Chapter 2.7 - Bit by bit 7 (1/2)

Lee Suh-ah picked up her phone and fidgeted with it. It seemed that she had prepared a soundtrack for the song.

“Then let’s start with The Creation. Do you all have scores?”

“Yeah.”

“I remembered it.”

“Umm…”

Seeing Han Dasom not know what to do, I searched through my bag and handed her the sheet.

“Here.”

“Thank you…”

We stood in a straight line within the small practice room. It felt a little strange having our shoulders touching.

Hmm… now that I think about it, it’s been a while since I’ve done a quartet, because normally, I was either singing alone or singing with a large group. There was a charm unique to quartets different from large ensembles, but I hoped I hadn’t forgotten all that.

More individualistically than ensembles, and yet with harmony. While I was gathering my thoughts, Lee Suh-ah gave us a sign with her eyes.

Along with the sound of a touch, the music started to flow out.

The introduction had a subtle sound of violin in the background, to which an oboe was placed on top of, and following that was Lee Suh-ah’s high voice.

“Mit stau-nen.”

Haydn’s The Creation.

Just like what oratorios were usually about, the content was simple. Rejoice in the joy of the creation… that kind of usual hymn.

And because of that, the theme itself was straightforward.

Joy and hymn. Singing with those simple yet shining emotions, Lee Suh-ah wore a relaxed expression. She had straight, far-reaching high notes, an elegant, unshakable timbre and a magnificent resonance.

It was a radiant voice, indeed matching the role of archangel Gabriel.

‘As expected of Lee Suh-ah.’

Those words came out unconsciously. But for real, there were no flaws for me to point out on, and to be honest, she had aspects that were better than me before I travelled back in time.

Better than me, who had 20 years of experience.

‘It might be a bit late saying this, but she really is a monster.’

I decided to just sit back and appreciate the song.

Lee Suh-ah quickly travelled up and down the notes. Sixteenth note – during that small amount of period, she accurately hit each note. Even whilst doing that, her voice stayed elegant and clear with no signs of sounds being forced out.

It was the proof that she had completely mastered her vocalisation.

“Lob des zweiten Tags –!”

At the end of that overwhelming performance, we harmonised.

“Und laut ertont aus ihren Kehren.”

Releasing most of the breath and lowering the larynx, I had immediately reached a high note at F4. I thought this would be risky, but it had worked. Perhaps the few days of intense training had shown effect and hitting a high note for a little bit served as no problem. It was difficult to hold it though.

While I was somehow squeezing my part out, I still did not relax and listened to the voice parts from nearby to further harmonise our chords.

Because this was a chorus.

Bass – he had the tendency to pronounce ‘u’ sounds quite dark – I matched it by slightly adjusting my own.

Soprano was, as expected, very good. She ends her notes with a descent, so I followed and similarly lowered mine.

After paying attention in that manner, I could feel the harmony slowly taking its place. The ringing was not bad, and a light smile crept out.

And, the highlight.

“Ah——-!”

Lee Suh-ah’s voice sliding up the scale hits the summit.

C6.

A high note with twice the frequency of C5.

Lee Suh-ah had made such a note without any uncomfort, in a casual manner. There was no sharp screech tearing the eardrums apart, only an elegant voice.

“Lob des zweiten Tags!”

The four voices rang in harmony,

And finally, the song had ended.

While listening to the subtle soundtrack continuing after the song, Lee Suh-ah looked through her bag and took out a speaker.

“I recorded that just now so let’s sing Gloria and compare.”

The portable recording tool dangling off her phone entered my eyes.

That’s an expensive one.

Looking back and forth from the recorder and the speaker with jealousy, I clicked my tongue.

But why does she have good tools for everything else but an old phone?

Noh Jusup asked while I was tilting my head.

“Is there a soundtrack though?”

“It’s probably on youtube.”

As expected of youtube – it was there when we looked it up. When Lee Suh-ah pressed on one video, some music started to flow out. There was the background of a church shown on it.

While I was slowly appreciating that music, a sudden spark of thought flashed inside my head.

“Should we slow down the tempo?”

“Un?”

As I watched Lee Suh-ah blink her eyes, I made a quick, rough calculation. Place our voices on top of the flowing music and lengthen it a bit…

I gave a nod.

“Yeah. Let’s sing slower. Not allegro, and more allegretto.”

“You want to change the song?”

It was something I thought up on the spot but it seemed okay from another simulation. A little bit slower gave off a more appealing flavour, and it should be able to emphasise Han Dasom’s timbre even further.

“Should be okay.”

“Then let’s slow down the music a little… how do you slow down youtube videos?”

“Pass it over.”

Because Lee Suh-ah was struggling with her phone, I pressed on the cogs and searched through the settings. Soon I found a playback speed setting.

I knew it.

Although it was 20 years in the past, I thought there had to be something like this, and there really was. Pulling the bar and slowing it down to around 0.9 times, the music became more likeable.

Lee Suh-ah tilted her head.

“Is there a meaning to this? Wouldn’t it become too saggy?”

“So we need to verbalise accurately to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Easy to say.”

After giving a scoff, she placed the phone in my hands, gesturing to me to do whatever I wanted. A strangely old phone – and from the logo, it seemed to be even older than my own. Is she not that interested in phones?

Giving a shrug with my shoulders, I started counting.

“Then, I’m playing it. Three, two, one.”

The music began.

A bright violin sound, a characteristic of Vivaldi’s style, and on top of that, there was a light oboe sound mixed in skipping through. An array of notes were placed at the end of the introduction that sounded like the chirping of birds.

A chorus from the start.

Immediately following my eye gestures, four voices went in at the same time.

“Quoniam tu solus sanctus!”

After one round of practising, I had finished roughly analysing their sounds. Now what I had to do was to match them. Matching other parts, I pulled and stagnated the notes and twisted my resonating chambers.

Singing only for others.

That alone was enough to perfect the chord.

The feeling of several voices intertwining. Noh Jusup layed a firm bottom on which Han Dasom and I softly sang on. There were also the magnificent high notes of Lee Suh-ah.

Harmony. The sound unique to quartets that soloists would never feel echoed through the room.

Good, it was really good, and was even better than I had thought. A smile crept out on its own. The tenor and bass that could accidentally be suppressed by Lee Suh-ah was warmly being embraced by Han Dasom. Lee Suh-ah who had also felt it had her expression relax and surfaced a smile.

And now, I could feel it reaching the most important part.

I quickly read through the score in my head.

Dynamics p. Piano. Softly.

“Tu solus Altissimus –”

As if the song at the front was a lie, it had turned into a quiet voice. Softy soft. Relaxed and warm like when patting a head with a hand, yet having a rich resonance.

The four quiet voices rang together and from within, Han Dasom’s voice carefully raised its head. It wasn’t protruding out in an unpleasant way, and was just a little curve – a timbre that could be called her characteristic.

A weak girl-like and at the same time, like a silk curtain flowing by the wind,