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

I did it.

I ran my first half-marathon on Saturday.  I started running about a year ago and have really enjoyed the benefits of getting in shape, losing weight and accomplishing goals that I didn't think were possible.  I've never been an athletic sort of guy and so I didn't think running would appeal to me.  But I've found that I enjoy the solitude that running provides and the camaraderie that I experience when I run with my friends.

So it was with that in mind that I chose to run the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, TN this past weekend.  It was a chance to visit family, and to run with my friend Dave from Texas (who I ran my first ever race with) and my brother in law, Chris.  As it turned out we didn't run together that much.  They both sped ahead of me early in the race.  But that was fine with me, I was just hoping to make it to mile 10-11 with enough strength and energy to push on to the end, so I was taking it pretty slow.

The CMM 1/2 marathon route, wound through my old stomping grounds and running the race was a bit like going down memory lane.  Before mile 1, I could see the building where my wife worked back when we were first married.  Around mile 2-3 we trudged along one side of music row and I saw alot of places I used to frequent, especially the studio where I recorded my last album with Sixpence.  Up around mile 4 or so, we passed the house/ apartment where Matt and I first lived when we moved up to Nashville from Texas. 

Down around mile 5-6 I passed the apartment complex that my wife's cousin and her husband lived for awhile, and then later on, I passed by the duplex apartment that Carole and I were considered moving into after we lived on Leland Lane for a bit.  Oh, and let's see there were a bunch of other places we passed too...like the street Ben Pearson lived on (where I went for many photo shoots and Sixpence's first ever video), Bongo Java, The International House (where I first met Dave Perkins with my friend Andreas). 

Around mile 8, I "ran" into an old friend and he snapped the photo of me you see up at the top there.

Going back down music row, I saw a banner congratulating Ken Coomer on a nomination for some Latin project he worked on...and then it was back around music circle and down into the Gulch which has become quite the place.  I was expecting it to look like it did back in the late 90's...a little rough and scary and frankly - depressing.  But that was definitely not the case.  It was in the Gulch that I took hold of my first ever GOO packet, and for awhile I was thinking of slurping it down but instead I held onto it like it was my security blanket and as I crossed the 10 mile mark I thought, I'm going to make it. 

We headed up a short hill and then over to the Farmer's Market where the medical folks on the course were handing out swabs of Vaseline (I passed on that...) and then it was around a corner (bye to the full marathoners) and through the Bicentennial Mall and on to the finish.  Around this point, I started getting a bit delirious and started giggling and laughing a little.  Weird, but I felt good so I kept on, keeping on (as they say). 

Coming up the hill around the capital, I felt strong and surged ahead and kept going strong to the finish.  Somewhere on the bridge heading down to LP Stadium someone yelled only a 1/2 mile to go, so I picked up my pace and then down by the stadium started into my full on sprint to the finish, only to realize soon on (when I saw the 13 mile mark) that I started going "all out" too soon, so I throttled back a bit, and as I turned the corner and could see the finish line, I did my best to finish strong. 

I finished.  Woo Hoo!  I was spent...my knees started to clamp up and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to walk.  Water was handed to me, and then my medal and then I followed the rest of the crowd through a winding crowded mass of humanity and free stuff to get to the exit. 

First, some nice folks removed our timing chips, then we were offered donuts, bananas, apples, free sandals, photo ops, and then were free to exit.  Finally I was out and free to go get some ice, saran-wrapped around my knees.  After that I spent about an hour or two trying to find my family (who had been waiting to see me finish since 8:00am)  As it turned out, they completely missed me and we had a difficult time finding each other post race. 

All in all, running the CMM was a great experience, and I look forward to making this an annual occasion.  Hopefully next year, my son can participate in the children's race and maybe my wife can experience her first half-Marathon as a participant.  And who knows, I might even attempt to run the full marathon.

Economics of the iTunes Store

An article over at Apple Insider details the how the money gets split up when you purchase a song at the iTunes store.  It's amazing to think how much money the labels end up with in comparison to what most artists get paid.  It has been my experience that most artists (those signed with a major label) get less than a dollar in royalty for each album sold. 

This dollar is then used to help repay the "debts" incurred by the band like recording costs, some or all of the promotional expenses including videos, travel to and from gigs, tour support and the like.  From my experience it's rare that the band ever truly "repays" these expenses and thus remains in "debt" to the recording company.  The recording company can then use these "debts" to keep bands either on their label or to force other labels to "buy" the band out of their contract, should that option ever arise.

I think it's plain to see from this article, that the profit margin for digital music is so much greater for the label and the bands (for one, there is no "packaging costs or manufacturing costs in the traditional sense").  I would hope (but fear otherwise) that managers of bands could seize on this fact and go to the labels to politely ask for more royalty money as it relates to digital downloads.  I think it would be only fair for the labels to comply.  But then again, the music business/ industry isn't really known for their generosity and "fairness" when it comes to artist relations.

Shawn Pelton Video

I'm in the process of updating my electronic drum set, basically I've taken one of my lesser used sets and outfitted them with mesh heads from Pearl, Roland and Hart/ Remo Muffl's and Rim Silencers and added Roland drum triggers.  Now, I just need to get a new sound engine. 

I was using the Roland TD-6, but sold that module with my old pads.  I'm currently borrowing a friend's Alesis DM-5 which works fine for triggering single sounds, but doesn't work as well when it comes to interfacing with the Roland cymbal pads and dual triggers.  I've thought about getting a Roland module, but I think what I'm going to end up going with is the Alesis Trigger i/O which comes with a "lite" version of BFD. 

On the BFD site, I found this amazing Shawn Pelton video of him talking about his home recording set-up and how he goes about tracking drums.  Pretty amazing stuff.  He shows the mic's he uses, the sound reinforcement/ deadening measures he's taken and even talks through putting together a track in Ableton Live.  Oh, and while I'm at it...it appears Shawn has a bunch of other videos out there on You Tube mostly for using Ableton Live.  It's great to see videos like this so accessible and inspiring. 

CD: RIP

Alot of people have been saying this for awhile and I just read a post on Mark Cuban's Blog, and he's saying the same thing too.  The CD is dead.  Gone.  It's an iPod world now.  But lately, I've been hankering for some good old-time LP's. 

So I think I might just by-pass the whole iPod craze and get into vinyl.  First I'll need to get a record player though, but thankfully my friend Rob said there is an awesome hi-fi store here in Durham.  One of my best memories in recent (sic) years was setting up for a recording session at Dave Perkin's house after he had just put on a classic Beatle's record. I can't think of any comparable moments  with the cd...plus, I think it would just be cool if my kids grew up knowing how awesome phonograph records are. 

Deep down, I'm just a drum geek.

Excerpt: 

"Dear Diary:  Today I saw a video of a song I heard many years ago.  It was on Vinnie's solo record.  Something about him playing a beat and shifting it a 16th or so.  My friends all said that it was an amazing song, because it was all in 4/4 time.  But listening to the drum beat move around, it was hard to believe."

I'm sure this video is off of some Zildjian Day or Drum Festival video.  Vinnie looks like he's out for blood.  Especially at the end of the song after his hallacious ending fill...chubbada, chubbada, chubbada etc. It's like he's thinking,  "Take that you drum geeks!"  Scary stuff indeed. 

Note to self:  Gotta work on my double bass chops and single stokes.  Hmm. (Not sure when I would use them though...it's not like I've got a solo clinic appearance anytime soon...and most of the singer/ songwriter stuff I do doesn't call for machine-gun kicks...but still I could impress my friends and possibly my wife with chops like that!) Thanks Mark for the link.

More geekry:  audio of Vinnie talking about the creation of the track...

It's that time again...oh, wait it's past that time again.

If you're like most musicians and creative folks you probably missed the deadline for filing your tax return and are in the frantic midst of filing an extension or figuring out what to do.  Over at the Raleigh Recording site, I came across this wonderful list of resources and in the list found a great article on Income Tax resources for Musicians.  I haven't looked at all the info myself yet, but it looks thorough and well informed. 

eSession is in BETA!

Do you feel the change in the air?  Well, if it feels just a bit different chalk it up to the folks at eSession.  They've spent the last two years refining the future of music-making and have now entered their BETA phase.  I think they've developed a revolutionary tool for collaboration and recording and it will be exciting to see the completed recording projects that come from their diligent efforts.  To see the site and to try it out for yourself (it's a bit overwhelming, so perhaps you could also check out their support pages and their helpful video tutorials) go to the eSession BETA site now! 

To learn more about what eSession is go to their current site and in the left corner under "eSession community" there is a tutorial that explains exactly what eSession is about.  And if by chance you are interested in doing a session with me via eSession, bring it on! 

A personal note:  I'd love to work with you on whatever project you have brewing in that creative mind of yours.  I need to update some of my profile settings at eSession (all in due time) but for now, if you want to work with me, leave a comment below or drop me an email and I'll make sure I set you up as a "preferred" client over at eSession which will save you a some $$$ when you make your initial session request with me.

Play along with Me! (Charts, etc)

I was looking for information about a drum I'm selling and came across these old PDF's of charts I used in the studio on Sixpence's Divine Discontent album and on the road with Over the Rhine back in 2001-2002 (I think that's when I was on the road with them).

Sixpence Charts.pdf

Over the Rhine Charts.pdf

The Sixpence Charts are pretty detailed...I've written out fills and beats and tempos.  This was to maintain consistency throughout the sessions and so that if overdubs were needed down the road I'd know exactly what drums/ cymbals and miscellany I used.  (Okay, I confess...I also did it, so that I'd be ready to answer questions like "How did you get that great snare sound on (fill - in - the -blank)?" and plus I wanted to prove myself a capable and professional session player so that (by chance) the producer, Paul Fox would hire me again in the future.  Uh, I guess that part of my plan didn't turn out so well.

The Over the Rhine charts were often quick "guide" charts similar to what I make when I'm learning a new song on a studio session.  Alot of them are just measure markings, tempos and feel indicators.  Towards the end of my time in Sixpence and during my time with Over the Rhine, I became obsessed with playing a consistent show from night to night and picked up an idea from JD Blair who I saw playing a club date with Shelby Lynn back in her early days.  I was also starting to do a fair amount of pick up dates with different artists (like her and them) and found that it was easier for me to make charts for each of the artists I was playing for.  Once those charts were made, I would put them in little plastic sleeves and then bind them in a 3 ring binder.  I could then set the charts out on one of my drum cases and sort of have cheat sheets for the gigs...yeah, I know a little obsessive and geeky...but there you have it. 

If you're curious, check out the links above.  A word of warning...you'll find notes, and scribbles, doodles, indecipherable ramblings and plenty of quick jabs of drum notation gone wild.  Proceed with caution.

My solo record...

Well, I started working on a solo project...a sort of not quite Thor, a little less MC - oh wait.  I think I mentioned this a few nights ago.  Anyway, Alex took some pics with his styling new lense and he sent me a link to one of the ones that turned out.  And while you're at it, you can listen to a half-speed version of one of the tracks I did...put on the incense and relax a bit...it's slow (something with the conversion rate made it come out half-speed on mix down).  Click Download dale_one.mp3 to hear the song.

For Sale: Roland TD-6 Drumset

I'm selling my teaching kit as I continue to upgrade my studio.

UPDATE:  The kit has been sold.  Thanks for your interest!

I've taken good care of this kit (it's never been used for a live performance, just for teaching beginning drumset students) and I'm hoping I can find a good home for it.  This kit consists of the following items with the current cost (when I could find it) listed to the right:

• 5 Roland PD-6 Pads ($75 per at Bananas at Large)
• 1 Roland KD-7 Kick Pad with inverted beater ($99.97 at Sweetwater)
• 1 Roland FD-6 Hi-Hat controller pedal ($109.97 at 8th Street)
• 1 Roland V-Club Set Rack for mounting the pads (as shown in the photos)
• 1 TD-6 Sound Module/ Trigger Interface ($545.97 at Sweetwater)
• All cables and necessary cords, including the original manuals for the rack and sound module.

Now (in my best info-mercial voice), if you were to purchase all these items separately, it would cost you well over $1100.00 USD. 

I'm asking $550 for it all, plus shipping to be determined.  This is a great practice kit (you could even use it in live situations too) and the TD-6  Sound module is easy to set up and edit.  You can read more about the TD-6 module here, but in short here are some of the reasons the TD-6 is a great module (copied from the Roland website):

	Ultra-affordable V-Drums® sound module with 64-voice polyphony
	1,024 drum and percussion sounds, 99 drum kits, 262 backing instruments
	Intuitive, drummer-friendly interface
	Built-in sequencer with 150 Preset songs and 100 User song memories
	Onboard EQ and Ambience effects Let me know if you are interested in this kit by leaving a comment below and I will get back to you with payment and shipping details.  Thanks and I hope to hear from you soon.  You can view more pictures of the kit by clicking here .

For Sale: Premier Signia Maple Snare Drum

Alright, it's time to clear out some of my drums.  So I'm once again putting up my 5.5" x 14" Signia Snare Drum for sale.  Price is same as before:  $150 plus shipping to be determined. 

UPDATE:  This drum has been sold.  Thank you for your interest.

The drum is in excellent shape and has been in climate controlled storage for the past 10 years.  Early on in the history of Sixpence I used this drum as a touring snare (when we toured with the Smithereens and 10,000 Maniacs) and it also made a few appearances on This Beautiful Mess and our platinum selling self-titled record. 

Anyway, you can see from the pictures that the top head has seen some use and that the Die Cast Rims are losing a bit of their lustre.  Other than that, the drum is in excellent shape and sounds awesome.  If you want I can even autograph the head for you...Let me know if you're interested by leaving a comment below and I'll get back to you with details on how to pay me and how much shipping will be.  Thanks!

(View more pictures of this drum by clicking on this link .)

Iron Chef: Beat Box Edition

I just saw this clip over at Music Thing...I'm sure it's already been all around the internet, but I still thought it was cool, even if I'm late to the game.  Let's see if I can get the video to properly embed here in my site...

Indaba Music

I was notified via email about this site, Indaba Music, which looks real promising. 

It seems like a more user friendly version than eSession (though I believe eSession is trying to cater to a different market).  The thought of throwing some beats and grooves out there for collaboration seems like it'd be fun to me at this point.  Of course, I'm not sure when I'll have the time to get involved, still I like to think I might be able to carve out space at some point to join in on some of the collaborations.

Upon trying their URL just a moment ago, I couldn't get their site to launch...my guess is they are upgrading their site in preparation related to this announcement and from the looks of that it appears that they may be trying to compete somewhat with eSession by offering some more advanced features and professional level collaborative tools than they've offered previously.

I find it hard that anyone would want to compete directly with what eSession is building at this moment.  I really believe eSession will be redefining the recording music (studio scene)industry over the next 5-10 years.  They've got some great ideas brewing down there in Austin, let's hope they can pull them all off, but for those of us not ready or able to play in the big leagues, it seems Indaba could be a suitable alternative for now...(if they can get their site to consistently load...that is.).

Update:  I just got an email from Indaba, and it was confirmed that they are experiencing a bit of downtime with their site and now that I think about it, I'm wondering if they weren't in a Beta phase when I first visited their site...anyhow...it was nice to get a quick response from someone and to know that they are aware of what's going on with their site.  I look forward to checking out Indaba some more once they're back up and running.

 

Studies and Etudes

I finally laid down some initial tracks for a potential solo album I've had brewing in my head for awhile.  Last night and tonight I spent a few precious hours with my friends Perry and Alex from The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, and we assembled some ideas of mine into a couple of percussion/ drum set vignettes.  Not quite Thor and not as polished as this guy, but still it's something. Hopefully, I'll continue putting together this record of drum songs/ beats/ rhythms and someday will have a collection that's worth sharing with you...until then, I'll post my sonic experiments for you when I can.