The monitors hummed in the control room as Luca set up the sound systems connected to the vocal booth and isolation rooms. Rylan tapped his drumsticks on the table next to Lucian, who was guiding him on a tempo.
Casen tapped one of the mics in the vocal booth, "Testing… testing… Yo, Luca, can you hear me?"
Luca glanced up from over a screen, "What do you think?"
Casen grinned, bouncing up to the glass with one of the mics in hand. "Alrighty, let's make some noise before Lucian starts yet another inspirational speech about tone discipline."
Right on cue, Lucian spoke with a tight smile. "Tone discipline is what keeps you from sounding like a broken blender."
"Personally, I am here for the blender solo," Rylan grinned, getting tapped on the head by Enzo.
"Don't encourage them," Enzo murmured, passing the threshold into the vocal booth.
"Aw, but it's fun!" Rylan grinned, though that grin faltered when Enzo looked over his shoulder at him with an indifferent expression. "Okay, okay, toning it down."
Lucian lifted a hand, motioning for Rylan to go inside before leaning on the desk next to Luca, "Alright, I see some changes."
Luca nodded, lifting the lyric sheets without looking up, "Casen has an added suggestion."
"I have an added suggestion? Uh oh." Casen's eyes widened, "What is it?"
Lucian was reading the sheets before handing the page to Casen, who looked it over. His eyes widened in surprise before he grinned from ear to ear, "Ooh, dope! I'm keeping this." He announced and ran before Lucian could take the sheet back from him.
Luca finally looked up at Lucian, "You heard him. Now shoo, it's time to begin."
Lucian cracked a smile, shaking his head while squeezing Luca's shoulder with his left hand, "Yeah, yeah." He chuckled, following the others to their places. Luca pushed his chair off with his feet, gliding across the control room to close the door, and slid back to where he had previously been.
He looked around before he grabbed the arm of Elaine's chair and dragged it to the other side of him. "You'll get the best view from here, also," he looked around, nodding when he found what he was trying to find, and handed her a headset. "Use this one, you'll get the cleanest sound without blowing your eardrums if Casen decides he's going to scream."
"I did that once!" Casen retorted over the mic.
"It was more than once." Lucian scoffed.
Before Casen could retort, Luca hit a button that set off a loud beep in everyone's headset. "Alright, kids," Luca muttered, "Let's get started."
"You seriously not gonna join us, Lu?" Rylan questioned before getting swatted by Enzo, "Okay, no more questions. Queue it up, Boss!"
Luca shook his head, glancing at Elaine, who was smiling. He refocused, "Alright, you know the drill. Do what you do best."
The beat dropped when the track played through headsets, and the studio came to life as Elaine listened to the different voices with her notebook resting on the table in front of her. She tapped her fingers to the beat until the track was paused midway.
"Cas, your entry's still a half-beat behind the downstroke," Luca explained.
"It's called interpretive rhythm, thank you very much."
"Interpretive rhythm, my ass," Rylan remarked, "You missed the cue again."
"Every time," Lucian added, "He misses it every time."
"You're all tone tyrants, I swear!" Casen whined.
Elaine looked at her notes, then up at the bickering members behind the glass, half smiling. "If it helps, your interpretive rhythm would sound tighter if you came in on the echo instead of the beat. The percussion's already filling that space," she explained.
Casen put a finger up, his mouth open to retort, before his finger curved and he pursed his lips. He looked from the glass to the papers in his hand, "Okay, I'll take that." He gave a slow nod, "Finally, someone who doesn't roast me every take. Can we keep her?"
Luca glanced at Casen through the glass. His response was to play the track again and cause Casen to scramble back to his mic. By take four, it was sounding better, though Elaine felt something off. They sound better live than most artists, but there's still a gap in vocals. She paused, glancing toward Luca. Could it be the reason something sounds like its off is that his voice is missing?
Luca's gaze caught hers before turning back to the monitor when Lucian spoke mid-song.
"Luca, from the top!" The music stopped, and Lucian shook out the tension in his body. "Tighten up on the bridge, Rylan."
Rylan nodded, lifting his drumsticks, "Copy, copy."
Another take. Elaine swapped between watching the members and writing notes in her journal. The track faded out, and they repeated the process a few more times.
Casen groaned as they finished another take, holding his water bottle. "Luca, man, tell me you recorded that one."
"I did." Luca answered, turning his chair to face Elaine, "What do you think?"
Casen was staring at her with puppy dog eyes, and she could only offer him an apologetic smile. "The build before the chorus feels strong, but the transition from Lucian to Rylan could use a half-second delay. It'd give it more lift."
Lucian turned his head, his eyes wide; it was clear he was impressed. "You hear that too?"
"I was about to say the same." Luca chuckled, turning back to the monitor. "Yo, Luci, looks like we're not the only ones paying attention."
"Oh, prefect," Rylan chimed in, "There's three sound police now."
"Don't worry, Rylan," Enzo softly spoke up, "You and Casen are more of visual performers anyway."
"Excuse me?" Rylan gasped in mock offense, dramatically lifting a hand to his chest. "These visuals come with talent, thank you very much."
"Yeah!" Casen jumped in, "We're the reason fans actually look at the stage." He put his hands on his hips, tilting his chin up, "You're welcome."
"Alright, children, focus." Lucian looked between the three, "We're supposed to be making music, not memes."
"But-" Casen started, but was interrupted quickly.
"Save the ego parade for after we nail the track," Luca spoke up, calm but firm. "Get ready to start again."
He muted his mic, turning to Elaine, who had her head leaned into her hand, trying not to laugh. He flicked hair from his face. "You laugh now, but wait until they rope you into backing vocals."
Elaine squeaked, and Luca blinked. She quickly sat up, "Do not-"
"That was adorable!" Casen exclaimed.
Luca put a hand over his mouth, but it didn't help as he burst out laughing. Turning his chair back to the monitor when she hid behind her hands.
"Oh god, kill me." Elaine groaned.
Luca pursed his lips, his frame shaking from silent laughter. Casen was about to move from his position, so Luca restarted the track. He smirked when Casen's jaw dropped, and he nearly tripped going back to his mic.
He glanced at Elaine, who had the headset in her hands, staring at it before finally putting it back on. She looked at him, and he lightly pursed his lips. She muted her mic, "Don't laugh!"
Luca smiled, licking over his bottom lip while he concealed his mouth with his hand, "Had your mic not been on, maybe I wouldn't be."
Elaine shook her head, flustered, and he reached his hand from his mouse, tapping her head with the back of his hand. "You fit in well here," he commented, "Chaos is our brand after all."
Elaine looked up, about to say something, when he unmuted his mic and she took it as an indication to refocus. She turned back to her journal, listening to the other members while she unmuted her mic. The incident faded into the noise as they repeated the process with a few breaks in between.
Luca glanced up from his keyboard, pausing in his notes while listening to the last recording. Elaine watched his process, quietly observing everything he did differently from her. He ended the track and added his notes in. "Well, gents," Luca hummed through his mic, "I would say that's a wrap for today, last track sounds good."
"Oh, hell to the yes!" Casen jumped up, pumping his fists in the air.
Lucian took a sip of his water, watching Casen celebrate, "Don't forget we got another rehearsal."
"Don't rain on my parade, man," Casen pouted.
Enzo shook his head, collecting everything scattered around. He stopped in his tracks when Rylan dramatically collapsed onto the floor in front of him.
"I can already feel my bones filing complaints." He announced dramatically.
"Same," Casen agreed, taking a sip of water, "Someone call HR."
"I think HR left an hour ago," Elaine joked, causing the two to laugh from where they were sprawled out in the vocal booth.
She lifted her phone to check it and blinked.
╭────────────╮
{Eleanore Davies} (Text)
hey Lainy, the apt is quiet and i'm starting to think u got abducted by the synth gods. when r u coming home? 👽
╰────────────╯
╭────────────╮
{Eleanore Davies} (Text)
i'm ordering takeout and i need to know if i should sacrifice another portion to the fridge demon 👹
╰────────────╯
Elaine snorted, partially laughing under her breath, "Oh."
"Everything okay?" Luca inquired.
Elaine looked up from her phone, meeting his gaze. "Oh, yeah. My roommate's just asking when I'll be home." She chuckled, "I should probably head out before she assumes I've joined a cult."
Rylan had stepped into the control room with the others, grinning, "Joke's on her, we are a cult."
"Of rhythm," Casen whispered dramatically.
"Oi," Lucian lightly tapped them both on the head. "Don't go scaring her off on her first day."
Luca slowly stood up from his chair, collecting the two headsets to put away. "I'll walk you out."
Elaine blinked, then nodded, collecting her belongings before standing to follow him out. She stopped at the door, smiling as she looked back towards the others, "Thank you for allowing me to join. This was fun."
"Anytime," Lucian smiled.
"Please, come back again," Casen clasped his hands together, "Please?"
"Tempting offer, but I believe that is Luca's call." Elaine laughed, waving as she stepped into the hall.
"Luca-"
Luca closed the door behind them, interrupting whatever Casen was about to say. Elaine chuckled softly, walking beside Luca to her car in the parking lot.
"You know," Elaine started, setting her bags in the backseat, "You didn't have to walk with me."
"And ruin my gentleman reputation?"
"Fair enough." Elaine chuckled, "Thank you for inviting me and letting me stay through the rehearsal."
"Well," Luca stretched his arms above his head, "You give solid feedback. Most people would just nod and say something like 'sounds good'… But I am figuring out you aren't like most people."
Elaine blinked, taken aback by the compliment. "You did ask me to be honest."
Luca dropped his hands into his pockets, and a small, nearly unnoticeable smile traced his lips in quiet amusement. "Yeah. I did."
Elaine smiled, opening the driver's door to slide inside, looking up at him as she started up the engine. He lifted a hand onto the roof, leaning partially on the car with his other hand on the door. "Would you like to come back tomorrow?"
"I mean, yeah." Elaine paused, "If you'll have me, that is."
Luca gave an amused snort, giving a more noticeable but small smile. "I'd say that it'd be insane not to."
"Then," Elaine smiled softly, fastening her seatbelt, "I will be back tomorrow… Goodnight, Luca."
Luca gave a small nod, "Goodnight, Songbird." He murmured as he closed the door and began walking back towards the studio.
Elaine tapped on her playlist, leaning on her steering wheel for a moment to watch him before finally pulling out of the parking lot to begin her trip back home. The song playing through the speakers was Premise of Design's Paper Halo. She tapped her fingers to the beat before Luca's voice filled the space. She leaned her head back, "That's what the track is missing," she murmured, tapping her ring on her steering wheel, "Why aren't you singing in the album… I wonder."