LaSalamander: Projectography

I was blessed with two once-in-a-lifetime opportunities wrapped into one.

Jeff & Marisa ascend the steps of the Cadet Chapel

The first: to write music for the marriage of my brother, Jeff LaSala, to—unsurprisingly—his wife, Marisa. See, I’ve only got the one brother, he’s as much a friend as a brother, and don’t foresee him re-presenting me with this kind of opportunity again. So, as a part of their wedding ceremony, they planned to light a unity candle, and that was the ideal moment for some music.

The massive console of the organ at the West Point Cadet Chapel...with my music on it!

The second: to write music for the largest all-pipe church organ in the known universe, the organ in the Cadet Chapel at West Point, NY. I lived there from eighth grade through high school, had been to services which always end up featuring that mighty organ (at least from my perspective), and Jeff and Marisa were to be married there. And better yet, it’d be performed by the virtuosic Craig Williams, Organist & Choirmaster of the Cadet Chapel. It was a no-brainer.

Now, not wanting to miss out on recording this performance, I lugged my portable digital 16-track recorder along with a host of cables, stands and microphones supplied by Jeff’s friend and Reid Sound-founder, Darren Sussman.  But in my haste to set everything up and play Best Man, some button must have been improperly depressed and I managed to record a seemingly infinite stretch of blissfully pure digital silence.

However, I was clever enough to have a backup in place by way of a camcorder.  The audio turned out thin and picked up wedding guest shuffling and the like, but it was better than nothing!  So here I present the music in two forms: the original demo version realized on a synth, and then the version I ripped out of the video.  I like them both.  Enjoy!

as performed by a sequencer and a Kurzweil K2500:

as performed by Craig Williams on the mighty church organ:

The score itself, for your viewing pleasure:
If you’d like to use this music in your wedding (as has been done a few times since), you’d honor me as well as the union of my brother Jeff and his wife. Just let me know!