Devil’s Music

Wayne finished showing around the tutorial center, including the bathroom and smoking area, and then opened the door to a slightly secluded practice room.

"Here we are. This is the private practice room provided for Mr. Hodgson, complete with a nine-cylinder drum set from YAMAHA. All expenses have been paid for by Arsenal Holdings."

Arthur passed by Wayne, who was waiting by the door, and entered the practice room. He was slightly taken aback by the enormous orange drum set in the cramped space, barely over two square meters.

"These drums are so big, it's the first time I've seen them up close; it's quite intimidating."

Wayne laughed as he pulled out a new pair of drum sticks tied with a sticker from his back pocket and handed them over.

"Most people are overwhelmed by the imposing presence of the instrument when they first face the drums. The size and the sound can be frightening for beginners. But don’t worry, once the door is closed, it becomes a private space where no one can see you. So, shall we start with some theory and basics for today?"

Contrary to Arthur’s expectation of sitting at the drum set immediately, Wayne pulled out two folding chairs and offered a seat.

As Arthur sat down, Wayne pulled out a pad that seemed to be made from a cut-up car tire and tapped it with a slightly worn drum stick.

"The first thing you need to learn is to hit this pad in the correct tempo. Even if you manage to keep the right beat, it's hard to maintain it for long, so the key is to try to keep it as long as possible. Watch this."

Wayne demonstrated a variety of rhythms on the pad, each moving so fast that they left a blur, changing the tempo as he showed.

"Always start with your right hand, you can practice this at home. You should practice for at least 30 minutes a day to get used to the correct rhythm."

After giving Arthur the pad, Wayne handed him a small square device and headphones.

"This is a metronome. When you operate it while wearing the headphones, you can hear the desired beat. Try it out. Press this button here and you'll hear the basic beat of 4/4 time."

As instructed by Wayne, Arthur put on the headphones and listened to the beat, then scrunched up his face. Wayne stopped the device and asked,

"What's wrong?"

Arthur, trying not to come off as arrogant, carefully replied,

"Uh... Mr. Wayne, the metronome is off."

"Really? Let me see."

Wayne put on the headphones and played the beat. After listening for about 30 seconds, his face contorted. Wayne Shelton, a graduate of Berklee College of Music with excellent grades, recognized the slightly off beat and stood up.

"Oh, I apologize. The beat is indeed slightly off. Just a moment, I'll get a new one from the office."

"Oh, okay, sir."

Leaving Arthur alone, Wayne stepped out of the practice room, then suddenly turned back with a look of horror.

"A beginner who has never even held an instrument before detected a subtle offbeat that took me 30 seconds to notice in just a few seconds?"

Wayne glanced down at the defective metronome in his hand.

"How is that possible?"

Fiddling with the metronome for a while, Wayne looked up at the practice room where Arthur was.

"Could he be a genius?"

He gripped the metronome tightly, and it made a crunching sound as if breaking.

"Let's see if teaching him will reveal more."

Back in the office, Wayne threw the metronome at an employee and shouted,

"This metronome was just unboxed, and it's defective! Call the company and complain, ask for a replacement!"

Wayne took a new metronome from the display, unpacked it, connected the headphones, and concentrated.

After more than a minute of verification, Wayne returned to Arthur and taught him the simplest beat of 4/4 time before handing back the sticks.

Arthur, seated on a round stool in front of the drum set, looked nervously down at the drums.

The snare drum, slightly darkened in the middle as if someone’s hands had stained it, a high-hat cymbal that, despite a few dents, shone with a well-maintained glow, and the crash and ride cymbals that appeared newly replaced caught his eye. As he was about to hit the rhythm taught by Wayne, Arthur was interrupted by Wayne’s hand.

"Let me show you how to hold the sticks first. Give me the stick."

Receiving the stick from Arthur, Wayne held it at two-thirds of its length.

"The grip most rock musicians use is called the matched grip. You hold the stick with your thumb and index finger, and the other fingers lightly touch it. You should grip it at the first segment from the bottom."

After learning how to hold the stick from Wayne

, Arthur awkwardly held the stick and attempted the 4/4 beat, but his first try wasn’t close to proper rhythm.

Wayne, smiling, made a few corrections, and soon Arthur could somewhat play the beat. Wayne stood up and said as he opened the door,

"I'll be back in 20 minutes, continue practicing by yourself."

Left alone, Arthur practiced several times, then irritably stomped on the bass pedal of the shining drum set.

"Darn it! This isn't the right beat! It's all wrong!"

To an observer, it might seem like a reasonably talented beginner's 4/4 beat, but Arthur, who had a precise sense of rhythm, couldn't be satisfied with the sound he produced.

After repeatedly pulling his hair and throwing his drum sticks, he remembered the appreciated Kay and picked up the sticks again.

Wayne, who had given a one-point lesson to another student in a different classroom, nodded as he heard the sound from Arthur's room.

"Hmm, he's learning fast. Maybe it's time to teach him a new rhythm."

Entering the practice room, Wayne saw Arthur with his eyes closed, absorbed in his playing.

"Arthur? Playing the same beat can get boring, right? Shall we try a different one?"

Arthur stopped playing and grimaced.

"Um... Mr. Wayne. The beat still isn’t right."

Wayne, approaching the drum set, paused.

"Really? Ah... It will take a long time to get the beat completely right. Isn’t it boring to play just one beat? Learning a simple flam or rough might be less tedious."

Arthur shook his head.

"I can't even get the basic beat right, it would be presumptuous to learn something else. I’ll master this first, sir."

Wayne, seeing the mindset Arthur possessed, which even music students lacked, laughed heartily.

"Is that so? Ha, okay. Practice as much as you need and come to the office when you’re satisfied. I’ll tell you about the next curriculum then."

Wayne, satisfied, closed the door and left the practice room. Glancing back, he nodded.

"Hmm, he looked a bit old, so I thought he was just a hobbyist... Maybe there was a reason Arsenal Holdings requested him?"

After a moment, Wayne opened the door to another student's practice room. A few hours later, having finished guiding other students, an office employee informed Wayne that a sales representative for the new instruments had requested a meeting.

Wayne went to a nearby café for the meeting. After about an hour, he returned to the office and asked an employee,

"Did the students who were in earlier finish their lessons? Let’s look at the curriculum for the afternoon students."

While reviewing the curriculum sheet handed to him by the employee, Wayne suddenly looked up as if he remembered something.

"When did Mr. Arthur Hodgson from Studio Z leave?"

The employee turned to look at the monitor in the hallway showing the CCTV and said,

"He hasn't left yet, the light shows he’s still using Studio Z."

"What?"

Wayne peered at the monitor the employee was watching.

"Four hours of practicing the same beat?"

The employee, unaware of the situation, merely shrugged. As Wayne walked down the corridor to the practice rooms, the sound of Arthur’s playing reached his ears. The astonishingly precise timing of the beats made Wayne freeze.

"Only four hours to reach this level?"

Speeding up his steps, Wayne opened the door to Arthur’s practice room just as Arthur paused his playing to drink some water. Wayne clapped his hands in amazement.

"I’ve never seen a student practice so persistently! It's truly remarkable, you’ve developed such a level of rhythm in just four hours!"

Grateful, Arthur bowed slightly, and Wayne approached the drum set and offered his hand.

"Give me the stick, I’ll teach you the next rhythm. You’ve practiced for a long time today, just get a rough idea now, and we’ll continue tomorrow."

Arthur looked at Wayne’s hand, then pulled back the drum stick, shaking his head.

"Why is that?"

Arthur, wiping the sweat from his brow, said,

"The beat is still not perfect, sir."

"Really? It seems fine to me, almost perfectly in 4/4 time."

"No, not yet."

Frowning, Wayne put on the metronome headphones and said,

"Would you play again?"

Following his instruction, Arthur played the 4/4 beat. His expression was still not pleased, but as Wayne confirmed the beat matched the metronome exactly, he removed the headphones and beamed.

"Perfect, if you just keep this feel, that’s a perfect 4/4 beat, Arthur! Truly impressive!"

Arthur still frowned as he tousled his short hair. The sweat droplets sprayed as he spoke earnestly,

"Not yet, not yet."

At that moment, Wayne didn’t realize that Arthur’s sense of rhythm surpassed his own.

>

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