Wings

An artist's workspace is like a nest, perfectly secluded from the outside world. A place where new ideas hatch before flying out into the world. This artist’s nest was filled to the brim with all kinds of electronics, keyboards, synths, a sound pad, and a sound mixer. A web of wires ran through the suburban bedroom, connecting all these integrated devices. 

At the heart of the web sat Masaki, an ordinary brown-haired teenage boy. He was wearing a big headphone on his head, which he used to meticulously monitor his work. His eyes were pinned to a laptop screen displaying a myriad of different little windows filled with graphs, bars, meters, and other technological intricacies.

One more change. Masaki thought to himself. He grabbed the mouse and dragged some control on his screen by a minuscule amount and hit play again. Music production is all in the details after all. Mmm - something still feels missing. He took a sip of his drink and looked out the window. A pigeon landed on a thin branch of a tree that stood in front of the window. The weight of the bird landing made the branch vibrate, just a little bit. 

That is it! 

Masaki grabbed his mouse and added a little reverb to one of the channels and pressed play. That was exactly what this track needed! He jumped off his chair and did a little victory pose. The track he had been struggling with for the last couple of weeks had finally been finished. Masaki pressed the export button and stored it on his hard disk.

With the track finished, it felt like a huge weight was lifted off Masaki’s shoulders. He finished his drink, stretched his arms, and leaned back in his chair. 

What now? 

Bored, he looked at his bedroom walls, lined with posters of famous JROCK icons, some of which his father had helped produce music for. It had always been his goal as well, to work for great names like these. His dad had advised him to keep working on his skills until he graduated high school. But that meant Masaki had to wait another three years, something he didn’t have the patience for. After all, his tracks kept getting better and better, even his father said so. He felt he had been reaching the limit of what he could learn here alone in his bedroom. At some point, it is time to leave the nest, since you need the outside world to grow even further. Masaki sighed and then decided to take the plunge and ask his father again after he got back from his work.

X

Holding a USB drive in his hand, Masaki knocked on the door of his father's office.

“Please come in!”

Masaki told his father he had finished producing the song he had been working on and wanted him to give some feedback. He showed his dad the USB drive - which he proceeded to plug into his computer. Dad opened the file and listened to it in complete silence. As usual, his face was difficult to read - he was a real professional after all. After he was done listing, Masaki asked his father.

“And... what feedback would you give me?”

His dad scratched his head and took a long breath.

“None”

Masaki was confused, usually, his father explained to him in fine detail what he liked and disliked about the track. But now, he was just being… silent.

“So what things could I approve… didn’t you like any of it?”

His father now started smiling, his face sparkled.

“Son, you’ve done it - this sounds amazing. The arrangement, mixing, and mastering, everything about this track.”

“It sounds like it’s done by a true professional”

Masaki couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was quite confident about this track being his best work until now, but he hadn’t suspected this. Does this mean my father has nothing to learn me anymore? He now suddenly felt a lot more confident about asking his father about producing for a real band.

“Father, can I now start producing music for a real band like you do?”

His father chuckled.

“Son listen, as I told you before, I’d be willing to find you some work in the future - after you have graduated high school that is. For now, just keep practicing and focus on your studies.”

But Masaki didn’t agree, he angrily balled his hand up in a fist which he pointed in the air.

“But you just said there is nothing left to improve! If I am already good enough, why would you waste my talent like this?”

His father tried his best to cool him down.

“Masaki, please calm down. Just keep doing what you're doing and prove to me this one track is not just a fluke.”

“I have to finish some work, we’ll discuss your work later okay?”

Masaki slammed the door as he left the room. When will I finally be able to spread my wings?

X

Later that night, Masaki was sitting behind, aimlessly browsing the internet. The conversation with his father had left him discouraged. What would be the point of working on yet another track if it’s going to end up buried aware somewhere three folders deep on his hard drive again? How could he show his father he was ready after all?

Luckily for him, there was no need for that. Just before going to bed, he heard someone knocking on his door. It must be Mom giving me a goodnight kiss. But Masaki was greeted by his father instead. He sat down on the edge of the bed and started speaking.

“I have been thinking about what to do with you, Masaki. I agree that technically you have enough skill to produce for a band. However, the role of a producer is much more than putting stems together with your computer. You have to be able to work with the band and figure out what it is exactly that they want.”

“And then, even so, there wouldn’t be a lot of bands that would want a high schooler working on their tracks.”

Masaki sighed, he hadn’t thought of that. He felt really discouraged.

“But I have an idea, what if you were to produce a young high school band?”

“That sounds awesome Dad! We would be able to understand each other well and our schedules will line up”

His dad nodded.

“Exactly what I was thinking.”

“There is this underground girl’s band I read about online, that will perform tomorrow in the live house nearby. I read they are wanting to record their first single. I bought you a ticket for their concert, could you go listen to them and offer them a business card if they are any good?”

“A highschool girlband?”

Masaki was a bit uncertain, he wasn’t any good at communicating with girls at school. In fact, he had never really talked to a girl. Would they want a nerd like him to work on their music?

“Don’t worry, it’s not an idol group or anything - they play indie rock.”

That didn’t alleviate my concerns…

“Let’s go see them first before you judge okay?”

Dad handed him a ticket and backstage pass, which Masaki shakily accepted.

X

With a lot of excitement, Masaki was waiting in line before the live house. Surrounding him were about forty other people, mostly teenagers like him. They must all be fans of this band. He heard the door opening.

“Please everyone come in!”

A big guy at the door checked his ticket and let him come in. It was a small room in the basement of a warehouse, it could hold about two-hundred people, and tonight it was about half filled. Since Masaki arrived early, he was able to get hold of a place all the way to the front. About half an hour after arriving, the lights were dimmed and the performer was announced.

“Please give a round of applause for Maid in Melodies!”

What a stupid name. Masaki thought.

Three girls dressed in maid uniforms entered the stage. One of them sat down behind the drums. Another one grabbed an up bass and put the strap around her neck. The last girl walked up to the front of the stage and picked up a guitar. Long dark-nerd hair was flowing over her shoulders. She adjusted the microphone and took a big breath. She must be the lead singer. Masaki thought.

“Welcome everyone! We are Maid in Melodies!”

“Are you all excited?”

Masaki was blown away by her powerful voice, it somehow sounded a bit familiar to him.

“3.. 2…1… Ikuyo!”

But wait a second!

I know that girl from somewhere…

Isn’t that…

Akane Ishihara!

But what in the world would one of the school’s most popular girls be doing in an underground indie band?