After Lin Yuan left, Zhou Ruiming listened to "Balloon" once again.
"The quality is indeed quite good..."
On the second listen, Old Zhou still gave the same evaluation.
Unlike "Big Fish," this song didn't make Old Zhou applaud at the first listen.
But Old Zhou understood; this was the norm.
No composer could expect every piece to become a hit.
Even after creating three consecutive hits, Lin Yuan producing a new song of decent quality satisfied Old Zhou.
"This song is suitable for a March release, especially since next month is filled with divine battles..."
The new season coincided with the Lunar New Year, making the market competition as fierce as that in December.
So, avoiding February was a natural choice for many singers.
You see, even the "Deathmatch" of December, with a quality like "Big Fish," could barely reach the tenth place.
Old Zhou had researched the data.
The conclusion drawn after the research was that even if "Big Fish" had entered the charts early in December, it probably would have only secured around the fifth position.
Thinking of this, Old Zhou contacted Zhao Jue and sent "Balloon."
"Lin Yuan's song?"
Zhao Jue, after listening to the song, exclaimed, "He's so productive."
Old Zhou agreed, "Indeed, very productive. And the quality this time is not bad either. Though it feels overall not as impressive as the previous ones, I think if this song is released in March, there's a chance it could climb the rankings. Plus, he specifically mentioned wanting Jiang Kui to sing it."
"Jiang Kui?"
Zhao Jue pondered and said, "Jiang Kui's popularity has been good since 'Big Fish.' The company is actually considering nurturing her. I have no objections to her singing it."
"Mm."
Old Zhou thought for a moment and said, "The most surprising part of this song for me is the unusually long opening sentence. I've listened to so many songs, and it's the first time I've heard such a long opening."
Zhao Jue chuckled, "It's okay. Jiang Kui is a professional singer; this shouldn't pose a challenge for her."
Old Zhou pondered and said, "True."
...
The two chatted for a few more moments and finalized their work plan.
Upon receiving this notification, Jiang Kui jumped up in excitement right where she stood.
Teacher Lin Yuan really gave her the opportunity to sing the new song!
It turns out that being a devoted fan pays off in the end!
However, when she got the sheet music for "Balloon," Jiang Kui realized she had been a bit too happy too soon.
Especially when she started entering the recording studio, she deeply realized why Lin Yuan asked about her lung capacity yesterday—
Because this song was truly! Extremely! Breathless!
How extreme is the breathlessness?
Just by looking at the first paragraph of lyrics, you'll understand:
"Black ones, white ones, red ones, yellow ones
Purple ones, green ones, blue ones, gray ones
Yours, mine, his, hers
Big ones, small ones, round ones, flat ones
Good ones, bad ones, beautiful ones, ugly ones
New ones, old ones, of all styles
Of all designs for you to choose from."
Jiang Kui deliberately counted.
Yes, a total of fifty-six characters!
And there is no chance to catch a breath in between! The first section of the chorus requires stringing these words together and singing them all at once.
Entering the recording studio.
Jiang Kui recorded for the first time. While singing the first section of the chorus, she barely managed to get through, but after singing, Jiang Kui was seriously lacking oxygen, taking several seconds to gradually recover.
Especially the last few words, Jiang Kui's vibrato came out, shaking quite intensely.
This is a manifestation of unstable breath control.
Jiang Kui never thought that one day she would sing and find herself struggling with breath control!
"Can I say, it's worthy of being a fish to be envied? This new song is really special..."
Even the recording engineer was astonished by this song: "Even for professional singers in the company, singing so many words in one breath is not an easy thing."
"Not only that."
Another person in the recording studio praised with a click of the tongue: "If it were just the length of the first section of the chorus lyrics, it would be fine. What's frightening is that the opening part of this song has a high pitch. For this song, the higher the pitch, the harder it is to sing the entire chorus in one breath."
"Let me try again."
Jiang Kui said to the recording engineer, then tried again several times, causing Jiang Kui's head to become increasingly dizzy.
Because every time Jiang Kui opened her mouth to sing, she had to take in a very large breath!
Each sentence's ending and the beginning of the next sentence also required a vigorous change of breath.
After taking a deep breath, she must exhale evenly. Each word should be pronounced neither too lightly nor too heavily. If the breath is forcefully expelled at a particular word, the entire rhythm will be disrupted.
Finally.
Even if Jiang Kui can accomplish all these points, she might still run out of breath in the last few words inadvertently—
Ordinary people may not notice.
For ordinary listeners, Jiang Kui's singing is already perfect.
But as a singer with high standards for herself, Jiang Kui won't allow herself to run out of breath in the final words. Otherwise, it would be too disrespectful to the song written by Mr. Xianyu. So, she spends almost half a day in the recording studio, vowing to produce the most perfect rendition.
"Let's continue tomorrow."
With no satisfactory results by evening, the recording engineer suggests temporarily wrapping up.
Undoubtedly, Jiang Kui can sing "Balloon."
But to sing it at a perfect level, Jiang Kui needs countless recordings. After all, this is no ordinary song.
"Jiang Kui?"
No one answers. The recording engineer can't help but look at Jiang Kui, only to find her sprawled on the chair, sticking her tongue out:
"Abba abba abba abba..."
The two recording engineers burst into laughter.
However, they completely understand Jiang Kui's state. The melody at the beginning of this song is somewhat inhuman.
"I have an idea."
The recording engineer on the left says, "When the official version is recorded, let's not remove the breath sounds. This might make it more down-to-earth."
"Will it affect the listening experience?"
The recording engineer on the right is a bit concerned.
In recording studio production, there's a mixing technique to eliminate breath sounds. Excessive breath sounds in a song can be strange and might affect the emotional appeal of the song, so in general mixing, the breath sounds are reduced or even cut off.
"It's okay."
The left recording engineer says, "All operations are just to make the work and sound better. This is a prerequisite. There's no black or white formula for recording. Many emotionally rich love songs like to keep the breath sounds. Let's preserve the breath sounds of 'Balloon.' Listeners can better understand the characteristics of this song."
"True."
The right recording engineer is convinced, smiling and saying, "The breath sounds in the beginning of 'Balloon' are quite prominent. Even before the singer starts the first line, they have to take a deep breath. It's probably hard for listeners not to notice."
"I think it's a good idea."
Jiang Kui has recovered her composure, though her brain is still a bit fuzzy. At least she can communicate normally with the recording engineers. "Let's keep the breath sounds of this song, so that many people won't say our studio works lack the live feeling."