1x1 Pokemon: Rainbow Superstars (WavePearlxSugar)

@Sugar

Before long, performance was over, and it was time for Alyssa's next class--Vocals with Ash. While it was mainly for musical idols, it was also popular with actor idols as well, in case they performed in a musical or wanted to try voice acting. As a musician and voice actor, Ash had a long list of heroic and comic characters to his credit, but his most famous role was the title character of the TV show "Legendary Idol Kochou"

 

@Sugar

In the Vocals classroom, a black haired boy in a loose white shirt, a red jacket, and black pants and shoes read over the cards Brock had sent over, cross referencing them with the official roll list. A yellow mouse creature was nearby, setting up a silver digital piano and making sure its master's instruments were accounted for. A few of his massive collection of flutes, a ukulele, and a silver trumpet were on the wall, and what instruments he planned to play were in their cases.

The Vocals classroom was large and open, with rows of seats overlooking a stage area. Some of the many instruments--most of them flutes--Ash had collected were on the wall, with small cards explaining what kind of instrument it was, if it was playable, if anyone famous had played it, memorable times Ash had played it, and other things.

The ones Ash usually played were up front, in their cases or on a rack until Ash needed them. The most striking instrument, and the one getting oohs and ahs from students, was the silver concert flute, which was glittering under the lights against the dull blue velvet of the case.

 

@Sugar

(Most of the instruments on the wall are just for display, but Ash often does play some of his collection to demonstrate that many of the same concepts in playing a wind instrument also apply to singing)

 

@Sugar

The bell rang and Ash stepped forward to address the students. "Good morning, and welcome to Vocals 101. In this class, we'll learn more than actually how to sing, but to write lyrics, and better your vocal technique. If you know how to sing, some of this may be old hat, but I assure you it's a good idea to have a refresher every once in a while."

With Ash busy wecoming the students, his Pikachu, named Tintri, happily passed out the class schedule to those that were arriving, then hurried back to his master's side once sure every desk had one.

He next nudged the power switch of the sleek black digital piano to the "ON" position, making it hum to life. Next, the tiny electric mouse set to work setting the digital piano to his master's preferred settings. While Misty was content with the default "Grnd Piano" setting on her own piano, Ash preferred the bell-like sound of "E Piano 2" when he did play the piano--which was usually for Vocal classes.

 

@Sugar

The bell rang and Ash stepped forward to address the students. "Good morning, and welcome to Vocals 101. In this class, we'll learn more than actually how to sing, but to write lyrics, and better your vocal technique. If you know how to sing, some of this may be old hat, but I assure you it's a good idea to have a refresher every once in a while."

 

@Sugar

hen something occurred to Ash. "Anybody here play a wind instrument?"

Hands went up across the room. "A few of you? What if I told you that you can think of your voice as a wind instrument too?" Ash explained. "And what's the one thing you learn is important in playing a wind instrument?"

Answers of "Breathing" wafted in his direction. "Yeah...from the mighty tuba to a tiny whistle..." Ash paused to retrieve his own whistle from his pocket for the crowd to see. "They can't sound without air, which is why they emphasize breathing when you take lessons in a wind instrument."

After pausing to put his whistle away and approaching the concert flute's case, Ash went on. "There's a big difference between breathing for an instrument--and by extension, breathing for singing--and breathing to stay alive."

An idea came to him. "In fact, everyone inhale a couple deep breaths of air. Imagine that the air is really heavy as you breathe it in."

Tintri finished setting up the digital piano's layers of backing instruments as the students took deep breaths.

 

@Sugar

Ash warned the class "It is natural to feel light-headed the first time you try this, but this is only a sign you should stop before trying again. As you get better at this, you won't get light-headed as often, but if you ever feel light-headed, stop and wait for the feeling to pass before trying again."

He added "By the way, if you want to know more about any of my instruments, just ask and I'll be happy to tell you."

 

@Sugar

"Ah, the electric wind instrument--or EWI, for short." Ash smiled as he carefully took down the instrument and switched it on. "This was a gift during an Unova tour with my groupmates of Miracolore...the Virturan Melodia EWI."

With that, he began layer upon layer of riffs to create an 80's rock-inspired melody that had the class swaying and clapping along, never mind he wasn't actually playing a concert.

As the many layers of his looping backing reached the pinnacle of the song, a red glow of light formed on his chest, sending a burst of shining 8 bit flames and red light into the room...

(Ash used the Star Power Digital Fire!)

(what Ash plays--the song lasts from 2:22 to 5:16--the Star Power is triggered at 4:57)

(What Ash's EWI basically looks like)

 

(Lyrics is not till later on in the term)

After acknowledging his applause and hanging the EWI back on the wall, Ash returned to the digital piano. "Using the EWI can actually benefit your singing, but I'll elaborate on that in a later class." Ash assured the excited students. "For now, we're going to see where your ranges are, and determine what part you sing--since we are going to do some singing together."

He looked up at the excited class "Any volunteers for our first range test?"

 

@Sugar

"Okay...come on up." Ash invited Alyssa to the stage area. "Here's how this is gonna work...we'll start on middle C and go up the scale from there--the last clean note you hit is your upper range limit. Then we'll start on middle C again and go down to find your lower range limit. Once we know which range you did better at, I'll know which part you sing."