_{Source: Pexels, modified}

That day, Kurt Vonnegut taught me a new song. Don't Ever Don't Stop by Trenton Lundy (Hive account@tlundy47). This electronic music composition was suitable for dancing. There was many sounds here that looked complex even though the duration was less than four minutes.

My play wa not so bad. I had heard this song played many times on Radio Rising Star. In Buskeria, you had to practice music often to improve your skills. High skills would also lower your ego.

"So now you know 3 chords you can play the whole of the Status Quo catalog! You gained 8 Skill points," was the message in the Rising Star games. A message like this would appear when you had completed a training session.

Octavio, unusually, did not yell or grumble. His eagle eyes could see something was wrong with me that day.

"Okay, let's stop first and rest," he said and made a sign to follow him.

We exited the practice room. In the living room, Max was reading a rock music magazine. He put down his magazine when he saw us.

"Let's have afternoon coffee at the coffee shop next door," said Octavio to Max.

Next to the studio there was a coffee shop called Coffee With Music. The café was half full. We chose to sit on the terrace closest to the wall of the café. The streets were quiet on this cool afternoon. A teenager pedaled his bicycle past this coffee shop.

"We've heard of your problem," said Octavio. "Max told me."

"We are sorry about your problem. We may not be able to help much but at least try to offer assistance," said Maxim.

I looked at the two people. I had considered Maxim as my brother. His age was probably only 5-6 years above me.

Octavio nodded. "There are competitions that you might be interested in participating in," he said. "The prizes are not big but there are lots of music producers who will watch. This is a golden opportunity."

"What competition?"

"Rising Star First Step. You have a month to prepare. This requires a team. Max is ready to join," said Octavio. "Are you interested?"

"I'm in," I said without hesitation.

To Be Continued

_{In A Cafe. Source: Viktoria Alipatova from Pexels}

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Mimpi Menjadi Bintang (Part 20): Don't Ever Don't Stop

Hari itu, Otavio Paz mengajarkan lagu baru. Don't Ever Don't Stop by Trenton Lundy (Hive account@tlundy47). Ini komposisi musik elektronik yang cocok untuk berdansa. Banyak bunyi-bunyian di sini yang terkesan kompleks meski durasinya kurang dari 4 menit.

Permainanku lumayan. Aku sudah berkali-kali mendengar lagu ini dimainkan di Radio Rising Star. Di Buskeria, kau harus sering-sering latihan musik untuk meningkatkan keterampilanmu. Keterampilan yang tinggi juga akan menurunkan egomu.

"So now you know 3 chords you can play the whole of the Status Quo catalogue! You gained 8 Skill points," demikian pesan yang masuk di aplikasi Rising Star game. Pesan seperti ini akan muncul bila kau telah menyelesaikan satu sesi latihan.

Octavio, tak seperti biasanya, tidak membentak-bentak atau mengomel panjang lebar. Matanya yang jeli tampaknya bisa melihat ada yang tak beres pada diriku hari itu.

"Okey, kita berhenti dahulu dan beristirahat," katanya seraya memberi isyarat agar aku mengikutinya.

Kami keluar ruang latihan. Di ruang tamu, Max sedang membaca majalah musik rock. Dia meletakkan majalahnya ketika melihat kami.

"Kita ngopi sore dulu di kedai kopi sebelah," kata Octavio kepada Max.

Di sebelah studionya ada sebuah kedai bernama Ngopi Bersama Musik. Kedai itu setengah penuh. Kami memilih duduk di teras yang paling dekat dengan dinding kedai. Jalanan sepi saja pada sore yang sejuk ini. Seorang remaja belasan tahun mengayuh sepedanya melintasi kedai kopi ini.

"Kami sudah mendengar masalahmu," kata Octavio. "Max yang mengatakannya padaku."

"Kami turut prihatin terhadap masalahmu. Kami mungkin tidak bisa membantu banyak tapi setidaknya mencoba menawarkan bantuan," kata Maxim.

Aku memandang kedua orang itu. Maxim sudah kuanggap sebagai kakakku. Usianya mungkin hanya 5-6 tahun di atasku.

Octavio mengangguk. "Ada kompetisi yang mungkin kau tertarik ikuti," kata dia. "Hadiahnya tidak besar tapi ada banyak produser musik yang akan menonton. Ini peluang emas."

"Kompetisi apa?"

"Rising Star First Step. Kau punya waktu sebulan untuk mempersiapkannya. Ini membutuhkan satu tim. Max sudah bersedia bergabung," kata Octavio. "Kau tertarik?"

"Aku ikut," kataku tanpa ragu.

Bersambung

_{A Man Plays Guitar. Source: David Bartus from Pexels}

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