bookbashuk Page 95
Page 95
Kana Eto's breathing slowed slightly, and she unconsciously raised her hand to gently touch her bangs, looking rather embarrassed.
"Hmm, I hadn't thought that much about it."
Watanabe Hama, completely oblivious to his own shortcomings, spoke with his usual coldness, much like a blunt child:
"Really? You didn't look too good. I thought you were worried about Kanzaki-san wanting to get into Class A, so I wanted to comfort you."
Kirishima Mai: "
Eto Kana: "..
9
"what happened?"
Seeing that neither of them spoke, Watanabe Hama tilted his head slightly, his serious expression making everyone chuckle.
"Is it not?"
That's true... but it would be best not to say it out loud... Kirishima Mai thought.
Kana Eto, her eyes fixed on Hama Watanabe's face, suddenly burst out laughing:
"I always thought Watanabe-senpai was the kind of person who didn't care about anything and only focused on practicing."
"That's just who I am, because other things are too troublesome."
Seeing her smile, Watanabe's expression became even more confused, and he asked Kirishima,
"Kirishima-senpai, what's so funny?"
"I...I didn't laugh?"
Kirishima Mayi blurted out this sentence in a daze, and then quickly explained,
"Perhaps Eto-senpai didn't expect Watanabe-senpai to be so cute."
"Cute? Me?"
As if hearing words that could never happen to her, Watanabe Hama became even more confused.
"Cute, cute! Watanabe-senpai is cute!" Kana Eto teased with a smile, as if trying to divert attention.
Watanabe Hama curled his lip and said directly, "Don't make fun of your senior!"
“Ugh—” Kana Eto immediately fell silent.
Meanwhile, in the bass classroom.
The high-pitched sound of the metal pipe pierced the silence, and the booming bass vibrated the air in the classroom.
"Stop—" Kitahara Hakuba closed his fingers.
"Yes!"
The people in the vocal ensemble turned their gazes toward the girl who was calling out, and Yuka Isomoto, who almost developed PTSD from the word, immediately blushed.
She smiled apologetically, then stared intently at the sheet music, looking somewhat embarrassed.
It wasn't just her; the other girls' expressions weren't good either, and even Saito Haruka's expression was somewhat subtle.
"Is this technique still too difficult for everyone?"
Kitahara Hakuba gently stroked his chin, gazing thoughtfully at the girls before him.
Euphonium, double bass, tuba, there are always five people.
In the conflict section of the free verse, there is a technique of collective fluttertongue on the brass instruments, which is a plosive technique, and the purpose is to enhance the tension.
Raising the overall volume is not easy because everyone's lung capacity is different, which causes breathing to occur at different times, and subtle differences can easily appear.
This can easily affect the overall sound. Raising the volume while maintaining stability between different parts is extremely difficult for a wind instrument ensemble.
After all, judges are devils who scrutinize every detail. It might be a bit easier at the Hakodate regional tournament, but at the national tournament, even the slightest mistake could cost you the gold medal, let alone at the national tournament.
"Try to achieve synchronized breathing; you'll have to find that feeling for yourselves."
Kitahara Hakuba turned his gaze to Saito Harutori and said,
"Minister Saito, you will lead everyone through this section. Now, let's continue practicing."
Saito Haruka kept her mouth closed, not saying a word, only nodding.
At his instruction, the members of the bass section turned to the score and heard the sound of a metronome.
"Don't always look at the pointer and blow, otherwise the tuner will be meaningless. You have to rely on your own feeling to control it. Effort will not lie, but effort without thinking is a waste."
"Sometimes you not only have to play, but also listen carefully. You have to master the basics of root notes and listen to whether it is harmonious and whether there are any discordant parts."
"Timbre, atmosphere, emotion—if you carefully feel all of these, you'll realize that the structure of the score isn't without reason. Look here, in the modulation section, there's a quarter-note glissando, and in some high notes, there's a deliberate shift of 20 degrees."
The purpose of the sound separation is to create a sense of mystery.
When Kitahara Hakuba had free time, he would point and gesticulate on the members' sheet music. Some members' earlobes turned incredibly red, while others trembled in fright when a hand suddenly reached out.
In particular, a girl with long, dark brown hair would always be so startled that she would scream "Whoa!"
Only Saito Harukori seemed completely out of it, accepting Kitahara Hakuba's instructions with a blank expression.
With the end of the lunch break, the tuba part practice also came to an end.
“Saito-kun.”
Kitahara Hakuba called out to Saito Harukori, who was about to leave while clutching her euphonium.
"Hmm?" Saito Harutori didn't open her lips, but made a sound with her throat.
"It's about Kanzaki Eri. I've thought about it a lot, and I need to discuss this with the executives of the brass band."
"Eri?" Saito Harutori asked, somewhat surprised. "What happened to her?"
Kitahara Hakuba said without any concealment:
"She wants to get into the A-level editorship, which is very important. I'd like to hear your thoughts."
Saito Haruka's gaze involuntarily moved downwards, where the surface of the euphonium, painted with gold lacquer, revealed a fragile feeling that seemed ambiguous to a young girl.
"Why does Hui-li want to get into the A-level division?" she suddenly asked, "They made it sound so good before."
"I don't know," Kitahara Hakuba could only answer. "It's her own idea; she told me about it this morning."
"so...
Saito Haruka's slender white neck twitched slightly, and her legs beneath her skirt were very fair and tender. "Then let's just do it according to Eri and Kitahara-sensei's idea. What objections could I possibly have?"
Her words sounded subtly barbed, leaving Kitahara Hakuba unable to understand what he had done to upset her.
Is he still thinking about what happened that night at the music festival?
"After school, call Minister Yukawa to the music room. We need to talk." Kitahara Hakuba didn't say much to her, speaking directly in a teacher's tone.
Saito Haruka pressed her fingertips firmly against the hard tube, her slightly curled hair forming a waterfall at the edge of her vision.
"Ah."
←
After school in the afternoon, the exterior walls of the club building were tinged orange by the sunlight.
In the first music classroom, Sakurako Yukawa and Haruka Saito were already waiting.
A moment later, Kitahara Shiro opened the door, and immediately a pair of slender legs stepped inside, shuffling around on the sound-absorbing cotton. Her short skirt, as lively as her personality, revealed her flat figure even through her clothes.
The video is being viewed online by Tachibana Kuno.
"Teacher Kitahara, junior Kuno," Sakurako Yukawa greeted them quickly.
"Sorry I'm late, the last period was music class and it went overtime a bit," Kitahara Hakuba explained.
Kuno Tachibana struck a hammering pose, laughing as he said, "The triangle is quite difficult to hammer; I practiced for a long time."
The percussionists are truly remarkable.
When Saito Harutori saw her arrive, he immediately frowned, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated. His lips moved slightly, and then he asked politely:
"Did Kuno-senpai leave something here?"
"Things? We don't have any."
Kuno Tachibana's short hair, which swayed gently, emitted a sweet, subtle fragrance as she smiled wryly.
"Teacher Kitahara asked me to come along, otherwise I wouldn't be qualified."
Kitahara Hakuba explained:
"Since Kuno plays the trumpet So1i with the oboe, I think it's important to let her know who she should play with. Her opinion is crucial."
Kuno Tachibana tied the front part of his hair around his finger, narrowed his eyes meaningfully, and said:
"Oh no, it turns out I'm going to find Soli's other half. Kirishima-kun and Kanzaki-senpai are both amazing, but unfortunately, only one girl can win my heart... Oh no, I feel like I've become the center of the brass band."
":.:" Saito Harutori narrowed her eyes slightly, then finally sighed and smiled, saying, "Then why don't we call Kirishima-senpai and Eri over now, and have a little showdown together?"
Sakurako Kawai, dragging her long, three-pronged whip, quickly said:
"But isn't this a bit of a bad approach? It's not like we're the ones deciding how to change the oboe in section A... Besides, we should have informed Eto-senpai about this. If Eri really becomes the oboe Soli, Kirishima-senpai and Eto-senpai will definitely have to choose the best one again..."
After listening to Yukawa Sakurako's words, Kitahara Hakuba nodded and said:
"Minister Yuchuan, could you be more specific?"
After further investigation, Sakurako's throat twitched, and she thoughtfully rested her hand on her chin, saying with difficulty:
"Actually, this matter is also troubling me. Although everyone is usually very humble, as wind instrument players, especially for instruments like the oboe, pride is deeply ingrained. This Hakodate regional competition wasn't particularly difficult, so..."
?
Kuno Tachibana moved the steel tube chair next to the podium, sat down, rested her chin on her hands, looked at her, and said:
"So, the minister thinks maintaining the status quo is the best course of action? To let Kanzaki-senpai wait until the audition for the National Tournament?"
Chapter 101. 100. It has nothing to do with you.
Sakurako Yukawa lowered her eyes in a somber mood.
She felt she hadn't done a good job of balancing foresight and magnanimity, but the matter was indeed difficult to handle.
She had actually been thinking about how to solve this problem for a long time, but after several days, this was the only solution she could come up with.