28 - Tuning the Ancient Melody
The next morning in BBG's dedicated practice room, Seongbin and Gyeongbin were exchanging ideas about new rap lyrics for their upcoming song.
Just then, Marvin, Kevin, and Robin strolled in together after a leisurely breakfast at the YK cafeteria. After cheerful greetings all around, Marvin glanced around and asked Gyeongbin, "Hey, Gyeongbin. Where's Suhyeon? He hasn't shown up yet?"
"He's probably in Studio 1 right now. I popped up there a bit ago to ask about these rap lyrics, but he was so deep in work that I just came back down."
"Work? What kind of work?"
"Something about needing to do some tuning."
"Tuning what?"
"I don't know the details."
"Hmm. Guess I should go check it out."
At Marvin's words, Robin chimed in. "I'll come with you."
A short while later, Marvin and Robin arrived at Studio 1 and cautiously opened the door. Inside, Suhyeon was wearing headphones, his hands flying across the console terminals as he worked busily.
As Marvin drew closer, he noticed a thick manual propped up next to the console desk, and on the desk itself lay a single A4 sheet of paper covered in Chinese characters and musical notes.
Marvin whispered to Robin, "What's that? What does it say?"
Robin widened his eyes in response. "You don't seriously think I know Chinese characters just because? I grew up in England same as you..."
"There are notes drawn on it like sheet music, so I figured you'd know."
Robin peeked at the paper and said, "I don't get the characters... but the notes just look like a basic octave scale marked out. Not really sheet music."
"But when did Suhyeon get so good with recording gear? Did you teach him separately?"
"No, this is the first time I've seen him touch it."
At that moment, Suhyeon pulled off his headphones, grinned, and approached them. "Sorry, sorry. I was wrapping up the last bit of work and didn't notice you guys right away. What brings you two up here together?"
Marvin replied, "We got curious about what you were doing."
"Me? Just tweaking some tuning. The melody in my head doesn't quite match the modern octave scale, so I've been working to align them."
At the word "melody," Robin asked in surprise, "A melody? Did you compose it yourself?"
"It's not exactly me composing from scratch... Just something that popped into my head, so I put it together. Figured it'd be good practice for mixing too."
Marvin eyed the paper on the desk and asked, "What's written on that? Doesn't look like sheet music."
"Hmm. To explain... have a seat first, both of you. Don't just stand there."
Moments later, the three settled into chairs and began talking.
"So, a few days ago, this tune started looping in my head. But it's from way, way back—like ancient times—so it doesn't line up at all with the octave we use now. That's what I've been adjusting."
Suhyeon picked up the paper mid-sentence and read aloud. "Guxian, Zhonglü, Ruibin, Huangzhong, Dalü, Taicu, Jiazong, Linzhong, Yize, Nanlü, Wuyi, Yingzhong."
"...What the hell is that?"
"The 12-tone scale used in ancient China. The song in my head is based on it, so to recreate it in modern music, I had to convert that 12-tone system to our octave first. But when I tried, it seemed impossible at first. Octave's got seven notes—do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, right? Matching 12 to 7 felt like a nightmare."
"Yeah, makes sense."
Suhyeon turned to Robin with a knowing smile. "But then I thought a bit more, and the solution hit me right away. You play piano, so you know. Octave's seven notes, but look at the keys—one octave has way more than seven, right?"
Robin's eyes lit up as realization dawned. "Oh! Right! If you count just the keys, it's 12. Five black sharps per octave, plus the seven whites—total 12."
"Exactly. Might be coincidence, but it means we can map that ancient Chinese 12-tone right onto a modern piano octave. I've been tuning each scale to the keys... and the final result is..."
Suhyeon paused for breath, glanced at the paper, and read. "Huangzhong to C, Dalü to C#, Taicu to D, Jiazong to D#, Guxian to E, Zhonglü to F, Ruibin to F#, Linzhong to G, Yize to G#, Nanlü to A, Wuyi to A#, Yingzhong to B. That's the tuning. Of course, ancient Chinese 12-tone and modern 12 aren't a perfect match. But after tweaking... it sounds pretty close to what I had in mind now."
Marvin watched Suhyeon, his face beaming with satisfaction, and asked, "So, what's the song that came out of it?"
Suhyeon's eyes grew distant, as if lost in memory, his voice soft and trembling slightly. "Moonlight Fills the Sky, Illuminating My Heart Melody."
It was back in my previous life, when I was 22. Up on Kunlun Mountain's slopes, camping out rough with Baek So-rin—the junior from Botam Temple, the 12th Sword Queen, three years my senior. She danced her sword dance and sang that song. The full moon hung bright that night, and in the scattering moonlight, she was breathtaking. I fell for her at first sight. But back then...
As Suhyeon sank deep into reminiscence, Marvin broke in. "Hmm. No clue from the title alone. I'd love to hear it though... Play it for us, Robin and me."
Suhyeon shot Marvin an involuntary glare for ruining the mood, but Robin suggested, "Why not call the other members from the practice room? We can all listen together."
Soon after, all of BBG gathered in Studio 1. Suhyeon explained to them. "This isn't a song I composed from nothing—it's one I pulled from my head and worked on. Converted an ancient Chinese 12-tone piece to modern octave and did a rough mix... It's not perfect yet, but it should be listenable. The instruments aren't all..."
Gyeongbin raised his hand mid-sentence. "Gyeongbin? What's up? Got a question?"
"If it's not your original composition, won't we get hit with plagiarism claims later?"
"Hmm. Bach died around 1750, right? The singer who performed this passed centuries before that, so no issue."
"Whoa, how do you even know a song that old?"
"Sigh. I heard it from the old man on the hill behind our house—the one who taught me martial arts every vacation."
"Wow, cool. So you recorded it yourself? Ever touched recording gear before?"
"Ha. First time for me too—hair just starting to grow on my head, first time out the gate. Yeah, I did the recording."
"Hair just starting...? What's that mean?"
"Means it's my damn first time! Gyeongbin, quit asking and just shut up and listen!"
"...Yes, hyung."
Moments later, the studio filled with the plucking of a stringed instrument—ding~ deedle-ding ding~—mingled with deep drum beats—dong~ dong~ doong—as the intro began. The music flowed on, gentle at first, then surging into turbulent midsection twists, building to a whirlwind finale before fading out.
Silence hung in the studio for a beat. Suhyeon, face slightly tense, looked around at the members. "So? Instruments aren't fully modernized yet, no cymbals on the drums so it feels a bit flat... but overall, what'd you think?"
Robin spoke up. "Not bad at all. Has a bit of a Chinese vibe, but arrangements can fix that. The finale especially—that's the highlight, and I loved it."
Marvin added, "Agreed, not bad. That instrument toward the end of the intro... the keeiiiing sound. Erhu, right? Don't know much about traditional music... but that ongoing wail really tugged at me. Something emotional there."
Gyeongbin shot his hand up. "Hyung! I got a question too."
"Sigh. Go ahead, Gyeongbin."
"The intro—ding~ deedle ding ding~ and..."
Just then, someone knocked lightly on the studio door.
- Knock knock knock
Everyone turned toward the sound.