Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 7



Only Krnovel

Episode 7. The Musical Instrument of the Famous Family (1)

“Can I try it?”

“Yes. The ones on display above are not allowed. Anything that says ‘demonstration possible’ is allowed.”

Even when guests come, there is no reaction.

Did the boss change?

I came in right away because the name was the same. There was only a young man sitting there, looking indifferent.

As I look at and touch each instrument, I find myself reminiscing.

This is the place that Taeju hyung, the long-haired bone, introduced me to. He said that anyone who touches a musical instrument should have at least one reliable instrument maker.

Even if it’s a memory, it’s not that long ago. But time is not kind to me.

– Hey, I’m here!

-Are you here?

-Can I hit it?

-Of course. You’re a future rock star. Hey, and if you play guitar, your customers will increase. It’s killing me just to hear it.

-Then give this to me.

– No, Emma. This is too expensive. And you have a Gibson. Tae-joo gave it to you, right?

-That’s salty.

―… … Right. Salty… … Easy.

And then that guy just laughed strangely.

-You’re a future rock star? Let’s just give it to him. I’ll promote him a lot later.

-Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll pay the original price.

-How much does it cost?

-1 million won.

-Okay. I’ll bring you money once I debut. Just wait.

-You’re the first.

-What?

-I wasn’t surprised when I heard the price.

– Are rock stars obsessed with money? Anyway, I promised. I will never sell it!

When I looked through my memories, I realized that the guitar I had been eyeing was gone.

It would be natural for there to be none.

It was only a year ago for me, but this musician must have been around for over 30 years.

Even if the owner changes, it would have already changed.

That guitar must have gone to its original owner.

[300,000 won]

I picked up an electric guitar that had a “demo ready” tag and went to where the demo amp was and plugged it in.

Glossy coding finish with white panel decoration on dark wood body.

The neck (the neck of the guitar) is a light wood color.

Probably maple wood.

Try gently pressing the guitar strings.

The line is a little thin.

Jiying-

Let’s lightly sweep the peak, and it will tell you my note.

It’s for beginners.

The tension is low, so it puts less strain on your hands.

The maple wood neck produces a somewhat bright sound, which helps to cancel out the noise typical of cheaper guitars.

“I miss you, Taeju hyung.”

To me, who had open ears but didn’t know anything about the guitar.

After the performance, he would always bring me here and let me touch this guitar and that guitar.

You need to know why expensive guitars are expensive and why cheap ones are cheap.

-Just because something is cheap doesn’t mean it’s all bad.

Because the unrefined, rough sound typical of cheap guitars comes across as a tone and provides a unique texture.

You’ll know once you try it.

-But you have to use a good one. Just like meeting a woman, you have to play a lot of new guitars to get to know the guitar well.

I can’t help but laugh again.

Everyone who does rock thinks they’re Mick Jagger. What’s wrong with a woman who’s all squeaky-shoey?

If the neighborhood dogs came running at him thinking he was a bone, he would run at them, but I don’t remember a single woman ever approaching him.

anyway.

When I hold the guitar, my body feels strong.

The thrill that spread from my hand quickly spread through my blood vessels throughout my body.

For me, the first song I play on electric guitar is always Highway Star by Deep Purple.

Because first love is unforgettable.

The pick in his left hand landed on the guitar.

And the word landing tickles the strings, making it seem colorless.

First love is ticklish.

Jiing―!

Jiing―!

Jiing―!

Keep the beat at regular intervals.

-Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk.

Between the gaps in the guitar, the sound of drum cymbals quickly inserts itself into the rhythm.

It’s only my ears that hear it, but it doesn’t matter.

Dong-sik is twenty-one years old.

It’s a light hit, but you can feel the power.

I feel the power and the tickling in my hands also gets faster.

Whining, honking, honking— honking, honking— honking, honking—!

First love is awkward and impatient.

Typical fast rock tempo of 8-beat, leaving no room for rest.

The clumsy man began to run wildly.

I don’t know what the other person is thinking.

If I knew that, it wouldn’t be my first love.

Sweat was dripping down.

I still lack stamina. I eat, exercise, and think about the future again.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to end things with regret right away. That’s not being a man.

As smooth as an 8-cylinder car speeding down the highway.

climax.

Speed!

It’s a chromatic rush.

Unlike the rushing hands, tears were welling up in the eyes.

It was foolish and regrettable.

I wonder why I let this go for half a year.

I regret the six months I put the guitar down as much as I regret the past 30 years.

Nice to meet you.

Deep Purple.

* * *

Mr. Oh Man-seok, the president of Myeongga Musical Instruments, who had been sleeping with his eyes closed, secretly opened his ears.

‘perhaps.’

Most of them end like this, though.

Just in case, the door to the space where President Oh Man-seok is resting is slightly open.

Because rock music is now getting closer to classical music.

All guys who play electric guitar play similar songs.

The song is obvious.

Deep Purple, Highway Star or Soldier of Fortune.

Nirvana.

AC/DC’s back in black.

Led Zeppelin.

Guns N’ Roses.

Hmm… … There are more. If I try to list them, they just keep coming to mind.

There’s nothing new, so in the end, these are songs you’ve heard thousands of times.

So, it was actually easy to distinguish the real exhaust.

I’ve heard it countless times, so I can’t tell which guy made a mistake, and even where and how wrong he was.

Which part is weak?

Those things were easy to find, even for those who weren’t experts or had exceptional ears.

It is a kind of standard presented to a world where rock has become stale.

Maybe it’s a curse.

The distinctive crisp sound of an electric guitar seeped in through the slightly open door.

It’s a song you know just by hearing the introduction.

Deep Purple, Highway Star.

‘You’re going in right away without even trying to catch the sound?’

As expected, I’m a beginner.

“huh?”

I slowly raised my upper body.

Just because everyone plays it doesn’t mean everyone can play it well.

It’s a good start.

I’m not following, I’m playing.

“You’re not a beginner…?”

I dragged the chair closer to the door. I couldn’t see the man through the open crack in the door. But the sound was a little clearer.

It’s not just a beginner level.

By this point, he is definitely a session musician or someone whose name is well-known among people who know a thing or two about guitar.

The taste was so good that I opened the door.

Then, a young man whose identity I had not known before appeared.

A slim body, long hair, and a height that looks a little over 180 cm. Because he is so thin, he looks taller.

“Left hand… … ?”

Sit on a chair.

The man playing the guitar with his eyes closed is using his left hand.

Oh Man-seok has only ever seen two people play guitar with their left hand since he was born.

One on the screen.

Another person directly.

One was a legend, the other was a kid who was clearly destined to become a legend.

“… … That’s ridiculous… … .”

Why don’t you play guitar with your left hand?

Well, that’s because everyone who tells you is right-handed.

Because all the guitar teaching materials in the world are based on the right hand.

Even if you’re left-handed, there’s no need to use your left hand.

The moment you learn, the guitar becomes right-handed.

So.

Playing guitar with your left hand means you started out ignorant.

A man who started out as an ignorant person and became a legend.

Jimi Hendrix.

Another little kid.

-Hyung! Can I try this?

That guy from 30 years ago, move on.

It was a short relationship, but it was intense, and I thought it would make me a star, but it disappeared without a trace.

“Why… why can I see Dong-ha?”

The young man, who had finally finished playing Highway Star, wiped his eyes with his thumb.

I can’t stand it.

Because it was just one song.

The seeds of doubt sprout. It’s inevitable because we’re human.

I wonder if it’s okay to practice this song like crazy.

Verification necessarily requires cross-repetition.

Of course, the more samples the better.

However, that doesn’t mean you can try playing all the songs.

So Oh Man-seok decided to ask for just one song.

Anyone can hit, but no one should hit.

The of the guitar world.

I absolutely must listen to Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven.

Oh Man-seok walked with brisk strides.

“student.”

The young man’s shining eyes stare at Oh Man-seok through his stray, untidy hair.

why.

Why does it feel familiar?

Here’s another reason to listen to Stairway to Heaven.

“If you don’t mind, can I request a song?”

The young man laughed at Oh Man-seok’s words.

“I thought you would stay.”

“Continue? Have you been here before?”

“Yes.”

Why didn’t I know?

Anyone who plays the guitar to this extent would definitely be curious.

“When did you say that?”

“About… 30 years ago?”

Oh Man-seok swallowed hard.

Because it was confirmed once again that the young man’s condition was not normal.

‘Ah… … I should have held back.’

“Song requests accepted.”

“I haven’t told you yet… … ?”

“It’s a feeling.”

“… … .”

“And that tone of voice, why is that? Does the tongue age too?”

“!”

Oh Man-seok took hesitant steps back.

This goes beyond just being cheap.

This guy is clearly crazy.

But for people who play music, if you ask them to choose between a kind person who is bad at music and a crazy person who can play the music to the end, they will obviously choose the latter.

Oh Man-seok, the president of Myeongga Musical Instruments, is also a musician.

If he had been a simple merchant, he would not have stayed in Paradise Shopping Mall until his hair turned white.

After the madman took a few breaths, he started waving his left hand over the guitar.

Oh Man-seok admitted it before the performance was even over.

Top 3 guitarists in Korea?

The world’s best guitarist?

Or, the world’s top 10?

I don’t know.

When I was younger, I used to rank the world’s guitarists by my own standards, but the more I learned about music, the more my standards became ambiguous.

Because once you surpass a certain level of performance, it becomes a matter of taste.

It just depends on your taste.

‘good night…….’

So, like it or not.

The distinction has become rather simple.

That doesn’t mean I can’t tell a truly good performance.

A truly great performance gives something to people.

Here and now.

– Boss! Please check the guitar strings here!

– Hey! Me first! Boss, how much will I get if I sell this? I’ll clean this up and… … Hey, how come that doesn’t work?

-Hyung, I’m performing in Itaewon this time. Come see it. You have to!

―Hey… … Isn’t this a snowball? Why are you glaring like that? Hey, don’t get angry! How are you going to run a business if you keep getting angry at customers?

The shapes of people blooming one by one before my eyes.

The interior of the famous musical instrument store, which is not that small, is crowded with people.

‘Is this a dream…?’

Oh Man-seok stopped rubbing his eyes.

Even if it’s a dream or an illusion, I want to see you for a little longer.

What the young man, who clearly wasn’t even born in the 1980s, presented to Oh Man-seok was a five-minute time travel.

Sometime in the 1980s, during the heyday of , when it was full of energy.

It is polite to give direct guidance to real musicians.

Even though he was young, Oh Man-seok asked politely.

“What about the guitar?”

“Cheap starter?”

“!”

I forgot about the good performance for a moment.

The fact that this young bastard’s rascal ate the Three Bonds and Five Relationships in a bowl.

“Still, it was better than I thought. Should I say it was a setting that covered up the weakness?”

I was about to say, “What does that young guy know…?” but held back. This kid seems to know something.

Then, without even being asked to do so, he entered the room, his body like a turtle, and looked around.

So, Oh Man-seok had no choice but to chase after them like a frivolous salesman rather than a dignified guide.

‘This kid… … If only he really couldn’t play the guitar… … .’

I’m just barely able to find my composure.

“Found it… … !”

What did you find?

I peeked my head out from the side of a tall young guest.

“Ah! Ah, that’s not for sale!”

Although he was struggling, the young man had already taken out his guitar and put it on his body.

Body in a beige tone close to white.

Symmetrical Gibson.

This is SG 1967 custom.

“You’ve finished storing it.”

“!”

Oh Man-seok’s flailing hands stopped and a hint of pride appeared on his face.

Old guitars die from moisture.

If it’s too dry, it will crack.

However, if it is too humid, it will die sooner.

Because the neck gets bent and the string gets rusty.

It is an inherent limitation of wood.

So, storing didn’t mean simply putting it in a warehouse.

Because it takes more time and effort than writing.

However, I appreciate you noticing, but this is still not it.

“It’s a reserved item, so I can’t.”

That was a little bit of romance that proved that the businessman Oh Man-seok still exists as a musician.

-This is mine, so don’t sell it!

-Okay, then debut. I can show off a little too.

A genius who suddenly disappeared right before his debut.

Other for moving.

“Oh. Seriously, why are you talking like that, really?”

The young man who had been so rude lifted my head, grabbed my hair, and then thrust his face in.

“… … !!”

That’s ridiculous.

“A million won. Right?”

A young man holding a card with his other hand.

It’s true that the original price was one million won… … but that was in the 80s.

This is now an item that has passed into the realm of the collection.

A SG 1967 Custom that has been kept this well would cost even 20 million won.

The reservation was made and the price was wrong.

But Oh Man-seok couldn’t take his eyes off the young man’s face and took the card from the man’s hand.

The hand holding the card is shaking.

There were many things I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t.

Because I was scared.

The door to the unknown is so scary that it’s scary to even look into it.

That guy from 30 years ago has the same face as back then.

The flinching when encountering something unknown.

However, the merchant’s soul overcame its fear for a moment.

“Two thousand five hundred horses… … .”

“hundred.”

“Two thousand… … .”

“hundred.”

“One thousand and seven… … .”

“hundred!”

Even without asking, it’s that kid.

The reality is zero, but the feeling is 100%.

“Just scratch it. Why do people become so annoying?”

The young man’s long, muscular fingers grab Oh Man-seok’s hand and scrape vigorously over the leader’s blade.

And then the payment receipt pops out.

“This is my guitar storage fee.”

“Ra,” he says, walking toward the demo room with his guitar in hand.