Chapter 57. Training starts (2)
'All the voices... they are so interesting!'
Lee Hyun thought as he looked at the four girls singing together in front of him. The different voices were mixing together with each other and creating a unique tone.
They were currently in their first practice session.
Although Lee Hyun wasn't a professional vocal teacher, he was still someone who has practically lived with music everyday.
He was at least qualified to teach singing and hiring a vocal teacher would cost unnecessary money.
'We need to cut down on the unnecessary costs.'
Lee Hyun thought about their budget which he was struggling to keep under the red line.
He wanted to save even a single penny. He was not even buying a van for the company because of the budget.
'Let's think about it later.'
Lee Hyun shook his head and stopped thinking about those thoughts. Instead, he focused on the singing of the four girls.
They were currently singing an OST (Original sound track) of a hit Chinese-Korean drama that was released in 2008.
It was a soft, but bright song.
He had chosen this song as it was easy to sing and at the same time, he can easily point out the different voices of the girls because of its slow tempo.
"You rain on me like a miracle..."
"Like I'm falling, baby..."
"Everyday, it's just so sweet..."
"But when I woke up, it's just a dream..."
Lee Hyun had already separated the verses and added a separate rap segment for Soyun. The girls also sang all their verses carefully, but the problem came during the chorus part.
'It's all mixed up.'
He frowned seeing that.
Harin with her bright voice was raising her voice too high and Alice's voice was like a whisper. Ara was trying to add a base to the chorus, but it was pointless at this point.
"You are my dream, a gravity..."
"A sweet dream that I wish to see every night..."
"Ooo... you are my...."
Maybe, the girls saw the displeasure on the face of Lee Hyun, their voices became even lower and noticing that, he clicked his tongue.
"Stop!!"
He stopped the girls and put a hand on his forehead. He was not able to stop himself from frowning and that made the girls nervous.
'Well, I kinda expected it.'
It was not like he didn't saw this coming. The four of them were singing together for the first time and he can't expect them to show good teamwork.
But he didn't thought that it would be this messy.
"D-did we made a mistake?"
Harin carefully asked, seeing the frowning face of Lee Hyun.
"Mistake? More like you all made a mess of the song."
"Uh..."
She was not able to say anything more hearing that. Harin just lowered her head and awaited Lee Hyun's next words.
It was the same with the other girls.
'I can't be like this.'
Lee Hyun sighed as he let his anger go. He calmed down and looked at the four girls in front of him.
Then, opened his mouth.
"First of all, Harin, your bright voice was easy to the ears and you also did great in analysing the song, but..."
"But?"
Harin tilted her head and asked.
"You weren't able to hit the high notes. Your basics were nowhere to be seen. How should I say this? It's like you go to a restaurant to eat a famous dish, but the cook messed up the ingredients."
Harin quickly lowered her head with a nervous expression hearing that. He ignored that and glanced at Soyun who trembled a little, seeing his gaze on her.
"Your rap wasn't bad and you did your best as the rapper, but the problem came in your pronunciations."
"Pronunciations?"
"Yeah, it was like you were pushing too hard to keep up with the tempo of the song and messed up your pronunciations."
Lee Hyun explained her weak points with a calm expression and Soyun sighed, but she still nodded her head.
He moved his head to Alice after that.
'She's the best in dancing, but it's the opposite when it comes to singing...'
Thinking those thoughts, Lee Hyun opened his mouth.
"Honestly, you were the worst out of all of them."
"Huh?"
Alice widened her eyes and looked at Lee Hyun with an agitated expression. She was the worst out of all of them? It was a hard thing to believe for her.
"First of all, your resonance was bad and it felt like you were just reading out the lyrics. Your voice was also really quiet, like you were afraid of singing out loud. There were many other things, but the biggest flaw I notice was..."
He took a pause and glanced at Alice again before continuing.
"Your unwillingness to sing with others."
"What do you mean?"
Alice squinted her eyebrows and asked.
"It was really apparent during the chorus part. You wasn't cooperating with the others and it looked like your voice was not on the same wavelength as the others."
Hearing all that, Alice wasn't able to say anything. She just opened and closed her mouth, trying to think of a good argument.
"I'm not a singer in the first place."
She was only able to counter with that in the end.
"I know that well, but I don't care if you like it or not, you need to learn singing. You have a year before your debut. It's enough time to learn the basics at least."
Alice just clicked her tongue hearing that. Maybe, finding it childish, Lee Hyun smiled and moved to Lee Ara.
"Ara."
"Yesh?"
Ara spoke out in her accent when he gazed at her. She thought that she would also be criticised like the other girls, but nothing like that happened.
"Actually, there's not much to point out. You were the best among them."
"Huh?"
Not only Ara, the other girls were also confused hearing that, especially Alice who was reprimanded the most.
"Your basics were there and diction was good. You didn't try to stand out more than others and tried to do what you were expected to do. Good job!"
"Ah, yes. Tha'k you."
Ara nodded her head furiously hearing the praise.
It also made sense.
Ara was someone who was going to debut, but it was cancelled. It would be weird if her skills were not good.
One of the reasons Lee Hyun selected Ara to be on the team was because of her experience and she was clearly showing that.
"I think you all would practice more to increase your skills. I'm not trying to make you demotivated. By pointing out your mistakes, I'm just telling you about the things that you lack and can improve on."
Everyone nodded their heads hearing that.
Although Lee Hyun was harsh, he didn't wanted to seen as someone cold. His goal was only to create a girl group that can stand above the other groups.
'It looks like it won't be easy.'
He thought as he glanced at all the members.
The only common thing between all the members was talent. They were all talented, but they still need to do the 99% hardwork.