At this time, Nie Er was very young, only 22 years old, but he had already become the director of the music department of China's largest record company. He could definitely be regarded as a young talent.
Thinking of what happened to Nie Er, Zhou Hexuan felt extremely sorry.
Historically, Nie Er will die next year and unfortunately drowned while swimming in Japan. Although he only lived 23 years old and died young, he left a precious legacy to China, the March of the Volunteers.
Li Kaisheng said to Nie Er: "Zi Yi, Mr. Zhou wants to record a few records. You will be responsible for it yourself."
We will take care of it." Nie Er said with a smile.
Li Kaisheng turned to Zhou Hexuan and said, "Mr. Zhou, I will go to the legal department to get the contract first. Please wait a moment."
Zhou Hexuan nodded and said, "Please."
When Li Kaisheng left the office, Nie Er said enthusiastically: "Mr. Zhou, please sit down. What song do you want to record? Have you brought the music score?"
"Do you have a book of music scores here?" Zhou Hexuan asked.
Nie Er immediately took out a music book from the drawer, handed it to Zhou Hexuan and said, "Mr. Zhou has studied music before? Your song "On the Songhua River" is very good."
"Amateur." Zhou Hexuan smiled and quickly wrote the lyrics and music of three songs: "Orchid Grass", "On the Songhua River" and "Swan Geese".
Nie Er was surprised: "Record three songs at once?"
The number of three songs is not a lot. Vinyl records during the Republic of China often only contained two songs (front and back).
The oldest 78-rpm vinyl record can only record 4 minutes per side. The 45-rpm vinyl record takes a little longer, but each side is about 10 minutes. These two records are mainstream in the market and are relatively cheap.
Just three years ago, Radio Corporation of America developed a 33 and one-third rpm LP record, which allowed the recording limit on each side of the record to reach 18 minutes (raised to 22 minutes in the 1950s). This type of record became the standard for the future.
Vinyl was still released on the market until the 1980s.
Nie Er said: "The number of three songs is embarrassing. It's a bit of a waste of record space."
Zhou Hexuan didn't understand the current market situation and asked: "What's the situation?"
Nie Er explained with a smile: "Based on the standard of 5 minutes for a song, if you choose a 45 rpm record, you can record four songs on the front and back. If you choose an LP record, you can record six songs on the front and back. Otherwise,
How about you add one more song and make a 45 rpm record?"
"Let me think about it." Zhou Hexuan immediately began to think deeply.
Zhou Hexuan does not intend to plagiarize the song "March of the Volunteers". This is out of respect for the original author, because it will be released in a few months. And maybe Tian Han has already written the lyrics at this time. In case of a car crash,
It's so embarrassing.
"My Motherland" is the most suitable. This song can be called the originator of Chinese pop music. In the future, several Taiwanese musicians will set off a national pop trend in Taiwan after secretly listening to "My Motherland".
The revolution of joy.
However, "My Motherland" is suitable for female singing. Zhou Hexuan felt that it was a bit unplayable and could only give up temporarily.
As for "Serving the Country with Loyalty", perhaps it would be better to release it after the outbreak of the all-out Anti-Japanese War, and it could be used as a recruitment song.
Zhou Hexuan thought about it again and again, and felt that "The Great Wall Will Never Fall Down" was the most suitable. After all, the Anti-Japanese War against the Great Wall had just been fought last year, and it was completely defeated. The title of the song "The Great Wall Will Never Fall Down" is very meaningful.
Although the original version of "The Great Wall Will Never Fall" was sung in Cantonese, because the lyrics are highly written and the rhyme and rhyme completely conform to Mandarin habits, the song can be sung in Mandarin without changing every word.
Zhou Hexuan immediately started writing and said while writing: "This is a song I wrote when the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War ended last year."
Nie Er immediately came over to watch, and saw Zhou Hexuan writing the lyrics first:
After sleeping for hundreds of years, the people of our country are gradually waking up.
Open your eyes and look carefully,
Who is willing to admit himself as a captive?
Because of timidity and tolerance,
People's arrogance is growing day by day.
Scream, shout loudly,
Here the whole country is in arms,
Robbers have always wanted to invade,
Eventually he will die.
The Great Wall will never fall,
Thousands of miles of Yellow River water surges,
Beautiful mountains and rivers, colorful peaks and ridges,
Ask me how my country is infected with the disease?
Break away from the bloody road and wave your hand,
We must be committed to national rejuvenation,
Should we let our country be trampled upon again?
Everyone takes up the mission
…
Should we let our country be trampled upon again?
This sleeping lion is gradually waking up!"
When he saw the two sentences "The Great Wall will never fall, and the Yellow River will flow thousands of miles", Nie Er's blood surged all over his body. He couldn't help but clapped his hands and praised: "Mr. Zhou wrote good lyrics!"
"What good lyrics?" Li Kaisheng suddenly came in.
Zhou Hexuan asked: "Have you got all the contracts?"
Li Kaisheng explained: "It has been drafted and is being printed by the typist."
Nie Er pointed to the song book and said excitedly: "Manager Li, look at this song about the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War written by Mr. Zhou. The lyrics are really good."
Li Kaisheng tilted his head curiously, and his eyes suddenly sparkled. This song is different from "Songhua River". The latter makes people sad and angry, but the former can arouse the fighting spirit of countless people. It will definitely sell well if it is recorded.
.
After Zhou Hexuan finished writing the lyrics, he began to write the simplified musical notation according to the lyrics, and said with a smile: "Manager Li, the 25% of the record royalties are not a loss, right?"
"No loss, no loss," Li Kaisheng said happily, "but I have to ask someone to change the contract and include the song "The Great Wall Will Never Fall" into the contract."
Li Kaisheng immediately left the office and ran to the legal department to ask someone to change the contract, while Nie Er looked at the musical score and started humming softly.
When Zhou Hexuan finished writing the score, Nie Er couldn't help but admire it: "Mr. Zhou, singing this song makes even me want to go to the front line to fight against Japan."
"That's the best. If everyone rises up to resist, China will win." Zhou Hexuan said.
Nie Er is also a Communist and officially joined the party last year. He feels that this song should be taken back and widely publicized among comrades.
Zhou Hexuan handed the lyrics and music of the four songs to Nie Er and said, "Director Nie, when can the arrangement be completed?"
"The arrangement of four songs," Nie Er thought for a while and said, "maybe in a week."
The arrangements during the Republic of China were very simple, not as complicated as they were a few decades later. They basically only used the simplest instruments, and were not as fancy as later generations.
The main reason is that technology is underdeveloped. Before the invention of various electronic equipment, song recording required live accompaniment by a band. If the arrangement was too complicated, many problems would arise, and good results might not be achieved.
In this era, there are no sound engineers at all. A singer whose singing skills are not up to par will be immediately exposed as soon as he enters the recording studio. Similarly, it also requires a lot of cooperation between the singer and the band. If he makes any mistakes, he has to start over again.
If the arrangement of the song is too complex, it may take a month to record a song.
Zhou Hexuan said: "I happened to go to Fujian for some business and will come back in a week."
"Looking forward to Mr. Zhou's singing." Nie Er said with a smile.
There are a lot of monsters these days, and "cross-border singers" like Zhou Hexuan are nothing. For example, Dai Jitao, Chang Kaishen's think tank, veteran of the Kuomintang, and examination dean, is a master of music. He not only wrote the national anthem of the Republic of China
He wrote lyrics and composed music for some "popular songs" himself.
When Zhou Hexuan's album is released, it may cause a sensation, but it will never be too surprising.