Session Drummer | Studio Drummer | Touring and Worship Drummer for Hire | Dale Baker | Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, NC

Drew Kennedy Album - Get yours Now!

The Drew Kennedy album is out and ready to listen to! Go to Drews Website:
www.drewkennedymusic.com, to learn more about the man, the myth, the future legend to be.

If you're a fan of rootsy country (ala Johnny Cash), Steve Earle, Gram Parsons and great storytelling. I really think you'll dig Drew's album.

The name you ask? What is the name of his record?

Hillbilly Pilgrim
and it's being released on Drew's own label, Thumbs Down Music.

You can pick up a copy direct from Drew's website or through CD Baby.

Oh, and did I mention I played drums on the disc? I'm very proud to be apart of Drew's record and hope to get to play with him again. I think we got some great tracks for him, given the amount of time we had. I used my set of Radio Kings and my very big Zildjian Constantinople Cymbals...oh and my wanna-be Black Beauty Snare Drum (in reality a fair replica done by Yamaha in the guise of a "signature artist" drum...in this case, the artist was Manu Katche).

Anyway, we recorded the drums in The Second Story's living room, and so there is this great room sound to the drum tracks that I'm proud of. Plus, it was a kick getting to play some "real" country music. It's been a while since doing that...I think the last time I came close to playing on a "real" country session was when I recorded with Buddy Miller, et.al for the Gram Parson's Tribute album a few years back.

Well, that's it for now. If you get a chance, support Drew by picking up his CD or seeing him on tour!

Cheers.

dale

Questions for the "Cap'n":

I've decided to make an obscure reference to a favorite skit of mine from the MTV show called "The State," from a few years ago...if you don't remember the show or don't get the reference, that's okay. Basically I'm just going to publish a question I received via email and my response to it...maybe you'll find it helpful.

Question: How do I learn to program drums that sound more like a real drummer?

Here are my suggestions:

1. Obviously if you could afford to, I would hire a real drummer who has a style that you admire. Rent a studio and an engineer and spend a half-day or so making the drummer play through a variety of beats that you’ve programmed or written. In essence you are creating your own sample disk, and so would be creating your own library of drumbeats. This option might be a little more expensive, but it may be quicker for you in the long run, as plugging in your own samples may be less labor and editing intensive than if you manually entered and edited the midi information to create the beats from scratch.

2. Another option would be to take recordings of drummers you enjoy and slow them down to half-speed or slower, thereby making it easier to analyze what they do to make their parts effectively groove with the music.

3. There are numerous books and instructional videos on the market teaching various styles of drumming. You could purchase one of these educational tools and use the printed exercises in the books (or on the videos) and use them to guide you in your programming.

4. When inputting the midi information to create your drum beats, make sure that the kick and the snare ( or maybe snare and hat/ ride cymbal) are quantized. For the other sounds (ghost notes, toms, fills, etc) don’t worry about quantizing as much, rather use your ear to determine if you are creating a feel to your liking.

5. The other thing to keep in mind is the volume levels of the individual drum hits that you enter. You can vary these volume (or velocity) levels to create a more realistic drum performance as well. A good rule of thumb (albeit a generalized one here) is to make sure the 2 & 4 snare and kick drum beats (closest to 1 and 3) are the loudest (most accented) beats in the drum phrase. Then vary the velocity of the hits of the drum phrase leading up to and away from the kick and snare beats.

If you have further questions about today's posted question/topic, email me and let me know. Go to www.dalebakerdrummer.com and click on the "Contact Info" link at the top of the web page to find out how to contact me.

Thanks for checking in and have a great day...

Cheers,
dale

You want the truth? Here it is!

I really like what this man says. His opinions and assessment of the current state and the future of the music industry seem right on the mark. Check it out!

The Lefetz Letter