"Well, we want to track the entire song, if possible, so we'd like to get started right away."
Jon nods. "Great. Your stuff is already in there and ready for you. Get setup and we can start laying down the scratch. Who's up?"
"Casey's going to play keys with my vocal," Luke says.
"No acoustic?"
"Nah, just keys," Casey confirms.
Jon seems satisfied and moves toward the console. "Ok, great. You guys can get setup in the main room and the rest of you can hang out."
"I'm grabbing some coffee," Eli announces. "You coming?" he says to Sweeny who agrees.
"What about you, Callie?"
I shake my head. "I want to watch," I respond, to no one's surprise.
"First time in a studio?" Jon asks after we're alone.
"Pretty obvious, huh," I answer, and he glances at me before turning back to his work. His smile isn't condescending, however, and I decide I like him.
"Yeah, but it's ok. I'll take genuine interest over whiny arm candy any day."
I laugh. "Well, I can promise you, there will be no whining from this arm candy."
"Casey said you're one of the writers."
I nod. "Yeah, it's kind of a long story."
"Well, it's definitely got to be a good one to get your name in the credits with Casey Barrett and Luke Craven."
I shrug. I hadn't even thought of that. "Yeah, no kidding. They're pretty much the most talented people I've ever met."
It's his turn to laugh. "I could probably say that, too, and I've met a lot of talented people, believe me. It was a sad day for all of us when Luke Craven walked away from music. Seeing him back in a studio … man, you have no idea."
Actually, I think I have a pretty good idea, but there's no way I'm getting into that. Right now, that's a story for only three people.
"I promise not to bother you once we start, but for now, can you explain what's happening?"
Jon doesn't seem to mind my questions and continues working on his console as he talks.
"Sure. We're going to start by laying down a scratch track, which is basically just a rough run-through of the entire song."
"With just Luke and Casey?"
He nods. "Yeah, not the full band. Just keys and vocals. The scratch isn't part of the actual recording. We just use it as a guide for them to play along to when we're tracking their parts. After the scratch, we'll get Casey's drums, then lay down the bass so we can lock it in with the kick. Then guitars, synths, and finally vocals. We won't get to mix and master today, though."
My eyes widen as I absorb everything. "So wait, they don't actually play together at any point?"
He shakes his head. "No, not today. We're going to track separately. Then after all of that we'll mix and master everything to polish it up as the final version of the track."
"Wow."
I stare through the glass and see Casey fooling around with a keyboard, although this one is much bigger than the one in our suite and actually looks like a piano. Luke is standing in front of a microphone, and Carl is hovering nearby, waiting for instructions. They all have large headphones over their ears.
"How's it going?" Jon says into a short microphone on his console.
The guys look up from their place behind the glass and signal him.
"We're ready," Luke replies into his mic.
"Ok, let's get a quick sound check. Casey, I've got you going through a DI so we just have to check the gain. Give me something."
Casey gives him a thumbs up and starts playing. We can hear the piano, but also a heavy buzz, and Jon holds up his hand.
"Ok, hang on. Carl, I'm getting a hum. Can you flip the ground switch on the box?"
Carl jumps into action and makes an adjustment to the little metal box on the floor by Casey's keyboard.
"Ok, play again, Casey … Ok, great. Luke?"
Luke leans toward the mic. "Check 1, 2 … hey hey 1, 2."
"Ok, good. You guys hear each other and the click, ok?"
"Yeah, we're good."
"Great. Alright, whenever you're ready!"
Casey counts off and starts to play.
I'm not sure I actually breathe the entire time they're recording. Even though I've heard the song countless times now, it's different for some reason. Maybe it's because they're different. Casey and Luke have an energy, an aura, to their music I hadn't heard before. It's beautiful, and I have to keep reminding myself to re-oxygenate.
I think the recording sounds great when they finish, but after listening back, Casey and Jon both agree they have to run it again because of something that was happening on the "turns." They do, and this time, seem more optimistic after the take.
Luke and Casey give each other a congratulatory punch, and Jon leans into his talkback mic.
"Ok, I think we got it. Come on in to listen back, and if you're happy, we'll get Casey's kit setup to track the drums next. Carl, I'm going to want 421's on the toms and throw up a couple 81's for the overheads. I need the room mics back in place for the kit, too."
Luke and Casey join us in the control room, and I rise to greet them. I expected Casey to be euphoric with excitement, but instead he seems serious, contemplative. He still has enough playfulness to give me a quick kiss that I treasure, however.
"So what'd you think?" he asks.
I shake my head. "It's amazing. I had no idea."
"We haven't really even started yet," he chuckles. "Let's hear it," he says to Jon. The engineer plays back the recording, and all three of them have a stern look on their faces as they listen.
"Yeah, it's good," Luke says in approval at the conclusion of the song.
Jon nods. "I agree. Ok, Casey. Let's get you going."
Casey nods, and gives me an apologetic smile before retreating back to the tracking room.
"Luke, you can take a breather. We've got a while until we need you again."
Luke smiles. "Thanks. I'll stick around for a bit."
He slings his arm around me and gives me quick hug.
"Good to be back?" I ask, looking up at him.
He nods. "Yeah. I'm not gonna lie, I was nervous. But, yeah, it's pretty great. I missed this."
"You sound great," I say, squeezing him back.
"Yeah? Thanks. That wasn't the real vocal though."
"Oh, right. You don't use that one for the final version."
"Exactly."
"Hey, so what's a click?"
"The click track? It's that steady ticking you heard while we were playing."
"Oh ok, that metronome-sounding thing?"
"Yep. Keeps us all together." He gives me another smile. "You ready to see your boyfriend do his thing?" he asks, and I suck in my breath. Now, I'm the one who's nervous.
"Definitely. I'm excited."
"Alright, Casey, give me quarter notes on the kick," Jon says to the mic, and Casey starts pounding a slow steady rhythm on the big bass drum. "Carl, back off the outside mic a bit? Tiny bit more … ok … good. Casey, give me the snare next."
Casey moves to the smaller, horizontal drum and starts the same simple rhythm. They repeat the drill for the "toms" and "hi-hats," and then Jon has him play the entire kit to do a check on the "overheads" and get the full mix. He finally seems happy with what he's hearing and makes sure Casey is ready.
Casey signals him, and Jon triggers the scratch track.
I'm not sure I actually blink during the five minutes that follow. My eyes are glued to Casey, my ears ringing with an incredible barrage of percussion. I never in a million years would have guessed the cute little song Casey played for me that first day on that beat-up guitar would have this as its base. I can't believe Casey heard this in his head when he read my poem.
Casey wipes his face with his t-shirt when he finishes, but doesn't seem happy.
"Can we run that again?" he asks.
"Yeah, no problem. Sounded like a decent first take out here, but we can run it again."
"Thanks."
They do, and it sounds no different to me, but I know it is because everyone else seems much happier. Casey joins us in the control room.
"That was good, man. Great take. What'd you think?" Jon asks.
Casey shrugs. "I don't know. I'm still not sure about the bridge. Can we hear it?"
Jon nods and starts the playback. I watch Casey's face closely as he listens and notice him cringe a couple times. When it finishes, he moves back toward the tracking room.
"Yeah, we need to run the bridge again. I don't like the build."
"You need a bigger fill, Case," Luke says, and Casey nods.
"Yeah. I also came in too early on the chorus."
"Ok. Let's take it from the turn after chorus two," Jon says, and Casey returns to his kit.
He seems much happier the third time through.
"Killer!" Jon calls into the mic, and Casey salutes him.
"Yeah, I think we got it that time," Casey replies.
By the time Casey makes his way back to the control room, Sweeny and Eli have joined us as well.
"Still tracking drums?" Sweeny smirks. "Why? They're just gonna replace it with samples anyway."
Eli laughs, and Casey gives him an annoyed look. "Hilarious. Hey, how about you do something besides stuff your face with donuts?"