Wavelength

Behind the 48-channel mixing console sat Masaki, nervously anticipating the band members to arrive. Today was thé big day, the day they were going to record Maid in Melodies’s first single. Masaki looked over the studio equipment once again.

It’s just like the equipment in my bedroom, but then way bigger… and better organized.

Suddenly, his phone started ringing.

“Akane Ishihara”

His phone display read.

Masaki’s heart started beating faster, just by reading her name.

Calm down… stay professional.

Other than relaying the studio date, he hadn’t spoken to her since their awkward encounter at the band practice. A few glances at the school, a bit of blushing, and looking away. And then looking again… followed by awkward eye contact. Since neither of them could keep their eyes off the other.

Business relationship, business relationship, business relationship.

He kept repeating in his head when picking up the phone.

“Tsuchiya-productions, Masaki here, how can I help you?”

A brief silence fell… followed by some chuckling.

“Hi Masaki you silly, we are standing here in the lobby… a bit confused.”

“There are a lot of doors here…”

Business relationship, business relationship!

“Don’t worry, I’ll come to save you. Stay put!”

Masaki hurried through the various dark hallways. Some faint noise of other bands playing could be heard when passing along each door.

From afar, he could make up the girl’s silhouettes. The blue-haired Chifumi was leaning against Haruka’s shoulder, who did her best to push her lazy friend away. And then there was Akane, still wearing her guitar case. She looked beautiful as ever, her long red hair falling over the stylish white blouse she was wearing.

After hearing Masaki approaching, the girls turned around.

Haruka grabbed his hand and enthusiastically shook it up and down.

“Thank you Tsuchiya-san for saving us. This building is very confusing.”

But he couldn’t be bothered by her… all his attention was focused on Ishihara-san. They made eye contact and she greeted him with a soft voice.

“Hi Masaki-kun”

“Glad to see you’ve all arrived. Please follow me to our studio space.”

Haruka picked up her bass case and the three girls followed him back to the studio.

“This is it, the space my dad helped us rent for the day”

“I called it!”

Haruka said to the other girls.

“If only you had listened to me…”

“Too bad”

Ishihara-san said with a smile.

“I can’t help being so stubborn”

Chifumi ran into the studio and immediately sat down behind the drum kit.

“You can’t wait to start, can you?”

Akane giggled.

“If only she was… she’s just happy she has somewhere to sit down…”

Chifumi nodded.

“Alright, let me explain, we have until 7 PM to record the song so there is no need to hurry.”

“Please take the time to tune your instruments and get used to the studio environment.”

“I will help Ishihara and Miyazaki with hooking up your instruments, the drumkit should be ready to go.”

Masaki made sure the guitar and bass were plugged into the studio’s amplifiers and the microphones were hooked up well.

While the girls were busy tuning their instruments, Masaki grabbed some tea to serve.

“Please follow me into the producer room.”

Haruka and Akane followed him, but Chifumi remained seated behind the drum kit.

“There is a comfy sofa there…”

Chifumi’s face sparkled, she jumped up and made a sprint to the producer room, passing by the three others. She poofed herself smack in the middle of the couch.

“You can’t do that Chifumi, that’s inappropriate. Please make some space for the others!”

Masaki and Ishihara-san exchanged a smile.

“She’s really like her mom, isn’t she?”

Akane whispered into Masaki’s ear.

He smiled.

What a privilege to work with this quirky posse of friends.

None would have guessed they were this eccentric when seeing them give such a tight performance on stage.

The group sat down, and while Haruka poured them all cup of tea, Masaki started running through the recording process.

“First we will rehearse the song to get in the groove. After that, we will do a couple of full band takes and then some overdubbing. We will record the vocals separately in the vocal booth later today.”

“After that, we will record the acoustic track which we will use as B-side for the CD.”

“Any questions?”

The girls shook their heads.

“No, mwaster!”

Masaki laughed in a painful matter, rubbing his head with his hand.

“Please, don’t call me that, okay?”

Ishara-san got up, she rubbed her hands together.

“I am ready, let’s get this over with!”

X

The girls got back into the main recording room. They had their guitars strapped on, drumsticks in Chifumi’s hands. Haruka and Chifumi looked ready, in contrast to Ishihara, who kept fidgeting with stuff. Her strap, the strings, her hair. She didn’t look comfortable.

I need to think of something to make her feel less tense.

“Let’s only do the instrumentals the first time around, okay?”

Akane nodded her head.

Masaki readjusted the studio mixer before him. He pressed the record button, something his father told him to always do, even during practice sessions.

“The first take tends to be the best with inexperienced bands like these.”

Masaki took a deep breath. He double-checked to make sure none of the audio channels were muted.

The moment is finally there. This is really happening, my first time in the studio with a band. No, not just a band. The amazing Maid in Melodies!

One final glance at all the members from behind the thick layer of glass, separating the rooms. Ishihara looked a bit less stressed now they decided to do an instrumental practice first, Haruka smiled at him, cute and proper as always. And then there was-

“Chifumi, you can start”

“Do your best everyone!”

He said through the microphone.

But instead of starting the countdown, Chifumi raised her hand.

“Mwister producer, what is that red light?”

“This was only practice right?”

Immediately Ishihara-san started fidgeting again.

Why did she have to notice…

“That light just means I can hear you through my headphones”

“Ahh, rodger!”

Chifumi winked at him and started counting right away.

“4…3…2…1”

Masaki’s eardrums were immediately met with their raw, passionate indie band sound.

He closed his eyes, trying to take in the music they were playing. The song he wrote himself. A proud smile formed on his face.

It feels good to be me

He took a second to take in their music, flawless as ever.

After they played through the whole song, Masaki’s face was still gloating.

“You nailed it girls!”

Ishihara-san smiled.

“Seeing our number #1 fan happy like this - is what motivates me.”

She took a deep breath and turned around to the other girls.

“Are you ready for another round?”

After turning to see Masaki again she said.

“Let’s begin the vocal take before I make up my mind.”

He nodded, walking up to the side of the booth to pull down the blinds.

“Thank you”

Ishihara-san mumbled.

“Alright, Chifumi ready to go?”

“Ready in 4, 3, 2, 1”

You can do this, Akane!

Masaki thought in his head as the band played the song’s intro.

Ishihara’s voice cut into the mix like a warm knife into butter.

She sounded a bit off-key at the start, but as the song progressed she sounded more and more confident.

He felt the hairs on his arm get up. Goosebumps.

Those lyrics are great… but still a bit embarrassing!

When the band finished playing their last note, Masaki raised the blinds.

A brief-eye contact between him and Ishihara-san followed. Her cheeks turned a slight fade of red.

“How.. how was it?”

“Good, it started a bit shakily, but you killed it at the ending.”

“You did great Akane-chan!”

Haruka made a little cheer.

Both girls turned around. Chifumi was hanging over her drums, she looked quite exhausted.

“Oh help!”

Haruka looked worried.

Ishihara put her hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, I am prepared”

She walked over to her guitar case and picked out a little paper drink carton, which she pushed into Haruka’s hands.

Haruka stormed onto Chifumi, putting the little straw and bringing it to Chifumi’s mouth.

“Mmm”

She said while drinking.

“I feel all energetic now”

Masaki rubbed his head, a bit confused about the scene unfolding in front of him.

“Is she okay?”

“Just a sugar crash, that’s all”

After Chifumi was reenergized, they started recording a couple of different takes, just drums, just bass, drums and bass, and finally the guitars. That way Masaki had a bit more freedom during the singles mixing process.

With the backing track record, it was time for Ishihara-san to enter the vocal booth.

“It’s awkward... singing without playing my guitar”

“I’ve never really done that - aside from under the shower”

Ishihara let out a nervous giggle.

“Sorry but, we can’t have any sound from the guitar entering the microphone. I need the tracks as clean as possible.”

“Relax, take your time. Close your eyes and pretend by yourself showering”

Masaki put some calming rain sounds on Akane’s headphones.

“Thank you Masaki-kun”

She said after about a minute.

“I am going to nail those vocals for you”

After a few sips of water from a plastic bottle, she signed Masaki to start playing the track.

Luckily for them, Ishihara got the vocals right in one take. They made a few more recordings just to be sure, before switching over to the recording of the second song.

For the acoustic song, Masaki had arranged a Cajon for Chifumi. The blue-haired girl sat down on the wooden box. For Haruka, he grabbed a special acoustic bass from the studio’s storage. The idea was to have the song start with just Ishihara playing an acoustic guitar and then have the other girls join in halfway through, expanding the sound.

It took a couple of tries for the band members to get used to this other way of playing, but in the end, they were able to record a deep and emotional song.

Luckily, recording these lyrics went a lot easier than the ones for the first song.

“Alright girls, we are all done!”

Masaki said after listening back to some of the tracks they just recorded.

“I think this is enough material for today, you did a great job everyone!”

He looked into Ishihara-san’s radiant blue eyes.

I’ll do my Akane, I mix your song into a masterpiece.