♪——! ♪————!

(Soma agreed to let me help him while I learned what I could about writing songs from him, but...)

(I can't let that get in the way of our performance. That means I'll need to focus more than usual.)

(I need to learn how to pull everyone forward like An and the others! I have to do everything I can to make up for not being able to work on our next song...!)

♪————! ♪————!

Alright, it's a bit early, but let's call it a day for our joint practice.

Toya, Azusawa, you two seemed way more on it than usual!

I have to make up for not working on our new song since Akito and Shiraishi are.

I was able to sing the way I did because you did a great job of leading, Aoyagi.

You two were off the hook!
It was really inspiring and I had to do my best to keep up.

Yeah, let's keep this up and get in the best shape we can for our event!

Speaking of which, how are your tracks coming along?

Ours is going okay.
We decided to make something mellow.

Mellow? That seems rare of you.

Remember how you noticed that everyone singing during RAD WEEKEND sounded a little sad for some reason? I told Okazaki and his team about that.

Because that feeling might hold the key to capturing “silence” in the right way.

Exactly. So, Aoyagi, thank you.
This song's proving to be our most difficult one, but I believe we'll be able to show just how passionate we all are by singing it with everything we have.

I'll be looking forward to that.
It'll be like witnesses EVER reach new heights.

Mine's about half finished.
I absolutely promise to have it ready in time for our event!

What kind of song are you writing, Mita?

Something that'll really get the crowd going.

I wanna make everyone go nuts and blow the roof off the place like what happened during RAD WEEKEND!

I like that. You do a good job of interacting with the audience, Kotaro, so I'm sure your song will turn out well.

Yeah, just leave it to me! I'll take the reigns from EVER, send everyone sky high and toss it to you, Tono!

That should be fun, and I'll need to prepare myself for that.

By the way, Arata, how's yours coming along?

Okay, I suppose. How about you?

We have a general idea of what to do, but the drums and stuff still need a lot of work.

Yeah, we really want it to have a big impact overall. It needs to feel more electric, you know...?

I see. Luckily, we still have plenty of time until our event, so let's just keep chipping away at them.

Yeah. Let's take our time and make sure our event turns out to be a really good one!

Great job, you guys!
It's been a while, so wanna head over to MEIKO's place to chill?

Yeah, I'd like to go.

Oh, sorry...
There's somewhere I need to be, so I should get going.

Oh, really?

Yes. I have a prior engagement...

(I promised to keep it a secret, so I can't tell them that I'm going over to help Soma with his song...)

Hey, Toya...

Hm?

You seem like you've been pretty busy lately. I hope you're not having trouble at home again.

No, I'm doing okay.
But I appreciate the concern.

And there's no need to worry. It's just something I need to do right now, and it won't have an effect on the way I practice.

Okay...
Just don't push yourself too hard.

I won't. Again, I appreciate it.

(Akito's as sharp as ever.
Or am I just bad at hiding things...?)

Oh, Toya had to go?

Yeah, he said everything's okay, but I feel like he's been hiding something from us lately...

Unfortunately, Toya isn't very good at keeping secrets...

I see. That explains why I haven't seen him in such a long time.

Still, he was pretty incredible today.

Yeah, he was totally in the zone...

I know, right?!
Of course, Kohane, you were just as awesome!

Thanks, An.
Currently, I'm focused on performing as well as I can...

That's what I like to hear, Kohane!
Which means we also need to do our best!

Yeah, we do.

And I guess we don't have to worry about Toya. He's doing what he can to make sure he performs well and has been talking more about himself.

More importantly, we told him that we'd take care of writing our new track. So, we gotta make it a good one.

I'm looking forward to hearing what it's like too.

*Nod*
Thanks, Kohane!

I'll need to come up with some ideas after I get home today, so let's get through our meeting fast.

Yeah, especially if we want it to sound better...

Whoa, look at the time!
Let's start heading home.

Oh, I'm gonna stay for a bit longer...

Hm? You are? Then, I'll stay too and... Oh no! I have to help out again today!

Hehe. We can talk later tonight.
Until then, An, good luck.

Hm? Kohane, are you not going home yet?

Oh, KAITO, Rin.
And MEIKO...

Umm...
There's actually something that I'd like to ask you all.

Ask us?

Yes, so...
I want to learn how to make my own tracks.

So, if possible, can you tell me about any tips or tricks?

So, An and Shinonome are writing one for our next event, and I feel really bad about not being able to help with that...

I know I should be focusing on how I'm going to perform...

But I keep wondering whether I could help out if I were able to write songs...

I see...

*Nod*
I did some research and gave it a try, but it was so hard...

Hmm... Hey, KAITO!
Know any good tips or tricks?

Well...

I've never done any songwriting before, but as a DJ, I'm exposed to a wide variety of music...

I suppose people who write songs have somewhat meticulous personalities.

Meticulous?

Yes, because they likely place an incredible amount of value onto each note. Like...

Oh, MEIKO's cooking...!

What? My cooking?

Yes. You carefully choose what goes into each dish, right, MEIKO? I feel like songwriting works in a similar way.

You know how to use which ingredients because you understand how to make a dish delicious, yes?

So, without that sort of knowledge, it'd be fairly difficult to cook anything good.

Yes, I see. Now I understand.

Oh, what if you listened to a bunch of really cute or cool songs?! That might tell give you some hints as to what to do, right...?!

Some hints as to what to do...?

Okay, I'll give that a try...

Wonderful! I'd like to help with that!

Really? Thank you so much!

Then, why don't we give it a try right now?! As for what songs... Kohane, choose anything you like for us.

Wait, anything I like? Are you sure?

Yes. That should make it much easier for you to create something that captures who you are.

Great idea! Can I help too?
I wanna hear what you make, Kohane!

Yeah, of course!
Thank you two very much...!

Hehe. Good luck, all of you.

I got this sudden urge to include a string melody and tried inputting it yesterday.

It's a bit of an acoustic, analog sound, but this part sounds pretty good, right?

...!
I didn't realize you could create such a delicate sound.

(This is incredible. Especially after he said that he wasn't very good at arranging sounds. The high and low sections are so well balanced. I can't complain. And I can't believe he did all this through just feel...)

To be fair, I got a little too excited about making this. I was worried that I threw in too much...

If possible, I wanna try using this for the chorus. What do you think? Is it a bit much?

For the chorus...?
Yes, this sort of sound would certainly leave a big impression on the listener.

However...

You may end up getting a fairly muddy sound if you try to work this in. I recommend going with one or the other rather than both.

Yeah, I figured...
Man, I thought I'd come up with something really good too!

But you did come up with something good. It'd be a shame to see it go to waste...

Yeah, but these things happen and there's not much we can do about it.

...

(By adjusting the volume at different frequencies... Or would it be better to pan the audio differently by moving the instruments around...?)

(No, even if it were to become more usable, it would stop being the sound that Soma'd envisioned...)

Hm? Aoyagi? What's up?

Oh, um, I'm sorry...
I was just wondering if we could still use that phrase you'd come up with...

Haha. You don't have to think about it so hard. If we can't use it, then we can't use it. I don't mind moving on from it.

Oh, I see. Then, okay...

Don't dwell on it too much.
Thanks to you, Aoyagi, I was able to achieve the sound I wanted.

Coming up with a good phrase wouldn't mean much if it fell apart after becoming too unbalanced. So, there's nothing for you to worry about.

Thank you. I appreciate it...

(Getting to watch Soma up close as he comes up with phrases has been a nice learning experience.)

(And he does so many things that I never would've thought to do on my own.)

(If I were able to write such a moving song...)

Aoyagi? Is something the matter?

Huh?

Oh, it just seemed like you had something on your mind.

If it means making this song better, I'm all ears. I promised to also help you, Aoyagi, so feel free to say whatever you like.

Oh, okay... Thank you.

I thought that seeing you work would help me find a hint as to how I might be able to write a truly moving song...

But I haven't been able to come up with any answers...

You mentioned that a powerful sound would suit the “Action” part of your theme. And you saw the way I work on music, so...

I'm not sure if this is going to help since your style probably differs from mine, Aoyagi, but this question just popped into my mind...

What do you want to convey through your song?

What do I want to convey...?

Yeah. What feelings do you want to convey? What kind of message do you want to send? If you don't know that, I don't think you'll be able to move someone else's heart.

If the person writing the song can't answer that, then the listener won't understand what's going on. So, for your first step, you might want to try figuring that out.

I see...

It can be anything.
Joy, grief, anger, pleasure... They're all a songwriter's fuel.

Yes, you're right...
For classical music, it's obvious that the composer put quite a lot of thought into each note in any given piece of sheet music.

But... Well...

What do I want to convey...?

You can take your time. It's okay.

Okay...
This really is difficult.