Page 23 of Rock My Girl

"Sure."

Clark darted into the room, setting up a different mic for her. "This one is a bit warmer for the mid to high range," he explained. "It’s usually better for female voices. Plus we want your track to have a different tone than his."

"Thank you," she whispered as he was leaving.

"It'll be fine," I said. "Just like photo retouching – you can try something over and over dozens of times until you get it the way you want."

She nodded, but her hands were tense.

I showed her how far to keep her lips from the pop screen, then briskly rubbed her shoulders.

"You don't have to worry about volume," I said. "That's Clark's job. Just think about pouring your heart and soul into the words, and giving life to the tune."

My lips brushed her ear as my hands settled on her waist. "The first take doesn't count. Just get used to the headphones, get a feel for the process. Okay?"

"Okay."

She made a deep humming noise, sort of a modified version of my terrible vibrations, then smiled as I put the headphones on her.

I sat on the stool while she gave her shoulders and torso a shake. Then she gave Clark a thumbs up just like I had.

Her eyes closed, and I could see the rhythm of the song as she tapped her fingers against her thigh.

When it came to her part, I almost fell off my stool. Cassie sang even more clearly and beautifully than she had in my home studio.

We often joked about "the studio effect." How people felt more pressure when there was time and money on the line, and an engineer watching. They would either crumble, or adrenaline would kick in and enhance the performance, allowing them to give it their all.

Cassie gave it everything she had. She wasn't loud, but she was soulful.

I glanced to the control room where Nick, Kelly, and Doug practically had their mouths hanging open. Clark was staring down at the console, nodding along and grinning.

When Cassie finished, she pulled off the headphones as I swept her into a bear hug. "Holy shit," I sputtered. "That was incredible."

I turned her to face the control room, and Clark turned on the intercom so that she could hear all four of them applauding.

"That was freaking brilliant!" Clark said. "We can do another take if you want, but since this is just a demo, I'm thinking we've got it in the can."

"What do you think?" I asked her.

"Whatever you think," she said. "If that was good, I'm happy to be done."

Then I realized she was shaking like a leaf.

"We're just going to take a quick walk for some air," I said, picking up Cassie's purse and waving to Clark. He gave me a thumbs up, and we snuck out the door.

I couldn't tell if she was having an adrenaline rush or a panic attack, but whatever it was, it would likely be best if she didn't experience it in front of strangers.

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