novelden Chapter 860 Atmosphere
Chapter 860 Atmosphere
Shanghai is always wet during the rainy season, with the air filled with the smell of moss and rust. When Lin Yuan shrunk his neck and went into the "Treasure Pavilion" antique shop, the soles of his sneakers were still stained with puddles from the alley, leaving a trail of dark footprints on the blue brick floor. This shop is hidden deep in the alleys of the old city. The red lacquer on the door frame has long been mottled. The "Treasure Pavilion" plaque hanging on the lintel has been polished to a shine by the years, and the gilded font can vaguely see its former glory. "Xiao Lin, are you here to shop for treasures again?" The owner, Lao Zhou, raised his head from behind the purple clay teapot, his eyes narrowed into two slits behind the lenses, "I just received a batch of old items yesterday, you will definitely like them."
It was pouring rain, and the big raindrops hit the glass curtain wall of the office building, making a crackling sound. Lin Xiao stared at the sound track in the recording studio that had been revised seventeen times, and a bitter taste of rust rose in his throat. The producer pressed the pause button for the third time, and the ashtray was full of cigarette butts: "Ah Xiao, this drum beat is too advanced, and the market can't digest it at all." The sound of high heels came from the corridor, and Amin rushed in with a file bag: "Wang Qiang's team just released a new album, and the pre-sale directly exceeded 90!" Her voice was crying, "The company's senior management said that if we don't produce a good work this week..." Before he finished speaking, the recording engineer suddenly unplugged the power supply, and the hum of the equipment stopped abruptly. The street at midnight was like a gray snake swollen by rain, and the neon lights twisted into strange spots of light in the stagnant water. Lin Xiao's leather shoes stepped through the puddles, and the splashes of water soaked his trouser legs. Three consecutive days of failed creations made his temples throb, and the producer's words kept echoing in his mind: "Don't always think about being different, pop music must be down-to-earth!" When he turned the corner of the alley, a melodious erhu sound suddenly pierced the rain curtain. Lin Xiao looked up and saw a white-haired old man curled up under the eaves, his thin body wrapped in a faded Zhongshan suit, and the erhu on his knees was covered with a thin layer of dust. As the strings trembled, the melody of "Erquan Yingyue" flowed out like weeping, and the desolate tone seemed to be wrapped in decades of wind and frost. Lin Xiao stopped involuntarily. The old man's skinny fingers slid on the strings, and the sound of the bow hair rubbing against the python skin was more touching than any electronic sound effect. When the melody turned to the exciting part, the old man's turbid eyes suddenly lit up, and his wrist pulled the bow hard, and the whole person seemed to merge with the erhu. Memories suddenly came like a tide. In modern times, he once produced the theme song for a Chinese style game, and the combination of pipa and electric guitar amazed the entire industry. At this moment in the s music scene, national musical instruments still remain in the stereotype of evening party accompaniment. "If you combine the trap rhythm with the finger rolling of the guzheng..." His heart suddenly beat violently, and inspiration flashed through the darkness like lightning. Without bothering to greet the old man, Lin Xiao turned and ran. The sound-controlled lights in the corridor flickered, and his key slipped in the keyhole three times before he finally opened the door. Rushing into the studio full of sheet music and musical instruments, he grabbed the rejected fast-paced demo, and the dense red crosses on the manuscript seemed to be burning. The crisp overtones of the guzheng exploded in the room, and Lin Xiao's fingers flew on the strings while stepping on the pedal of the drum machine. When the erhu solo section was added, he deliberately let the bow hair rub out a little noise, accidentally creating a grainy texture. The rain outside the window stopped at some point. The moonlight climbed up the windowsill and quietly moved to the corner of the wall, but he was completely unaware. "Ah Xiao! What's wrong with you?" When Amin kicked open the door, the morning light was cutting stripes on the ground through the blinds. She looked at the instant noodle boxes and scattered tapes on the floor, and suddenly covered her mouth - Lin Xiao fell asleep in the chair, the tape recorder at hand was still turning, and the headphones were flowing with electronic music mixed with Peking Opera recitation. Three days later, the atmosphere in the recording studio was so depressing that it could squeeze water out of it. The producer crossed his legs and turned the lighter quickly between his fingers: "Xiao Lin, this is the last chance." Other staff members whispered to each other, and someone whispered: "I heard that the company is preparing to promote new people." Lin Xiao silently inserted the tape. The prelude sounded, the zither's rolling fingers were like pearls falling on a jade plate, and then the heavy bass drum beats exploded, and the collision of two completely different tones produced a wonderful chemical reaction. When the erhu's sobbing sound cut into the chorus, the producer's lighter "clicked" to the ground. "This...how did they do this?" The sound engineer rushed over to adjust the mixing console. "The sound field of traditional instruments can be so harmonious with the electronic sound effects!" When the song ended, the entire recording studio fell into silence, broken only by the hum of the air conditioner. The producer suddenly jumped up and loosened his tie: "Contact the publicity department immediately! This album must be made into an annual plan!" When he turned around, Lin Xiao saw that the back of his suit collar was stained with cigarette ash, and it was obvious that he was also anxious about the project last night. The next half month was like a crazy relay race. Amin's phone rang from morning to night, contacting TV stations, radio stations, newspapers and magazines. Lin Xiao went back and forth between the recording studio, the photo studio and the rehearsal hall every day. When he was trying on clothes, he found that he had lost weight in the mirror. At three o'clock in the morning, he ran into Wang Qiang, who was also working overtime, in the elevator. The other party turned his face away and snorted: "It's just good luck." On the day when the album pre-sale posters were posted all over the streets and alleys, Lin Xiao stood under the huge billboard in the city center. In the picture, he is wearing a modified version of Tang suit, with a landscape painting in ink style behind him. The slogan "When thousand-year-old ancient music meets modern heartbeat" is particularly eye-catching in the sun. Some students after school pointed at the poster and said: "I heard that there is a section using chimes as a metronome!" On the day of the release, the line in front of the record store stretched to the corner of the street at a.m. Lin Xiao, wearing sunglasses, mixed in the crowd and heard the conversation between two girls. "My brother works at the radio station and said that the arrangement of this song made the leaders dumbfounded!" "And there are sentences from the Book of Songs hidden in the lyrics, which is amazing!" The signing event was completely out of control. The security guards formed a human wall hand in hand, but still couldn't stop the surging crowd. An old lady with a cane was supported by her grandson and squeezed to the front row: "Young man, please sign for me, my granddaughter plays your songs at home every day." When Lin Xiao took the album, he found that the cover had been rubbed and had frayed edges. Sales data climbed at an alarming rate. On the radio charts, the title song has been the champion for eight consecutive weeks; in school, students have created their own dance that incorporates opera movements; even the tofu seller at the vegetable market can hum the chorus. The boss of a well-established record company said in an interview: "Lin Xiao has redefined the boundaries of pop music." However, behind the praise, there are equally harsh voices of doubt. The Traditional Folk Music Association issued an article criticizing the "blasphemy of classics", and a music critic wrote in a newspaper column: "It's just a gimmick, destined to be short-lived."