“Alright, I’ll pick a track first. Erhan.”
“Okay, just wait a sec.”
Erhan, who was introduced as the beatmaker, opened my laptop and quickly flipped through the pre-prepared tracklist.
Boom bap, trap, synthwave, garage, club house, afrobeat.
It was clear from the styles that Erhan was a true trackmaker, especially leaning towards hip hop.
‘Ah, this one is kind of catchy.’
“You know this one? Pretty good, right? This is my masterpiece I brought this time! It’s an easy-listening style…”
“Let’s just listen to the next one first. After that, we’ll decide on today’s composition theme.”
After going through various tracklists, a theme and beat were decided.
Now, the topliner composers just had to layer their melodies onto the beats Erhan created.
“Dohee, since you said you were just observing today, it’s fine to just watch, but fundamentally, you’ll take the topliner role.”
“Topliner?”
“Why? Can you do track making or post-production better?”
“You know I learned composition from Joseph, right? If I’m here as his substitute, I must have some skills in arranging too, especially track making.”
“No, no. That’s not it. I’m just… going to observe.”
Just thinking about being a topliner made me reminisce about my Seo-yoon Unni.
While I’m working hard like this, I wonder where Kim Seo-yoon is, sitting in front of a computer and meeting someone.
Well, I believe the Director must have given her some work.
‘They said everyone has their own duties… Please.’
*
“Ha-rang Unni, they’re no-planning.”
“Seo-yoon, don’t you have a schedule?”
“I do. After this round.”
“Oh, and it’s Dohee’s birthday tomorrow, right? What should we get her? Hmm… a book?”
“Come on already! Jungle chai!”
“No, when did I say to come? Top chai!!!”
“I told you, I’m no-planning! No-planning!”
*
─How about doing this? A bit jazzy. Hmm↝♪
The composers were humming to layer melodies as they followed the track.
The more I watched the song camp unfold, the more I felt I understood why 90% of Kpop songs come from song camps.
The insane speed of work was just incredible.
‘When I work alone… it usually takes me weeks…’
Today’s pace felt like they’d finish two songs by the end of the day, as if a fire had been lit under them.
Sure, it’s true some solo composers can finish a song in a day, but the average expectation of one song a day? That’s something only possible in song camps.
The average expected output of one song per day is something only the Song Camp can achieve.
‘Of course, I could write a song in just one day. I could… but…’
I could just copy the trends of other songs, make a track, and slap any melody onto the chords.
But then a mass-produced song would be born.
And the Song Camp didn’t worry about that at all.
Since composers familiar with various genres gather, the results born from collective intelligence were mostly far from being mass-produced, regardless of the speed of that work.
‘Maybe I’ll ask Lira next time to check out that side of the Song Camp…’
Thus, K-pop emerging from the Song Camp was a new genre that encompassed the strengths of each genre.
If we had to name it, it would be Mix Pop.
Recently, there have been cases where certain K-pop songs clearly displayed the characteristics of Mix Pop and called it exactly that, but in truth, most K-pop could originally be seen as Mix Pop.
If you listen to the idol songs, you’ll find disco urban in the first verse, pop in the verses, hip-hop in the chorus, and EDM in the bridge.
Other genres like jazz, dance, R&B could also pop up.
Just like our debut song [Debonair], which combines disco, Latin, and pop.
However, mixing all kinds of ideas could also lead to complex and tricky songs.
Thus, the most important thing among these tasks is organizing all these drafts in a creative way and binding them under a single framework.
Finally, sorting out the melody and reworking it into an appropriate track.
That’s arrangement.
That’s why nowadays, arrangers are among the highest evaluated talents of composers.
*
The next day, as soon as I stepped into the company’s headquarters, a loud explosion greeted me.
─Bam bam bam bam!
“Congratulations♪ Congratulations♬”
Tap tap! Whoosh whoosh!
“Huh?”
Woo-ah Unni rushed over, and Chiyo Unni tackled me.
Kim Seo-yoon clung to me, and Na-eun Unni gave me a seal of applause.
“Ah wait! Wait! Who actually hit me with a fist?”
Before I knew it, the unnis were circling around me.
“Kim Seo-yoon! Are you crazy? I have a bruise!”
“…? Why are you blaming me again? I’m innocent!”
“Then who…?”
“This brat! This brat!”
Looks like Kim Seo-yoon’s hand syndrome kicked in again.
“Alright, alright! Enough! Stop!”
“Whoosh! Shush shush!”
“Just stop already…”
While I was dying of frustration, witnessing how much energy they had until they were out of breath.
I finally received my favorite strawberry cake from Na-eun Unni.
“I got to receive my favorite strawberry cake.”
“What? Did Unni make it herself?”
“Of course~ We all made it together.”
“Why are there two candles?”
“Because Do-hee is just two years away from adulthood~ Her wish is to become an adult quickly.”
“Right, I want to escape this place soon.”
“What a letdown… We treated you so well.”
“Do you even have a conscience?”
—
The next day, I handed out my birthday gifts for free to the composers here.
Generously, I gave out multiple.
“What the puck?”
“Eww… disgusting…”
“I’m about to become your anti-fan.”
“Are you planning to assassinate us?”
Our Director gave me a very expensive health tonic, wishing for my well-being amidst his busy schedule. A stamina booster good for the liver and fatigue.
Putting aside how awful and bitter it is, I feel nauseous and like I might throw up any second.
“Ah, I still have a lot of the herbal medicine from Mom left.”
I need to give Chiyo Unni a call.
“But it’s good for your body. Drink it quickly.”
Anyway, starting today, I too will finish my observations and start composing together as a topliner.
There was something I wanted to keep suggesting during these two days of observation.
“Pedro.”
“What is this disgusting taste… It’s the worst thing I’ve eaten since coming to Korea.”
“Pedro?”
“Ugh, sorry, it’s just so gross.”
If it’s that bad, don’t eat it. I’m only eating it to survive.
Anyway…
I sat at the piano and pulled out the lead that the Director had given me.
Most composers receive leads from the A&R team responsible for album planning and song collection in their agency.
A lead is a kind of planning document that includes the concept a specific artist pursues and the references.
And this lead contained details about our next activities.
Of course, just because the composer and I are working on it together doesn’t mean it’ll definitely get used.
The company determines if the song is suitable for the lead, and then the song by that composer is put up for sale.
And the tracklist for the next album was already roughly laid out.
Album releases are usually prepared about 6 months to a year in advance.
But since self-composed songs have their own significance…
I handed the planning document to Pedro, who was still heaving.
“Pedro, this is the lead.”
“Ugh, who, who? Debonaire?”
In the midst of it all, Pedro skillfully began to read the lead.
“Ugh…”
Since he’s also the composer of our debut song [Debonaire], he should be familiar with our concept.
“Eh, Erhan! Is there a track like this…?”
The lead moved to Erhan, who is a trackmaker and beatmaker.
“Um… But haven’t we already received the same lead? I sold one for your agency’s next activity.”
“Well, look below; it’s a bit different!”
How much are you going to gag?
“Ah, I see. It’s changed a little. But it still doesn’t feel like it fits perfectly. We can make it, though.”
“So do we have to compose it completely new?”
“Seems like it.”
I finally decided to propose what I felt during the two days of observation.
“If we’re making a song… could we start with the melody this time instead of the beat?”
“The melody? But then it’ll take longer to work…”
I know. I’ve felt firsthand how much more efficient it is to make the beat first and then lay the melody on top over those two days.
“Yeah, I felt a lot while watching.”
That was definitely something I couldn’t give up as a commercial artist.
“But… fundamentally, unless a track from our Debonaire is a rap, the most important thing is the melody.”
It encompassed both hard listening and easy listening.
An easy listening melody draped over an exciting beat could transform a lacking piece into something attractive.
Just like the difficult hard listening of “Loo-se” that I analyzed with everyone on the first day of Song Camp, we could amplify the fun of listening by layering excellent beats.
But after all, those timeless classics—just by mentioning their titles, the melodies immediately pop up in everyone’s heads, making them hum along.
Of course, I might hold some bias since I’ve performed classical music.
But it’s clear that the melodies of those classic songs are not boring at all; they’re addictive, carrying the emotion that the main melody delivers.
Even the beat of the hip-hop track “Still D.R.E.” that everyone thinks of immediately was created by a white producer playing the piano, layering pads or strings on the keyboard to create the melody.
So, since I had the chance to meet good composers, I wanted to create a song starting with the melody.
“Uh, okay… then Do-hee, since you brought it up, let’s start with the melody… Ugh.”
In the meantime, Pedro keeps gagging while giving an okay sign with his fingers.
“Let’s just try it.”
“No, but if you’re gagging like that, maybe don’t drink…”
“I packed it for you, thinking it would be good for you… Ugh.”
Wow, smells gross.
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