The room fell into silence.
As Alice returned to the room, planning and adjusting directions for tomorrow's shoot, the band members' tense nerves began to relax.
Yet, they couldn't contain their excitement and enthusiasm, cheering and eagerly imagining their appearance in front of the camera.
Unlike their familiar stage at the Full Moon Party, the new challenge presented by the camera lens filled them with excitement and anticipation.
The commotion continued for over half an hour until Cliff and Maxim departed for the next room. Ollie and Ronan shared a room.
Ollie, usually exuberant, made a significant effort to suppress his emotions. He reluctantly left to take a shower, but within minutes, the sound of splashing water indicated that his enthusiasm for singing loudly would not subside tonight.
Humming Queen's classic single, "We Are The Champions," Ollie emerged from the bathroom, dripping wet.
"Ronan! Join me! We! Are! Champions! No room for failure!" Ollie, holding a shampoo bottle, gestured for Ronan to sing along.
However, Ronan showed no intention of responding, but this didn't dampen Ollie's enthusiasm. He walked over to Ronan and peered at what he was doing, curiosity in his eyes.
"Huh? Are you composing?"
While Ollie had been in the shower, Ronan had picked up his guitar and was attempting to record his recent composition. However, this was no easy task.
Ronan had never formally learned musical notation, and he couldn't retrieve relevant information from his memory. In his previous life, when he began composing, he was already deaf, so he didn't need to learn staff notation. Instead, he used his own knowledge of special symbols to create music.
Now, he was starting from scratch and was determined to learn it properly. Ronan was trying to use numbered notation to notate the music, where "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7" represented the seven notes.
However, he had never formally studied numbered notation and couldn't be sure if his note symbols were correct. Nevertheless, he pressed on.
Ronan was so engrossed that he didn't notice Ollie's approach, catching him off guard.
His first instinct was to hide what he was doing, but his muscles tensed momentarily before he decided to abandon that idea.
If Ronan wanted to continue creating music and have the band perform his compositions, he couldn't keep it a secret. He needed to learn to share, accept feedback, and listen to suggestions to improve.
Besides, Alice had already listened to this piece, so it was no longer a secret. It couldn't hurt to involve Ollie.
Furthermore, Ronan was eager to learn musical notation systematically.
As far as his memory served, the primary songwriters of One Day Kings were Ollie and Maxim. While Cliff and Ronan were making attempts, they hadn't had a breakthrough yet.
Even within the band, they had limited sharing. All the songs they currently performed were created by Ollie and Maxim.
In a broader sense, both Maxim and Ollie were songwriters. "Play my Music" for instance, was Maxim's work, with him handling both lyrics and music. However, if you delved into specifics, Ollie was more skilled at lyrics, while Maxim excelled in melody. There was a slight difference in their roles.
Of course, this was relative.
If Ronan wanted to learn musical notation from scratch, Ollie was undoubtedly the right person to consult.
With this in mind, Ronan didn't conceal his actions. Instead, he willingly stepped aside and turned to face Ollie. "Yes, Alice's words inspired me."
Ollie's eyes remained fixed on the incomplete numbered notation in Ronan's hand, and he responded with a thoughtful "hmm."
This reaction made Ronan slightly nervous. It was his first time discussing music creation with someone in such a formal manner, and he felt a hint of anxiety.
However, Ronan paused briefly, composed himself, and continued, "But you've also seen my knowledge of musical notation."
Ollie raised an eyebrow and said, "Well... it's not difficult." Ollie took a seat beside Ronan and reached for the keyboard against the wall. He grabbed the notebook from Ronan's hand and swiftly drew staff lines and musical notes.
Without extensive questioning or deep examination, Ollie's actions lasted for only thirty seconds before he launched into a teaching mode.
Ollie placed his right hand on the keyboard, smiled at Ronan, and said, "Listen closely." He then began playing notes on the piano while simultaneously explaining, "Every good boy does fine (Every-Good-Boy-Does-Fine), listed on the five lines respectively."
In fact, this was a nursery rhyme for learning musical staff notation. The initial letters of each word represented a note: "Em" "G" and so on. These five notes were also positioned on the staff lines. Above each line, there was a diagonal state, forming a pattern with the corresponding symbols and notes.
"Next, 'FACE' falls in the middle."
Ollie played each note directly on the piano, making it easy for Ronan to follow along. The correlation between "F-fa" and "A-la" was crystal clear, and these notes were positioned between the staff lines. Again, they formed a diagonal pattern and completed the "C major" scale introduced by the first set of notes.
"Also, 'Great-Big-Dogs-Fight-Animals' and 'All-Cars-Eat-Gas.' Got it?"
Similarly, these two groups represented the "G major" scale. The notes from the first nursery rhyme were listed above the staff lines, while the notes from the second rhyme were positioned between the lines.
Of course, these were just children's songs—simple and straightforward, designed to help beginners grasp the basics of musical notation. As one delved deeper into music theory, more complex concepts would emerge.
Ollie turned to Ronan and raised his eyebrows. "How's that? Not too difficult, right? With systematic study, you'll master it in no time."
Ronan's tense nerves relaxed unconsciously. He didn't take offense at Ollie's choice of children's songs for instruction. Children's songs were undeniably one of the best starting points for beginners, thanks to their simplicity and widespread familiarity. For Ronan, it was a perfect choice.
Ronan suggested, "How about we complete this musical score together?"
While mentally "translating" the melody into staff notation, learning musical notation, and discussing his creation with Ollie, it made sense to combine these efforts.
Ollie readily agreed, "Sure thing! Show me your simplified musical score..."
Ronan played the guitar to explain his simplified musical score while Ollie skillfully notated all the notes on the staff lines. They discussed, learned, and recorded together.