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

All ready to go.

My drums are ready to go, I've got my food packed for the long haul to Holly Springs, and I think that's about it.  Now it's time to get some sleep. Let's hope that I don't forget anything in the morning and that there is plenty of coffee at the venue!

Shelly Moore Rehearsal

Today we rehearsed here at my little studio, the place I call "The Dorm Room."  There were 5 of us all together working on the set of songs we'll be playing tomorrow morning at this place.  I also made a little video that I've posted below.  Mike made up some nifty charts and so that saved me time from making my own charts.  We also practiced using Ableton Live to drive the loops and click track for the songs.  Mike had arranged all the loops so that they could start with a simple push of a button, no mouse involved.  I just hope I can remember to turn off the loops tomorrow when we're doing the show.  Shelly and the guys brought some chips, queso, salsa and a veggie tray which was a nice touch.  Oh, and Mike had a case of water in the back of his truck that we all helped ourselves to.  At one point Shelly stepped out to go get a gas station latte (sound likes the title of a country song) and some mountain dew type beverages for those of us who needed our daily dose of high fructose corn syrup and Yellow #5.  She brought back some half-price Easter Jelly Beans which was a nice bonus treat!  Oh yeah, some more useless trivia:  Mike broke a string on his guitar, so he started using my Tacoma guitar that I bought way back in 1997 or '98 from my friend Kelly Roach at Corner Music in Nashville.

Now it's time to pack up my drums and get my charts together and get to bed.  I've got an early day tomorrow and a 20 mile training run to complete!  If you don't get a chance to check out the show tomorrow, you can check out Shelly's website for more info about her music and touring schedule.  Enjoy the video!

T Bone Burnett's Favorite Room in the Southeast

At his lecture yesterday, one of the audience members asked T Bone if he had a favorite room to record at in the Southeast.  The question came up because T Bone was talking about how he likes to record musicians at a softer volume and mic further away from the instrument so as to catch more of the room sound and the "air" surrounding the performer.  When recording in this manner it makes sense that a room's acoustics would come into play.  So thus someone asked the question, do you have a favorite room on this side of the US, and his reply was "Yes." 

He said the Sound Emporium is his favorite room in the Southeast.  He mentioned the acoustics of the studio, but also the age and the history of the studio as factors in his decision.  He mentioned that he believes rooms "cure" in the same way that a classic instrument "cures" over time.  He said the studio isn't that large, you couldn't record an orchestra in there, but that you could fit a large ensemble - 10 -12 people.  He also stated that when recording, he doesn't allow road cases in the studio, as the sound reflections off of the cases affects the sound in a negative way.

Here's a blurb about the Sound Emporium from their website:

"Sound Emporium is a world-class, award-winning recording facility with two studios available for booking.  Each offers a unique recording space with a history all its own.  Studio A is our "big" room and well suited for larger sessions.  Studio B is slightly smaller and offers a more "live" sound. Both studios are equipped with Pro Tools HD systems.  We also feature an IZ Technology RADAR hard-disk recorder as well as a Studer A827 analog tape machine.  In addition, Sound Emporium has two lounges, a full-service kitchen and high-speed wireless internet access.  We have six engineers on staff capable of assisting you in all your recording needs"

And this:

"Located off Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee, Sound Emporium Studios is one of the city's longest running and most historic recording facilities. Within these walls, we've heard nearly every conceivable genre of music played by artists from across the globe.  We've been host to some of the industry's most talented performers, writers, producers and engineers working on countless albums, demos, and television and film projects."

On a side note:  I only wish T Bone Burnett could experience my friend Wade's studio.  His place sounds awesome.  It's an old house in Durham with high ceilings and wood floors and lots of wonderful vibe.  We've been able to get some great sounds at his place.  I only wish more people knew about it!  Maybe someday T Bone can come to Durham and record the Carolina Chocolate Drops there!

T Bone Burnett Lecture: Notes

I just got back from the T Bone Burnett Lecture over at UNC. I went with my friend Jim McConnell and we both felt bad that we couldn't stay for the second lecture that his girlfriend was about to give.  There was a wonderful vibe in the room and I wished I could've soaked it up some some more by staying longer.  Plus, I really wanted to get my picture with Mr. Burnett. 

T Bone had some great things to say about the future of music and the state of audio as it exists in our culture currently.  He likened the state of the music industry to that of a shoe maker who cuts off peoples feet (or something to that effect).  One of the threads of his talk went something like this:  the music that we are listening to has been degraded so much that the audio quality is such that the music isn't worth much to us.  We don't hear the sonic richness in music because it has been compressed and pushed out.  When CD's and digital technology were first brought to market it was said that we'd be able to hear so much more of the audio, but instead due to the inertia of the record companies, producers and engineers, about 95% of the sonic potential of a CD is untapped. 

All instruments are resonating chambers that you attack in some way whether it be with your breath, sticks, picks or fingers.  The music industry has created music that is all about the attack, which is more controllable than resonance.  T Bone wants us to get back to listening to the resonance in music.  He says he only likes things he can't control (like resonance). In order to bring out more of the resonant characteristics of an instrument,  he suggests recording musicians differently by getting them to play softer and using minimal mic placement to better pick up the richness of the instrument and the uniqueness of the individual performing.  He talked about using a good ribbon or condenser mic and setting up the mic away from the performer to better hear the room and how the instrument and performer sound in that room.  He is starting a company that plans to set standards similar to how the RIAA Curve was a standard that helped make audio recordings more consistent.  He mentioned that at one time, people were better able to listen to records because of the RIAA Curve, but with the advent of digital recording, that standard went out the window.

The name of the company will be called "CODE (whereas the spelling is a bit unconventional: "C" "O" "The Greek Letter Delta" "E")" and will release recordings in 3 formats:  Vinyl HD (like the records of yesteryear), HD Disk at 24/96K resolution, and as a 24/96K download.  Once you've purchased one of the formats above, you will then get a code to download the same audio optimized for the device you'll be listening to the audio on - such as your iPod with Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones.  T-Bone mentioned that we're all going deaf because of the severity of the attack and lack of resonance in modern recordings. 

Some quotes:

The greatest thing he's learned in life:  "To be fearless, and to not commit to anything easily, but when you do commit, do so with your whole heart."

"The producer acts as the proxy for the audience."

"There is a revolution coming..."

T Bone talked about his experiences working on the Johnny Cash movie from a few years ago, and also on "O Brother Where Art Thou." He mentioned how Johnny Cash was a great rhythm player and on songs like "I walk the Line" (which he said has 5 key changes in it), Johnny would put a dollar bill in the strings of the guitar so that the strings were muted, and then play rhythm, similar to how a drummer would play a hi-hat or shaker part.  He said that he took on the movie, because he'd seen the "Hollywoodization (my term not his)" of other music legends such as Hank Williams, and he wanted to make sure that the same thing didn't happen to Johhny and June. In producing the "O Brother" soundtrack he realized he had an opportunity to present the music to a captive audience, so instead of making the music sound scratchy and "old," they produced it like a rock record.  He said he thought the "Man of Constant Sorrows" song sounded like something Traffic could've played back in the day.

It truly was inspiring to be in that room. I felt lucky to ask him a couple of questions, and though I was nervous and a little unsure of how to phrase my questions (I mistakenly slighted most of the musicians in the room as I was trying to figure out how to say what I was asking...typical for me, put my foot in my mouth and get misunderstood on accident - ugh), he was gracious to listen and to answer.

T Bone seems down to earth, well educated, knowledgeable and continually growing both as an artist and person.  I could've listened to him talk all day.  It was obvious that he still has a passion for making music and feels he's in a position where he can be responsible for helping the music industry get back to excellence in sound.  He mentioned that his company hopes to be sort of like how THX or DOLBY is for movies.  He'll develop a standard that will allow recordings to be certified in a similar way, to insure that the end user gets the best listening experience.  Fascinating stuff...and these notes of mine are just scratching the surface.  I just tried to recount the lecture to my wife and came up with a whole different version than what I wrote here.  Still, at least these notes will give you some idea of what today was like.  Had it been any other week, I wouldn't have been able to attend, due to my "day" job.  So I'm glad that my "Spring Break" was this week and that I was able to be there for this.

If you want to learn more about T Bone Burnett, I found a great interview with him over at Mix Online from 2006.

Updates and Beta Mode

Oh man, I've got my work cut out for me.  I've just been upgraded to a Beta Tester for TypePad, which means I'm getting to use some of the cool new stuff from TypePad before other folks are.  But what that means for you, dear reader, is that my site will be a bit wonky for the next few weeks - until I get some of the "bugs" straigtened out in my code.  It should be pretty easy to fix, especially since TypePad's Help Desk is so awesome and quick.  The trick will be finding the time to do the tweaks.  I predict an all-nighter coming up soon.

On Saturday (tomorrow) (it's been moved to Sunday - tomorrow is supposed to be a bad weather day), I'll be attempting a 20 mile run as part of my training for the Country Music Marathon in Nashville this year.  It was only a few years ago that I was having a hard time imagining myself attempting to run for 30 minutes.  Now this?  Anyhow, wish me luck.  Hopefully the rain will hold off and I can get a nice run in without too much extra drama (injury, sickness, fog on my glasses, etc.)

And on Sunday, I'll be playing drums once again with The Shelly Moore Band.  I'm looking forward to that.  We'll be part of the morning worship at Destiny Life Church in Holly Springs.  We'll be playing a bunch of songs off of Shelly's latest CD and will be starting bright and early at 10:30am.  It should be a good time, and if you haven't heard Shelly sing and Mike Passaro play, do yourself a favor and come on out for this free Sunday morning concert.

T Bone Burnett at UNC

This Friday is an awesome opportunity to hear T Bone Burnett speak (not to be confused with this T Bone).  He'll be at UNC along with Callie Khouri, discussing music and film.  I'm going to do everything in my power to be there to witness this.  How often do you get to hear a music legend speak?  Here's a blurb from the UNC website:

"Burnett, who won four Grammy Awards for composing and producing the soundtrack, concert and best-selling albums for the film “O Brother Where Art Thou,” will lead a discussion at 11 a.m. entitled "Resonance: All Instruments Are Drums."

I remember a discussion a long time ago I had with an up and coming songwriter and he told me that drum beats weren't copyrightable only the melody, chords and lyrics were, so therefore I had no authorship on some of the songs I helped write the drumbeats on.  Hmm. I thought his logic was a bit suspect at the time, but what could I do?  I was an up and coming drummer. 

It'll be interesting to see if T-Bone will talk about copyright and ownership.  If he believes all instruments are drums, then what happens to melody, chords and lyrics?  Do they become un-copyrightable?  Or is this just a catchy title to get us all to attend his lecture? 

Frankly, I'd show up no matter what the lecture title was...T Bone Burnett...in person y'all!  Come on!

My Sunday

I played at the Chapel Hill Bible Church this morning and really enjoyed the worship time in both of the services. 

This afternoon I played at Emmaus Way and enjoyed taking part in The Gossman Passion.  The piece really came together as we performed it and it was powerful sitting in front of the choir of folks from the Newman Center at UNC.

I wish other folks could experience The Gossman Passion.  I'd love to see it go on the road, and I'd love to tour with it - maybe go up to DC, Richmond, and Cincinnati and overseas would be fun too!

In other news, I have about a month or so to go before I run my first marathon.  If you have any tips or advice for a first time marathoner, I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Just drop me an email or leave me a comment below...

And coming up, it looks like I'll be busy with a some sessions in the coming weeks.  I'm working with Jamie McFarlane next weekend, and it looks like I'll be doing some work with Mike Garrigan, Mark Williams and Wade Baynham for projects they are individually producing.  I can't wait!

I'm also looking at working on a solo project over the summer and am gearing up for that.  Sorting and sifting through ideas and getting my gear prepared (read:  recording software to be purchased soon!) and trying to carve out some time here and there.  We'll see how it goes.  But I'm excited to get started and begin collaborating and creating!

Typepad and Montessori

Last weekend, I attended a Montessori conference up in DC and also took part in a conference call from TypePad.  It was a stellar few days I must say.  The only bummer, was limited web access.  Ugh!  Why must hotels make you pay for Internet service?  I wish the net was free!  I was hoping to get caught up on blogging posts, and write out my day to day experience's at the conference.  But alas, 'twas not to be.

The key note speaker for the conference was Jane Goodall and she was inspirational, but frankly I was able to take away more useable information from a session on Anger Management by William Stixrud and one on "The Courage to Teach."  I also was able to meet Frank Leto and attended one of his sessions.  We've used Frank's music in our class the last few years, and I've been impressed with the integrity of the music he creates for children.   It was exciting to finally meet and talk with him about teaching music and to get his thoughts about continuing my education as a Montessori teacher and musician.

The Gossman Passion

I'm listening to Mike Garrigan's CD that he did a few years ago, The Gossman Passion.  It's basically a musical setting of the Passion of Christ (not the Mel Gibson movie, mind you).  As best as I can tell, it's the liturgy of the Passion (more or less) set to a contemporary beat.  It's sort of like hearing the bible set to music.

Anyway, the reason I'm listening to it is I have a rehearsal later tonight, with Mike and a few other folks in preparation of our performance of this work tomorrow afternoon at Emmaus Way, in Downtown Durham.  I'm pretty excited, not only to play with Mike and Wade (and some folks I've never met before), but to be a part of this unique setting of the gospel. This is a pretty cool setting of Christ's passion. 

Check out the website for The Gossman Passion here.

And I thought Charlie Peacock was Intimidating

I remember taking the photos for the coffee table book that accompanied the release of City on a Hill (on which I also played drums and percussion), and being at Charlie Peacock's house in Nashville, taking a photo of him, and being really nervous.  He seemed ready to pounce on me and tear me into pieces, though I'm not sure why.  Reading the following piece and watching the video below brought back the memories for me...(thanks Kottke.org)

Summer Camp Options for Musicians

After receiving an email from Chuck Silverman about his programs for 2008, I started wondering about other programs that I might be interested in, and so I've compiled a few that I've found here.  I hope to attend one or more of these programs in the future as a way to continue to learn and develop as a drummer/ musician and to further improve my skills as a teacher.

Of course there is always the Drummer's Collective in NYC, which has ongoing programs throughout the year.  But as far as specific summer programs go, I found the following:

Musicians Institute hosts their Summer Shot 2008 from June 23rd through June 28th.  From their website:

"Summer Shot is a six-day crash course in technique, musicianship, music technology, style, and performance*. If you're an intermediate-level player** looking for a chance to experience MI's famous hands-on, all-music environment, Summer Shot is for you."

Then there is Berklee's 5 Week Summer Program from July 12 through August 15.  They say:

At the Five-Week Summer Performance Program, you will be immersed in all aspects of performance. Your classes, workshops, and rehearsals will focus on this important side of your musicianship. You will play in ensembles, develop improvisational and reading skills, improve your technique in weekly private lessons, and enjoy lectures/demonstrations by well-known faculty and visiting artists.

And though it might take some searching to find specific contact info for the program, University of North Texas Summer Programs offers a page detailing all the specific offerings in their Music Department.

No Zebras were harmed in the making of this video:

Oh the funny stuff we find on the 'net:

Race Day Tomorrow

I've been training for a marathon in April, and as part of my training, I've been doing a few half-marathon races and runs.  A couple of weekends ago, I did a race up in Greensboro, and this weekend (tomorrow), I'll be running the Coach Bubba 20 K race here in Durham.

Curious as to what the course looks like?  Check out the link:

http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/nc/durham/297716048

Or just view this:

10 Commandments of playing in a Worship Band

Stephen Claybrook leads worship at Crosspointe Church in Cary, NC and has an excellent blog that I visit from time to time, and today as I was meandering over in his neck of the internets/ interweb, I came across this wonderful post. Most of all, I appreciated his comments that he added after the list of "commandments."  Here is an excerpt:

"no matter what you’re “thing” is, it’s easy to plateau. it takes concerted effort to continue to grow and improve your skills. this is true with musicians as well. we learn patterns and habits along the way. it’s easy to get stuck in familiar patterns. you have to be proactive about stretching."

To read the full post, click here.

U2 in 3D

I've got to figure out how to see this in an IMAX theater before it hits the regular theater circuit in February. Everything I've read about this makes it sound like an awesome "event."  Plus, it's probably it's the closest I'll get to seeing U2 live anytime soon.  Here's the widget I downloaded from the u23dmovie.com site.