pertwk Page 16
Page 16
There are nine sections in the brass section. By the time Kitahara Hakuba finished practicing with each section in the afternoon, it was already 5:20 p.m.
I thought that after the afternoon session, only Kirishima Mai would be left, but I didn't expect there to be two more people.
Goto Yu and Nagasawa Mia practiced for a year, but since they didn't have any musical instruments, they could only practice with reeds first.
Kitahara Hakuba looked out the window.
When he was in school, he loved the twilight. He loved the sky at dusk, when the whole world would be dyed a honey color by the setting sun.
A gentle breeze blew in through the open window, pattering the sheet music piled on his beechwood table.
Upon seeing this, Kirishima Mai quickly got up and pulled the window shut most of the way, leaving only a small gap.
“pu——”
Hearing Goto Yu's duck-like quack, Kitahara Hakuba stared at her with his slightly brownish eyes.
“The three of you are not very good at the basics, so start by practicing the basics, mainly breath control, tone, pitch, and rhythm. Proper breathing and abdominal muscle support are crucial for playing wind instruments.”
Nagasawa Mia pressed her reed close to her lips and said, "Kitahara-sensei, how far do I need to go to play this reed before I can really play the instrument?"
"Once you've mastered long notes, scales, and glissando from low to high notes, it will be much easier to play musical instruments."
Kitahara Hakuba took out his reed as he spoke.
"Actually, playing the whistle is very simple. Even someone with no experience in music theory can play an octave."
Before long, he played a series of long notes that went from low to high, leaving the three of them speechless.
"Amazing--"
Kirishima Mai's body trembled involuntarily. She didn't know why this was happening, but she simply felt happy that there was such a great teacher in the club.
"Kirishima, the oboe is more difficult than other instruments; it requires opening the jaw to create a resonating cavity within the breath."
"...Resonance chamber?" Kirishima Mai looked at him blankly.
"Hmm... It feels like you have a big mouthful of water in your mouth."
Kitahara Hakuba raised his hand, indicating the direction of his exertion, and said...
"The breath doesn't go directly into the reed, but rather along the soft palate above, then into the nasal cavity, and even up to the forehead."
Not only did Kirishima Mai not quite understand, but the other two didn't understand either.
"Just try blowing it out, you'll figure it out slowly," Kitahara Hakuba said with a smile. "Remember what I said, start with the C major scale."
With a look of utter disbelief, Kirishima Mai tilted her head to the side, inserted the reed into the oboe, and took it into her small cherry lips.
She wanted the tone she could produce to overlap with Kitahara Hakuba's model, or at the very least, to gradually narrow the gap between them.
But Mr. Kitahara could produce a warm and full tone simply by blowing the whistle.
In Kirishima Mai's mind, she pictured the music he was playing for her, slowly blowing out long notes while inhaling, aware of her abdomen.
Pay attention to your mouth shape, as if you've taken a big gulp of water, and mentally tap out the rhythm from middle C to high C.
In the quiet classroom, the sound of the oboe rang out smoothly, its mellow and solid tone astonishing the listeners.
The particles of sound gradually dissipated from the classroom, and the atmosphere suddenly became restless. Kitahara Hakuba could sense that Kirishima Mai was holding her breath.
[Level Up]
[Character: Kirishima Mai, lv+1, currently lv5]
[Member promotion reward: 40,000 yen]
Even Kitahara Hakuba hadn't expected that in just a few tens of minutes, Kirishima Mai would master the lip-syncing exercises and play them so well.
Is this the true value of an S-rank member? The experience they absorb is astounding.
"Teacher Kitahara... what am I doing?" Kirishima Mai was stunned.
Kitahara Hakuba nodded quietly in agreement: "Great, your energy is beyond your imagination."
After receiving affirmation, Kirishima Mai herself became excited and couldn't control her mouth, which remained slightly open for a while.
“But compared to the others in the vocal section, she is still somewhat lacking, especially Kanzaki Eri.” Kitahara Hakuba quickly poured cold water on her.
Kirishima Mai nodded vigorously at his words. She had heard Kanzaki Eri play the oboe before, something she couldn't catch up to overnight.
"Then what should I do next?" she asked hurriedly, her eyes revealing her anxiety.
Kitahara Hakuba knew that she really wanted to join Squad A.
"You should start by practicing the basic scales. You need to practice the low, middle, and high registers. Take the practice schedule I sent this afternoon back with you."
"Ok."
Next, Kitahara Hakuba went to the classroom where Goto Yu and the other two were to provide guidance. Their basic skills were even worse than Kirishima Mai's, and even at 6:30, they still couldn't play the correct pitch using the reed.
A is indeed no match for S; these two probably need to practice for a while longer.
-
After hanging the club key in the office, Kitahara Hakuba left the school.
Thanks to Kirishima Mai, he made a little money today, so he's going to treat himself to a nice meal tonight.
He went to the supermarket near his rented apartment and bought a small box of discounted beef slices nearing their expiration date, a bag of shrimp balls, and a large bottle of barley tea.
When I was about to pay, I noticed that the cabbages on the vegetable shelf were very white and looked rather strange.
Moreover, the base is round, like a large, erotic vulva with its back to him sticking out its buttocks, tempting him to buy it.
No, I have to buy it back and punish it properly. I'll strip it naked and blanch it in water.
Carrying his shopping bags with satisfaction, Kitahara Hakuba took out his phone, then suddenly remembered something.
Haruka Shinomiya's house is nearby, just across the street from here.
"If you encounter any difficulties at school, you can come to me."
Her words echoed in Kitahara Hakuba's ears once again. He had indeed encountered some problems, namely, there were too many people in the department.
There are only three weeks left before I have to go to Hokkaido to participate in a music festival, but the instructions for marching performance have not yet been finalized, and the system does not provide him with any knowledge of the dance steps involved.
Moreover, he barely has time to train his members, let alone spare time to teach marching band.
Thinking of this, Kitahara Hakuba looked at the shopping bag in his hand, then went back to the supermarket and bought a few more boxes of sliced beef and a few more bottles of beer.
If you walk along the straight street for a while, you will see a musical instrument store.
It's not very big; from the outside, it only looks like two floors. On the second floor, various musical instruments are displayed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the lighting is a cool brown color.
Kitahara Hakuba arrived at the double glass door, where a small sign hung on the handrail indicating the opening hours.
8:30 AM to 8:30 PM.
Just as Kitahara Hakuba was worried about whether he would disturb them, he could see Shinomiya Haruka walking over and opening the door through the glass door with a notebook in her hand.
"Kitahara? Why are you just staying at the door and not coming in?"
Shinomiya Haruka suddenly moved closer, and Kitahara Hakuba couldn't help but lower his eyes. She had a pleasant scent that the girls at school never had.
Kitahara Hakuba gave a wry smile and said:
"It's nothing, I just came to check on things. You're busy."
"Hey--"
Shinomiya Haruka sighed dejectedly, glaring at him with a hint of resentment.
"That's why you've never had a girlfriend all these years of college, understand?"
Chapter 19. It's the taste of mom.
“You don’t have a boyfriend either,” Kitahara Hakuba retorted.
Shinomiya Haruka pursed her lips, turned and walked inside, muttering to herself:
"I wonder who did this..."
"You're being framed so you can't date? If that's the case, then fight back." Kitahara Hakuba followed her into the music store.
"Do you want to hear what you're saying?"
Shinomiya Haruka put the notebook into the drawer, then walked to the door and flipped over the business hours sign hanging on the armrest—
"Closed for business~~"
Kitahara Hakuba raised his wrist to check the time; there was still about an hour until 8:30 PM.
He was shocked.
This woman was actually willing to waste an hour of the business's operating time for him...
"You're not off work yet, are you?" Kitahara Hakuba asked.
"It's alright, we haven't had any business for two days anyway." Shinomiya Haruka raised her hand and smoothed a strand of hair beside her bangs. "Come with me."
"where to?"
"You bought all this stuff because you wanted to have dinner with me, didn't you?"
Kitahara Hakuba was taken aback upon hearing this, then quickly pulled out the ingredients from the bag and said:
"I remember you seem to really like beef, so these are for you."
"Tsk——"
"You're speechless, aren't you?!"
“I haven’t eaten yet. You must have just come back from school, right? Come in and eat with us.” Shinomiya Haruka beckoned to him and walked inside.
Kitahara Hakuba didn't answer. He had only come to give her a gift, and had even prepared to buy her some nice cosmetics instead if she didn't like them.
But he really didn't dare to think about staying for dinner.
Haruka Shinomiya lives on the third floor of the music store, in a 1LK layout, where the living room feels a bit empty.
There was only a table, no sofa, just chairs, and a table for eating. That was all.
Asking about her room? Kitahara Hakuba didn't dare go in at the moment.
"Wow, you bought so many boxes of Matsusaka beef rolls, you must have spent a lot of money, right?" Shinomiya Haruka kept rummaging through the shopping bags like a cat.
Kitahara Hakuba sat obediently in the chair, looking at her and saying: