11 : You Made Me Feel Better 12: Part No.
11 : You Made Me Feel Better Part No.
11
You Made Me Feel Better
“Big Brother!
So many people are watching!”
Gloria exclaimed excitedly as she checked the response to their first clip, which seemed to be going much better than expected.
Even though most of the comments praised her older brother more than her, the young girl didn’t feel bad at all.
On the contrary, she was even happier that these people saw the same special qualities in her older brother that she had always seen.
“They’re probably more surprised that I’m playing the violin.”
Gabriel scratched his cheek out of shyness.
It was the first time in this life that he received praise from ordinary people, not just experts, and he couldn’t help feeling excited.
“No, it’s because you play so well.”
The girl shook her head.
Playing the violin was just what drew people to watch the clip.
If her older brother didn’t play well, these people would have left eventually.
“Oh!
Seven hundred thousand views already,” Gabriel excitedly turned to tell his younger sister about it, seeing the rapidly increasing view count.
“A great start for a channel without any personal information,” Gloria said, laughing at her older brother’s excitement, which was obvious.
“Personal information?”
Gabriel didn’t quite get why that was so important.
“Most channels leave some personal information, like a real name, contact details, or a picture of themselves as a profile picture.
But Big Brother didn’t have anything.
Haha!” The girl turned to explained further.
“Or should I do that?” Gabriel started to waver.
“You could always reveal it later when you become a streamer,” Gloria dismissed the idea.
“Wouldn’t that be a problem?” Gabriel was still worried.
“No, sometimes mystery draws people in more than you’d think,” Gloria laughed, mischievously winking at him.
“Seems so complicated,” the young man sighed.
In the past, as a musician, all he had to do was perform.
The behind-the-scenes tasks were handled by other staff.
Now that he had to manage everything himself, he realized that those behind-the-scenes tasks weren’t easy, unlike how people thought they were.
You had to plan and think everything through carefully all the time to achieve the best results.
As for Gabriel, he really didn’t want to waste his thoughts on these things.
He just wanted to spend time practicing and playing music.
“Is it not a good thing, Big Brother?” Seeing her older brother’s clear look of concern, Gloria decided to ask.
“Mmm… It’s not that it’s bad.
I’m just not used to it.”
“Not used to it?”
“Well, it’s like… normally, I play in front of a real audience, right?
But now, playing while recording without anyone there make me can’t help feeling a sudden shock… I guess.”
Gabriel stammered as he answered.
He didn’t dare to explain further to his younger sister, since he feared it would sound too odd.
He had to blame his old habits as a musician.
When he performed, most of the audience members were well-off, high-class people who were strict about etiquette and preferred to watch the performances at specially arranged places for the concerts.
Meanwhile, in this era, people watched performances in a unique way that he’d never done in his previous life—recording clips on his own.
“Don’t worry.
I’ll take on the role of your manager, Big Brother!” Gloria crossed her arms and lifted her chin to show her confidence when she saw the worry on her older brother’s face.
When she reached the rank of general, the galaxy had already returned to a state of peace.
There were no more invasions from the Zerg, no more wars.
So, her main duty was planning and handling documents.
That was why she was confident she could certainly take care of and support her older brother until he became a Diamond-level streamer.
Hearing this, Gabriel smiled out of gratefulness, touched by his younger sister’s effort to help.
Even though she was just a fourteen-year-old girl, the resolve that radiated from those big, round-shaped eyes made he feel a warmth in his heart, in a way that he couldn’t explain.
“So, what does my manager plan for me to do next?” He asked, half-teasingly, half-seriously.
“Ahem!” Seeing her older brother being swayed so easily, Gloria quickly shared her thoughts.
“…From what I’ve noticed in the comments, most people seem more interested in your playing techniques than actually listening to the music.
But I think that’s not what you want, is it, Big Brother?”
“You’re right, Gloria.
Right now, I want people to listen to the music I’m playing, not just focus on the way I’m playing it,” Gabriel nodded in agreement.
No wonder she was the little sister who knew his mind.
“In that case, you should keep playing beautiful, slow-paced songs.
People are currently intrigued by the instrument, so if you play songs they can easily connect with, they’ll definitely start following you,” Gloria offered her opinion.
“Beautiful and slow songs…”
Slow classical pieces for the violin were challenging to play well.
Gabriel thought about it till his head almost exploded, at that moment, an interesting idea popped up as if reading his mind.
He could cover some songs from the past!
Just like when he played My Heart Will Go On for Mr.
Fidango.
Gabriel used to enjoy listening to pop music as well, but mainly from the ‘70s and ‘80s.
So, the songs he could play mainly belonged to these periods.
“How about something like this?” Gabriel said, walking to pick up his violin to play for his younger sister.
The song he was playing was You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban, a famous hit from the ‘70s.
Certainly, he loved this song too, because the love in this song wasn’t limited to a lover; it could also be about other kinds of important people like family or friends, who gave their love and support to someone who was in a state of sadness for their failure, so they could stand up once again.
Playing this piece on the violin had its advantages—it didn’t have the complex notes like classical music, and more importantly, it didn’t require intricate techniques.
The charm of such a piece lay in its beautiful, easily memorable melody, which was easy to hear, making it a song that invites repeated listening.
The song began with low notes, gradually rising to guide the emotions along with the music.
When the performance reached the final segment, Gabriel’s left hand, which he used to press the notes, quickly slid down along the strings to press the notes below and create a high-pitched sound that tugged the hearts of the listeners.
At the same moment, he gently and firmly drew the bow, allowing him to guide the listener’s emotion along the meaning that the song was meant to convey till the last part.
This was a description of the feelings of someone who had received immense love, enabling them to overcome obstacles and reach the peak of victory, just like the lyrics that had always stayed with him:
‘You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains…’
Gabriel didn’t even have to think about the next note he needed to play.
The young man simply closed his eyes and let his mind being guided by the music in his memory.
As for both of his hands, they slowly brought the sound in his mind to life.
Everything flowed naturally.
The movements as he played and the small smile at the corner of his lips made Gloria couldn’t help being captivated by the sight before her.
At that moment when the girl was watching the scene before her, she truly understood the meaning of beauty.
The soft yet firm melody pulled her in without her realizing it.
And when the bow was drawn in a long move for the last time, it was a signal that the performance had come to an end.
“Gloria?” The boy lowered his violin as he called out to his younger sister.
“…!!” Thus, Gloria snapped out of her daze.
“Are you okay?
Are you feeling unwell?” Gabriel quickly set his violin aside and rushed over to ask her with concern.
“No… no, I’m fine.
It’s just that this song feels different from the others you’ve played.
It’s both beautiful and much easier to connect with.”
“Ah, that’s because the characteristic of this song has been made less complex, making it more accessible than the others.”
Gabriel explained that classical music held great significance in the music industry in the past and was considered the foundation of all musical genres, including pop.
However, the pop music in the next era simplified them to make it easier for people to connect with.
Thus, average people could easily connect with them, which is why it became so popular back then.
However, pop music often faced criticism from classical musicians and experts.
They said that even though they’re easy to connect with, they lacked depth and techniques found in classical music.
Thus, some groups of people didn’t like this part of pop music.
It could be said that, in their eyes, pop music didn’t have much value that made it deserved to be listened.
As a classical musician himself, Gabriel didn’t disdain pop music.
Sometimes, he would play pop songs he liked to kill the boredom.
Therefore, he had as many pop songs in his memory as he did classical ones.
“Do you have a lot of songs like this, Big Brother?
I think most people would enjoy listening to this kind of music since it’s easier to relate to.”
Upon hearing that, Gloria immediately suggested an idea.
When she first heard this song, she could sense that people would certainly love it a lot, since the notes weren’t complex, and it was easier to listen to than the previous songs her older brother played.
“I have quite a few.” He meant thousands of songs.
Although he couldn’t help but feel regretful that people here seemed to prefer the accessibility of pop music over the depth of classical music, it wasn’t something that surprised him.
“Let me guess… this song can be played with a piano too, right?” Gloria looked at her older brother, her eyes sparkling.
“Of course, and it’s even easier to play with the piano,” Gabriel said as he nodded to confirm it.
“Wow!
Then, shall we practice together?” The girl exclaimed joyfully.
“Before we start practicing a new song, have you finished the homework I gave you?”
Of course, Gabriel wasn’t about to give in to his little sister on everything.
His little disciple was at a stage where her skills were still developing, so he regularly created exercises like sheet music that matched her current level of difficulty for her to play.
However, because these pieces weren’t as beautiful or easy to listen to as regular songs, this disciple often complained and didn’t want to do her homework.
But he wouldn’t back down.
Every musician needed to practice in order to improve, including him, the one with the memories of his past life as the King of Musician.
If there were no necessary matters, he refused to see anyone during the three hours before bedtime and after waking up, as those were the periods he reserved for practicing.
“Big Brother… Can’t we skip it just for one day?
Let’s record a music clip together,” Gloria pleaded, blinking repeatedly.
Of course, her cute, pleading gaze had no effect on Gabriel in matters like this.
He was convinced that a genius who didn’t practice would ultimately become just an ordinary person.
There was no way he would encourage his younger sister to adopt such undisciplined behavior.
“No,” Gabriel gave his final judgement, crossing his arms and giving his younger sister a stern look.
“If you don’t practice, I won’t play music with you anymore.”
“Ah… fine,” Gloria responded, lowering her head.
In the end, the little princess of the Salazar family could never win against her older brother on this issue.