Ning Weimin used this empty-handed method to operate a project worth millions, which was a huge advantage.
Of course, it can't be said that he didn't show off his tricks.
At least the cost of renting the recording studio, as well as the labor fees for the Seven Plywood Band, as well as the food, drinks, tobacco and alcohol for the recording engineer, were all paid out of his own pocket.
But compared to the cost of producing tapes, this is nothing. How much does it cost?
What's more, Feng Chaonian had the reputation to rent the recording studio at a friendly price with a 10% discount.
A studio only costs 90 yuan, and the charge for post-mixing is only 200 to 1,000 yuan.
It happened that there were no other audio-visual publishers renting the recording studio recently, so Ning Weimin booked it for two weeks, which was less than 20,000 yuan.
In fact, it is useless at all, and it is enough for Zhang Qiang.
To put it more philistinely, since this was his first album, Ning Weimin had a wider range of songs to choose from. He didn't even look for the lyricist, but just picked them from the ready-made cassettes of the singers in Baodao.
Don’t forget, Baodao not only has excellent original songs, but these are the times when you copy them, I copy them, and everyone else copies them.
The Baodao singer himself has sung many covers of European and American disco songs, and his lyrics are very good.
You can use it directly, which completely saves trouble.
For example, Liu Wenzheng's "Flying Ship", "Late", Feng Feifei's "Love Me Well", "Applause", "Shala La" changed from the Danish Walkers band's "SHALALA", and the Swedish ABBA band's "gimme gimme gimme"
"Annoying Autumn Wind" modified by "Mamma Mia", "A Fire in the Winter" modified by the Irish female singing group Nolans "Sexy Music", and Zhang Qiang's version of Ning in her previous life
The song "It's Hard to Say I Love You" that Weimin is a fan of is all within Ning Weimin's selection range.
It is enough to see that in terms of style control, for the sake of safety, Ning Weimin adopted a half-and-half strategy in selecting songs.
It can be said that five of the songs are covers of Baodao originals in order to fit in with contemporary public aesthetics.
The other five songs are covers of European and American disco to test market reaction and try to lead the trend.
Most of the important songs are songs with a bright rhythm. Generally speaking, I still prefer the dance music style, which is more suitable for the expressive power of Zhang Qiang's unique voice.
In short, save money, trouble, time and effort.
Once the Seven Plywood Band and Zhang Qiang are familiar with each other and the usage time of the recording studio is determined, they can be dragged into the studio to start practicing.
So one afternoon in late April, the Seven Plywood Band, Zhang Qiang, her daughter, and Ning Weimin gathered in the recording studio of the National Center for the Performing Arts.
This was the best recording studio in the country at the time, but despite this, the equipment was purchased in the 1970s and could not handle the gate mixing and plate reverb that are now popular in Europe and the United States.
The method still used in the 1970s was to pile speakers in the corner and put a bunch of microphones next to the instruments.
So the effect is that the sound of some musical instruments, such as drums, will be very dry.
But this can only be done, after all, even the concept of a recording studio is new.
When Ning Weimin decided to rent a professional recording studio, he heard Feng Chaonian say that apart from the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, there was also a Beijing Audio Equipment Factory with barely adequate equipment.
In fact, many audio and video publishing houses buy their own equipment and just find a room to record.
Because there is no shock-absorbing and sound-absorbing treatment.
The tapes they recorded using this crude method cannot even guarantee the purity of the sound and the absence of noise, let alone the mixing effects.
Why else would everyone be willing to buy imported tapes even if they cost six and a half yuan?
Domestic tapes are cheap, selling for only 5.5 yuan, but everyone still complains.
Just because of the technical level of recording, the sound quality is really different.
To put it bluntly, if Ning Weimin is willing to spend this recording studio money, it is already considered a big production in China.
And having said that, Ning Weimin really doesn't understand. He has never been in a professional recording studio.
When we entered the studio, we saw that the place was quite big, several hundred square meters, and there were wires and equipment everywhere. The recording studio was full of speakers and microphones, and it was very lively.
He felt that they were quite professional and were willing to pay the IQ tax.
Zhang Qiang's mother and the people from the Seven Plywood Band were fine. After all, they were all professionals and had experience in studios.
So the only person who can rival Ning Weimin is this little girl Zhang Qiang.
She was also curious about everything she looked at. She looked around with her eyes wide open, so full of novelty that she didn't even care when Ning Weimin asked her to drink water to moisten her throat.
But once I tried singing, it was completely different.
Perhaps it was because newborn calves were not afraid of tigers, so Zhang Qiang was not nervous at all, only excited.
She followed the instructions and put on her big headphones, and as the plywood band played, the sound of the little voice lit up, shocking the sound engineers who were guarding the console outside the soundproof glass.
The person who listens to songs every day is actually dumbfounded.
Ning Weimin, you can clearly see that one person's face was obviously excited, and the other person also hummed softly.
The leader, although very calmly, began to control the "vocal effector" to make various adjustments - this is a sound quality hardware tuner, which was widely used before software tuning became mainstream.
But he couldn't help but ask Ning Weimin, "Brother, which song and dance troupe are you from? What a treasure. This girl's voice is so awesome, she doesn't need to repair it at all..."
"We are not from a song and dance troupe..." Ning Weimin glanced at Zhang Qiang's mother, smiled, and deliberately complimented her. "But she also has professional guidance..."
Zhang Qiang’s mother also smiled with a pleased expression.
But unexpectedly, the sound engineer immediately retorted. "No way, how can a professional teach you like this! I have seen many professionals, everything from bel canto to folk songs. I listened too much and just wanted to sleep. But this little kid just wants to sleep."
This girl is so different, absolutely unique in China, this voice, this feeling, this is a miracle on earth!"
After saying this, this person stopped paying attention to anyone, and even began to hum and squirm.
As soon as I saw it, I was completely immersed in it.
"…………"
Ning Weimin and Zhang Qiang's mother were both shocked. They looked at each other, smiled, shook their heads, and stopped talking.
The official start of recording went very smoothly, and we successfully recorded three songs on the first day.
With professional equipment and professional guidance, even Zhang Qiang herself didn't want to stop once she started singing. She felt so selfless that her body was shaking slightly.
In the end, Ning Weimin took the initiative to discuss with Zhang Qiang's mother, saying that after all, the days are still long, don't hurt your voice, take it easy, and sing slowly in the future.
Then he called to stop.
So with Zhang Qiang's mother's trust greatly increased again, Zhang Qiang reluctantly walked out of the recording studio.
But as soon as she left the recording studio, her selfless energy disappeared in an instant, and she actually became anxious.
"Brother Ning, is there something wrong with my singing? You...are you not satisfied?"
I bet she thought it was because she wasn't good at singing.
Ning Weimin immediately praised, "The singing was great!"
As for what a good method was, he didn't study music deeply and couldn't tell, but it just sounded right to him and he liked it very much.
Fortunately, the sound engineer was also very supportive and gave Zhang Qiang a thumbs up. "That's right! That's great! Your voice is like a tidal wave, it's a huge shock wave! In my experience, as soon as your tape comes out,
Guaranteed to be a hit! Hey, can you give us a few dishes?"
Even Zhang Qiang's mother was so moved, she nodded her head, wiped the tears from her eyes, and said softly, "Good singing, my daughter is great!"
Now Zhang Qiang was relieved. The silly girl didn't know how to be modest and could only laugh silly.
After that, of course, Zhang Qiang’s mother once again expressed her gratitude to Ning Weimin for his insight into people.
Ning Weimin was also very satisfied. He felt that he had almost caught the tail of the windfall, so he just slipped out and put it in his pocket.
The only problem was the mood of the Seven Plywood Band. When the guests were invited to dinner, Ning Weimin noticed that something was wrong with those boys, especially Cui Jian, who was in a low mood.