“That’s a take!”
A blogpost by Lisa Williams Kline
Both of our beloved daughters are getting married this fall, about a month apart. Our oldest had planned a wedding for last fall, but had to postpone the reception to this October because of Covid. Our younger daughter just got engaged a few months ago and is planning a micro wedding for September. It’s pretty amazing that we’re having both of these milestones so close together. In the midst of all the isolation and fear of Covid it has been a joy to plan two weddings.
Am I a nervous wreck? Yes. No. I don’t know. We adore both young men and are so happy our daughters have found their partners. Our daughters are in their thirties, and they have been on their own for a while, so I’m not going to be a MOB who will be making decisions about menus and flowers. They are perfectly capable of making those decisions themselves. I did go venue shopping and wedding dress shopping with them both, which was really fun. The girls gave me a “Mother of the Brides” T-shirt, which caused a few laughs.
We started thinking about music for the ceremonies. The girls said they’d love for Jeff, my husband, to play guitar, but he had FOB responsibilities and besides that, gets stage fright when he plays in front of people.
Eventually, we came up with the idea that Jeff could record a selection of pieces to play during the ceremonies and receptions. That would leave him free to be FOB, i.e., give the girls away and cry copiously. Both girls loved the idea. Listening to him play guitar and dancing along has been a big part of the girls’ lives since they were little. So we started doing some research to get it done.
We found a tiny microphone he could put in the sound hole of his guitar. That plugged into the iPad, and also into a speaker. We downloaded the corresponding app. Voila! Recording.
We made a list of love songs that had grown to mean something to us and the girls, such as “Hallelujah,” “Always Remember Us This Way, ““Wild Theme” by Mark Knopfler (our wedding song) “Unchained Melody,” “Grow Old With Me,” “Always on My Mind,” “Yesterday,” “Fur Elise,” “Can’t Help Falling in Love with You,” and so on. On the list, Jeff had written “Taco Bell.”
“What does Taco Bell have to do with the song list?”
“You know, that wedding song. Taco Bell.”
“Oh, you mean Pachelbel?”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s it.”
I had to text the girls about that one.
I was “tech.” I had to hit “record” and “stop” and “rewind.” I also had to turn the pages of the sheet music Jeff was using. Very high tech recording methods here.
Obviously, Jeff was playing the songs so he had the hardest part. But I had to be on my toes, too! I’d press “Record,” then silently point a finger at Jeff, and then sidle over to the music stand to turn his pages. I took piano and violin as a kid, and can somewhat read music, but I still had to memorize the place in the song to turn the page. Then there were the “D.S. al codas,” which instruct the guitarist to go back to the beginning, or repeat certain stanzas and bridges, so I’d have to turn the pages back, and then forward again. One time I accidentally hit “record” when I meant to hit “play” and we had to record the whole song again. Arggghhh.
We did many, many takes of each song. I had to erase a lot of cuss words. No guitars were broken, fortunately.
In almost every song, there was one particular difficult spot and we were holding our breath, hoping we’d both make it through.
When he was listening to the playback, Jeff would lean his head back against the sofa and close his eyes. At the end, he’d either say, “Let’s do it again,” or “That’s a take. What do you think?”
I joked that it kind of felt cool, like we were real musicians in a recording studio. Like in the documentary The Basement Tapes, where the musicians gathered to write songs based on Dylan’s old lyrics. Well, Jeff was a musician and I was a “tech.”
Eventually, though, Jeff started getting a bit of stage fright playing in front of me, especially the most difficult measures of the hardest songs. He got to the point where he could operate the app on the iPad himself, and now he’s lined up the sheet music on a series of chairs, so he doesn’t need me to turn the pages. Sadly, I’ve been replaced by a line of dining room chairs. I suppose it’s all for the best.
But, while it lasted, it has been a joy to do this together for our daughters’ weddings, and I know it means a great deal to them, too. I can’t wait for them to walk down the aisle with their father, listening to this music he’s played.