The third floor of Thousand Birds Musical Instrument Store was modified into a recording room for rent. There are two tightly shut doors along the long and narrow passageway. After opening the door before me, I was greeted by a room that is four-and-a-half tatami big, out of which about a half of the area is occupied by the drums. On both sides are two giant guitar amplifiers. There's also mikes and recording equipment, as well as an asphyxiating smell of smoke.
"I've specially allowed you guys in, all thanks to the welfare given to me as the owner's little sister." And with that, Ruby pushed me into the recording room. Yang followed in as well.
"Whoa! It's been a long time since I've played on real drums." Yang sat in the middle of the drum set, and was tuning the snare drum rather happily. Ruby then connected my bass and her guitar into the amplifiers in that sequence. Ruby's guitar is a Gibson Les Paul, which is said to cost a million yen, though I've no idea if that is true or not. If so, that is probably an old 'Historic Collection' series. From the colors of the guitar, it should be a replica of the 60's series?
I slung the strap of the bass onto my shoulder, then plucked the string once timidly. An unbearable noise filled the small and cramped recording room. For some strange reason, I was led into this recording room by her, just like that…
"There's no need for you to play something that's overly difficult. You just have to follow the drums and play D in quavers, that's all."
Yang lifted the drum sticks high into the air, and said, "Ruby, are you ready?"
The two of them exchanged their sights for a second. Just at the exact instant where the sounds of the cymbals disappeared, I was surrounded by a music that was moving forward at a heavy pace. Yang began to hit out a series of powerful quavers with the hi-hat, and on the drums she was overlapping the quavers with triplets. The slowly rising and screeching guitar riffs were like the faltering footsteps of a traveler heading towards the seas with a cane in his hand.
I tried tapping along to the rhythm of Yang, and then I quietly strummed the bass. Initially, I could not believe that the low notes that were pressing up against my abdomen were actually coming from my bass. The three different melodies then began to mash together stiffly, and entwined—From which, came the sounds of a singing voice… It's the voice of Ruby.
It's like the whispers of the night in the desert—though her voice was slightly hoarse, but it had transmitted all the way to the horizon on the other end. It's Led Zeppelin's Kashmir. It's a song that I have heard countless times. I listened to this song in bed deep in the middle of the night repeatedly for many times, countless of times. And now, my fingers were playing out the pulse of the song.
At the places where the song was falling silent, the guitar replied with a similar phrase of music. Yang maintained her footsteps and marched on endlessly and continuously. I had already erased from my mind whatever Ruby had told me. When the guitar began playing the winding stretches of the Arabian style of music, I began searching for the low notes that should be hidden within the song, and wove them out with my fingertips.
I really felt that the song could continue on forever. Therefore, when the song finally stopped, I felt just as though I was left alone in a desolate desert. The room was filled with a rumbling sound, but I could no longer differentiate if that was just the noise, the echoes, or the memories of Kashmir that had seeped into my ears.
Yang's face was flushed red, and she was staring at me with her forehead filled with sweat. A seemingly triumphant smile appeared on her face. I turned my sight away, and this time, the graceful sight of Ruby entered my eyes. I don't know why but I could not look right into her face.
"… Namikaze, what do you think the bass is?" I slowly lifted my head. There was no smile on Ruby's face, but her gaze was gentle. "If we are to see the band as a person, then the lead singer will be the head, while the guitars are the hands… " Ruby moved her sight away from her hands and shifted it into the direction of Yang. "If the drums are the legs, then which part do you think the bass represents?"
I could not answer Ruby's riddle. Ruby finally broke into a gentle smile, and walked towards me quickly. She placed her palm on my chest, which made me jump in a huge shock. My body froze.
"It's here." As she stared face to face straight into my eyes, Ruby continued, "The heart. You understand now? Without you, we would not be able to move."
I was stunned speechless. What replied to her in my place, was the pulse of my heart. If I am to see the band as a person. I was not moving forward by following in their footsteps. As someone who was placing himself in a sound shared with others for the very first time, that was something which I was most certain of. If I was to listen to the CD alone in my own room, I would have probably never understood that. Then, I was probably thinking of the same thing as Ruby.
If only Weiss was here… the sound of that guitar. If only it was here… I gripped the neck of my bass tightly. I finally understood—that is the reason why I'm playing the bass. It's not an excuse, but an actual reason—it is so that I can transmit this blazing heat to Weiss.
Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream
I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been
To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed
Talk and song from tongues of lilting grace, whose sounds caress my ear
But not a word I heard could I relate, the story was quite clear
Oh, oh.
Oh, I been flying… mama, there ain't no denyin'
I've been flying, ain't no denyin', no denyin'
All I see turns to brown, as the sun burns the ground
And my eyes fill with sand, as I scan this wasted land
Trying to find, trying to find where I've been.
Oh, pilot of the storm who leaves no trace, like thoughts inside a dream
Heed the path that led me to that place, yellow desert stream
My Shangri-La beneath the summer moon, I will return again
Sure as the dust that floats high in June, when movin' through Kashmir.
Oh, father of the four winds, fill my sails, across the sea of years
With no provision but an open face, along the straits of fear
When I'm on, when I'm on my way, yeah
When I see, when I see the way, you stay-yeah
Ooh, yeah-yeah, ooh, yeah-yeah, when I'm down…
Ooh, yeah-yeah, ooh, yeah-yeah, well I'm down, so down
Ooh, my baby, oooh, my baby, let me take you there
Let me take you there. Let me take you there