Rock and Roll: Glorious Years

At 1 p.m., Bian Lang and Chen Shuting picked up Olaf and his colleague at the airport. In addition to Olaf, there was also a recording engineer, who was also a top-level European.

After all, the workload this time was enormous, with 29 bands and more than 100 musicians, and the number of audio tracks to be recorded was no less than that, and it also involved different styles of rock music.

When working in a fatigued state, it is very likely that the quality will not be able to be maintained at a relatively high level. Therefore, it is necessary to have someone help out and also provide suggestions for correction at any time.

"Wave, I didn't expect to meet you so soon. Being able to participate in the production of such a special album will probably be the most special time in my career!" Bian Lang's English is pretty good, and he can basically communicate without a translator: "I hope it will also be the most unforgettable time for you."

The two had already adjusted to the time difference on the plane, and once they arrived at the hostel and dropped off their luggage, they went straight into the recording studio.

Pan Jianhu stepped in and booked the main studio of Baihua Recording Studio. Naturally, the most challenging version, the chorus version with 29 bands, was recorded first.

Now, with the addition of Ding Tong, the entire band has just reached 110 people. Only the main recording studio at Baihua Studio, with an effective volume of 970 cubic meters, can accommodate this "orchestra" structure.

Wanlima, the ace producer who had retired from recording rock music at Baihua Studio, was called "Old Brother" by industry insiders. Upon hearing about this, he insisted on coming out of retirement despite being over 70 years old and personally taking charge of recording Huaxia Rock 29.

Fortunately, Pan Jianhu persuaded him to stop, considering he was over 70 years old and taking on that workload would have been incredibly exhausting. He was also reassured after hearing that Olaf was coming from Europe to handle the project; this guy, who had recorded almost half of all the classic Chinese rock songs on Earth in the 90s, finally felt at ease.

But today, the guy with completely white hair still showed up at the event, dressed in a Tai Chi practice outfit, making it impossible to associate him with rock music.

But it was only while Olaf and the others were putting their luggage away that the last band hurriedly arrived.

The old man shook his head, saying, "You guys are still acting like it was 20 years ago. Now that you have this opportunity, you don't even know how to be proactive. With this attitude, if it were us back then, we would have fired you all."

When the older brother spoke up, the last band to arrive turned pale and then flushed. Out of respect for his status in the industry, they all said some conciliatory words, but they were not convinced at all.

Seeing that the guys on the joysticks still looked like they couldn't even open their eyes, they all thought to themselves, "We'll see when we start playing. We're all rock musicians, no one's really that good. We'll see who's the best when we record it."

Only now has Bian Lang officially met everyone. After a brief greeting and not receiving much positive response, he officially began recording.

The filming naturally fell to Qiu Luo in Beijing. He brought the entire film crew's photography team with him, as Bian Lang planned to film the entire recording process and use it as a music video.

Olaf didn't make any changes to the overall layout of this version; he followed Bian Lang's previous version exactly.

After Ding Tong joined the Rolling Stones, who were the first to perform, they had an extra guitar to play solos. Ding Tong had practiced and perfected his guitar on his own, and his tone was a mix of clean and slightly dirty sounds, between Bian Lang's American dry guitar tone and overdrive, which amplified the style of grunge rock.

Although it only has three bars, as the opening of the studio version, everyone wanted to make it as perfect as possible.

The microphone for Guang Dayong's drum kit was adjusted five times before it reached Olaf's standard. In addition, due to various small mistakes by others, these three sections were recorded more than a dozen times before they were considered acceptable.

The producer is also very demanding. If he hadn't been a little intimidated by the bands that followed, he would have suggested that Olaf do it two more times.

When the joystick band came on stage, the problems became much more serious. The sound tuning took more than 10 minutes, and it wasn't until the show officially started that Bianlang discovered they had also changed the arrangement.

When recording videos before, everyone didn't have much time to think about it. Bian Lang provided the band with the full score, and they basically followed that. But now that they're officially recording songs, all sorts of personal touches and arrangements have started to be added. Apart from the drums, the bass, guitar, and keyboard have been completely changed.

It has absolutely no relation to the previous section of the Rolling Stones, but non-professionals simply can't tell that it's the same piece.

After Olaf called a halt, he asked Bian Lang, "Wave, didn't you guys discuss this beforehand? I think you know that if the arrangement is just done haphazardly like this, the song will be ruined."

Pan Jianhu knew that it was difficult for the band members to speak up about this matter, so he could only use his seniority to intimidate them. He directly "scolded" Li Hao and Tian Yuan, the two drunkards, and only then did the band members reluctantly follow the previous arrangement. It took more than ten takes before Olaf finally nodded in approval.

Bian Lang knows where the problem lies. There's nothing wrong with everyone following his previous video; just treat it as a hobby.

But now that we're actually recording in the studio, everyone wants their band to shine in this song. It's like when you're doing sound mixing at a music festival; everyone tells the sound engineer, "Dude, the speakers need to be louder than the front! They have to be really loud!"

It's true that Bian Lang spearheaded this song, but everyone initially joined out of passion to support Rolling Stone and the development of Chinese rock music. However, now that passion has cooled, people aren't as united anymore.

It's only natural for people to have these thoughts. Bian Lang can understand them, but he won't accept them. This song can only be decided by one person, and only by himself. Otherwise, the problem isn't that the temple is built crookedly, but that it can't be built at all.

However, now is not the best time to speak. He wants to wait until more of the problems are exposed and everyone's emotions are about to explode before he can use his own methods to resolve the situation. This will be the best way to establish his authority and leave everyone speechless.

When it came to the Big Wind Band, things were much better because Bian Lang had been keeping an eye on them while they were in Spring City, but they still had to record ten takes.

The later ones were a mixed bag. Apart from the Nanyin-style music, the other bands all added their own personal touches. The song, which was only a little over 5 minutes long, took more than two hours to record. Many musicians were getting impatient, and they were only halfway done. The results were also far from satisfactory.

As the bands behind them started yelling, "What are you guys doing? Show some serious attitude! Standing here for hours, aren't you tired? We are!"

Bian Lang knew it was time; if he let these emotions fester any longer, people's hearts would be scattered!

Thinking of this, he first stopped Olaf's group and asked Chen Shuting to take the two of them out to rest.

Amidst the puzzled and mocking glances of the crowd, Bian Lang picked up the microphone and said, "Everyone has worked hard, and I am extremely grateful. I was the one who initiated this whole thing, so if you have any questions, just come to me. Let's not create any rifts between us. There are some of you I didn't know before, and we only met this time. So, I'll reiterate what I said before in front of everyone: after this album is released, the copyright will be mine, and Rock Records will only take 10% of the revenue. The rest will be split equally among us."

Those who agree, go find Sister Chen later to complete the contract and get things settled! Those who disagree, just say what you think; we're all rock musicians, no need for that two-faced stuff.

"It is not scarcity that is a concern, but inequality" is a proverb left by our Chinese ancestors, and it is also a basic consensus among most Chinese people when it comes to the distribution of common property. Bian Lang had said it before, but hearing him say it in person today naturally has a different effect than chatting with him over the internet.

The bands present were all in different situations. Some were able to support themselves with past royalties and performances, while others were still working out of passion and belief. But no one ever complains about having too much money, and one band immediately spoke up: "Bianlang, you did an impeccable job. We all admire you!"

Seeing that most people nodded in agreement, Bian Lang continued, "I know that everyone has different ways of doing things, and some are similar. When we rehearse this song together, everyone will have their own understanding. But if we completely satisfy everyone's ideas, then we really can't record today."

After saying that, the older brother chimed in, "Xiao Bian is right. Nobody in the world has ever done anything like that before. I've never heard of it before either. Everyone should be more discerning. It's not shameful to talk about this among yourselves behind closed doors, but look at Li Hao and the rest of you, is this how you behave? You knew you were recording a song today, yet you drank so much last night. Wouldn't it be a laughing stock if the foreigners saw this? There are other people who aren't even in the rock scene recording in other studios. If word gets out, you won't be ashamed, but I'll be ashamed for you."

The older brother's words made Li Hao and Tian Yuan's faces turn red and white in turns.

Although Li Hao is usually jovial, he still needs to be a little serious when it comes to business: "Brother, we were in the wrong, please don't say anything more. You're so old and you still managed to come, we brothers feel ashamed now. But when it comes to style, everyone has their own understanding. I can't understand other people's, and others may not understand ours either."

Although no names were mentioned, everyone could tell that these words were a dissatisfaction with Bian Lang's arrangement.

As soon as he said that, someone else chimed in: "Li Hao is right. Everyone has their own understanding of the style in the current studio version, so it doesn't need to be the same as the previous version."

"I admit Bian Lang is talented, but can he master all styles by himself? Besides, even ten fingers aren't all the same length, so who knows whose recordings the fans will prefer..."

At this moment, the Nanyin group was about to speak up for Bian Lang, but Pan Jianhu stopped them. He knew about what happened with Mu Ge last night, and outsiders' opinions were more convincing than their own people's!

Sure enough, Lei Luo stepped forward before Lao Zhao: "I don't care what you think, but I, Lei Luo, admire Bian Lang's skill in playing blues rock, and the entire Muge team admires him. Bian Lang gave us this song last night, so let's play it for you to hear..."

After saying that, he winked at Lao Zhao, and the brothers picked up their tools and performed the song that Bian Lang had given them yesterday.