Devil’s Music

Chapter 288: Fury

Byeong-jun stepped out of the practice room into the chilly winter alley, hunched against the cold, and lit a cigarette before calling Geon. After about six rings, Geon's somewhat lively voice came through the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Geon. Did you get some sleep?"

"Yeah, bro. I woke up about an hour ago."

"Good, good. I'm in Mexico right now, just handed over the sheet music to Professor Carlos."

"Oh really? What did he say?"

"He agreed to do it. But, he said a bunch of complicated stuff, something about BPM, Metallica, and tuning, but I didn't catch all of it, can't even remember."

"Haha, I see. Well, at least he agreed."

"But, it looks like there was a mistake in the guide recording you did."

"He said the sheet music and the guide CD are a bit different?"

"That can't be."

"Professor Carlos said so himself. He said the sheet music is better, that it's the correct one."

"Um... if that's wrong, it could completely change the feel of the music... Ah, I didn’t make a copy, so I can’t check it. Bro, can you tell Carlos to record the vocal line as soon as I get there tomorrow? I’ll check the sheet music and record it right away."

"Are you going to do that? Hmm... then I should be heading back. I was supposed to return on tonight's flight because of Suzuka’s schedule."

"Ah, then I’ll go by myself. Just text me the address of the practice room."

"Um... I’m a bit worried..."

"Haha, don't worry about me. Please take good care of Kiska. It might take a few days."

"Ah! No, I'm not going home until you come! I'll stay at a hotel!"

"Haha, don’t do that. Kiska will miss you."

"Do you know how it feels to be stepped on in the stomach every morning!! If you're not there, she comes up on the bed and steps on me, saying you should be there, it seems more painful when stepped on in sleep."

"Puahaha, what? Our Kiska is so cute and nice."

"... Only to you, you jerk. To Suzuka, she’s...”

"Suzuka?"

"Ah, no, I misspoke. Ahem. Anyway, you’re coming tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, bro. But about Suzuka..."

"Just pass that along! I’m hanging up now!"

"Bro? Hello? Bro??"

As the call ended, Geon frowned and tossed his phone aside on the sofa in the annex.

"What is he talking about?"

The next day.

Before Kiska woke up, Geon left the Red Castle and flew to Mexico City. There was a bit of a commotion at the airport, but Geon calmed it down by giving autographs and taking photos. He then took a taxi to the Montana practice room. As he was about to knock on the door of the practice room, it burst open and Kevin appeared with a welcoming smile, spreading his arms.

"Kay! You made it!"

Smiling at Kevin's embrace, Geon asked,

"How did you know I was here?"

Kevin, arm in arm with Geon, chuckled.

"Haha, the manager said you were coming today. I’ve been waiting. I came out as soon as I heard the taxi."

"Hehe, I see. How about Carlos?"

"Oh, he’s waiting inside. The drum session is here too."

"The session too? We just need to record the vocal line, why go to all this trouble?"

Kevin laughed and patted Geon’s shoulder.

"Carlos wants to take lessons from the original artist. So, he brought the drummer too. Let’s go in!"

Guided by Kevin, Geon entered the practice room and saw Carlos in the recording booth, instructing the drummer.

"That's not right, José. The BPM needs to change here, how many times do I have to tell you?"

Carlos, seemingly frustrated, saw Kevin peeking through the door of the booth.

"Hey... Kay’s here."

Carlos’s expression instantly brightened, pushing Kevin aside with a laugh.

"Oh! Kay! You’re here!"

"Haha, Carlos. How’s it going?"

"Phew, it’s been a mess without you. Come on in."

Led by Carlos into the recording booth, Geon greeted the middle-aged Mexican drummer with a nod. The drummer, upon seeing Geon, beamed, removed his headphones, and offered a handshake.

"Ah, it’s an honor to meet you, Kay. I’m José Alanis."

"Nice to meet you, José. I’m Kay."

"Haha, I’ve been dying from Carlos’s nagging. Maybe I’ll get yelled at less after I learn from you. Haha."

"Hehe, we’ll see."

Geon turned to

Carlos and asked,

"But you said the sheet music is different from the guide CD. What do you mean?"

Carlos, as if remembering something, handed over the sheet music and offered headphones.

"Here, take a listen. But it's nothing major. Anyone can see that the sheet music is correct. Heard you worked through the night? Typical mistakes. Just follow the sheet music."

After receiving the sheet music from Carlos, Geon examined it and his expression hardened. Without saying a word, he flipped through the pages, his expression growing increasingly serious. Noticing this, Kevin cautiously asked,

"What’s wrong? Any problem?"

Geon ran his fingers over the notes outlined in purple.

"What is this?"

Carlos approached and looked at the sheet music together.

"Is there something on the sheet music? I handled it carefully."

"It's not that... Give me a moment. I need to examine this more closely."

Geon stepped out of the booth as the others looked at each other and shrugged before resuming their practice. Outside the booth, Geon laid the sheet music on the office table and propped his chin on his hand.

"What's this? A purple outline? I've never seen this before..."

Geon took out Haku from his guitar case and played the note indicated on the sheet music. After playing half of the song, he sighed.

"It's better than the original composition! What's the reason? What did I do?"

Geon ruffled his hair, lost in thought.

"I drew the notes filled with red. But in this sheet music, every eighth bar or so has a note with a purple outline. What's going on? More importantly, how do you create this outline? Did I really make this in my sleep?"

With a troubled look, Geon propped his chin and stared at the sheet music.

"I need to find out. How to draw this outline. Whether in sleep or whatever, this is my music. I must find out how to create this music again."

Geon rushed back to the recording booth and asked Kevin.

"Kevin, can we make copies here?"

Kevin, strapping a bass guitar, pointed to the office computer.

"Yeah, you can use the copier next to that PC. Why?"

"Never mind!"

Geon quickly placed the sheet music in the copier and pressed the copy button. After making about ten copies of the sheet music, he put the original in his bag and took the copies back to the recording booth, his eyes shining.

"Let’s start recording first. I need to take the original sheet music back and study it."

The band members stopped practicing and looked at Geon expectantly as he distributed the copies.

"There seems to be a problem with the original, so I need to take it with me. Here are the copies, let’s start practicing. Carlos, you go first?"

Disappointed by Geon's decision to take the original, Carlos started playing the pre-rehearsed piece. The fast-paced solo started with BPM and became rhythmic as it moved past Verse 1. Without a drum or metronome, Carlos accurately kept the beat, pleasing Geon who nodded in approval.

"That's Carlos for you."

As Geon acknowledged him, Carlos smiled but then grimaced and kicked the distortion pedal at his feet.

"But this darned distortion control is driving me crazy!"

Geon picked up the rolling distortion, laughing.

"Haha, you enjoyed playing with a clean sound, so that’s expected."

Geon adjusted the distortion settings: Drive to 7.6, Lo to 8, and Hi to 3, and set the Level to 6.

"Here, this is the sound I had in mind. The distortion is an SM7, so I raised the Lo a bit. If it were a Boss product, 7 would have been enough."

Carlos took the distortion pedal from Geon, checked it, and took out a notebook to record the settings.

"Whew, with the D drop tuning, Drive at 7.6 will sound really heavy."

After Carlos connected the distortion input jack and plugged it into his guitar, Kevin offered his guitar.

"What about me?"

Geon smiled quietly and shook his head.

"You find it yourself."

"Why!? Why am I the only one discriminated against?"

Geon’s expression turned serious as he spoke softly.

"That’s how you improve. I want to see Kevin become a proper bassist."

"Ugh... that pressure in your eyes! I’m doomed!"

Though he was being melodramatic, Kevin’s face brightened with a smile, knowing Geon’s warm intentions. The members tuned their instruments again and prepared as Geon rolled up the sheet music and clapped his hands.

"Let’s start with the bass and guitar together this time. Kevin, start with the bass solo in the first part. Carlos? Take a break and help Kevin find the right sound, it might take a while."

Carlos sat down on a folding chair without a word, putting his guitar down, and Ge

on turned to Kevin with a mischievous smile.

"So, my friend Kevin? Shall we go?"

"Ugh! Okay!! Damn it!"

"Let’s start."

As Kevin focused on his guitar strings, bowed his head, and lowered his body to start the groovy bass solo, Geon’s stern voice burst out.

"No!!! Kevin, the sound doesn’t match, raise the tone!"

After adjusting the tone and plucking a few strings, Kevin started playing again, only for Geon’s voice to erupt again.

"No!!! The first beat is off. Again!"

Thud-thud~

"No!!! Kevin, raise the middle more!"

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud~

"No!!! Kevin, lower the treble by 2 tones!"

Thud-thud-thud~

"No!!! Kevin, the pickup balance is off. Adjust it again!"

"Aaaaargh!! This guy’s worse than Carlos!!"

Carlos, who had been chuckling at the sight of Kevin screaming, stood up and gestured to José.

"We’re going to be up all night. Let’s go out for a snack."

Knowing his turn was next, José quickly followed Carlos out of the recording booth, sweating profusely.

>

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