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

Big Sale!

Just consider this like a big 'ole down home yard sale.

Folks, I'm in dire need of some cash and the storage space I'll regain once the gear is gone! So, I'm selling my stuff off cheap! 

Here are some of the items that are up for sale (and I'll eventually get them posted over on the sidebar...)

• Yes, the Gretsch drum is still for sale and it has a new price!  $150. plus shipping TBD. (Sorry it's been sold already...)
• Signia 14x5.5 Snare with Die Cast hoops and Topaz laquer finish.  $150 plus shipping TBD.
• A rare Wood Hoop Premier Drumset in fair condition (the bass drum hoop is cracked and I think it needs new heads on all the drums, still it's a pretty cool set).  Price to be determined, but it'll definitely be less than a $1000.
• Alesis HR-16B Drum Machine...vintage charm for $90 plus shipping TBD.

That's about it...I've got a few other items I'd like to sell, but these will have to do for now.

If you're interested in any or all of these items or would just like to plain give me a donation (I keep telling myself there is no shame in asking...), leave a comment below (click on the word "comment") and I'll get back to you lickety split!

Sing

My wife had pulled out our copy of The Invisible Band by Travis.  I'm listening to it right now.  The first song on that record ("Sing") is just awesome I think.  The drum beat is relaxed and effortless, the snare drum has that detuned sound with out being mushy.  The tambourine is pristine...I'm sure it's got to be one of those high-end tambourines like a Grover.  And the lyrics...I'm not sure what he's talking about, but the vibe of the song is joyous and happy without being trite (or atleast that's my take on it...).

The other thing I like about this CD are the wonderful photos throughout the booklet taken by Stefan Ruiz.  Especially the cover photograph with the band hidden in the tree...cool stuff there.  The lighting - how does he get that light?  Is it just photoshop manipulation?

My favorite lyric on the record (and it could be because I'm listening to track three right now). 

"...Life is both a major and a minor key.  Just open up the chord."

You really should hear it in context...it's pretty cool.  (Voice in my head:  "But what do I know about lyrics, I'm just a drummer...")

The other thing I like about this record is it's use of atmospheric sounds...which is no doubt due to the skillful production work by Nigel Godrich.  It's just not reverb...it's more like delays and stacked vocals tweaked out soaking up the background of the mix...I know that probably doesn't make much sense, but if I could just sit down with you and point this stuff out I think you'd catch on to what I'm talking about.

Honorable Mention part two

Being mentioned in CCM is pretty cool, I must admit.  I mean any press at this point in my life is definitely appreciated.  But there have recently been a few (okay two) other places I've been absolutely thrilled to have been mentioned.

First off:  my friend Mark Keefer recently started a blog and had some nice things to say about me.  So I humbly ask you to please visit his awesome blog and let him know I told you to stop by and chat with him.  Also, let him know that I've started running again and it's going much better this time thank you.

Last (but not least) off:  Chapel Hill based writer Jesse DeConto recently interviewed me for a piece that is currently appearing in Drexel University's online publication Dragonfire.   

Honorable Mention

I was excited to see my blog mentioned once again in CCM magazine.  My friend Kempton Baldridge alerted us (my wife and I) to the mention, otherwise I wouldn't have known.  So thus began my trek to actually try and find a copy of the magazine here in Durham. 

I went to this Family Christian Bookstore two different times and when I asked if they carried the magazine, the sales clerk wondered aloud, "What magazine?  I don't think I've ever heard of that...Hmm.  I guess if you don't see it, we don't carry it, or maybe we sold out of it, or they haven't put the new ones out yet..." 

So I waited a few days went back to the same store and got the same answer, except this time there was another sales clerk in the store and he said I should go to this other Family Christian Bookstore on the opposite side of Durham.  He was sure they carried it there.  So I had him call the store and they assured him (and me) that a copy was to be found in their store.  About 30 minutes later I'm standing in that store thumbing through a copy of CCM looking for the mention of my name...the sales clerk there asked if she could help me...so she picks up a copy and starts thumbing through the magazine as well...Needless to say.  We found the mention:  It's on page 38 folks, down at the bottom of the page in the orange colored section.  I'm mentioned right after Carolyn Arends Blog and right before Ceili Rains blog.

I debated whether or not to purchase the magazine, and in the end decided that it'd be worth it to read the article about Bono (written by CCM's editor Jay Swartzendruber) and the industry article on Managers.

Claire Holley "Tour" Pics

About two weeks ago I played some shows with YepRoc recording artist Claire Holley, and I brought my digital camera along.  Click this link to see the photos from our whirlwind tour!

I'm currently reading:

The Gospel According to America by David Dark.  Our church was having their annual Lenten Book Sale and I saw this book, and felt compelled to purchase it.  Why?  Well, for one reason, I've never read any of David's books and thought I might give this one a try.  Plus, I used to run into him and his wife Sarah back when I lived in Nashville. 

I'm enjoying this read and feel like I might actually be able to finish it.  David's writing style is a bit more inclusive than Hauerwas and alot less polarizing.  It seems that both David and Stanley are talking about similar ideas and thoughts, I just think David does a better job of connecting with his audience.  Could this be because David primarily teaches highschool students, whereas Stanley primarily works with Graduate students? 

Whatever the reason, I'm digging on this book.  I'll probably try and pass it on to Stanley when I'm done with it.  I think he'd enjoy reading it too and if he's not already familiar with David, I think he should be.  I'm starting to agree with Brian McLaren who wonders if David might be a "young Wendell Berry..."

The End of Art

My wife has been reading this book, The End of Art by Donald Kuspit.  When she bought the book, every few minutes she'd find another passage that resonated with her and she'd run into the room and start reading quotes from it.  Anyway, it looks like a fairly interesting read based on what my wife has been quoting to me (though I'm afraid it may be a bit too much academic for me).

Here's one quote that resonated with me, perhaps it'll resonate for you too:

Quoting William Gass:

"I think it is one of the artist's obligations to create as perfectly as he or she can, not regardless of all other consequences, but in full awareness, nevertheless, that in pursuing other values--in championing Israel, or fighting for the rights of women, or defending the faith, or exposing capitalism, supporting your sexual preferences or speaking for your race--you may simply be putting on a saving , scientific, religious, political mask to disguise your failure as an artist.  Neither the world's truth nor a god's goodness will win you beauty's prize.

Finally, in a world which does not provide beauty for its own sake, but where loveliness of flowers, landscapes, faces, trees, and sky are adventitious and accidental, it is the artist's task to add to the world's objects and ideas those delineations, carvings, tales, fables, and symphonic spells which ought to be there; to make things whose end is contemplation and appreciation; to give birth to beings whose qualities harm no one, yet reward even the most casual notice, and which therfore deserve to become the focus of a truly disinterested affection."

I'm all for interesting discussions and criticism, but at the end of the day what work resonates with me?  I love to look at stuff such as those things featured at Jerry Dale's TAG and those cool paintings that Jonn Herschend is creating. Plus, I love Bryce's work and stenciling stuff like this...but I might be a tad bit biased too.

Redesign

I don't know if it's the spring air or the fact that I can't stop from dabbling, but whatever the reason, I'm bound and determined to figure out how to re-tweak my website here.  My hope is to have everything all on one page eventually, and have the posts sort of be links from the front page...I don't know.  We'll  figure it out I'm sure.

I just finished reading CSS Mastery and feel inspired to try and dig in once again and figure out how to make CSS work for me.  Of course, my first hurdle is to figure out how to take the style sheets and classes that TypePad (the blog service I use) provides and translate their names into the examples given in the book.  And I'm also using TopStyle Pro to manually write out my style sheets and stuff.  I know that what I'm trying to do is pretty simple stuff for most folks, but I still can't seem to wrap my mind around it.  Though I feel I'm getting closer to understanding it after reading that book.

Anyway...if you should see some quirks and tweaks here and there over the next few days/ years/ months...just know I'm in a constant state of re-design, and discovering what it is I want my corner of the web to look like.

Copyright and Churches

I found this article that talks about something that has bothered me ever since finding out that if you get hired to be a "Minister of Music" at some churches, any musical work that you write, is automatically owned by the church you are working for. 

This policy flies in the face of everything I learned about copyright issues when I was in Nashville.  I can't believe this practice continues to exist in a place where for alot of churches paying a music minister (or sound engineer or media director or professional talent) is considered an extravagant expense (though I think the tide is turning on this).

But still I'm not sure I want people just giving away the works we create in church.  I like the idea, but I still think there needs to be some work done in regards to who owns the copyright and original (master) recordings of a particular church service.  I think alot of people equate Creative Commons with free use (although that's not necessarily the case). 

I don't think it's a major issue right now, but as we see the record labels and normal distribution chains begin to disintegrate and disappear and the quality of audio and technical expertise increase in our churches sound booths, I could imagine some tricky situations evolving in the future in regards to copyright issues and intellectual property.  Better for churches to start figuring out how to deal with this now, than to wait until later.

Kudos to the Bob.Blog for starting the discussion.

Homeless Solutions...

I read this interesting article by Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink.  It originally appeared in the New Yorker, but somehow I found it at Malcolm's blog last night as I was toolin' around the internet.

Anyway, I'd never heard about some of the solutions presented in the article and found them exciting to ponder.  Specifically the Power-Law theory for dealing with the homeless.  Here's a quote:

"Simply running soup kitchens and shelters, Philip Mangano argues, allows the chronically homeless to remain chronically homeless. You build a shelter and a soup kitchen if you think that homelessness is a problem with a broad and unmanageable middle. But if it’s a problem at the fringe it can be solved."

Anyway, peppered throughout the article is research finding that suggests that the homeless problem is a problem that can be solved, or at the very least dealt with in a different way so that the financial burden is not so great to the community.  Fascinating stuff and a great article too.

You can read this article ("Million Dollar Murray" by Malcolm Gladwell) here.