Chapter 154: 154
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"We'll be back for more Isaac, stay with us." Aiden wrapped up.
"CUT!" The producer of the show announced after finishing the first part of Tayaw's interview.
"PEOPLE! We will have a short 15-minute break. Our ushers will guide you to the bathrooms and craft service…" As a staff member directed the audience, Aiden and Tayaw also made their way backstage.
"Huh. I did not expect the 'interview' to be some sort of a lecture." Aiden shook his head.
Usually, even if a guest or Aiden go off-script, the interview still has a predictable process and that Aiden still leads the conversations. Tayaw's answers tonight, however, flipped everything for Aiden. Aiden's preparation of his controversial questions also went to waste as Tayaw already made controversial comments on his own.
"Well, sorry? You're not going to cut a lot of the things I said, right? I hope it wouldn't be too boring." Tayaw asked jokingly but internally a little unsure of the impression he will make to the viewers with the answers he gave and stuff he talked about.
"Nah. We're good. At least, it's organic." Aiden shrugged his shoulders as him and Tayaw entered Tayaw's waiting room. Aiden figured it would be better to join Tayaw to talk about what else Tayaw is planning on talking about.
=======
The break soon passed and the audience filled the studio once again.
"hM?" An audience member was surprised at the change of the set-up in the set.
The section of the house band seemed to have been moved from its usual position at the right side of the stage, into the center stage. They also saw Aiden, not in his table, but in front of the house band, as if preparing to give another monologue. And finally, Tayaw, who Aiden promised will be back, is nowhere in sight.
Aiden, after seeing the audience settle down once again, nodded to the producer signaling that everything is ready for the filming to resume.
"Welcome back!" Aiden announced. The second part of the interview has started filming.
"Tonight, we have a special performance from our very own Bellum Burning!" Aiden gestured to the fellows of the band behind him. *Applause* *Cheers* The audience welcomed Da Bellum Burning warmly, not expecting the house band to be playing a whole song.
"Shaheed, what are you playing for us?" Aiden allowed Shaheed to take over the introduction.
"Hey. We're gonna play 'Need You' from our latest album 'Curtain Falls'." Shaheed prefaced. *applause* *cheers* (Song inspired by 'You Got Me' by 'The Roots'. The lyrics are mine. The instruments, I made more house-band-y.)
Soon, Da Bellum band's pianist played a simple but beautiful soul-jazz piano riff for the intro. The bass guitar soon joined and the piano's riff transformed into simpler chords. Shaheed then started singing.
"Good for you… You got someone … who needs ya."
Shaheed's velvety voice matched with his narrow vibrations caught the attention of the crowd immediately. A cameraman even saw an audience member, through the lenses, shudder in delight. Every line that Shaheed sang with his subtle vocal runs, in the first stanza tickling the listeners' ears.
The chords changed and the song entered its first chorus.
"Lay~ your hands~ across my heart… mmm."
The French horn, playing the bass notes instead of the conventional bass guitar, gave the chorus a different sense of impact. Matching it with Shaheed's velvet voice, the chorus is even more beautiful than the verse.
"I want ~~ I want you ~~~ Ooh. I want you to be my baby…" The chorus ended in a nice note.
Unlike the studio version of the song, Da Bellum Band this time, did not immediately go to the second stanza and kept playing the chord progression of their song's verse.
"Please welcome… Isaac!" Shaheed smiled as he announced Tayaw.
The door from the backstage opened and the audience saw Tayaw, now carrying a plain but slick looking white electric guitar, enter the studio and walk towards the center stage to join Da Bellum Burning.
*Applause* *Cheers* *Whistles* The audience were caught by surprise but were excited to see the man they knew earlier as simply a film director, play music with a great band.
After Tayaw plugged his guitar, he then started strumming his electric guitar, his harmonizing chords added more fullness to the song. Soon after, he began singing the second verse.
"Time~ I'm oh so sure will bring… Regrets, sadness in many things ~" Tayaw's raspy baritone voice greeted the audience.
*Cheers* The audience were pleasantly surprised at Tayaw's voice. A cameraman, through his lenses, saw a pretty audience member's mouth open slightly and her eyes in utmost concentration on Tayaw.
Tayaw's voice while having a different color from Shaheed's voice, still gave out a similar emotion that Shaheed gave earlier. Longing, regret, and sadness. While Tayaw did not do vocal runs like Shaheed, his subtle vocal vibrations in the most appropriate words made the audience feel things the song's songwriter wanted the listeners to feel.
"Eyh. Lovin been' my top priority. Yeah.
Ain't no need to question my credibility
Chairman of the board, the president of affections,
You got me baby, swingin'-in-your direction"
OffSett entered with his verse for the bridge. While his rap was not technically difficult, the simplicity of the verse and the way OffSett pronounced the consonants blended well with the rhythm of the beat. This forced, in a good way, the audience to bob their head along. OffSett's lyrics pleasantly assaulted their ears. (Sorry guys. I'm not really a big fan of rap, so I can't do analysis.)
OffSett soon finished the bridge tightly but unlike the original, the song did not proceed to the second chorus yet. *ROOARR* Tayaw bust out his electric guitar for a guitar solo. While the riff is very simple in comparison to Tayaw's skills, he chose simplicity because of the boppy but lonely theme of the song. Playing a more complicated solo would be overplaying.
However, Tayaw's timing, bending, and vibratos on the guitar fret made his guitar produce a very attractive melody. The guitar expressed the song's sadness, regret that a human voice could rarely produce. Shaheed, OffSett, and Da Bellum Burning, despite rehearsing with Tayaw for the past two days, are still impressed at what they hearing. Never did they think that 'Need You', a song they thought that was only catchy but was never really something fresh, would sound this good ever.
With Tayaw's contribution and arrangement, they felt that their song is better received than usual. They also felt as if their song is now worthy to contribute to music.
*WHOO!!!* The solo soon ended and the audience expressed their appreciation. The audience did not have time to express it fully though as the song entered its final chorus. Shaheed singing the main melody while Tayaw singing the harmony and playing supplementary guitar licks.
"Lay~ your hands~ across my heart… mmm." The two's voices blending together expressed the emotions of the song to its best possible manifestation, the final chorus worthy of being the best for last.
The song soon concluded and *CHEERS* the audience responded well without being coached by the show's ushers. Their appreciation for Tayaw's and Da Bellum Burning's performance is as genuine as it gets from a restrictive setting like a late-night talk show taping.
Aiden approached the center stage once more, while clapping, carrying a copy of Da Bellum Burning's 'Curtain Calls' vinyl record under his arm. Amidst the audience's cheers, Aiden pulled out band's album and faced it towards a camera.
"Da Bellum Burning's 'Curtain Calls' is out now in iTunes and record stores nationwide. Please! Go Check them out!" Aiden promoted smoothly.
"Oh! We're not done with the music yet! Isaac!" Aiden next drew the attention to Tayaw.
"Yeah?" Tayaw replied.
"The next song you guys are going to play is your song, right? Can you tell us more about it?" Aiden said.
"Yeah. It's called 'Invisible Man' from my country mini-album 'On The Road'. It's also my song that is doing the best." Tayaw introduced.
"Alright. Ladies and gentlemen, Isaac and Da Burning Bellum once again!" Aiden introduced as Tayaw and the band started playing intro once again. Unlike the original version's stomp box and acoustic guitar instrumentals, the version they're about to play is drastically different.
*Voom* The trumpet and saxophone joining in the instrumental and produced a jazz/blues/soul feel for the song. The intro still sounds as haunting as the original, only this time has an added graceful sound in it. Tayaw's electric guitar playing meanwhile assured that his song still has the sound of country/southern rock feel to it despite the arrangement him and Da Bellum Burning did.
After two measures of the intro, Tayaw finally leaned in towards his microphone.
"He's a man who lived a life of danger
to anyone he meets he stays a stranger
with every action he made, grabs a chance before it fade
as maybe he won't have - a chance to see tomorrow"
Unlike the original which Tayaw sang in a very low pitch with, he is singing in a mid-range pitch he is most comfortable with. The band also preferred to not have Shaheed sang anything solo in the song as his voice does not suit Tayaw's song.
The band however, "Invisible man, INVISIBLE MAN!" sang with Tayaw for the chorus, acting as Tayaw's backing choir. This made the song grander and more epic. The band's incredible backing vocals made an impression that the 'Invisible Man' is trapped on all sides. Meanwhile, Tayaw's belting with them made it seem like the 'Invisible Man' is fighting back, alone, against the challenges.
The Chorus and the Second Verse soon ended and the instruments settled down and only Andre's Bass beat and the pianist's chords remained.
"Yeah. I'm livin on borrowed time, and days go faster… Waiting for the hour, I ain't waitin' in no bunker…" OffSett's rap verse set in, unlike his usual lyrics and rap style, he sounds more somber this time.
-------
Two days ago
"*Ughh*. I really wanna do this man, but it's a lot harder than I thought." OffSett said to Tayaw as they were arranging the songs.
"Man. You were doing fine. You scrapped another one?" Tayaw said as he saw a crumpled paper on OffSett's hand.
"Yeah. I can't just FEEL it. This one don't belong." OffSett rambled.
"Okay. Why don't I tell you of the inspiration I had for the song?..." Tayaw began telling OffSett an anecdote about a man's mini adventure in an elevator.
------
"I hear footsteps, I hear him click his blaster
We see each other with a sick laughter
A gunfight, here it comes, and here I am
Ice cold, I shoot him easy like I didn't give a damn."
Even though OffSett only spit a short verse for the song, he felt it a great achievement. Usually, he would write lyrics on love, hate, his family, friends, and his neighborhood; he would get praises from his contemporaries. He never realized that he has hit his limit until he started writing a verse for 'Invisible Man.'
It was tough, and OffSett might think that his new verse is not as good as his usual work, but by tackling this challenge, he saw a new door open up to him.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
Studio 29, Editing Room
An hour after the show's taping, Tayaw is now in the editing room, busy instructing the editor of the show.
"Yeah. Censor their faces, or blur them." Tayaw instructs.
"Hey, Isaac. The rest of the show already looks good. Why include this. This might not be a good look for you." Aiden asks, finding Tayaw's decision crazy.
"Man. Don't worry. This is why I made sure to show audience's reactions. And. If this works well, your ratings will go through the roof tonight, you guys can even gain a 'badge' as being first at doing something." Tayaw says.
"Fck. I'll contact the lawyers, just in case." Aiden says.
"If ever you need them, I'll pay the legal costs." Tayaw just shrugs.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
"We'll be back for more Isaac, stay with us." Aiden wrapped up.
"CUT!" The producer of the show announced after finishing the first part of Tayaw's interview.
"PEOPLE! We will have a short 15-minute break. Our ushers will guide you to the bathrooms and craft service…" As a staff member directed the audience, Aiden and Tayaw also made their way backstage.
"Huh. I did not expect the 'interview' to be some sort of a lecture." Aiden shook his head.
Usually, even if a guest or Aiden go off-script, the interview still has a predictable process and that Aiden still leads the conversations. Tayaw's answers tonight, however, flipped everything for Aiden. Aiden's preparation of his controversial questions also went to waste as Tayaw already made controversial comments on his own.
"Well, sorry? You're not going to cut a lot of the things I said, right? I hope it wouldn't be too boring." Tayaw asked jokingly but internally a little unsure of the impression he will make to the viewers with the answers he gave and stuff he talked about.
"Nah. We're good. At least, it's organic." Aiden shrugged his shoulders as him and Tayaw entered Tayaw's waiting room. Aiden figured it would be better to join Tayaw to talk about what else Tayaw is planning on talking about.
=======
The break soon passed and the audience filled the studio once again.
"hM?" An audience member was surprised at the change of the set-up in the set.
The section of the house band seemed to have been moved from its usual position at the right side of the stage, into the center stage. They also saw Aiden, not in his table, but in front of the house band, as if preparing to give another monologue. And finally, Tayaw, who Aiden promised will be back, is nowhere in sight.
Aiden, after seeing the audience settle down once again, nodded to the producer signaling that everything is ready for the filming to resume.
"Welcome back!" Aiden announced. The second part of the interview has started filming.
"Tonight, we have a special performance from our very own Bellum Burning!" Aiden gestured to the fellows of the band behind him. *Applause* *Cheers* The audience welcomed Da Bellum Burning warmly, not expecting the house band to be playing a whole song.
"Shaheed, what are you playing for us?" Aiden allowed Shaheed to take over the introduction.
"Hey. We're gonna play 'Need You' from our latest album 'Curtain Falls'." Shaheed prefaced. *applause* *cheers* (Song inspired by 'You Got Me' by 'The Roots'. The lyrics are mine. The instruments, I made more house-band-y.)
Soon, Da Bellum band's pianist played a simple but beautiful soul-jazz piano riff for the intro. The bass guitar soon joined and the piano's riff transformed into simpler chords. Shaheed then started singing.
"Good for you… You got someone … who needs ya."
Shaheed's velvety voice matched with his narrow vibrations caught the attention of the crowd immediately. A cameraman even saw an audience member, through the lenses, shudder in delight. Every line that Shaheed sang with his subtle vocal runs, in the first stanza tickling the listeners' ears.
The chords changed and the song entered its first chorus.
"Lay~ your hands~ across my heart… mmm."
The French horn, playing the bass notes instead of the conventional bass guitar, gave the chorus a different sense of impact. Matching it with Shaheed's velvet voice, the chorus is even more beautiful than the verse.
"I want ~~ I want you ~~~ Ooh. I want you to be my baby…" The chorus ended in a nice note.
Unlike the studio version of the song, Da Bellum Band this time, did not immediately go to the second stanza and kept playing the chord progression of their song's verse.
"Please welcome… Isaac!" Shaheed smiled as he announced Tayaw.
The door from the backstage opened and the audience saw Tayaw, now carrying a plain but slick looking white electric guitar, enter the studio and walk towards the center stage to join Da Bellum Burning.
*Applause* *Cheers* *Whistles* The audience were caught by surprise but were excited to see the man they knew earlier as simply a film director, play music with a great band.
After Tayaw plugged his guitar, he then started strumming his electric guitar, his harmonizing chords added more fullness to the song. Soon after, he began singing the second verse.
"Time~ I'm oh so sure will bring… Regrets, sadness in many things ~" Tayaw's raspy baritone voice greeted the audience.
*Cheers* The audience were pleasantly surprised at Tayaw's voice. A cameraman, through his lenses, saw a pretty audience member's mouth open slightly and her eyes in utmost concentration on Tayaw.
Tayaw's voice while having a different color from Shaheed's voice, still gave out a similar emotion that Shaheed gave earlier. Longing, regret, and sadness. While Tayaw did not do vocal runs like Shaheed, his subtle vocal vibrations in the most appropriate words made the audience feel things the song's songwriter wanted the listeners to feel.
"Eyh. Lovin been' my top priority. Yeah.
Ain't no need to question my credibility
Chairman of the board, the president of affections,
You got me baby, swingin'-in-your direction"
OffSett entered with his verse for the bridge. While his rap was not technically difficult, the simplicity of the verse and the way OffSett pronounced the consonants blended well with the rhythm of the beat. This forced, in a good way, the audience to bob their head along. OffSett's lyrics pleasantly assaulted their ears. (Sorry guys. I'm not really a big fan of rap, so I can't do analysis.)
OffSett soon finished the bridge tightly but unlike the original, the song did not proceed to the second chorus yet. *ROOARR* Tayaw bust out his electric guitar for a guitar solo. While the riff is very simple in comparison to Tayaw's skills, he chose simplicity because of the boppy but lonely theme of the song. Playing a more complicated solo would be overplaying.
However, Tayaw's timing, bending, and vibratos on the guitar fret made his guitar produce a very attractive melody. The guitar expressed the song's sadness, regret that a human voice could rarely produce. Shaheed, OffSett, and Da Bellum Burning, despite rehearsing with Tayaw for the past two days, are still impressed at what they hearing. Never did they think that 'Need You', a song they thought that was only catchy but was never really something fresh, would sound this good ever.
With Tayaw's contribution and arrangement, they felt that their song is better received than usual. They also felt as if their song is now worthy to contribute to music.
*WHOO!!!* The solo soon ended and the audience expressed their appreciation. The audience did not have time to express it fully though as the song entered its final chorus. Shaheed singing the main melody while Tayaw singing the harmony and playing supplementary guitar licks.
"Lay~ your hands~ across my heart… mmm." The two's voices blending together expressed the emotions of the song to its best possible manifestation, the final chorus worthy of being the best for last.
The song soon concluded and *CHEERS* the audience responded well without being coached by the show's ushers. Their appreciation for Tayaw's and Da Bellum Burning's performance is as genuine as it gets from a restrictive setting like a late-night talk show taping.
Aiden approached the center stage once more, while clapping, carrying a copy of Da Bellum Burning's 'Curtain Calls' vinyl record under his arm. Amidst the audience's cheers, Aiden pulled out band's album and faced it towards a camera.
"Da Bellum Burning's 'Curtain Calls' is out now in iTunes and record stores nationwide. Please! Go Check them out!" Aiden promoted smoothly.
"Oh! We're not done with the music yet! Isaac!" Aiden next drew the attention to Tayaw.
"Yeah?" Tayaw replied.
"The next song you guys are going to play is your song, right? Can you tell us more about it?" Aiden said.
"Yeah. It's called 'Invisible Man' from my country mini-album 'On The Road'. It's also my song that is doing the best." Tayaw introduced.
"Alright. Ladies and gentlemen, Isaac and Da Burning Bellum once again!" Aiden introduced as Tayaw and the band started playing intro once again. Unlike the original version's stomp box and acoustic guitar instrumentals, the version they're about to play is drastically different.
*Voom* The trumpet and saxophone joining in the instrumental and produced a jazz/blues/soul feel for the song. The intro still sounds as haunting as the original, only this time has an added graceful sound in it. Tayaw's electric guitar playing meanwhile assured that his song still has the sound of country/southern rock feel to it despite the arrangement him and Da Bellum Burning did.
After two measures of the intro, Tayaw finally leaned in towards his microphone.
"He's a man who lived a life of danger
to anyone he meets he stays a stranger
with every action he made, grabs a chance before it fade
as maybe he won't have - a chance to see tomorrow"
Unlike the original which Tayaw sang in a very low pitch with, he is singing in a mid-range pitch he is most comfortable with. The band also preferred to not have Shaheed sang anything solo in the song as his voice does not suit Tayaw's song.
The band however, "Invisible man, INVISIBLE MAN!" sang with Tayaw for the chorus, acting as Tayaw's backing choir. This made the song grander and more epic. The band's incredible backing vocals made an impression that the 'Invisible Man' is trapped on all sides. Meanwhile, Tayaw's belting with them made it seem like the 'Invisible Man' is fighting back, alone, against the challenges.
The Chorus and the Second Verse soon ended and the instruments settled down and only Andre's Bass beat and the pianist's chords remained.
"Yeah. I'm livin on borrowed time, and days go faster… Waiting for the hour, I ain't waitin' in no bunker…" OffSett's rap verse set in, unlike his usual lyrics and rap style, he sounds more somber this time.
-------
Two days ago
"*Ughh*. I really wanna do this man, but it's a lot harder than I thought." OffSett said to Tayaw as they were arranging the songs.
"Man. You were doing fine. You scrapped another one?" Tayaw said as he saw a crumpled paper on OffSett's hand.
"Yeah. I can't just FEEL it. This one don't belong." OffSett rambled.
"Okay. Why don't I tell you of the inspiration I had for the song?..." Tayaw began telling OffSett an anecdote about a man's mini adventure in an elevator.
------
"I hear footsteps, I hear him click his blaster
We see each other with a sick laughter
A gunfight, here it comes, and here I am
Ice cold, I shoot him easy like I didn't give a damn."
Even though OffSett only spit a short verse for the song, he felt it a great achievement. Usually, he would write lyrics on love, hate, his family, friends, and his neighborhood; he would get praises from his contemporaries. He never realized that he has hit his limit until he started writing a verse for 'Invisible Man.'
It was tough, and OffSett might think that his new verse is not as good as his usual work, but by tackling this challenge, he saw a new door open up to him.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
Studio 29, Editing Room
An hour after the show's taping, Tayaw is now in the editing room, busy instructing the editor of the show.
"Yeah. Censor their faces, or blur them." Tayaw instructs.
"Hey, Isaac. The rest of the show already looks good. Why include this. This might not be a good look for you." Aiden asks, finding Tayaw's decision crazy.
"Man. Don't worry. This is why I made sure to show audience's reactions. And. If this works well, your ratings will go through the roof tonight, you guys can even gain a 'badge' as being first at doing something." Tayaw says.
"Fck. I'll contact the lawyers, just in case." Aiden says.
"If ever you need them, I'll pay the legal costs." Tayaw just shrugs.
"We'll be back for more Isaac, stay with us." Aiden wrapped up. "CUT!" The producer of the show announced after finishing the first part of Tayaw's interview. "PEOPLE! We will have a short 15-minute break. Our ushers will guide you to the bathrooms and craft service" As a staff member directed the audience, Aiden and Tayaw also made their way backstage. "Huh. I did not expect the 'interview' to be some sort of a lecture." Aiden shook his head. Usually, even if a guest or Aiden go off-script, the interview still has a predictable process and that Aiden still leads the conversations. Tayaw's answers tonight, however, flipped everything for Aiden. Aiden's preparation of his controversial questions also went to waste as Tayaw already made controversial comments on his own. "Well, sorry? You're not going to cut a lot of the things I said, right? I hope it wouldn't be too boring." Tayaw asked jokingly but internally a little unsure of the impression he will make to the viewers with the answers he gave and stuff he talked about. "Nah. We're good. At least, it's organic." Aiden shrugged his shoulders as him and Tayaw entered Tayaw's waiting room. Aiden figured it would be better to join Tayaw to talk about what else Tayaw is planning on talking about. ======= The break soon passed and the audience filled the studio once again. "hM?" An audience member was surprised at the change of the set-up in the set. The section of the house band seemed to have been moved from its usual position at the right side of the stage, into the center stage. They also saw Aiden, not in his table, but in front of the house band, as if preparing to give another monologue. And finally, Tayaw, who Aiden promised will be back, is nowhere in sight. Aiden, after seeing the audience settle down once again, nodded to the producer signaling that everything is ready for the filming to resume. "Welcome back!" Aiden announced. The second part of the interview has started filming. "Tonight, we have a special performance from our very own Bellum Burning!" Aiden gestured to the fellows of the band behind him. *Applause* *Cheers* The audience welcomed Da Bellum Burning warmly, not expecting the house band to be playing a whole song. "Shaheed, what are you playing for us?" Aiden allowed Shaheed to take over the introduction. "Hey. We're gonna play 'Need You' from our latest album 'Curtain Falls'." Shaheed prefaced. *applause* *cheers* Song inspired by 'You Got Me' by 'The Roots'. The lyrics are mine. The instruments, I made more house-band-y. Soon, Da Bellum band's pianist played a simple but beautiful soul-jazz piano riff for the intro. The bass guitar soon joined and the piano's riff transformed into simpler chords. Shaheed then started singing. "Good for you You got someone who needs ya." Shaheed's velvety voice matched with his narrow vibrations caught the attention of the crowd immediately. A cameraman even saw an audience member, through the lenses, shudder in delight. Every line that Shaheed sang with his subtle vocal runs, in the first stanza tickling the listeners' ears. The chords changed and the song entered its first chorus. "Lay~ your hands~ across my heart mmm." The French horn, playing the bass notes instead of the conventional bass guitar, gave the chorus a different sense of impact. Matching it with Shaheed's velvet voice, the chorus is even more beautiful than the verse. "I want ~~ I want you ~~~ Ooh. I want you to be my baby" The chorus ended in a nice note. Unlike the studio version of the song, Da Bellum Band this time, did not immediately go to the second stanza and kept playing the chord progression of their song's verse. "Please welcome Isaac!" Shaheed smiled as he announced Tayaw. The door from the backstage opened and the audience saw Tayaw, now carrying a plain but slick looking white electric guitar, enter the studio and walk towards the center stage to join Da Bellum Burning. *Applause* *Cheers* *Whistles* The audience were caught by surprise but were excited to see the man they knew earlier as simply a film director, play music with a great band. After Tayaw plugged his guitar, he then started strumming his electric guitar, his harmonizing chords added more fullness to the song. Soon after, he began singing the second verse. "Time~ I'm oh so sure will bring Regrets, sadness in many things ~" Tayaw's raspy baritone voice greeted the audience. *Cheers* The audience were pleasantly surprised at Tayaw's voice. A cameraman, through his lenses, saw a pretty audience member's mouth open slightly and her eyes in utmost concentration on Tayaw. Tayaw's voice while having a different color from Shaheed's voice, still gave out a similar emotion that Shaheed gave earlier. Longing, regret, and sadness. While Tayaw did not do vocal runs like Shaheed, his subtle vocal vibrations in the most appropriate words made the audience feel things the song's songwriter wanted the listeners to feel. "Eyh. Lovin been' my top priority. Yeah. Ain't no need to question my credibility Chairman of the board, the president of affections, You got me baby, swingin'-in-your direction" OffSett entered with his verse for the bridge. While his rap was not technically difficult, the simplicity of the verse and the way OffSett pronounced the consonants blended well with the rhythm of the beat. This forced, in a good way, the audience to bob their head along. OffSett's lyrics pleasantly assaulted their ears. Sorry guys. I'm not really a big fan of rap, so I can't do analysis. OffSett soon finished the bridge tightly but unlike the original, the song did not proceed to the second chorus yet. *ROOARR* Tayaw bust out his electric guitar for a guitar solo. While the riff is very simple in comparison to Tayaw's skills, he chose simplicity because of the boppy but lonely theme of the song. Playing a more complicated solo would be overplaying. However, Tayaw's timing, bending, and vibratos on the guitar fret made his guitar produce a very attractive melody. The guitar expressed the song's sadness, regret that a human voice could rarely produce. Shaheed, OffSett, and Da Bellum Burning, despite rehearsing with Tayaw for the past two days, are still impressed at what they hearing. Never did they think that 'Need You', a song they thought that was only catchy but was never really something fresh, would sound this good ever. With Tayaw's contribution and arrangement, they felt that their song is better received than usual. They also felt as if their song is now worthy to contribute to music. *WHOO!!!* The solo soon ended and the audience expressed their appreciation. The audience did not have time to express it fully though as the song entered its final chorus. Shaheed singing the main melody while Tayaw singing the harmony and playing supplementary guitar licks. "Lay~ your hands~ across my heart mmm." The two's voices blending together expressed the emotions of the song to its best possible manifestation, the final chorus worthy of being the best for last. The song soon concluded and *CHEERS* the audience responded well without being coached by the show's ushers. Their appreciation for Tayaw's and Da Bellum Burning's performance is as genuine as it gets from a restrictive setting like a late-night talk show taping. Aiden approached the center stage once more, while clapping, carrying a copy of Da Bellum Burning's 'Curtain Calls' vinyl record under his arm. Amidst the audience's cheers, Aiden pulled out band's album and faced it towards a camera. "Da Bellum Burning's 'Curtain Calls' is out now in iTunes and record stores nationwide. Please! Go Check them out!" Aiden promoted smoothly. "Oh! We're not done with the music yet! Isaac!" Aiden next drew the attention to Tayaw. "Yeah?" Tayaw replied. "The next song you guys are going to play is your song, right? Can you tell us more about it?" Aiden said. "Yeah. It's called 'Invisible Man' from my country mini-album 'On The Road'. It's also my song that is doing the best." Tayaw introduced. "Alright. Ladies and gentlemen, Isaac and Da Burning Bellum once again!" Aiden introduced as Tayaw and the band started playing intro once again. Unlike the original version's stomp box and acoustic guitar instrumentals, the version they're about to play is drastically different. *Voom* The trumpet and saxophone joining in the instrumental and produced a jazz/blues/soul feel for the song. The intro still sounds as haunting as the original, only this time has an added graceful sound in it. Tayaw's electric guitar playing meanwhile assured that his song still has the sound of country/southern rock feel to it despite the arrangement him and Da Bellum Burning did. After two measures of the intro, Tayaw finally leaned in towards his microphone. "He's a man who lived a life of danger to anyone he meets he stays a stranger with every action he made, grabs a chance before it fade as maybe he won't have - a chance to see tomorrow" Unlike the original which Tayaw sang in a very low pitch with, he is singing in a mid-range pitch he is most comfortable with. The band also preferred to not have Shaheed sang anything solo in the song as his voice does not suit Tayaw's song. The band however, "Invisible man, INVISIBLE MAN!" sang with Tayaw for the chorus, acting as Tayaw's backing choir. This made the song grander and more epic. The band's incredible backing vocals made an impression that the 'Invisible Man' is trapped on all sides. Meanwhile, Tayaw's belting with them made it seem like the 'Invisible Man' is fighting back, alone, against the challenges. The Chorus and the Second Verse soon ended and the instruments settled down and only Andre's Bass beat and the pianist's chords remained. "Yeah. I'm livin on borrowed time, and days go faster Waiting for the hour, I ain't waitin' in no bunker" OffSett's rap verse set in, unlike his usual lyrics and rap style, he sounds more somber this time. ------- Two days ago "*Ughh*. I really wanna do this man, but it's a lot harder than I thought." OffSett said to Tayaw as they were arranging the songs. "Man. You were doing fine. You scrapped another one?" Tayaw said as he saw a crumpled paper on OffSett's hand. "Yeah. I can't just FEEL it. This one don't belong." OffSett rambled. "Okay. Why don't I tell you of the inspiration I had for the song?..." Tayaw began telling OffSett an anecdote about a man's mini adventure in an elevator. ------ "I hear footsteps, I hear him click his blaster We see each other with a sick laughter A gunfight, here it comes, and here I am Ice cold, I shoot him easy like I didn't give a damn." Even though OffSett only spit a short verse for the song, he felt it a great achievement. Usually, he would write lyrics on love, hate, his family, friends, and his neighborhood; he would get praises from his contemporaries. He never realized that he has hit his limit until he started writing a verse for 'Invisible Man.' It was tough, and OffSett might think that his new verse is not as good as his usual work, but by tackling this challenge, he saw a new door open up to him. O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O Studio 29, Editing Room An hour after the show's taping, Tayaw is now in the editing room, busy instructing the editor of the show. "Yeah. Censor their faces, or blur them." Tayaw instructs. "Hey, Isaac. The rest of the show already looks good. Why include this. This might not be a good look for you." Aiden asks, finding Tayaw's decision crazy. "Man. Don't worry. This is why I made sure to show audience's reactions. And. If this works well, your ratings will go through the roof tonight, you guys can even gain a 'badge' as being first at doing something." Tayaw says. "Fck. I'll contact the lawyers, just in case." Aiden says. "If ever you need them, I'll pay the legal costs." Tayaw just shrugs.
