would study this, instead choosing to play with electronic music.

Fang Zhao’s emergence had let symphonies and electronic music blend perfectly. Even though it was still not truly fashionable, at least more people were more accepting of it.

In the world, the number of people who could perfectly blend symphonies with electronic music was not just limited to only Fang Zhao. However, to build a reputation for oneself and be willing to selflessly share all his techniques, there was only Fang Zhao.

This was also why there had been so much hype within the community for "New Voices in Symphonic Composition" before it had even been released. This sort of situation was rarely seen, and just by spending a little money, one would gain the knowledge that he wanted. This sort of chance was hard to let go.

In the past, even if people wanted to learn, they would be put off by the "high entry requirements" and "hard to understand," and use these excuses to cower. Now, people who were interested could first read up on the explanations in the book and the shared experiences while getting a feel of things. Interest was all the foundation that one needed.

Although music software could synthesize many sounds, many people would still rather use traditional methods of recording, such as hiring a band or an orchestra to play at a professional studio. This way, they could listen to and feel the details, find places that needed improvement, and make changes on the spot. Apparently, in these sorts of circumstances, it was easier to gain inspiration. This was probably the "human" factor. Because when an orchestra played according to the score, their own feelings would be assimilated inside. This was something that could stir up the emotions of a composer.

It could be said that Muzhou was the continent that had the least symphonic music. Just as that student had said, in the past, the symphony recording studios were often empty and used for other styles. However, now, despite having an advanced booking, there was still a queue.

If even Muzhou was like this, what about the other continents?

While Fang Zhao was pondering that question, a few more people came in from outside.

One of them scanned the hall and grumbled, "There are too many people. I think the CEO of Odd Music Company has plans to increase the number of symphony recording studios, but I have no idea when it will be ready."

The person beside him, with eyes full of anticipation, plucked out his earpiece and said, "I think this piece of mine will be very successful. I used the music software at home to produce a demo piece, and it sounds very good. Who knows, I might become popular soon! Or maybe I can be like Fang Zhao and be regarded by Fiery Bird?"

Everyone wanted to be the second Fang Zhao. Youngsters in the music industry paid attention to Fang Zhao. One reason was his talent and achievements; the other reason was also the main factor: his earnings.

Artists were human too. Other than certain madmen, the majority of them were common people who would have desires. Upon seeing Fang Zhao making so much earnings from his few symphonic movements and even receiving an invitation from Fiery Bird, who would not be tempted by that fame and fortune?

They were all of a similar age group, they all enjoyed music, and they were all from various schools from all continents. If Fang Zhao could do it, why not them too?

Therefore, more people attempted to take up the challenge, resulting in better recording companies in Qingcheng being fully booked almost every day. Good orchestras needed to work overtime every day, and the ones with better reputations had to be booked several days in advance.

Fang Zhao glanced at the newly arrived youngsters before looking at the time. The ones ahead of him in the queue, "Wheat Dish Studio," had given 1 p.m as the forecasted time that they would be done. They had already overshot by ten minutes and had not given an explanation.

Upstairs, the people from Wheat Dish were also in a bad mood. Their recording had not gone smoothly. The problem did not lie with the orchestra’s performance; instead, it was that the finished recording was different from what they had expected.

Wheat Dish Studio was set up by three year-four students from Muzhou Music Academy and had only been recently established. Other than those three, the other people in the studio that were helping them temporarily were their juniors from school.

"Something is wrong!" A youngster dressed fashionably scrutinized the scores he had written himself, his face full of distress. "Ding Xiaotao, how do you think we should correct this?"

The short haired girl beside him leaned against the back of her chair, both legs on the control panel and facing the ceiling. Hearing her companion, she took a deep breath and sighed. "Let’s properly correct it when we get back."

"No! I feel that it’s just lacking a little something for me to find out where the problem lies. Let the orchestra play once more. Maybe I will be able to figure out the answer." That youngster was unwilling to give up.

In the past, they had tried out electronic music and not Muzhou’s traditional music styles because they’d thought that the people who did electronic music were cool. After watching many blockbusters, they had felt that the stunning background music was also pretty cool, so they had switched over to try it out, but they hadn’t had much success. Originally, they had made plans to return to working purely on electronic music, but the release of "New Voices in Symphonic Composition" had given them renewed hope. The three of them had sealed themselves off for a period of time and then came here to produce the results of their seclusion. However, reality was a harsh slap in the face. It was as if their fiery and passionate hearts had been doused with cold water.

"Obviously, this portion should harmonize really well. Why does it sound wrong?" The last youngster was also at a loss as he fidgeted and studied the patterns on his sleeve tattoo.

"Shi Duo, go and see who is queueing up behind us. If it is no one important, tell them something to continue waiting or to queue up for another recording studio. We are going to extend our stay here for another two hours. I can feel some inspiration coming my way. In a moment I will start all over. You go outside and check it out first while I amend the scores.

"Jiang Hang, you are saying this for the third time today." The tattooed youth unwillingly got up to head out. His uncle was a senior executive at Odd Music Company, so he could directly take a shortcut for some small matters.

Normal clients were not able to check the background or detailed information of the people queueing up after them. The information online only stated what the client who made the booking left behind. The people from Wheat Dish could only find out that the person behind them had made a individual application and nothing more.

The tattooed youth had gotten used to this and went to find someone who could check the information of the party behind.

"Oh, little Duo came?" The person in charge of Odd Music’s technical department did not even need to raise his head. Just glancing at the tattooed sleeve, he knew who had come.

Shi Duo’s nickname was Duo Duo. As he’d gotten older, Shi Duo had felt that every time someone called him it sounded like they were calling a dog, so he did not let people call him that. Now, only people who were close to him used that name.

Shi Duo cackled as he walked in. "Uncle Wylie, are you busy?"

"Say it, what do you want to check this time? Your studio has exceeded the time limit." There was no rebuke in Wylie’s voice. Exceeding the time was a small mater. A little compensation fee to the party behind them would resolve it.

"I want to see who is queuing up after me, maybe tell him to wait a while more or perhaps queue for another studio," Shi Duo said.

Wylie understood. Shi Duo wanted to find out the other party’s identity and detailed information.

"Let me see, behind you is... a booking by a foreigner from Yanzhou," Wylie said. "If he isn’t from Muzhou, that’s even better. We don’t have to bother about foreigners. We have priority for locals. I guess we will ask him to queue for another studio. However, this name seems a little familiar, as if I have heard it somewhere."

"Is he famous? What’s his name?" Shi Duo asked.

"He’s called Fang Zhao."

"Fang... Fang Zhao?!"

Shi Duo did not bother about the rules any longer. He rushed over and pushed Wylie aside and squeezed in front of the screen, carefully examining the information and photograph of the person who made the booking.

"You know this person?" Wylie asked.

Shi Duo took a deep breath then took another look to make sure his eyes were not playing tricks on him. "Can I check the surveillance footage of the waiting hall?"

"No way!" Wylie shook his head. Company policy. Other than the technical staff in the monitor room, no one else was allowed to view the surveillance footage. Doing so was a breach of privacy, and the company had strict rules regarding it. If it were not for the backing of his uncle who was a senior executive in the company, Wylie would not even have considered helping him.

"Hey. You haven’t told me, who is this Fang Zhao?"

Shi Dou did not bother to reply and instead rushed straight out. When he ran into the waiting hall, his sudden braking caused the soles of his shoes to create a sharp squeaking sound.

The ear-piercing sound made everyone, including Fang Zhao, look over.

Shi Dou scanned the waiting hall and his line of sight stopped at Fang Zhao. After that, he turned and rushed straight up and into the recording studio.

"You guys, you won’t believe who is queueing behind us! Guess who I just saw!" Shi Duo was so excited he was practically shouting.

Jiang Hang and Ding Xiaotao were discussing where the music score had gone wrong, but their train of thought had been scared away by Shi Duo’s abrupt shouting. The two of them stared at Shi Duo as if they wanted to peel him alive.

Shi Duo did not care one bit, excitedly continuing, "Fang Zhao! That Fang Zhao!"

"Tha-that Fang Zhao?" Jiang Hang and Ding Xiaotao were both stuttering.

Shi Duo picked up the copy of "New Voices in Symphonic Composition" and pointed at the name under the deputy editor segment. "This one!"

Jiang Hang and Ding Xiaotao looked at each other and ran out at the same time.

Shi Duo also followed and did not forget to show off to a bunch of his good friends in a group chat. "Today I ran into Fang Zhao!"

Somewhere else in Qingcheng, in a dormitory at Muzhou Music Academy.

"The F*ck! Fang Zhao is in Muzhou!"

"Who did you say?!"

"Is Fang Zhao really in Muzhou?"

"Shi Duo said it in a group chat. They met him when recording over at Odd Music."

"Let’s go to Odd Music!"

"You all are going? I still have two more periods of optional lessons."

"Skip classes!"

In a classroom at the teaching block.

A teacher stepped into his classroom for his lesson on arrangement and realized that there were only a third of the students in class, and he was left puzzled. This round, there were not many students from far away, and he had not received any absence-from-class requests.

"Where is everyone? There are supposed to be many more people, where did they go?" the arrangement teacher asked.

"Teacher, they all skipped classes to go see Fang Zhao," a student answered.

"Outrageous! Even if they were chasing a star, they can’t... Who?! Who did they go see?!" The arrangement teacher was stunned.

"They went to see Fang Zhao, the deputy editor of ’New Voices in Symphonic Composition’ who became popular in a short time.

"...Fang Zhao came? Where?" the arrangement teacher asked.

"Odd Music Company’s building. I heard a fellow student was recording over there when they ran into him."

The student had just finished his sentence when the arrangement teacher said, "This class will be self-revision." With that he hurriedly left.

Translator’s Thoughts

BeetleBarker BeetleBarker

Boys and girls, stay in school. Teachers know best!