"Good work!"
"You too, Dohee, great work on the guide!"
Right after my song was chosen as one of the double titles, a lyricist solicitation went out, leaving me stuck with the annoying task of recording guide vocals all over again with the new lyrics.
But it was fine.
I could endure a little annoyance for today.
Currently in the recording studio was the vocal line.
"Hey, number 165, Kim Seoyoon, please enter."
"Kim Seoyoon? Are you crazy?"
Seoyoon Unni and Naeun Unni, who could firmly anchor the song's framework.
I was going to record the two of them first.
Weaving about to avoid meeting the eyes of Seoyoon Unni, who was brimming with spite, I pointed at the booth on the other side of the front glass with my hand.
Please go in.
"Come on! Hurry up."
"Ugh, do you seriously think you're the producer?"
"Why~ I am the producer today. Our Dohee is a veteran too. She directed before, remember."
Kim Seoyoon looked at me and snorted.
"During Seven? Don't even mention it. Back then she couldn't even get a proper sentence out, just stammering..."
"Hurry up and get in there! The more you drag this out, the longer the recording takes! Ugh, seriously! I mean it!"
Watching Kim Seoyoon grumble with her headphones on even after entering the studio.
"Goodness, Chaerin and the A&R staff member directed in her place. She just fidgeted and whined at the side. Ha, at least the behind-the-scenes editing was d—"
I turned off the studio microphone.
"Naeun Unni, you know by now, right? That Seoyoon Unni gets a little? Slightly? Hysterical before vocals."
"She does...? Is that so...?"
"Of course, of course."
"Hmm..."
For now, I glanced over the lyric sheet, scanning the part I had assigned to Seoyoon Unni once.
Let's see...
I pressed the talkback button and spoke to Seoyoon Unni inside the booth.
"I thought about it a lot, and I don't plan on giving you a special guide for now. Vocals are about bringing out your own feeling, and since you're the main vocal, you can sing more true to yourself. Okay?"
Truly, this was me believing in Unni so much.
But Seoyoon Unni just pouted, her voice not even coming through.
"Don't sulk. Speak up, I can barely hear you."
She kept mumbling with only her mouth moving.
"Speak up. I said I can't hear you."
Again, again.
"Sigh, sulking again..."
"But Dohee, didn't Seoyoon turn off her mic button?"
Oops!
"Haha, well, it's my first time directing like this."
Naeun Unni watched me with half-lidded eyes.
"Will we be able to record well today..."
"Of course. We're going to take it easy. You know, Unni?"
I turned the mic back on dryly.
"Alright... Ms. Seoyoon, I can hear you now."
"Hey, when I get out—"
I took the mic down.
"Your voice is rough. Let's start after three minutes of vocal warm-ups."
I'll have to praise her like crazy before she comes out.
* * *
"That's so good. But for the 'woah' here, should we try it a bit sexier?"
"Yes, now we'll just try a few ad-lib lines."
"The way you swallow your pronunciation is so good. Your groove is great, Unni. The composer is fully satisfied."
I could see her expression gradually softening.
"Wow, crazy. Your voice has already swallowed the CD? Now you've gone and eaten CDs? That's quite an appetite..."
"What, quite an appetite?"
"I said your sing song is insanely good."
"Ah, is that so?"
"Yes yes, the best, the best."
"Hehe, I know!"
Ugh... this is tough.
"Unni, let's try that part now."
"Okaay~"
Anyway, Seoyoon Unni now had only the most important passage left.
This song had three high notes in total.
Two parts where a powerful falsetto suited the progression.
The pre-chorus right before the chorus in verses 1 and 2.
And the bridge before the third chorus, bursting out even stronger in chest voice, decorating the climax of the song's structure.
Though the melody was the same, the part belonging to Seoyoon Unni's chest voice—the third verse bridge—could be seen as having the highest difficulty.
The highest note was F6, commonly referred to as the third octave Fa.
The lowest note was the second octave B-flat and third octave C.
Generally considering that the highest notes of songs commonly cited as female high-note songs peak at the third octave Mi (E6).
And considering that while many women could somehow hit and descend from the third octave Do (C6), there were fewer than one might think who could stably sustain or belt it...
Subjectively and objectively, it was a high-difficulty part.
"You can do it, right?"
"Who am I~ Kim Seoyoon. The main vocalist of Debonair. A woman who goes up to the third octave G-sharp in chest voice."
Watching Seoyoon Unni, brimming with excitement and confidence, I turned off the talkback mic.
"She thinks someone can't hit those notes. Right?"
"Watching her take vocal lessons last time, I felt like Seoyoon could even go up to the third octave La (A6)."
"...Really?"
"Yeah, even I can somehow hit up to the third octave Sol (G6)... Oh, by the way, Dohee, how high can you go?"
"Me? I..."
Come to think of it, Naeun Unni seemed more like a T than an F.
"Unni, I need to go to the bathroom for a sec. Ms. Seoyoon, warm up your throat, okay? I'll be right back..."
At times like this, you should just offer mindless empathy.
She's just a T who's only gentle.
What's so important about how high you can actually go in chest voice anyway.
I have falsetto and technique. Ugh.
Still, I go way higher than Chiyo Unni.
Third octave Mi, E6.
"Ah, ah. Ah↗♫, good, this part is going well."
Like this, even up to the third octave Fa, F6...
"Ah- ah↗! Ah↗ hmm hmm. It's not clean, but..."
Anyway, I can hit the third octave Fa...
* * *
"Am I done?"
"Yes. We can fix it later, though. For now."
I had wanted to make Seoyoon Unni repeat the chest voice high notes endlessly, but I couldn't bear to, afraid her throat would get hurt.
I'm really too nice for my own good.
Seriously.
"Now it's Unni's turn."
"Yeah. Should I go right in?"
"I have to watch Naeun Unni from here too~"
Naeun Unni.
As a lead vocal, Naeun Unni was also in charge of another high part, the pre-chorus of the second verse.
Of course it was falsetto.
Still, it wasn't easy to pull off perfectly.
"How is it? Does it pass?"
"Could you try spitting it out a little cleaner this time? Strip away all the vibrato, and we'll be adding an ad-lib line here like this. I'll compare the two and use one."
"Got it, Producer Dohee~"
She was that much of a member I could rely on vocally when allocating parts.
If I had to categorize Seoyoon Unni's voice, it was that of a classic female singer.
A powerful tone suited for the role of a prima donna, a diva.
Sera Unni, who had been the main vocalist of Seven, was also of this type, despite her cat-like appearance.
The difference between the two was simply tone color and volume.
That wasn't to say the two couldn't sing prettily with their powerful voices.
Since they were main vocals, they knew various vocal techniques.
Both had learned idol vocals—singing prettily like girls—countless times since they were trainees.
But the two were fundamentally different in tone from Naeun Unni.
Naeun Unni, whose appearance was often said to be actress-like, also had a clear voice, a refined form.
Since her voice was already well-suited to singing prettily, the lines I gave Unni carried the intended feeling of clear, refreshing, and sharp ice shards within that clarity.
"Ah, Unni, that's so good. Exactly what I want."
"Yeah? Nothing to fix?"
"Hm, but can you swallow the pronunciation a bit here? This part needs to be a little devilish rather than clear."
"Okaay~"
I don't know how many times she nodded, saying it was good, even after I turned off the talkback.
"This is really why it's good to have many voices. The song gets better."
"Right. But Dohee."
"Hm?"
"When I was recording, did you turn off the talkback and praise me like this too? You were chatting so much with Naeun Unni."
Seoyoon Unni was making a welcome misunderstanding.
"Of course. I liked it so much I said it out loud so many times... I was only praising you with Unni, really."
"Oh~ really?"
"Ms. Seoyoon, of course~ How lucky am I to have singers like these as members, making recording so easy! My ears are being purified. I'm so happy that you're the main vocalist, Ms. Seoyoon."
"Ooh~ you're laying it on too thick, I'm embarrassed~"
"Oh come on, it's between you and me. Haha!"
Of course, I said this with the recording booth talkback turned off so Naeun Unni, who knew the truth, couldn't hear.
* * *
"We're here~"
"Chiyo is here, here."
The two vocal members left, and two new ones arrived.
"From now on, I'm the producer, so please speak formally."
I fiddled with my fashion glasses and guided them to their seats.
"Hmm... somehow, today's Dohee feels like she doesn't want to humor us."
"What do you mean by that, Wooa Unni."
"This isn't playing, today I'm really a producer, so..."
In the meantime, Chiyo Unni pulled down her top, revealing her shoulder line and striking a suggestive pose.
"...What are you doing?"
Her shoulder line went even lower.
"Producah... shall I take the rest off?"
"Take the rest off? Take off what?"
"In Japan, taking it off in front of the producah... is a sad custom... Today I too... keuh... am being victimized by Dohee..."
"Crazy, this is seriously so cringe."
Behind cameras are rolling too, what is this.
First, I feel like I need to kick her out and delete some data to focus.
"Wooa Unni, I won't do anything weird to you, so let's kick her out and start."
"Are you admitting it's producer play?"
"No, I told you I'm really the producer today."
"Jisoo... will strip... keuh."
"No, I guess this really is just playing producer after all."
"Right? Then take off your glasses first."
Wooa Unni grabbed Chiyo Unni by the nape.
Even as she was dragged out without resisting Wooa Unni, her mouth didn't rest.
"Producah!!! If you say take it off, I'll take it off!!!"
"Ah, just get out!"
What would others think if they saw this, seriously.
As if on cue, I could hear the staff outside giggling.
"Jisoo! I'm not as big as Dohee, but... I'm confident in my body...! Just once, just one chance please...! Kudasai!"
What kind of ruckus is this in my sacred producing room.
I should listen to the guide recorded in my pretty voice again and calm my mind.
"Hm, hm... as expected, I really made this song well."