Chapter 7.1 - Lightly 1 (2/2)
Besides even if she was having a hard time, Han Dasom wouldn’t say anything while if you were having a hard time, you would kick my shin immediately…
I wrote up to there but deleted it all because this would definitely not convince her and instead sent a short response.
[Just wanted to do it with you]
After around a minute, a reply came back.
[Nonsense]
…She can’t do it huh.
I asked for it continuously after that but Lee Suh-ah only sent scoffs and in the end, she rejected it with one message.
[…Find someone else.]
Someone else…
Clicking my tongue I scratched the back of my neck.
Which other sopranos did I know apart from Han Dasom and Lee Suh-ah? Rather, I didn’t even have that many acquaintances. Going through kakaotalk, the only ones I knew apart from them were Noh Jusup, Jun Shihyuk and Chloe.
I couldn’t bring them and say they were sopranos right?
Heaving a sigh, I scrolled through the screen when a name suddenly entered my sight.
‘Song Mirae’
*
“Hello Sunbae! I’m Song Mirae!”
“Hi.”
I wasn’t sure if it was to be considered fortunate but Yu Minji was wearing her school uniform today. Of course, it was obvious that a student had to wear a school uniform but I had never realised that a day would come when I would be thankful for that…
Feeling somewhat strange, I glanced to the side.
Song Mirae.
She seemed very happy from the bright smiles she gave off. Why’s she so happy when she was rejected like that by me before barely coming here? It made me feel a bit sorry.
“Hello sunbae. This is Song Mirae, a freshman soprano… and this here is Yu Minji-sunbae – a second-grade from the composing department.”
Staring at Song Mirae, Yu Minji blinked her eyes a bit as if she was examining something. Then, after a few seconds she abruptly opened her lips.
“Right. Fortunately she’s a mezzo huh?”
“Sorry?”
It really was abrupt. She said something I from the past had said in secret directly to her face. When Song Mirae made a sullen face, Yu Minji tilted her head.
“You’re not a mezzo?”
“I still…”
“Ah, you don’t know yet? You’re a mezzo.”
“…”
Song Mirae immediately made a sulky expression. She was definitely angry and it was the same expression she gave me when she was upset after hearing it from me.
“…I go up to D6 sunbae.”
“Really? But going up high isn’t very important when it comes to voice types. The important thing is the texture of the voice. I hear a mezzo though…”
Taking a step back, Yu Minji glanced over Song Mirae before nodding her head.
“On top of that, you look exactly like a mezzo.”
“…What does that even mean…!”
“Un… doesn’t it just hit you after seeing them?”
Seeing Yu Minji tilting her head, I thought a mediation was necessary and interjected.
“When you see opera singers’ faces and builds, they give off this vibe you know.”
“A vibe?”
“Yeah.”
Although I called it a vibe… it was closer to an estimate based on experience.
First, how high and low the notes go.
For male it would be tenor – baritone – bass
And female soprano – mezzo soprano – alto
Amongst these types, the singers that made lower notes were generally taller. It was because height tends to have a direct connection to the length of the vocal cords, and the longer the vocal cords were, the easier it was to make lower notes.
I mean look at violins. If you don’t hold anything, it creates a low note and when the string becomes shorter after holding it down with the fingers, it creates a higher pitch. The vocal cords were the same.
Shorter vocal cords meant that they could sing high notes better from birth. That was why there was a higher chance of tenors and sopranos being shorter and of course, there were tall tenors like teacher Kwak Jungsoo and others but that was the general tendency.
In that sense, Song Mirae was on the taller side from females so it wasn’t wrong to say that she looked like a mezzo. Was she slightly shorter than Yu Minji-sunbae?
After hearing my explanation, Song Mirae tilted her head.
“Is that so?”
Glancing at that innocent look, I replied calmly.
“Yeah, and there are generally lots of pretty mezzos.”
“Really?”
I was about to smile saying, of course I was joking, but Song Mirae was pointing her ears out seemingly about to believe it.
Feeling prankish, I forced the smile down and made a serious expression before slowly starting to talk about nonsense.
“Hey think about it. You know about low frequency treatments right? The thing about massaging the body with extremely low pitches. Low notes ringing the body makes your body relax and it’s good on the skin as well, which is why people are doing it.”
“…Huh?”
“And if you were to sing low notes yourself? It would spread to every part of your body so naturally your health and skin would be better right?”
“Is that how it works…?”
“No it’s even better. Not from a machine but from nature itself. It is the voice of a human so it is more effective than the massages.”
“…!”
“So become a mezzo.”
After staying in thought blankly, Song Mirae flashed her eyes and declared.
“I’ll try mezzo then!”
“…”
…Is she stupid?
*
After a simple persuasion on Song Mirae, the composition of the song proceeded rapidly. Song Mirae went through a light test before actually singing and then the song was edited slightly before singing again.
There was a reason why we had repeated this a lot.
“…No, sunbae. If you jump like this how do we sing it?”
“Why not? Just sing it well.”
“It’s impossible with the structure of a human throat though?”
“Why’s it impossible?”
“…”
Like this, composers just stamped the notes down without thinking about the comfort of the ones singing it. That’s why we had to verify them, by actually singing, on whether they were possible to sing and whether the structure allowed a smooth sound to prevent any accidents from happening.
If the pitch went up and down crazily in a manner that made no sense, even Pavarotti’s grandfather won’t be able to sing it.
After corrections upon corrections and editing it,
Finally, the song had been completed.