During the recording process, the sound coming through the headphones of the singer/musician is called the "wet sound." This includes the accompaniment and the vocal melody, and it's usually the master track. This is to ensure that the person recording can listen to the accompaniment, stay on beat and in tune, and then sing or play into the recording microphone.
At this point, what the recording microphone picks up is the "dry sound." This is recorded into the computer, meaning the recording engineer at the sound console gets a purely clean sound, ensuring there's no extra interference or noise, and also ensuring they capture the singer's original voice without any modifications or adjustments.
This is also known as "listening wet and recording dry."
It's precisely because of this that the recording studio fully and clearly presents all the sounds of the performance and singing, exposing every advantage or disadvantage in the vocal delivery and performance, leaving nowhere to hide.
In the globally popular talent show "American Idol," the famous judge Simon Cowell created many famous quotes. One classic jab was "This is just karaoke level." The corresponding praise was "This is recording studio quality."
So, what's the difference?
In karaoke, the sound of the accompaniment is too loud, drowning out the performer's singing. The two key factors for measuring singing ability, timbre and rhythm, are almost impossible to discern. Even the pitch might have imperceptible deviations, so it's naturally impossible to recognize the performer's true level.
As a result, karaoke often gives people the illusion of being a "singing king/queen." Even people who are completely tone-deaf can create the feeling that their "performance isn't that bad" by simply increasing the volume. As for rhythm, pitch, and timbre, they are all completely submerged in the accompaniment.
But the environment of a recording studio leaves performers with absolutely nowhere to hide. It amplifies the sound even more than a cappella, even harshly exposing every tiny flaw, especially rhythm and pitch. Even the lowest standards of a recording studio can already be considered professional performer level.
Of course, what Simon Cowell was referring to was the "recording studio level without computer-aided vocal correction."
It's not just about singers; the same applies to band performances.
For professional singers and amateurs, the differences in performance skills are very complex, including singing techniques, breathing techniques, vocalization techniques, and so on. But one very crucial skill is rhythm, which is also one of the biggest differences between karaoke and a recording studio.
Karaoke singing has no rhythm. The performer follows the flow of the accompaniment, and details are often lost in the noisy clutter, but it's not easily noticed. However, a recording studio performance is "dry." If the performer doesn't grasp the rhythm, the song's flow will become fragmented, even chaotic. The collapse of the overall framework and flow is unavoidable, and then the performance is a complete disaster.
This is even more obvious in band performances.
Some singers, blessed with natural talent, have an innate sense of rhythm even without learning. For them, there's no need for separate rhythm practice before working in a recording studio. But band performances require even stricter standards, just like the rhythm pursued in the movie "Whiplash."
Whether the beat is rushed or dragged, the emphasis on strong and weak beats, the fullness of emotion, the degree of dynamic variation – all of this can be clearly displayed in the recording studio space. This is the key to how an ordinary performer becomes a good performer, and how a good performer becomes a top performer.
Classical music is like this. The finalists in those international piano competitions are all geniuses. Their actual playing is basically flawless, but these details allow you to feel the subtle changes in emotional input. This chemical reaction is called "expressiveness."
Popular music is the same.
This is also why Maxim finally admitted that Ronan was the most suitable choice as a recording engineer and producer. As Ollie said, Ronan had been in charge of this kind of work for the past few months, and the band's adjustments and practice were often based on Ronan's opinions.
Ronan really could capture the emotional turning points in a melody. It was like a talent, a talent that suddenly awakened after that accident at the "Noon" bar.
Now, the most suitable person to stand in the recording studio is still Ronan.
"Okay!"
Ollie was the first to make a gesture towards Ronan, and then Maxim and Cliff both gave their signals.
Ronan spoke into the microphone again, "Let's try practicing once first. No pressure, just get used to the atmosphere."
As the first "wet sound" to be output, it was actually the master track. Ronan had already done a rough recording on the computer as a reference for the band's practice. Although it wasn't perfect and had many flaws, it was still okay to use it as the "wet sound" in the recording studio, as a direction to guide them.
After all, the "dry sound" they were about to record was the main focus.
Even though the members of One Day King weren't entering a recording studio for the first time, in Ronan's opinion, this would be even more difficult than their first recording.
Returning to such a space after many years meant not only unfamiliarity and confusion, but also potential distractions from fluctuating emotions, the pressure of time, and the expectation to perform well. Plus, the certainty of not being a novice, the feeling that they should perform excellently, could actually break the balance.
Right now, that's exactly what was happening.
Ronan's expression was a bit strange. In just two short eight-bar phrases, there were already quite a few mistakes, even worse than the opening of last week's warm-up show.
But the problem was that the in-ear monitors were transmitting their own real-time performance. As long as they stayed focused, they could immediately hear how it sounded. The headphones in the recording booth, however, were transmitting the wet sound of the master track. They couldn't hear their own performance at all, so they wouldn't even know if they made a mistake.
The newest and fastest novels are first published on 69shu!
So, disaster struck, and it continued, making the scene particularly comical.
Ollie was the first to notice Ronan's expression, mainly because he lacked confidence in himself and was always worried about making mistakes in his playing. So, when he noticed the change in Ronan's expression, he immediately stopped, took off his headphones, and then could hear Maxim and Cliff playing.
You didn't need the ears of a genius to hear that something was wrong. Moreover, without the prominent sound of the drums, the sounds of the other instruments immediately stood out, and you could instantly feel the disharmony. Maxim and Cliff sounded like... they were fighting.
Not physically throwing punches, but each stuck in their own muddy pit, like two people belting out karaoke, but their rhythms and pitches were completely out of sync, yet they were still completely unaware, immersed in the fantasy of performing in front of a hundred thousand people.
The people involved might not notice, but the onlookers couldn't ignore it. That feeling was truly... indescribable.
"Hahaha!"
Ollie couldn't hold back any longer and let out a high-pitched dolphin-like laugh that was earth-shattering and deafening. But he immediately realized he was in the recording booth and quickly suppressed his laughter. However, his body couldn't help but start shaking.
Shaking, shaking, shaking, shaking.