-It’s not like there are only one or two idols who compose, so why the fuss?
└Fr lol It’s not like Lee Dohui and Gong Chaerin are the only ones who’ve composed
└Who couldn’t do it if they got help?
└You’ve gotta hand it to the stans for overreacting lol
They were comments under an article that had been dragged over to an online community.
As the comments said, it was true that more and more idols these days were participating in composing and writing lyrics. You only had to search the keyword “participated in composing” to see it. Promotional articles filled the news section.
[Pure Girl releases fan song “Always”... All members participated in writing and composing]
[3M’s Ina makes solo debut, participates in composing new song... “High level of completion”]
[Paramax’s Uje joins the composer-idol ranks, becoming a self-producing idol?]
To that extent, one could say the occupational nature of idols had shifted from singer to all-around entertainer, raising the skills demanded of them.
But neither experts nor the public paid much attention to such articles, because as the amount of information they encountered increased, they had naturally come to realize something.
That participating in composing was easier than they had thought.
In practice, composing was the work of creating a melody, so even if you simply hummed a melody that popped into your head—“la la la~”—you could be credited as a composer.
But arrangement was different.
That was because arrangement was a secondary creative process that not only modified and rearranged the melody line produced during composition, but also additionally created the parts that supported it—in other words, the accompaniment, countermelody, chorus, and so on.
In other words, arrangement meant participating in composition as well, becoming the main force involved in the overall song-making process by filling flesh onto the bones of a track.
Naturally, the musical ability required for arrangement was twice that of composition.
Knowledge of music’s sonic, rhythmic, and harmonic aspects.
The ability to understand and utilize the characteristics and sounds of instruments.
An understanding of musical structure and form.
The ability to use arrangement software, commonly known as a DAW.
The ability to effectively edit and revise recorded audio.
Even musical expressiveness and aesthetic sense.
That was why it was so difficult for idols to be self-producing, with the members themselves participating as main producers.
[SAVEN reveals tracklist for “Wee Hours.” Main producers “Gong Chaerin·Lee Dohui”]
And that was also why this article was attracting even more attention.
===============
[What, they’re not just composers but main producers?]
I thought they were just hyping them up as producers because they participated in composing plus maybe outfit or concept directing, but they really did all the song work, even the arranging?
-Yeah, looking at the tracklist, someone else is listed first for composing the title track, but for arrangement, Lee Dohui and Gong Chaerin are first and second. For the B-sides, the two of them did everything from composition to arrangement.
└Wow... Aren’t they both teenagers? What kind of talent is that?
-Is it really that surprising that they arranged too if they can compose?
└Yeah, it’s surprising. Arrangement is way more specialized, so it’s completely different.
└Arrangement basically requires a lot of knowledge of harmony. That’s why people who’ve played instruments for a long time are usually good at it.
└That classical music experience, damn
-What can they not do?
└Be quiet, stay still
└Chaerin is good at that
└Dohui can’t do it though
└Then Chaerin’s better
└Yep
-Ah, I want to marry Lee Dohui. I want to live my whole life as her servant.
===============
[SAVEN is making a comeback as a self-producing group]
And SAVEN, which had already been receiving major attention for its comeback as a top girl group, received even greater interest thanks to the title of self-producing.
In an instant, it raised the streaming trend of SAVEN’s title track on music sites.
And the fans who had been watching the yearly chart every single day had no choice but to be thrilled.
===============
[“Unsatisfied” Watermelon user count trend]
(table image)
If it keeps going like this, it really might hit No. 1 yearly next monthㅠㅠㅠ Ah, this is seriously insane
-Wow, amazing
-Yearly chart No. 1 singer, damn
-There may be four grand prizes, but there’s only one chart No. 1
-It didn’t happen no matter how much we streamed, but is it really happening now?
-For now, everyone keep streaming hard ㄱㄱ
===============
But for now, it was still somewhere between good news and bad news.
***
Dohui’s fansite master murmured while looking at Dohui beyond the monitor.
“No, how are they supposed to make a comeback at a time like this...”
If it had been another group, she could have understood.
There would have been room to think the song had been prepared since before debut.
But SAVEN was a project group born from a survival audition.
Naturally, it was impossible to assume they had been preparing it since before debut.
Which meant that after their summer comeback ended.
While practicing for their concert and tour stages, they had worked on songs, recorded them, and even practiced the new song’s performance.
“And just how rushed were they for there to not even be a teaser for the title track...”
Thinking of the members who must have been overworked, there was no way she couldn’t be worried.
She felt like starting a fundraiser right away to send a protest truck to Shock Entertainment.
But there was no physical evidence.
All she had was circumstantial suspicion.
“Should I just send one first...?”
But sending one felt wrong too, because Dohui herself, the person concerned, looked fine.
The fansite master thought of the Bubble messages Dohui had sent yesterday.
[GeniusProducerDohui: I’m okay, I’m not tired! I’m actually super nervous thinking about the song being released!]
[GeniusProducerDohui: More importantly, unnie, look at this. It’s a photo I took while working, okay?]
[GeniusProducerDohui: (selfie) I’m making you dizzy, right?]
As if telling the fans not to worry, Dohui had instead changed her nickname to “GeniusProducerDohui” and kept fooling around.
Thinking of that Dohui...
“Ha... Lee Dohui is scary. She knows way too well what drives me crazy.”
But even as she clipped that adorable anecdote and uploaded it to social media, the fansite master still felt uneasy inside.
“Fine, even if I let all that slide. Please, please let the song be good...”
She was anxious that the song might not be good.
Whether it came with the subtitle of participating in arrangement, or self-producing, or anything else.
In the end, as long as an idol was a singer, what mattered was the song.
“The yearly chart trend will basically be decided by the new song too... If the song is bad, ha...”
On top of that, since it was the first title track Dohui had personally made, if the song was even slightly bad, the reaction that would come back was obvious without even seeing it.
Anti-fans would gleefully leave malicious comments calling her all hype.
That was why she couldn’t help but feel even more anxious.
Moreover, Dohui was a beginner.
With a nervous heart, the fansite master tapped her desk and watched the clock.
And finally, 6 p.m.
The comeback title track went up.
[SAVEN - “Rhapsody (狂想曲)” Official MV]
“Hoo...”
With trembling fingertips, the fansite master clicked the video.
It began in a forest where dawn had settled, dyeing everything in blue-gray, and from somewhere came the faint sound of singing—“Unsatisfied,” the song aiming for No. 1 on the yearly chart.
「My eyes are turning red
And you spread through my heart like poison」
Following the song, the screen quickly swept across grass where several sets of footprints had yet to fade.
And at last, at the end of the footprints, the steps stopped.
Slowly, the camera’s gaze rose.
What filled the screen was a vast plain in the middle of a broad forest, and a campfire at its center.
And the members surrounding the embers.
Among them, Yeeun slowly turned her head and looked at the camera.
Then, in a strangely chilling tone, she said.
[Oh, it’s unnie.]
The moment her words ended, the members’ heads and gazes turned toward the camera all at once.
—Cut.
The music stopped.
“...What is this, horror? I hate horror...”
And then the new song’s intro began right after.
It wasn’t horror, but a cheerful beat.
“Huh?”
—Ba-bam, ba-bam.
While the fansite master focused on the atmosphere and song that had changed in an instant, the owner of the camera’s gaze moved among the members—Gwon Hana.
And at the same time, with the first verse beginning, life suddenly returned to the members’ eyes, and they began the choreography, facing forward with knife-like precision.
「The situation is serious when I’m with you
But I also know it’s fate」
Harang’s crisp voice took the intro.
For some reason, the corners of the fansite master’s mouth lifted slightly, and before she knew it, she let out an exclamation.
“What is this? Why is it already good...?”
「Baby, maybe we’re a twisted fantasy
An adventure still not over
Even so, we’re side by side」
It wasn’t only the song that was good.
The choreography, which combined cheerleading and hip-hop at the same time, had large movements that evoked liveliness and cheerfulness, making it refreshing and exciting.
「Maybe we’re going crazy
But there’s nothing to fear
Do everything we can」
Among them were moves where they pointed at one another.
And every time the members pointed at one another, the screen’s viewpoint whipped around sharply.
「This time that seemed like nothing
This brief moment where dreams unfold」
The music video seemed to be centered on performance.
That must be why they were creating flashiness through camera movement.
Normally, it wouldn’t have been a situation she liked.
Rather, she would have gotten annoyed, cursing Shock Entertainment for lacking investment and support.
But strangely, as she watched the music video, she didn’t feel that way.
「This moment when my heart beats
Cool like superheroes」
The chords and melody clearly didn’t have a bright mood.
And yet, strangely, the ba-bam beat made it feel lively.
The nonstop excitement created by that subtle harmony.
The choreography, with its satisfying knife-like timing.
And finally, the members in the music video—including Dohui—smiling brightly as if looking at one another and sharing their emotions.
As if all that worry had been a waste.
The atmosphere conveyed by the song was just too good.
The fansite master decided to just gush as she usually did.
“Ha... Dohui. Unnie is seriously losing her mind.”