In the recording studio, a small room called the "control room" was adjacent to the soundproof room used for performances. It seemed to be a room where the engineer would make adjustments and where members not currently performing could listen to the music.
The workflow for recording was to play the bass while listening to the recorded drums, then play the guitar while listening to both the drums and bass, and finally record the vocals while listening to the instruments as a whole. So, the process began with the drum recording.
As the top batter, I entered the soundproof room and sat behind the drums, placing the headphones over my ears.
"Test, test. Can you hear me~?"
"Yes, I can hear you."
Hichika-san's voice came through the headphones.
"Wait, can you hear my voice too?"
"Yeah, I can hear you. Right, Konuma-san?"
"Yes, I can hear you."
I could also hear Ichikawa's voice, likely from where she was standing next to Hichika-san.
In any case, it seemed possible to converse with the control room through the headphones.
"Alright, please adjust the drums."
"Understood."
I sat on the drum throne and began the setup. Keeping the posture Kanno-san had taught me in mind, I arranged each drum in the position that was easiest for me to hit.
A little later, Hichika-san entered the soundproof room carrying a measuring tape. Taira-chan was following behind her.
"Is this position okay for you?"
"Yes, this is fine."
"Roger that!"
Hichika-san's expression shifted to one of complete seriousness. She began positioning about ten microphones while measuring the distance between the left and right cymbals with her tape.
Taira-chan probably had many questions she wanted to ask, but perhaps sensing she shouldn't interfere, she restlessly took notes on her smartphone. She likely planned to make a list and ask everything at once later if there was time.
After that, Hichika-san returned to the control room and gave instructions to hit each drum and cymbal individually as a test. She frequently said, "Wait just a moment," and came back into the soundproof room to adjust the angle or position of a microphone by just a few centimeters.
"...Alright, that should do it."
By the time Hichika-san said that, more than an hour had passed since we first arrived in the room.
I see, so this is what setting up microphones is like... I remembered what Airi (the younger Hirosue) had told me.
"Recording takes a surprising amount of time just to set up and pack away the mics. It can take up to two hours in total. That time is included in the recording fee. In other words, it costs just as much as when you're actually recording. That's why, if the performers are the same, it's cheaper and faster to get it all done at once rather than doing it on separate days."
This kind of work would likely occur every time we switched to recording bass, guitar, and vocals, not just for the drums.
I imagined the drums would take the longest, but I now clearly understood why Airi said it was a waste of time if we didn't do our pre-pro properly.
"Well then, let's do the real thing. Are you ready?"
I readjusted my headphones and steadied my breathing.
I visualized my pulse syncing with the sound of the metronome vibrating against my eardrums.
I sharpened my senses as if I were whetting a kitchen knife to that tempo.
"...I'm ready."
"Okay, enter on the four-count."
I struck the first beat on the snare drum carefully, but firmly, making sure not to be timid.
"...Alright, good work!"
Even though I had only played through a slow-tempo song once, I was out of breath. It seemed that concentration really drained one's physical strength.
"Now, come to the control room. Let's all listen to it."
"Okay."
I set down the headphones and went back to the control room.
The four of them greeted me with "Good job" and words of appreciation.
"I don't think I made any mistakes, but... how was it?"
"Yeah, wasn't it pretty good?"
I felt a slight hint of reservation in Azuma's tone, but—
"Well, let's have a listen~"
Hichika-san said. I sat on a sofa a short distance from the speakers and waited for the playback.
"Alright, playing it now."
With that, the playback started.
"Oh, the sound is so clear..."
"Ahaha, glad to hear it."
Hearing my impressed voice, Hichika-san laughed cheerfully.
The sound was truly beautiful. It might have been the quality of the speakers as well.
However, I somehow felt that the volume was insufficient.
"Excuse me, could you turn the volume up a bit more?"
"I can't do that~"
"...? Is that so..."
To an amateur's eyes, it seemed like she could just turn up the volume knob, but maybe it didn't work like that. I didn't know enough about the equipment to argue with an engineer, so I simply nodded and focused back on the audio.
The song progressed from the quiet A-melo and B-melo into the final C-melo and then the grand chorus, where the song reached its peak.
"Ah...?"
The song finished, and Hichika-san turned back to me.
"How was it?"
Various thoughts raced through my brain, but I stated my impression bluntly.
"...It's not bad, but it's not good either."