The Chinese Way of Getting Things Done
Bumping into other expats in this city, there are always eccentricities about China we can immediately bond over - the pollution (which recently maxed out all the air quality meters), crazy Beijing drivers, etc. I’ve discovered another quirk to add to this list is the Chinese way of getting things done. Most everyone I’ve met is astounded that things get done at all in China, but nonetheless, the country remains up and running.
My latest dive into this experience came during, of all things, recording session day. All of last week, I had been reminding my boss that we should prepare and book for a recording session this Monday. In fact, he called me Saturday evening to check on my work progress and I’d said, “Just book for Monday and we’ll be fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Come Monday morning, I send my boss a text - something along the lines of “When is downbeat?” He calls back, “How much music is there to record?”
“16 minutes.”
“How big do you want the orchestra? What else are we recording?” he asks.
“7.5.4.3.2 for the strings. Pipa, voice, and dizi for solos.”
“I’ll call you back later.”
I was fairly dumbfounded we were having this conversation the morning of the session. One hour later, he calls back, “The session is booked for 5pm. We can’t get the last viola player, but that’s okay. By the way, I’ve got something urgent this evening, so you run the session by yourself. I’ll send someone over with the money.”
!
My last recording session in Beijing went alright, but not without a blitz of culture and professional shocks - it felt a bit like a warzone the last time around. This time, knowing I was completely on my own, I was honestly kind of nervous. And so what can you do but make some mental preparations and pray that you’re prepared to handle whatever gets thrown your way?
With the all-important scores, parts, and Pro Tools session in tow, I find myself back at the National Military Arts Academy.
In fact, the recording session went incredibly smoothly and exceedingly well. Not a single hiccup whatsoever. I’m not sure if I got lucky that day, or if I indeed did make the proper mental preparations, or if, knowing what to expect and having gained some experience, the session didn’t start off on the wrong foot, but some magic definitely happened in the studio on Monday.
And here I am now, after a long struggle/disaster of a flight on Tuesday, finally in LA, reading to unpack and get mixing!
