Chapter 174
Chapter 174
The afternoon of the 6th, the day of the comeback.
The media showcase celebrating the release of Orca’s 2nd mini-album ‘Lucid’ was in full swing.
Orca had just finished performing their new song ‘Dream’ and were now fielding questions from the reporters.
“Hello, I’m Cha Ji-seok from Answer News. First of all, congratulations on the release of your 2nd mini-album.”
“Thank you.”
“This time, groups like Cheristine, Chronicle, and Jupiter, who have all made comebacks around the same time, will be competing with Orca for the number one spot on music shows. Could you share Orca’s aspirations for this activity?”
“Even though this is our second year since our debut.”
Reporters laughed lightly at Ban Yo-han’s joke, which was only possible because Orca debuted on November 30.
“In terms of spirit, we’re still newcomers, so it’s still amazing to be doing broadcast activities with seniors we’ve often seen on TV. We hope to learn a lot from the experienced seniors we work with. Honestly speaking, we do want to achieve first place and good results.”
Ban Yo-han, who had been answering smoothly, paused briefly.
“However, we believe it’s more important to show our fans the best we can, based on our practice so far, rather than focusing on visible indicators like rankings. We’ll do our best to achieve that. Thank you.”
It was an impeccable answer.
Following that, Kang Ji-woo and Ban Yo-han mainly handled the questions related to external matters besides the album.
“Hello, I’m Park Min-seo from Newstar News. Congratulations on the release of your 2nd mini-album. Recently, it was revealed that Raon and Gyeol were victims of manipulation on Pick Your Heart Season 3. What are your thoughts on this, and how do you plan to respond in the future?”
Although it wasn’t entirely fitting for the mini-album release showcase, it was a question within the expected range.
Seo Moon-gyeol and On Raon, who were the subjects of the question, stood calmly without changing their expressions, and Kang Ji-woo, as the leader, answered calmly on their behalf.
“Since it happened to our members, we feel deeply regretful. However, because it’s a matter that requires careful consideration, we’ll discuss it thoroughly with the company before making a detailed statement.”
Aside from a minor power struggle with a reporter trying to get more out of the rookie, the media showcase ended smoothly by 6 PM.
“It’s out!”
Geum Gyu-ri, who couldn’t attend the fan showcase, was extremely excited about the first real-time music video release since becoming an Airy.
She played the ‘Dream’ music video, which featured Kang Ji-woo, who, despite being the eldest at twenty-two, still had a boyish charm.
* * *
A dark purple dawn where bluish shadows and reddish lights barely touched each other.
The members walked in a line, indifferent to the only red and blue lights on the black and white street.
Lala la la la……
Like a scene from a dream, the neon pastel-toned props arranged in a murky, smoky background created a dreamy yet ironic atmosphere.
The overall tone of the music video was similar to the two teaser videos previously released.
An excessively ominous dream and a happy dream like a world inside a music box.
However, the members’ attitudes toward the dream were different.
Some tried to stay in a comfortable dream, some tried to feel the joy they couldn’t have in reality through a dream, some tried to gain something from the dream, and some tried to uncover the dream…
Each one attached a special meaning to their dreams.
And Ban Yo-han, who, with his beautifully colored hair, looked the most dreamlike, sent a chilly gaze towards them, as if urging them to see reality and recognize the dream as just a dream.
The bright and cheerful video that played when the minor chords unfolded made it even more unsettling.
As one dream collapsed futilely due to Ban Yo-han, they escaped to another dream, and in the place they fled to…
As if proving that a dream is just a dream, a series of ridiculous events unfolded.
Yes, it’s ridiculous
Now wake up, open your eyes
So ridiculous
The clever voice and the sudden brightening of the song’s mood without any transition.
The tension that the previous instability gave melted away all at once due to the familiar harmony.
On Raon handled the high notes of the continuing bridge part.
We know
A dream is just a dream
Even if we see the end of the world
I’m still just here
The light of the background slowly returned.
Conversely, the lights of the colorful props gradually subsided.
* * *
“It’s well-made.”
Ban Ga-eul nodded in satisfaction with the quality of the song rather than the expensive video after checking the ‘Dream’ music video on the Witube channel.
Compared to their previous intense and ambitious title track ‘Liberation,’ which contained a sense of challenging spirit, the overall scale of ‘Dream’ felt more compact.
In other words, ‘Dream’ was a very meticulously designed song.
### Chapter 174 (continued)
The dynamic and irregular chord progressions within the song made it interesting, and the members’ background vocals and harmonies hidden throughout the track were enjoyable for listeners, even after several repeats.
Ban Yo-han played an important role in this album.
Ban Yo-han, who had only recently started receiving proper vocal training, clearly had the potential to improve with each performance. However, at least for now, he was one of the members of Orca who lacked basic skills and proficiency the most.
Additionally, since his basic vocal strength was not large, Ban Yo-han found it the hardest to keep up with Orca’s dance live performances.
“If that’s Yo-han’s weakness, his strengths are…”
His natural voice tone and analytical skills.
Fortunately, Ban Yo-han’s innate voice was excellent without needing much refinement. The occasional bitterness like dark chocolate or the roughness like popping candy felt within his soft voice prevented it from being boring or monotonous.
**Dream – ORCA**
*Lyrics: Seo Moon-gyeol, On Raon*
*Composition: Seo Moon-gyeol, Ban Ga-eul*
*Arrangement: Ban Ga-eul, Ban Yo-han*
During the short break after the ‘Liberation’ activities, Ban Yo-han voluntarily learned composition and arrangement theory.
Being strong in learning theory, he quickly acquired the necessary knowledge, making good use of the professional composers around him, such as group member Seo Moon-gyeol or his aunt Ban Ga-eul.
Ban Yo-han showed his talent in arrangement.
More specifically, he had a special talent for utilizing harmonies and background vocals.
Ban Ga-eul, who focused on overall and macro aspects of the composition, found it remarkable how Ban Yo-han filled each part of the song with density just enough not to overflow.
As a result, the title track ‘Dream,’ in which he participated in the composition process, became twice as rich after being refined by Ban Yo-han.
This was also due to his tendency to delve into things until he was completely satisfied.
“Do we really need to do this much?”
“Yes. Let’s do it ten more times.”
Thanks to this, the title track recording was reportedly one of the most challenging ever.
* * *
[Orca’s Ban Yo-han worked hard on arrangement & background vocals for the title track]
*(‘Dream’ background vocals extracted Witube link)*
The high notes in this album are definitely handled by Ji-woo (+Raon), but after listening to it all, Yo-han’s parts are actually more prominent because they are laid throughout the song.
He seems to know well where to put emphasis and how to fill different parts, so personally, I think his harmony skills are really good.
(continued)
– Wow… they layer their vocals to an extreme degree, it’s like a pastry with many thin layers.
┗ MJK It’s impressive how they layer it so thinly, it’s like a pastry.
– Yo-han already had a good voice and good pitch, so he often contributed to harmonies, but this time the amount of background vocals almost doubled compared to last time, so it’s noticeable.
– Seo Moon-gyeol too, and Ban Yo-han only started learning recently, but it’s amazing he participated in the arrangement. It must be really hard to perform all of that live.
┗ Orca’s choreography is quite intense. Is it even possible to sing all of that live?
┗ That’s what AR is for, to layer the sound.
┗ If you watch the showcase video, except for a few parts, they did almost everything live (link).
┗ Wow, I watched it. It’s really impressive how idols manage to do all that while keeping their expressions in check.
– To release such a dense song in just a few months… Seo Moon-gyeol and Ban Yo-han are real geniuses.
– I don’t think there was a need for Yo-han to have such a big share… We all know that producer member’s part distribution can be advantageous, but seeing it like this, as a fan of other members, it feels a bit unfair.
┗ ? Yo-han’s actual part isn’t that big.
┗ Anyway, the producer gave him more share than other members, and the producer is his relative, Ban Ga-eul… It’s understandable to feel slighted.
┗ You’re really clueless to keep insisting it’s nepotism hereㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– Simply hitting high notes isn’t everything in a song, especially for idol groups. Mid-range, low-range, diction, and harmony skills… all these are important. After listening to the whole album, it’s clear that Ban Yo-han sings well enough.
