Chapter 36 - An Assessment *

"Can you all fit in my truck? If you can't some dudes can ride on the cargo bed." Tayaw said as he realized that his double cab Hilux cannot fit six passengers.

"Oh. I came here on my motorcycle. I can follow along." Ike said.

"That's good. Bay-an, you're the largest so you're taking the front seat. Jenna and the rest, on the back." Tayaw said.

Thankfully, Jenna is petite and managed to squeeze in the back seat with Hoon, Inson, and Ramil just fine with some wiggle room left.

Because of the slow traffic, the group reached Ironstone after 25 minutes. "I thought your parents aren't rich?..." Jenna held her breath at the big beautiful house Tayaw brought the group to.

"They're not. But I am. At least for now." Tayaw said to the surprise of the group. They also felt it's not right to ask how so they just nodded.

Tayaw led them not to the house, but to the bas.e.m.e.nt to his personal studio. This made the group feel anxious at why they're heading to the bas.e.m.e.nt. With Tayaw leading though, they were at least assured. After descending the cellar door, the group was amazed at the sight.

"Holy sh*t…" Ike can only say at the set-up of the studio and the beautiful Ludwig Beats drum kit.

"I-is that a Babson Bill Fuss?..." Hoon's eyes were instantly caught by the beautiful electric guitar made by the popular guitar manufacturer Babson, and the model inspired by the legendary guitarist Bill Fuss.

"T-that's a Hamada Action Digital Piano." Bay-an's was also mesmerized by the digital piano made by Hamada, Japan's best in musical instrument manufacturing.

"V-Veder Jazz…" Inson was also attracted by the Veder Jazz Bass guitar, a versatile bass guitar made by the famous Veder Corporation.

"It's beautiful…" Jenna said as she felt an inexplicable feeling coming from the Alessi violin.

Alessi violins are not preferred by classical musicians, but it's perfect for other genres with its dark and loud tone.

"Whoah.." Ramil also can't hide his impression on the Hamada saxophone.

"Great place, huh." Tayaw said, but failed to gather the attention of the group.

"Everyone! How about a demonstration from each of you?" Tayaw said louder and finally heard by the group.

"Dude! You own all of this?!" Ike asked excitedly.

"Yes. We have all afternoon. Discuss amongst each other and let me see what you can play together. I'll be at the control room." Tayaw said as he picked up his personal Babson acoustic guitar entered the control room.

Because of his recent enhancements which included his senses, Tayaw does not want to listen to the disharmony of the instruments. Thankfully, the control room is outside the soundproofed live studio.

4pm, two hours after they started discussing the song, Tayaw finally exited the control room and sat himself at the corner of the Live Room.

"Ready guys?" Tayaw simply asked.

The group, however, is excited to perform their song with the most expensive instruments they have held.

"Yes!" Said Ike behind the drums and started hitting his drumsticks together.

"1!2!3!" Ike said as he started the beat.

In the intro so far, Ike's drums are very stable consistent beats. Tayaw was satisfied at Ike's foundation. He hasn't seen any complicated patterns yet, but in the basic patterns, Ike can play live. Inson's bass guitar is also very consistent with his solid basics and knows how to play around with Ike's drums. Even though Bay-an is playing chords for now, Tayaw can hear Bay-ans sense of rhythm and perfectly matches his hitting of the keys with the drums.

The song entered the first verse. Jenna, with her violin, is playing the main melody in substitute for the vocals. Jenna displays licks and runs every now and then and it sounded smooth. Her fingerings are actually very accurate and transitions comfortably.

In the chorus, Ramil's saxophone entered to substitute the vocals. Tayaw did not expect Ramil to already have good lungs to play long notes followed by short notes without taking a breath. Although he displays basics for now, it satisfied Tayaw.

After the chorus, the band skipped the second verse and went to the guitar solo. Hoon's riffs and licks are also very smooth. Although it wasn't a fast shredding, he displayed good skill with the subtle bends on the string and vibratos and knew what he was doing with the scale.

After the song, Tayaw was very satisfied. To the untrained ear, their performance would not sound any worse than professional bands. To Tayaw however, this is an easy song but it's already reaching the limit of the current band's abilities. He heard some fuzzy parts, but considering they only practiced two hours, proved to him that they are all very talented.

"Alright. Good enough. I don't know much about saxophones but Ramil…" Tayaw began to give his feedback to each of the group.

Despite his limited vocabulary on their instruments, Tayaw was able to express what he liked and disliked to each member's playing. Using his perfect pitch, he played on the guitar to replay the parts he liked or didn't like, to the amazement of the band. The members also got what he was trying to say, which resulted in them reflecting on Tayaw's feedback.

After his review, Tayaw was finally ready to tell the six his offer.

"You all know that I'm trying to form a band. From what I've listened, I can tell that you are all good enough to play live as opening acts." Tayaw offered his compliments first.

To the eyes of the group, Tayaw is a full-fledged musician after he displayed his skills while giving his feedback. To get a positive feedback to a musician they respect, made them feel validated.

"Thank you." Hoon said.

"However… My vision for this band is not limited to an opening act or a cover band, but a real band of artists." Tayaw said which gave goose bumps to the group. They were feeling a mixture of uncertainty, excitement, anxiety, and joy.

"How do we do that?" Jenna asked.

"First, I will give you all a mission each week." Tayaw said to the confusion of the band.

"Every Monday, I will give you all one of my personal composition that I composed out of the guitar including a recording and the basic chords of it. You will have the entire week to cover or even arrange it together to your preferences and perform it to me as a band by the following Sunday night. On the times that I will not be able to give you a composition, I will have you cover a song instead but you have to re-arrange it. Do you all follow me so far?" Tayaw asked.

"What if we finish arranging it and practicing it early?" Jenna asked.

"Then I will have no problem as long as you performed it to my satisfaction. I will give you my feedback and if you're convinced that I saw no wrong, then your mission for that week is done." Tayaw replied which actually made the group perk up.

"Before you get excited, I will definitely increase the number of missions you will have each week after I see improvements." Tayaw said which dropped the group's shoulders.

"Don't worry. I will consider increasing it only if you guys can handle it." Tayaw assured the group.

"How about our pay?" Ramil asked, considering if the effort is worth it.

"4,000BGC a month. We'll do it off-the-books so you don't have to pay taxes as long as you keep it secret." Tayaw said which shocked the group.

"4-4000!? Why?" Bay-an asked in disbelief.

"T-hat's more than a half of my mom's monthly salary…" Hoon said dazedly.

With only two months without spending anything, engineering students like them can pay off their tuition fees for the semester.

"That's so more than I earn as a tutor…" Jenna also said. Ramile, Ike, and Inson were just speechless.

"To answer your question, Bay-an. As long as you guys can do your missions, it's worth it to me. Without financial burdens, I can hope it will serve as an incentive for you guys to do well in school and in achieving your missions." Tayaw said.

"But. There will be requirements too." Tayaw said. The band is already hooked, and if they can meet all the requirements set by Tayaw, they would immediately join the band.

"1. You have to maintain an average of at least B- in your GPA every term to stay in the band. 2. You have to meet my standards in your performances; I have good ears so I can tell which one's slacking or didn't contribute. 3. Submit one arrangement of your own each month; the quality has to meet my satisfaction of course." Tayaw said. His requirements seemed reasonable enough for the group.

"By the way, does anyone have a C+ average or lower among you?" Tayaw asked. Thankfully, none of them raised looked guilty.

"I-if we get kicked out of the band, can we get back in?" Ike asked.

Ike, as Tayaw knew in his past life, loved to play around too much and was satisfied with only passing grades.

"That depends on how bad you messed up and how you can make up for it. Let's say your grades this prelims are C+, if you can achieve a grade of B+ on the midterms, then you can stay. If you didn't meet my standards in one of your performance, you will have to perform the song the band performed on your own, and if I'm more than satisfied, you can stay. If you aren't able to submit a quality arrangement in the month, you have to submit two quality arrangements the next month and you can stay." Tayaw answered.

"So it's a matter of one-upping the requirement?" Ike clarified.

"Yes. You double the effort and quality of the thing you messed up. Attitude is also important to me. If the band dislikes you because of reasons I find valid, and you can't make it up to the band, you're out too." Tayaw added another requirement.

"Look, I know my requirements are vague, but you get the idea, yes?" Tayaw asked.

The band got the gist of it so they nodded.

"Now, who's in?" Tayaw asked again. The band basically said yes in unison.

"Alright. Come with me." Tayaw said and led the group out of the bas.e.m.e.nt. He locked the cellar door and led them to the front door. The group is also very excited to see Tayaw's house.

Maybe because of the big exterior of the house and already saw the studio in the bas.e.m.e.nt, they made a collective sigh in disappointment to the utter barrenness of the house. Aside from the basic things like the couches on the living room, dining table set, and kitchen appliances, there are no signs of an artist with the interior design.

It didn't help that the sofa is pure white in color; the dining table set and the kitchen counter and lavatory is solid black which matches with the black floor tiles. It's a very nice house, and it's supposed to be impressive, but because of their very high expectations, it appeared boring.

"Hey. Come on. Don't be like that. I live alone, so what do you expect?" Tayaw said.

"It's very clean though ..." Hoon said who likes neatness.