Chapter 74: Chapter 74 - Conducting the Choir

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After around ten minutes, Zhu Xiaofei had been thoroughly beaten by the girls in the English Language major. His hair was disheveled, and his clothes were a mess, and he looked like a copy of ‘Brother Sharp,’ the famous Chinese beggar. Seeming as if he were about to cry, he returned to stand in his original position.

Xiao Luo redeemed the musical talent ability, and his senses underwent a dramatic change.

“Ding! Musical talent allows the host to quickly acquire a high standard of musical ability, including but not limited to proficiency playing musical instruments, songwriting, the ability to conduct a band or choir, and so on,” sounded the system notification in his mind.

Xiao Luo began to regret accepting Chu Yunxiong’s assignment. If he’d known that the Genius System without Equal was so ridiculously powerful, he would not have to come to Huaye to attend boring classes. With his musical talent alone, he could have made a fortune writing songs.

However, since he had made an agreement, he would properly carry out his job!

“Xiao Luo, do you really have a way of improving our singing?” Huang Ruoran asked quietly. Ever since Xiao Luo had rescued her from some hooligans, she no longer disliked him. In fact, she felt an inexplicable affection for him. No matter what he did or said, she found it pleasing.

“I’ll try my best. Let’s get everyone to take it again from the top,” Xiao Luo said, stepping forward.

Huang Ruoran nodded, then addressed the class, “Everyone, in your positions. Let’s sing ‘Yellow River’ one more time.”

With Xiao Luo at the helm conducting, everyone was most cooperative. Even though nobody knew on what basis Xiao Luo had the expertise to train them, he seemed to inspire people naturally, giving them great hope. The girls became much more optimistic and confident about the upcoming singing competition.

Xiao Luo shut his eyes, focusing his attention on what he heard. When everyone finished singing, he opened his eyes again and began to correct them. “Old Zhu, you have a loud, sonorous voice, which is your strong point. Keep working at it. However, you sang one part incorrectly. The verse ‘the wind is howling’ should be sung neatly and sharply, but you were dragging the note at the end.”

Everybody was stunned. They had all sung together. So, how had Xiao Luo picked out Zhu Xiaofei’s voice from the entire group and his mistakes on top of that?

Xiao Luo’s attention shifted as he continued, “Kaizi, there should be a rest between each line during the part where you sing ‘defend’ four times. You’re neglecting to rest, which means that you are rushing, which affects the overall unity of the group.”

For the second time, everyone was shocked. He was also pointing out Ding Kai’s errors?

Even before the class regained their composure, Xiao Luo turned his focus to Chu Yue. He sternly said, “Chu Yue, for the word ‘roaring’ in the verse ‘the Yellow River is roaring,’ the first and second instances of the word ‘roaring’ should be sung differently. The pitch should grow higher and higher, as the song needs to have some ups and downs.”

Having explained Chu Yue’s singing mistakes, Xiao Luo looked at Bai Ling. Without pausing, he said, “Bai Ling, you sang the verse ‘in the mountains’ incorrectly. Your tone should get more robust here, but now it sounds flat.”

“An Huanhuan, the song speeds up at the verse ‘raising up the rifles.’ Since you aren’t keeping up with the tempo, it affects the group’s overall unity.”

“Wang Lingling, you messed up the line ‘the hills west of the river are vast.'”

…

By the time Xiao Luo had finished pointing out the mistakes made by every student in the class, they were all looking at him like he was an alien. To point out one or two errors from listening to them sing all at once would be relatively normal, but this situation was not that. Xia Luo had actually managed accurately and precisely to identify every singer’s flaws. How was he doing it?

“The lyrics of ‘Yellow River’ use the actual Yellow River as a metaphor to praise the fighting spirit of our revolutionary forefathers. The way we sing it together should also capture the feeling of rolling waves through a robust back-and-forth between the treble and bass singers. Now, the singers with high and low voices are all mixed up, so we need to reorganize the group’s formation.”

Xiao Luo was like a master, carefully offering his guidance. He arranged the treble girls into two rows with Chu Yue as their lead. Similarly, he formed two rows for the bass with Ding Kai as the lead.

“Good. Now let’s sing it again. This time, as you sing, remember to correct the issues I pointed out earlier.” Xiao Luo returned to the front of the formation, and his eyes bright and focused.

The group subconsciously nodded in acknowledgment, and with a wave of his hand, they started singing again.

The effects were pronounced. When they sang this time, it was the most in sync the group had ever been. One listening could indeed get the feeling of rolling waves. The shift was slight, but it was there.

Huang Ruoran was dumbfounded. She could not believe that Xiao Luo had these kinds of skills. If only she’d let Xiao Luo take the reins earlier, then they would not have wasted their time on so many futile rehearsals.

Chu Yue’s mouth fell open slightly, and she looked at Xiao Luo in disbelief. She had come to see another side of Xiao Luo. She had never recognized anyone as being superior to her. Still, Xiao Luo was the first man whom she saw as her better. From the bottom of her heart, she was filled with admiration for him.

“Brother Luo! Oh my good Brother Luo, you are truly a genius! From your instructions alone, our choir’s standards have been raised to the next level. It seems like that Qiu Liang will really have to go and run around naked. Hahaha!” Zhu Xiaofei guffawed,

“Stop licking Brother Luo’s boots!” Ding Kai shot back righteously. “Is Brother Luo a genius? Of course not. There’s no way he is a genius.”

Just when everyone was wondering why Ding Kai was trying to put down Xiao Luo, he reversed the tide unexpectedly. He spoke with awe, “Brother Luo is a god among men, and he can do anything. Only the title of ‘god’ is appropriate for Brother Luo.”

Title of ‘god,’ your mom!

All the girls class cursed him silently.

Zhu Xiaofei immediately retorted angrily, “Get out of here! You call me a boot-licker, then turn around and start kissing his a*s. It looks like I should start calling you ‘Kiss-a*s Ding’ instead of Kaizi.”

“Pfft!”

The girls were amused by this exchange and could not hold back their laughter.

Huang Ruoran clapped her hands together to quiet everyone down. “Okay, okay, stop messing around and listen to what Xiao Luo has to say.”

The class monitor’s authority quickly silenced the room.

Xiao Luo gathered his thoughts then said, “Singing in harmony as a group is only the first step. The next step is singing in a round. We will sing the four ‘defend together’ parts in a round with the ‘wind is howling.’ It’s straightforward, and the back row just needs to start singing one bar after the front row starts. Let’s try it now.”

My God, how many tricks did Xiao Luo have up his sleeve?

The girls looked at Xiao Luo with respect.

After they tried singing in a round, Xiao Luo was satisfied. “Every choir needs a conductor, but to perform ‘Yellow River,’ we also need a narrator.”

“Hero Luo, what’s a narrator?” An Huanhuan asked curiously.

“Before we all start singing, the narrator has a monologue to help the audience to understand the meaning of ‘Yellow River,'” Xiao Luo explained. “How about this. I’ve decided to make Huang Ruoran the conductor. She has a natural air of authority that can command everybody’s attention, so the role is perfect for her. As for the narrator, I think Chu Yue should do it. A narrator needs to be passionate and expressive to excite the listeners, and her voice has these qualities.”