Learning To Love

chapter 6

"okay so, after this part, is where you come in. So try that thing you just did, but make it a little slower." Grayson pointed to the paper full of barely readable scribbles. Tipsy was setting up his drums and Mason was practicing the tune Grayson and him came up with.

"Okay, but I have an idea. What if, we have two recordings for the bass, one pitch high, one lower. They're the same tune, but they're rhythms are out of sync. It'll give it a sort of echo affect." I explained and then demonstrated on my guitar.

"The higher one is like this, and the lower one is the same, but a few seconds behind." I moved my hand up and down the arm of the guitar and Grayson's face lit up.

"Okay, okay wait, do that again." He excitedly repositioned in his chair and I played the tune again, going back and forth from high to low. He mumbled the lyrics quietly, nodding his head to how to drums would play.

"Yeah, that's sounds awesome. That's a great idea. So, live you would be going back and forth from high to low, but in recording it would actually be layered, and both would be playing at the same time?" He asked in confirmation, I nodded.

He thought for a second, as if working the sounds out in his head.

"That's perfect, keep that in mind when we record version for the album." He got up from the small round table and walked over to his mic.

Tipsy was ready with the drums and Ribs had his guitar over his chest. I walked over to the large desk with the sound systems and monitors. We had one computer, three monitors, a keyboard, a voice changer, a pitch changer, and a sound regulator. I just had to set up the sound for Grayson's vocals to stand out from the instruments.

I put the large cuffed headphones over my ears and looked over at Pricetag, giving him a thumbs up, he returned it. I looked over at Ribs and Tipsy, who were ready as well. I counted to four and they started playing.

Fiddling with the computer, I lowered the drums a little, raised Grayson's voice, and mellowed the buzz of Mason's guitar. I put my hand up and they stopped, readjusting themselves.

"Okay it's good. So we're gonna work on the live version, test the sound out. Then we will start with the real recording," I informed and they nodded.

Once the song was practiced and we worked out the timing, we started the album version. The album version was different becuase a lot of the instruments were recorded by themselves. I recorded my two bass recording and layered them, I made the lower one a little softer, and correct the pitch to more of a growl.

I fixed the higher one to sound more clear and detailed, this way you could easily distinguish the two sounds by themselves, yet they harmonized together.

We recorded Mason's guitar about three time, layering the sounds so that it was clearer. There was a louder layer and a quiter layer. Then we had a seperate recording for his solo, I amplified it so that the other instruments almost seemed silenced. They were nothing but a blurred hum in the background.

When Grayson's voice came back in, the drums bounced back in with him, making the impact of his voice stronger.

After a few hours of editing, night began to fall. We kept the big garage door closed, but the smaller door was left open with a brick. A gust of wind blew in, making me shiver. The sounds of a car pulling up, followed by the slam of the door shook me. The car beeped as the owner locked it, their footsteps leading up to the open entrance.

My chest felt heavy but my curiosity was heavier. The studio looked gloomy and dark, only lit by two lamps. We were still working on the studio, it was in its beginning stages. Everyone was seated by the table, engrossed in a conversation. They didn't seem to notice.

I wiped my face, pulling my chair out from the desk.

A figure walked in through the doorway, I knew that figure. I knew it very well.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late!" Lucas's friendly voice broke their conversation and Pricetag got up to greet him.

"Hey, you stopped by! Come look what we did today, Hush has been editing it all evening over here." I cringed a little at the name, they've been calling me that since we met. They used to constantly talk about how long it took for me to come around and start talking more.

Lucas's eyes gazed over to me, an unreadable look on his face. He stared at me for moment longer, then a casual smile stretched on his lips.

"Alright Ollie, let's hear what I missed!" His voice was perky as usual. It seemed he was acting normal and the longer stare told me to play along. It was as if Lucas and I were acting for a movie only he and I knew about.

I smiled and gestured for him to come over. Clicking play, the song sounded and I watched the layers overlap eachother. I could feel his presence behind me. My hands tingled, then my arms. Before I knew it, my whole body felt like television static.

Thoughts of his lips on mine flooded my mind and I shook my head, my face blooming into a harsh red.

When the song finished, the end being unfinished and sounding off, he chuckled.

"You guys did that today?" He asked in disbelief. I spun around in the comfortable desk chair. Grayson patted his back with a great smile on his face.

"Yeah man! All evening. Doesn't it sound good?" Grayson was excited and his cheeks rippled with dimples.

"Yeah, I mean it's hard to believe you idiots made it!" He teased and Grayson lightly shoved him, walking over to the table. He grabbed his pack of smokes and his keys, heading towards the door.

"Alright guys, I gotta head out now. We did great today, I'm getting really excited about this album!" He cheered as he walked over to the door.

"Goodnight price!" Tipsy called out.

Lucas and I both waved, almost in sync.

Grayson nodded to Mason, his life long bestfriend and Mason nodded back. With that, he left and closed the door behind him.

I got up from my chair, feeling overwhelmed. It felt wrong to be around Lucas infront of anyone. I didn't know where we stood, but I had a feeling I would find out soon. Lucas came for a reason and the glare he gave me spoke volumes.

I thought, I ought to find a way to get us alone and headed towards the door.

"I'm gonna get some fresh air, sweating like crazy in here. Anyone wanna come?" I called behind me. I knew Tipsy and Ribs wouldn't becuase they were tired and busy with a conversation.

"I'll come." Lucas said behind me, meeting me outside. Wind blew rapidly, flapping my brown jacket open. The night was dark, eerily dark. I had a bad feeling, my heart started to thunder in my chest. Louder than Cameron's drums were tonight.

As soon as Lucas closed the door behind us, he lit a cigarette.

"What did you tell them?" His voice was threatening and low. He stood away from me, avoiding my eyes as he puffed on his cigarette.

That's odd, Lucas didn't smoke. Or, at least I thought I remembered him saying he didn't.

I frowned.

"I didn't tell them anything? What did you tell them?" Wind blew through his hair, his clothes rippling in the cold breeze.

"Nothing, and we're gonna keep it that way. You understand? I was drunk, it was mistake." His voice had a rumbling anger to it, the look in his eyes was menacing. I struggled to stay present.

"W-what do you mean?" I felt my heart break in my chest, my lip quivered. I had been waiting for this moment, expecting it. But as the situation displayed itself before me, his words burned deeper than anticipated.

"I mean, it was a mistake! It was a drunken mistake. It meant nothing and it will always mean, nothing." He exhaled smoke from his mouth and threw the cigarette on the ground angrily. Storming back into the studio, Slamming the door behind him. I slumped against the wall, falling slowly to the ground.

As if a heart like mine could get anymore broken.