Text/Grey Pigeon

Today, version 2.3 of "Honkai: Star Dome Railway" has just been updated, and it topped the best-selling list in the afternoon, temporarily ending the domination of DNF mobile games for nearly 1 month.

However, regarding the analysis of the five-star character of this version of UP: Liuying, it may be necessary to wait for Grape Jun to break through the main line. Today we want to talk about another character of Star Iron: Robin.

After the version 2.3 update, the fourth song of the robin album "Air Chrysalis" also arrived as scheduled. This should be the first time that miHoYo has written four songs specifically for a character. On May 11, shortly after Robin's launch, miHoYo topped more than 10 music charts for the first time with an entire music album (rather than a single song). In the game industry, it seems that there is no comparable case for a while.

A friend commented: miHoYo writes poems for everyone on the music list

What is the concept? There are two types of music works on the music list, one is to see the traffic, whether it has been repeatedly used by short videos; One type of artist is whether he is a star who is concerned by the public - to put it bluntly, he is a national level.

Robin is the complete opposite. Artists are virtual, games are not on the plate of the largest users in the market, and game music is not mainstream...... But she is still on the list, so many non-players also like it.

In other words, this time, miHoYo has made the "niche" content that players liked in the past become something that can be loved by the "public".

Some time ago, Grape Jun chatted with HOYO-MiX, the music production team of miHoYo. Different from the previous chats about how to upgrade the production content of miHoYo, this robin's case may be more like a different creation story.

01

A puzzle piece of character

The first time I heard a robin song was at this year's Star Rail's concert. Truly special.

Note: The first piece of music on the album was created

It's not that I haven't heard HOYO-MiX's vocal works before. They have been out a lot in the early days, especially in "Honkai Impact 3", and 2018's "Nightglow" was the first song that made my eyes red. It can be seen that the robin has a completely different texture.

At that concert, I always felt that other music was slowly taking me back on my journey. But when it came to Robin, she just took the stage, so that I didn't think too much about it, and just purely enjoyed the power of emotions......

It has nothing to do with the game of Star Iron, nor does it have anything to do with the Pinocone world she is in, she is a veritable idol.

Last August, the robin's design was sent to HOYO-MiX: she was a big star, she had released countless works, she was famous in the universe, and almost everyone loved her...... The team felt that they had to prepare something real for the robin.

"A singer should have his own album." Xingtie music producer Gong Qi said. "People know it's a big star when they hear it."

Gong Qi found the project team and chatted with Roast Chicken, who was responsible for the creation of Pinoconi's story, and asked for a "toss" of his needs: they planned to write some albums for Robin and make 4 songs to come out, so that her character could stand.

At that time, it was too early, everyone only had one character setting, there was no design of the boss battle, and there was no detailed story content...... No one knows what an album would be worth to a robin or Pinocone.

Here's a comparison of how HOYO-MiX has worked in the past:

Most of the time, the music department is on the side of demand. What they do is adaptation - at first, you have to adapt to the animation, you have to get stuck, and you have to make the player cry in 3 minutes and 20 seconds; Later, it was to adapt the characters and scenes to express a certain charm.

Therefore, HOYO-MiX has almost no cases of its own needs before, and there is no large-scale creation of "these songs are from this character". There's so much uncertainty here.

After all, writing songs for artists is a definite thing, Ta has a definite voice, an established style, and Ta's past works as a reference. It can be seen that there is nothing in the robin, and everything has to be designed from scratch.

If I had to say, HOYO-MiX is looking for the vitality of robins at the sound level.

It's a tossing and turning process.

"To write a robin song, you have to get rid of the habit of composing music yourself," said Wang Kexin, a member of HOYO-MiX, who is in charge of the robin project...... Even if the first song comes out, it's still pulling. ”

At first, it was about recognition. Robin can't sing in the Jazz style of Pinoconi, where he was born. First, her creativity is limited, and secondly, it makes her unable to stand out - Mockingbird is a cosmic star, and she should be a person who makes people different at first sight.

So, inspiration exploded, and Robin had his first song, "Saving a Heart from Sorrow".

The big star has gained such a texture: simple, pure, and powerful, which can make everyone sing together...... A sense of idol that gives everyone sunshine and hope is about to come out.

With recognition, it was not enough, and HOYO-MiX wanted to make robin move, so that she could perform music with other senses.

Every piece of music that follows is a painful solution. "An album has hopeful songs, but also soulful and flamboyant songs...... Think about it, the robin is so thin and thin, like a lady, how on earth would she jump on the stage? And then sing so energetically? Gong Qi said.

They can't even pick a singer: the robin singer should be a sunny and cheerful person who loves to laugh, enjoy singing, and be at the same frequency as the composer. She can't be too realistic, she has to have a similar feeling to the character's portrait, and she must be able to use her voice to make the character come out of the two-dimensional world......

In September last year, HOYO-MiX pulled the marketing department to look for singers everywhere, obviously they could record a demo on the other side and send it over, they didn't, they had to find singers to talk face-to-face, and look for a studio offline to watch them audition; If it's not convenient to come overseas, they also have to watch how the singer sings remotely......

"Actually, Chevy, who was later decided to work with, did not write and sing the songs she had done and sung before, and she was surprised that she could show her the results," HOYO-MiX said, "In fact, she is also giving robin vitality." ”

02

A piece of the puzzle of the world

After tossing for a long time, Robin's album demo finally came out.

Gong Qi felt a little eyebrows, took the demo and found the project team, everyone instantly understood what these people were going to do, and knew where to fill the big star robin in this world.

"I told Roast Chicken that the big star has released an album, why don't we give her publicity in the game? I wanted to make this a big deal both inside and outside the game. When I heard the roast chicken, I said yes, yes. ”

Speaking of which, Pinocone's music design is inherently interesting.

In the past, HOYO-MiX practiced the rules of writing scene music, and what was written was the scene itself, and what you saw was what you get. The musical motives of a world are strung together, and then they are broken down into a variety of scene music: the sound of trumpets and pickaxes is heard in the mines, and the sound of machinery is heard next to the machine......

Pinoconi is different, it talks about culture, about what people in that world like and watch:

The original set music is still there, but the closer you get to the bar, the movie theater, the bus stop, and the like, you will hear the sound of larger and larger facilities, the music that the NPCs in this world love to listen to, the animation they watch, and the musicals they listen to......

And, of course, their favorite robin.

So, after seeing the finished album, the entire project team became the tap water for this big star.

The sound effect lady said, ouch, no problem, look at the big screen and billboard in the city, I will directly rotate the new song for you;

The buddies of the scene also came to the bar, the clothing store...... I'll advertise your robin albums all over the city;

The video team also came to HOYO-MiX and said, "I made some posters for robins here, and I also made a video, you can take a look......

Even, there is a group that can't use the brain: they want to make a car stereo in the car on the road and let them race by, or the song of the robin - you see how popular this big star is, and the whole people are listening to her songs...... However, because it was too cumbersome to implement, it could not be implemented.

Station B UP@ salted fish hao launched

There are also a lot of designs that have changed due to the appearance of the robin album.

For example, in the design of boss battles, some battle design processes began to serve the music, and the singing of robins was used to cheer up everyone's faith and start a counterattack;

For example, the character ultimate, Robin has also become the first character to change part of the battle music due to the release of skills......

"It's really romantic. In the end, everyone was really thinking about it, as if everyone was living in Pinocone, and felt that the release of the album by Robin was a big event worth celebrating. Gong Qi said, "There is a feeling that the puzzle pieces are put together little by little." ”

Station B UP@WhiteMaple

"But it's too much of a toss-up...... You've got a good solution before. ”

After all, these tosses seem reasonable, but in fact, they are all very rebellious. HOYO-MiX had to cut the tune, draw the volume, and change the lyrics; Many of the participating teams also have to break the previous procedures and rewrite the rules...... This was a very difficult thing in a project that had already been launched, but everyone did it anyway.

"Life is about tossing," Gong Qi told me, "if you don't toss, it's very boring." ”

"If you don't do that, Robin is just a setting, and she doesn't have a work to back it up. My gut tells me it's wrong, and I don't like it...... If you look at her now, she is a living person, and there are traces of living here. ”

I always feel that Mockingbird is integrated into Pinoconi little by little with her work, and in fact, there is also a sense that the character and the world are mutually fulfilling.

The world is full of traces of her existence, and her existence also gives more hope to the world.

"What was the basis for your first writing of Robin? Know what kind of person she is? ”

"No, I think it's a matter of what kind of world she's in?"

Indeed, Pinoconi is drunk and confused, even to the point of being a little fake; But when I listened to it, I felt that the robin was like a lighthouse, showing everyone the way.

If music is the puzzle piece that robin was missing in the first place; Then the robin may be the piece of the puzzle that Pinocone is missing.

03

A piece of the puzzle of the story

But it's not enough to have works...... Big stars have to have her fans.

When he came back after the New Year this year, Gong Qi found the Xingtie marketing team again.

"We've done the first part, and if there aren't enough people like her in the back - you think she's an idol, who thinks she's an idol? If you want Mockingbird to really become a big star, how can that little NPC in the game alone be enough, if she also has hundreds of thousands or millions of influence in reality, everything makes sense. ”

The marketing team was stupid when they received the demand...... But on second thought, the card of Mockingbird's new album, without benchmarking or reference, is indeed very risky, but it is also the best card to use: when have you ever seen miHoYo write four songs for a character?

So, another group of people pounced on it and made a new song for the robin.

"I was so touched at that time." Gong Qi said, "As a teacher of platform H5, I worked overtime to insert orders and made a very complex function, which is unreasonable according to the industrial assembly line......

The bigger challenge is the new song chart.

There are three main influential lists of domestic music: QQ, NetEase Cloud, and Kugou. The logic of the list is different, but the reference is basically the same: you must listen to a large enough amount, the ability of music to attract new users must be strong enough, and the completion rate of each listening, as well as the replay rate after listening......

How hard is it for game music to get on the charts? Either look at the traffic of this song on short videos and music comprehensives, or see if the person who posted this song is well-known enough...... The music on the list now is too "national-level". Therefore, it is too difficult for the new album of robins to appear out of thin air.

However, Star Rail has one of the biggest advantages, which is the enthusiasm of the players.

At the beginning, Xingtie let the robin show his face as much as possible and appear like an artist: in the preview of the live broadcast, the official warmed up to players the news that the robin was going to release a new album "Air Chrysalis INSIDE"; At the concert, Robin appeared on the stage and officially released the new song "Lonely Swing in the Milky Way";

Later, when the character card pool approached, they brought out the robin's music in a different way: the H5 page sampled clips of the album's works to brainwash the player's loop; I also asked the robin to start a slow live broadcast and talk about himself with the players like a friend......

I think the most amazing thing is the character PV. In the whole video, there is not a single line, only the voice actor breathing deeply, and then it is all music - this is completely a video of the character announcement, which is used as a robin's personal MV.

When they arrived in the community, these people made a bunch of short video slices of music and concerts, allowing everyone to do music second creations and ghost animal content, and used the direct mood of robin's music to make many outsiders like this album...... There's always a kind of "what everyone sees, discusses, and likes" is a robin atmosphere.

After that, players and people who liked the album just poured in, and they all came to make the robin chart.

In a few days, Robin's account rose from zero to more than 600,000 followers in one fell swoop; QQ Music even made a list report for Robin...... Everyone actually knows that Robin is a virtual character, but they really feel like they're talking about a real star, and they go to the charts for Robin.

In the music platform, players squatted at 0 o'clock and launched the song, and voted and commented on the robin as soon as possible like fans; Up to now, in the comment area of "Hope for Feathers and Wings", fans have left more than 460,000 messages.

Some players are crazy about making memes, recruiting people to establish a robin support club, and there is even a famous scene of "miHoYo can actually invite the big star Miss Robin" such as "anti-Tiangang".

In addition to the music platform, players have rushed to inform each other on all platforms of the network about the release of Miss Changebird's album. Station B's second creation, anchor reaction, player cos robin singing, etc. are also endless......

——Players have a tacit understanding to participate in star-making as fans, and co-create a big star robin with miHoYo.

"In the beginning, we were just promoting a character, but then it wasn't." The person in charge of the market mentioned, "Later, you feel that it is to make Robin a real star, to run around, to tell every player the news of her album, just to make her popular." ”

Finally, the last piece of the puzzle from the players was filled, and the robin is now a big star who has crossed over to reality.

04

Tail note

After the interview, Gong Qi and I went downstairs to smoke a cigarette.

Gong Qi talked about the feeling of chatting with roast chicken, he felt that the power of words was too awesome, and he could encompass so many things in just three words and convey so many rich emotions...... I couldn't say it that day, but I actually wanted to tell him, isn't HOYO-MiX's voice the same this time?

These creators also like that world and want to convey something to players in their own way. This is true for robins, and so is Pinocone.

This reminds me of a little easter egg shared by Gong Qi, who couldn't bear to talk behind the scenes of the recording, but liked it very much:

In Pinoconi's corner, there is a jazz pianist named Max in a no-brainer corner, with many instruments around, and there is no partner, no audience, only he is a little depressed, playing jazz slowly.

But when you reach the golden hour and fall asleep, you will find that he has a stage of his own at the entrance of the entertainment area, the same person, the same name, he directs the whole band, hands rubbing FUNK, and the stage is full of audiences who are intoxicated by his talent...... Gong Qi also made 2-3 different pieces of music for this NPC.

- In the dream, he became himself again, realized his dream, and finally became the musician who was popular with everyone......

Station B UP@ Owl cx

"With these things, you will feel that the world is fun, that everyone here has life...... Just like the robin's album, know what she means to the world and understand why everyone loves her. ”

Looking back on the success of the robin album, in fact, it is not a new thing for you to pick up any piece alone, everyone has done similar things...... But there has never been a case where so many people have been connected together with their voices like a robin, giving their own support in the same direction, and explaining the meaning of "harmony" in Star Iron.

This role can be made because of HOYO-MiX, the project team, the market, and tens of millions of players...... It took so much support from people to make a robin a robin, and to give her an identity that was far stronger than the description of the setting.

Faintly, it was the sound that pulled the flow, converging the shape from all directions, and then transmitting the force.

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