Volume 4 / Chapter 160
TL: LightNovelCafe
[TN: Whose CD was it??]
The music that they are listening to is the tribute alb.u.m that Jun Hyuk wrote. Disappointment came first when he saw the list of artists who had partic.i.p.ated. It is true that top stars had partic.i.p.ated, but they are people who are popular for their performances rather than their playing or singing skills. The only person who satisfied Jun Hyuk was Vivian Campbell who was once Ronny James Dio’s guitarist.
However, the music he had just heard is not the guitar sound that he had been expecting. It was not a rough and hard guitar, but the blues. When he first heard the music in his camping car, he had thought that it was not his music. He had come running because the theme tune was the same. Whether it was the guitarist or producer, there is no doubt that the song had been arranged.
When Jun Hyuk was frowning while reading the CD, someone threw him a can of beer.
“Look here. Let’s introduce ourselves even if we’re only neighbors for a night.”
“Oh, sorry. I’m Jun. Korean.”
“Korean? Are you on vacation?”
“Yeah. And you?”
“Ah, I’m Todd, a guitarist. The four of us are a band. Though we’re nameless. Ha ha.”
“I see. Then all of that on the car roof is all instruments?”
“Yeah. You liked this music? Or because it’s noisy?”
“Both. But it’s not like I liked the music that much.”
“What? It’s the first great alb.u.m in a while, but you don’t like it? This was created by gathering together stars from the past!”
Guitarist Todd had thought that Jun Hyuk was a fan because he had suddenly appeared to look at the CD jacket so carefully. When he said that he did not like the music however, Todd launched an impa.s.sioned speech to counter it.
Jun Hyuk was dragged next to Todd and had to listen to why this alb.u.m is a great alb.u.m.
“Look here, my Korean friend. We’ll spend the night up if you stay next to Todd. Hurry up and run away.”
The other band members must have heard Todd’s impa.s.sioned speech several times because they shook their heads and headed to the car or sleeping bags to go to sleep.
Todd did not listen to his band mates and took an acoustic guitar out of the trunk.
“Alright, listen to this. Vivian Campbell is a completely different guitarist now that she was before. If this had been when she was young…”
Todd played the song’s guitar solo with variations that are a bit more rough.
“Now she’s middle-aged and totally into the blues. That’s why she played it like this instead.”
This time, he played it exactly like the song on the CD. When Jun Hyuk’s eyes widened, Todd looked elated.
“What do you think? Can you see the difference?”
The first time Todd played had been Jun Hyuk’s original version. He had not played according to the score, but he had brought out the exact emotion that Jun Hyuk had intended for.
“But how did you play the guitar of Vivian Campbell when she was young?”
“Well that’s because all metal bands at the time were like this. You can tell when you see the alb.u.m. The composer Jun said that he created the songs for the metal heros of the 80s. If you look at the flow of the entire song, it needs to be played the way I did. The way it’s played now does seem a bit different.”
“You… have great sense. You can look at the flow of an entire song and find the guitar’s variation.”
Jun Hyuk was genuinely in awe.
“Hey – you know a little something. You can tell I have great senses after listening to just one of my guitar measures, when my band mates don’t even know. d.a.m.n it.”
Todd clucked his tongue and glared at the members of his band sleeping in the car.
“Todd, play a guitar song. Let’s hear those great senses.”
“Okay. Listen well. It’s the moment you become my fan.”
Todd played Randy Rose’s cla.s.sic guitar instrumental ‘Dee’ splendidly. For a short 51 seconds, the guitar echoed with the sound of the lake and fall wind as an accompaniment.
Jun Hyuk thought that there were as many talented musicians in the world as there are grains of sand. He even thought that he is lucky to have made his own talent known to the world in the midst of all of these other musicians.
Jun Hyuk clapped quietly and stood up.
“Listen carefully, Todd. You won’t be nameless one day. I’m sure of it. There’s no way someone who plays the guitar like this, can remain nameless.”
Jun Hyuk put out his hand for a handshake and turned around.
“Hang on.”
Todd stopped Jun Hyuk and grabbed a pen from the car. He quickly wrote something on Jun Hyuk’s palm.
“This is my Twitter. Let’s keep in touch.”
Jun Hyuk waved his hand and returned to the camping car.
“What am I supposed to do when this kid writes on my hand with a permanent marker?”
Jun Hyuk grumbled while washing his hand for a while in the sink before going to sleep.
He kept traveling while creating small memories with the people he met on the road. But Jun Hyuk had to end these good times before 2 months had pa.s.sed.
***
Controversy was triggered with the news that Patrick Quinn was appointed guest conductor of Vienna Philharmonic this season.
After the entire score for Inferno was revealed, Patrick Quinn was overambitious in his decision to become the first person to perform it, and when the season’s schedule became a mess, the orchestra members chose to boycott. They can have interest because it is a revolutionary song, but there is no reason for the Vienna Philharmonic to perform it out of revenge.
Patrick Quinn revealed his intention to resign when his relationship with the members worsened, and the Board of Directors announced that they are selecting a new guest conductor.
There were also positive moves. As sales for the Inferno score closed in on bestseller novels, record labels were quickest to make moves.
EMI’s Warner Cla.s.sic, Deutsche Grammophone and DECCA’s Universal Cla.s.sic, and RCA’s Sony Cla.s.sic could expect record-breaking sales for Inferno records. They were offering orchestras tremendous amounts of money to urge them to record.
A few orchestras made attempts but failed and even tried to record each instrument in separate parts, but there was no smooth conductor to bring out a quality worthy of this song’s value. The songs that were recorded with a few outstanding people were a.s.sessed as just noise, and alb.u.m sales were canceled.
One critic said that something needs to come out of Inferno for this overheating of the current cla.s.sical world to settle, whether it is a record or a Blu-Ray of the performance.
He also said that because a modern bait had been cast in the world of cla.s.sical that has been feeding off of relics until now, it needs to be eaten away in order to make everyone settle down.
When Jun Hyuk left Swiss and entered Italy, he heard about Patrick Quinn’s resignation. When he found out that it is because of his own song, he was in disbelief.
Inferno is a song that he wrote in his immature youth. He even found it laughable that there was such a fuss over this song that repelled some people when there are a lot of songs that are much more refined.
However, it was difficult for him to hide this apologetic feeling to a maestro who had shown his such goodwill. He hesitated before picking up his phone.
“Maestro Quinn. This is Jun.”
“Oh, Jun. How long has it been? I’ve been hearing news about you. So you’re traveling where people can’t see you? How is it? Is it good?”
Patrick Quinn’s voice was bright for someone who had been fired.
“Yes. Uh… I just heard the news. Because of my song that’s really nothing…”
“What are you talking about! What do you mean it’s nothing? And since it’s not because of you, don’t say that. My opinions and those of the Vienna Philharmonic were so different that we could not work together any longer.”
“I see. I was being arrogant.”