As Alex stepped downstairs and felt the cool breeze, he calmly thought about it. Although he hadn't solved any real problems, he had still achieved his goal of seeking advice. At least he had clarified the priorities of the matter and no longer felt completely lost.
"Following Goodman's plan, the most important thing right now is to record the demo of the song'Secondhand Shop,' then submit it along with the sheet music to that Composers' Association for registration, and finally, find a reliable agent!"
Once he had made up his mind, he went ahead and did it. He found a phone booth with Yellow Pages, found ASCAP (Hereinafter referred to as the Composers' Association) number, and dialed it directly.
After a long wait, the call was finally connected. After the other party explained the purpose of the call, it was a series of transfers, waiting, transfers, and more waiting...
Taking advantage of this free time, he began to plan how to record a demo.
"As for the demo, I definitely can't handle the backing track. I'll have to ask someone for help... but forget it, I can't ask for help right now."
Alexander Slade was the lead trumpet player in the school band. He had a good musical foundation and could read music. It was this foundation, combined with the English he crammed after time-traveling, that allowed him to adapt the original song from the Thrift shop into a version suitable for this era. For example, he removed the inexplicable "shouting" at the beginning, replaced the electronic music, changed the incomprehensible jokes in the lyrics (which were very likely not present in this era), and added the white lead singer's self-deprecating "honky" and so on.
But that's not enough. Alex's musical sense is terrible right now, and his creative ability comes from a "heavenly cheat code." He knows what to do but not why. Recording a demo is part of the creative process, and if outsiders get involved, it's easy for flaws to be exposed.
Finally, someone in charge answered the phone. If it's just a simple filing, the basic process is very simple. The Composers' Association has an office in Chicago. Just make an appointment with them and go there to complete the procedures.
"Then record an a cappella demo. Time is tight, and the school has all the equipment, but it's a bit challenging. We have to give it a try no matter what. Ideally, we should finish it all in one day and take it to the archives tomorrow. If we can't finish it in time, then we'll just file the lyrics and music and ignore the demo."
He made an appointment with the other party for tomorrow afternoon, and then went to the flea market near Chinatown. He bought two blank cassette tapes and a very cheap plastic electronic watch with an LCD screen. It was a MIC brand-name product, CASIQ.
The morning passed quickly, and Alex felt a little hungry. He didn't dare to go into the nearby Chinese restaurants because they were too expensive. He finally found a roadside stall run by white people and bought a hot dog to fill his stomach.
"I spent too much money this morning. Sigh, I'm so poor... I guess I'm a disgrace to time travelers."
He hurried to the subway station, munching on a hot dog. He wondered when his cheat code would reappear, and he couldn't possibly put all his eggs in one basket. "Being a lawyer is pretty good. Even a down-on-his-luck lawyer like Goldman gets thirty-five dollars an hour for consultations, and sells two thin pages of papers for ten dollars… Maybe I should go down the legal path too? After all, lawyers are often seen as the American ruling class or their representatives. Once I've studied law, at least I won't be easily fooled."
He's only in ninth grade There's still plenty of time. Recording the demo is the most important thing. On the way, Alex kept tapping his hands on his legs and muttering to himself.
When he first transmigrated, he didn't care about the original musical talent of this body and couldn't appreciate rap songs that sounded like chanting. But he never expected that after struggling for credits for nearly a month, he would eventually have to work hard to regain his musicality and make a name for himself.
Back at school, he went straight to the music teacher's office.
"I feel very ashamed of my carelessness when the orchestra played together."
"Because of the improvement in my grades in other subjects, I relaxed my pursuit of music, and I regret it very much."
Please, please give me another chance!
"Yes, I wasn't feeling well this morning, so I took the day off. I'm feeling better now..."
"fine,
I'm fine now, completely healed. How about I dance for you?
"Um, I just wanted to borrow the instrument storage room and the equipment inside to record something..."
"No, no, am I the kind of person who would sneak away and have sex with a girl?"
"You overestimate me. I can't get leaves... or anything like that..."
"I truly apologize for the mistakes I made these past few days, and I swear I will practice hard and get back to my previous level as soon as possible."
"I used to be your main trumpet player, please give me another chance, teacher!"
"I promise I won't play a single wrong note again... Wow, where did you buy that necklace? It's so beautiful."
"Yes, it suits you very well..."
"To be honest, I think that Cheryl teacher's taste is really terrible... Yes, yes, yes, her hairstyle with such big earrings looks ridiculous."
She is no match for you at all!
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made such comments about other teachers behind their backs, but you know I'm just a straightforward person, I speak my mind..."
After showering the music teacher with compliments, I finally managed to get the key to the orchestra's small storage room.
I locked the door, put the newly bought cassette tape into the Sony dual cassette recorder, and then plugged in the Canadian-made metronome.
"I'm gonna pop some tags, only...ahem."
"I'm… no, no, let's record it again."
"I'm gonna…I'm gonna…Oh, I'm wrong again…"
Everything is difficult at the beginning, and there was nothing that could be done about making mistakes. Alex could only persevere. get out of class time had passed, club activity time had passed, and when the music teacher knocked on the door, this model youth had been forced onto the path of rap by some kind of cheat code.
The finished product was far from satisfactory, but it basically matched the score, so that was fine. In any case, it was just to protect the copyright ownership; artistic value was not within his consideration.
After thanking the music teacher, he rushed home. That evening, he took Tony outside and began to confront him.
"FXXXYOU!" Tony immediately flew into a rage upon hearing this, which was exactly what Alex had expected.
In Tony's eyes right now, the success of Lowry's debut album is imminent, a certainty that will undoubtedly happen. Lowry will become a star, Tony will be there to help, and then he can sit back and enjoy the good life. But this fifteen-year-old boy in front of him is holding a song he claims to have written and composed himself, saying he'll find a way to squeeze it into Lowry's new album!
This isn't called wishful thinking; this is called being greedy for money.
He believed that Alex was just jealous of Little Lowry's success and came up with an incredibly clumsy and ridiculous reason to try to get in and share the profits!
Being Little Lowry's sidekick and helping him spend money is one thing, but infiltrating Little Lowry's core business and splitting the profits is another. Tony may not be a good student, but he's not stupid at all.
"You're a piece of scum! How the hell could I have a brother like you? If you weren't my brother, believe me, believe me, I'd rip your head off!" Tony grabbed Alex by the collar, lifting him off the ground. "You... how did you become so greedy... so stupid... I knew something was wrong with you a long time ago. Where did the old Alex go?"
"Hey! Hey..."
Alex hadn't expected Tony to react so strongly; it seemed he really valued his brotherhood with Lowry. "Don't be impulsive, let me explain, you'll understand!"
"Speak!" Tony put him down.
"Well, first of all, I could have chosen not to tell you this beforehand. My original plan was to find an opportunity to meet with the owner of Little Lowry's Music Company first, but I decided to tell you first because you are my brother and I respect you."
"Secondly, without my single, Lowry's new album would never have been successful, because that day I overheard a conversation between Lowry's manager and the record company boss..."
"Seven thousand cassettes for the first release, no vinyl records, no digital CDs, just seven thousand cassettes... Is this what a successful album should look like?"
"Why would I lie to you? The truth will come out soon enough."
"Put aside all friendship and emotional factors, and stick to the facts, tell me, out of the dozen or so songs on Little Lori and Al's album, which one is good? Which one looks like it could become a hit?"
"His debut album only sold 7,000 copies. Is there any chance he'll release a second album? If his debut album loses money and he doesn't have the chance to release a second album, how will he support you and Silencer'? Besides, he also has AK and El..."
"Yes, yes, I've changed. I've become more calculating, but this change is definitely a good thing for our family! I want to leave this awful place just like you. Do you want to stay in this awful place forever?"
"The inspiration for this song came from the last time I went to a thrift store, which was the day we were shooting the music video..."
"Of course! I guarantee you, this song of mine will absolutely, absolutely, absolutely be a hit!"
"Have you forgotten that I'm the lead trumpet player in the school band?"
"Okay, you don't have to believe me, and I didn't expect you to believe me anyway, but anyone who really knows the stuff will understand immediately."
"Would you like to hear it first? Sure, I recorded a demo."
After a day of talking and singing, Alex's voice was hoarse, but he finally managed to convince Tony to believe him half-heartedly and get through the ordeal for now.