Read Online Sophie's Encore by Nicky Wells - Free Book Online

too loud, you were commenting on the mixing, or the lack thereof. I haven’t yet balanced the different tracks properly so they work together as they should. Here.” He pulled a slider and brought it toward him. “This is taking out some of the drums and this…” He pushed another slider up. “This brings the guitar in more strongly. Listen to it now.”
    He played it back and the song sounded much more like… a song. More balanced, for want of a different word.
    “Amazing.” I clapped my hands.
    “The other thing that you picked up on is that I haven’t mastered the track yet. Mastering is the fine-tuning of the sound where you really play with and perfect the frequencies. There are all sorts of things you can do here. For example, you said you want more warmth, and there are dozens of ways of achieving that. It’ll take some time, but listen…” He turned a dial. “This is the song with a touch of reverb on the lead vocals. And look, I can bring the guitars into the same room as well.” He played with another slider and smiled a boyish grin at me. Already, the sound had improved.
    “This is only the beginning. There’s all sorts of things we can do to this. We can play with the equalizer, and we can compress and add more reverb or delay…”
    I held up my hands, feeling completely overwhelmed. “You’ve lost me now,” I admitted.
    “No worries. My God, it takes weeks, years to take this all on board. But that’s beside the point. You can learn all this stuff. You’ve got great ears—that’s the most important thing.”
    Said ears were glowing with pride, even though I didn’t understand exactly what I was doing so well. Dan’s eyes were full of admiration, which was both a new and exhilarating experience. It felt good. I felt good.
    With a jolt, I realized that I hadn’t thought about the kids or the housework or Steve for at least an hour. That had to be the first time in four years I had thought about something totally unrelated to my family. Sadly, the realization also brought the recollection that time was passing, and I would have to pick up Emily very shortly.
    Dan grabbed my hand and looked at me intensely. “Come back tomorrow,” he pleaded. “Let me play you some more songs, and let me teach you some of these mastering tricks. I think you’d enjoy it. I know I would!”
    Unsure of what I was letting myself in for, but infected by his enthusiasm and excitement, I agreed. “Yes. Yes, I think I will. That would be fun. If you have the time, that is. I don’t want to be a burden…”
    “Shush,” Dan admonished me. “You’re not a burden. You’re an inspiration. A muse. And a blank canvas. Let me teach you. Let me initiate you in the art of sound recording and you’ll have a skill for life. What do you say?”
    “Okay,” I said. “All right. Yes. Fine. Brilliant.” My voice rose on every word as I was swept away by a wave of anticipation. I was hungry for a new project, new learning. Perhaps this was exactly what I needed.

Chapter Eleven
    I was humming with excitement when I collected Emily from playschool. I hadn’t felt this elated for as long as I could remember, and the emotion was liberating. Some of the other mums threw me curious looks, and I knew there would be talk behind my back. The more malicious motor mouths would be speculating as to whether I had been getting it recently and whether there was a new boyfriend on the scene. I was certain of it, because I had heard them dissecting other mums. But I didn’t care. Let them talk. Let them assume. Give them something to fill their small lives. I was happy, genuinely happy.
    Emily raced toward me with her customary vigor, coat and curls flying, and I found myself crouching down, scooping her up in my arms, then swinging her around in true Hollywood style. My baby girl squealed and wrapped her arms around my neck lest I should set her down unexpectedly.
    “More, more,” she demanded, and I obediently swung her