Turning off the Sudden Motion Sensor on your Mac

Has your Mac ever quit unexpectedly during a set?  It may have happened because of the Sudden Motion Sensor getting activated and shutting down your computer.

My friend Paul (who works at Apple) sent me this link:  Apple Portables: Advanced tips for Sudden Motion Sensor and described a problem he had encountered while running Logic Pro during a recent gig:

"Thought you might want to consider this information.  I have had a few issues recently where my MacBook Pro has stalled during a worship service (while we are playing).  If using Logic (with Midi) this can cause the playback to stop (and give an error message).  (I think that the vibrations from the bass guitar or the kit (when heavy hitting) have caused the sudden motion sensor to trip.)."

And then:

"I was able to re-create the issue last night by deliberately triggering the sudden motion sensor (you can do this by rotating the computer...and then you will hear a "click sound").  When this sensor activates the HD shuts down for a split second.  This can cause issues sometimes during playback."

Personally, I've never experienced this problem, though my computer did freeze one time before a set began.  I had to get the MC to stall for a bit while I rebooted my computer. 

I'm not sure I want to turn off the Sudden Motion Sensor in my Mac as, I think the sensor helps protect the computer from damage, should I drop it or it fall off as stage as Nathan's computer did during a recent show I played with him.  His laptop fell about 7 feet, flipping over in the process, losing a cable and landing upright.  Nothing broke, and he was able to continue using his computer almost immediately.  I'm thinking the Sudden Motion sensor saved his hard drive...but still...it'd be nice not to have to worry that my computer might shut down in the middle of the set. 

Do you have any suggestions for keeping your Laptop safe during a peformance?  Any special stands or trays that you use?  If so, leave a comment...I'd love to hear your solutions for keeping your computer stable during a show.

Recent Loops

To give these a bit of a context:

I created these loops for use last weekend when I played at The Summit. For the shaker based loops, I used Apple's Logic, layering the pre-made Apple Loops until I got the parts that I wanted.  For the "beat box" type loop, I couldn't find what I was looking for in Logic, so I created the beat in iDrum and then exported it to Logic - audio and all.  Technically, I could have just exported the midi file, but I liked how it was sounding in iDrum and wanted to keep the sounds as I imported it over to Logic.

After creating the loops, I then imported them into Ableton Live, which is the program I used to "drive" the click and play the loops.

Anyway, here are the loops...and if you don't mind, let me know if you use them or find them helpful.  Thanks!

76 bpm Shaker
( I used this  on How Great is Our God)

76 bpm Beat Box
( This was also used on How Great is Our God)

78 bpm Shaker +Tamb
( I used this one on God of Our City)

To give these a bit of a context:

I created these loops for use last weekend when I played at The Summit. For the shaker based loops, I used Apple's Logic, layering the pre-made Apple Loops until I got the parts that I wanted.  For the "beat box" type loop, I couldn't find what I was looking for in Logic, so I created the beat in iDrum and then exported it to Logic - audio and all.  Technically, I could have just exported the midi file, but I liked how it was sounding in iDrum and wanted to keep the sounds as I imported it over to Logic.

After creating the loops, I then imported them into Ableton Live, which is the program I used to "drive" the click and play the loops.

Anyway, here are the loops...and if you don't mind, let me know if you use them or find them helpful.  Thanks!

76 bpm Shaker
( I used this  on How Great is Our God)

76 bpm Beat Box
( This was also used on How Great is Our God)

78 bpm Shaker +Tamb
( I used this one on God of Our City)

Recent music: Electrical Storm w/ Wade and Jeff

I recently played a cover of U2's "Electrical Storm at Emmaus Way with Jeff Crawford on Bass and Vocals and Wade Baynham on Vocals and Guitar.  I was playing a small kit comprised of a 16" Floor Tom (used as a bass drum), a 13" snare (with the snares turned off), and a 12" rack tom.  For a hi-hat I was using my crazy looking shaker/jingle/rattling thingy which is mounted on an old hi-hat stand.  It sort of sounds like a shaker/ tambourine accompianment track when I stomp on it with my left foot.  Anyway, I was really proud of how this particular song ended up sounding that night.  Wade sent me a copy of it and you can hear it in it's proper context by looking for the Emmaus Way podcast from March 8th.  Or you can listen to it here (out of context) here on my blog:  Electrical Storm played by wade dale jeff

The audio was recorded with a stereo condenser mic and that's all.  We usually set up in the middle of the room facing each other (sort of like a house concert type situation) and with minimal rehearsal we play through 3 or 4 songs.  Wade will then take the audio that's been recorded and minimally process and tweak the levels and then post it to the Emmaus Way website for download.  I was really happy with how my drums sounded and the blend of the instruments with the vocals.  Anyway, I thought I'd share this with you...hope you like it!

Artists and Bandleaders: Tips for Better Gigs and Band Relationships

Here are some things that I think could make life easier for everyone when you are putting together a band for a gig.  I think most people that do music for a living know these things or have figured them out already. Still some of us have never given any thought to these things and wonder why there are "weird vibes" in our band. 

I was thinking about what things could ease my stress when being hired for a gig and as I was doing so, memories of past gigs, and experiences started coming to mind, and voila!  a list was born.  I hope this is helpful for all you budding artists out there and band leaders.  My tone may be a bit harsh...I think some of this may be me also letting off some steam...so I apologize in advance if I'm offending you...I'm just trying to help out!  So without further fanfare, here it is: 

To all you Artist and Bandleaders:  Tips for Better Gigs and Band Relationships

1.  First off, when approaching someone to play with you for your upcoming show, it's a kind, respectful and courteous gesture to mention how much the gig will pay.  Even if it won't pay anything at all.  I know it's uncomfortable to talk about money, especially when you don't have any and you're afraid that some side musician is going to ask for more than you can afford, but still it's good business and shows a lot of respect and humility on your part if you bring it up, and not wait for the other person.  Remember, you're the leader.  Act like one and make sure that you let the people you hire know that you value them by bringing up the money first.  And if you are asking them for a favor (which essentially a non-paying gig is), let them know that.  Better to get this out in the open than to leave it unresolved.

2.  Remember, you are more invested in your project and music than any of the people who play with you will ever be.  If the people playing with you aren't being paid for the gig, have some grace and mercy in how you react to their ability to play their parts consistently.  If you are concerned that they won't play your songs perfect at the gig, consider making out charts for your players.  Chords and lyrics, and song structure is all you need.  Maybe ask your players if they would like you to make a chart for them, instead of getting frustrated at them, or shooting them a dirty look 'cause they couldn't read your mind.  If you want perfection, hire a professional or get a Karaoke machine.

3.  Provide the people you hire with a zip file of the mp3's of the songs you want them to learn.  Sending files via You Send It, seems to be one of the more reliable and popular ways of going about this.  Alternatively you could purchase your albums/ songs on iTunes and send them to your players via email (iTunes has a gift option where you can do that).  Or, just send out a CD you burn yourself, or send  the hard copies of the CDs themselves.  Don't assume that your band members love your music so much that they own every one of the albums you've put out over the course of your career.  As a band leader/ artist, show respect and humility to the guys you hire by offering them the above, and then follow up to make sure everyone has the songs.  If the songs you play live will follow the same structure and arrangement as the songs on your CD, let your band members know, so they can prepare accordingly.

4.  Think of yourself as a company.  You are the CEO and the band members are your employees.  Read some books on leadership and learn what the qualities of being a good leader are.  Read some books on communication or sign up for sessions with a psychologist or other professional, to get feedback on how to best relate and care for those that are in your midst.

5.  Remember, the people that play for you have a life as varied, complicated and as busy as you do.  Be empathetic, and try not to be a complete jerk when dealing with things that don't live up to your expectations.  Basically, don't take yourself so seriously.  Really.  Yes, you are God's gift to this world, but please stop acting like it.  It doesn't do anyone any good at all.

Are you a band member or artist/ band leader and would like to add to this list?  If so, leave a comment below.  Or if you totally disagree with me, please feel free to voice your opinion below as well! 

Posted by email from dalebakerdrummer's posterous

10 Steps to a better Recording Session experience.

Here are some pointers I was thinking about recently.  I thought I'd pass them along.  Feel free to add to the list in the comments section below....

1.  If you are the producer of the project, welcome the artist/ session musician with a sincere greeting and promptly offer them "something to drink or eat?"  Hospitality is always welcome, be a good host!

2.  Keep your initial thoughts about how you want the drummer/ pianist/ guitar/ bass/ to play, to a minimum.  You believed in the guy you hired enough to hire him...so let him/ her give the song a shot and then you can make your comments.

3.  Almost all recording programs have a grid tool, which will allow you to set up a grid with measures and beats.  Your life will be so much easier if you set up that grid.  Trust me on this.

4.  Don't delete your previous takes, even if they are horrific!  Sometimes there is a part of one of those takes that you may need to refer back to.  So wait until you've got your "keeper" take before you start permanently deleting those files.

5.  When recording a scratch vocal and guitar track, set the metronome for 8th notes and not quarter notes.  You'll find that the additional subdivision of the beat aids in creating a better performance for others to track to.

6.  Find another click option other than the one default in Pro-Tools.  If possible program an 8th note hat track as your click.  Better to have more than one click sound to offer.

7.  Once you've communicated to the musician what it is you want him to play, give him some time to figure out how best to play that.  You'll get a much better performance from your session musician if you don't micro-manage the creation and performance of their part for the song.

8.  As a producer or engineer, if you must tweak sounds, do so as quickly as possible.  Most drummers don't enjoy 20 minutes of doing quarter notes on the kick drum while the engineer and producer decide on an "awesome" kick drum sound.

9.  As a producer, if you say "I think we may be close to THE TAKE, Let's do another take real quick...oh but first let me come out and tweak that snare a bit," don't spend 15 minutes checking every detail of the snare, unless of course you want to kill every bit of forward momentum the band was beginning to feel.

10.  It's always a good thing to put a track of shaker and a track of tambourine on a song.  That way you'll have additional textures to mix in once it comes time to mix.

Bonus step! 

11.  If after you finish the take the producer says "Well, what did you think of that take?"  Nine times out of Ten, it works better if you answer the question with a question of your own, "Hmm, I'm not sure, what did YOU think of that take?  I've found that more times than not, it's better to defer to the producers vision of your part and your playing, and by flipping the question around you are able to help the producer better clarify his vision for your performance.

A good weekend

I was thinking today about this last weekend.  I think it was a pretty good one. 

Friday night started out with an afternoon of setting up the sound system for Mary Gautier's (pronounced "Go-Shay") performance at St. Philips church, in downtown Durham.  After soundchecking Mary, I went outside to get one of the first burgers and order of fries off the grill via the "OnlyBurger" truck.  This was the first night they showed up for a St. Philips concert, so we were all looking forward to being able to get dinner at the "venue" as opposed to quickly driving off site to go get food.  I'm always on the lookout for a good burger.  Only Burger did not disappoint.  And I loved their fries too.  I "ran" sound for Mary's concert, which due to the simplicity of our set up at St. Philips, pretty much consisted of me making sure nothing was feeding back.  Thankfully DJ and Wes helped do sound check and test the system earlier, so that made my job easy and helped me not feel so stressed. 

The concert was wonderful and I really loved hearing Mary in person.  Although her songs are mostly about pretty depressing experiences and slices of life lived desparately, I found that her music lifted my spirits in much the same way that Red House Painters used to lift my spirits.  I'm not sure why listening to depressing music makes me feel so hopeful and full of joy.  Weird don't you think?  Anyway, I loved the show and only wish it could've been attended by more folks.

Saturday afternoon I found myself recording over at Tim Carless's place in Chapel Hill.  His style of working is so comfortable and laid back.  We worked on two songs of his and spent almost as much time hanging out and talking about various things.  I also love the fact that he records me with two mics!   He gets a great sound out of those two mics...I think we got some great tracks and I look forward to going back there tonight to record some more with him.

Sunday afternoon began with drum lessons and then I loaded up and quickly got myself downtown to rehearse with Wade for the evening service at Emmaus Way.  I was a little excited and nervous about playing at E-Way last night, mainly because I was going to attempt to accompany Wade on acoustic guitar.  I can count the times I've played guitar in public on one hand, so I wasn't sure if I was going to be up for the challenge.  Well, it went better than I thought, and I think Wade was pleased with my playing.  Hopefully this won't be the last time I play acoustic guitar at Emmaus Way.   

Playing with Wade at Emmaus Way has been so good for my chops...not only do I show up with a slightly different percussion set up everytime I play there, I've been fortunate to be able to work on my keyboard skills and now I can add guitar playing to the skills I've been able to develop and work on, due to Emmaus Way's encouragement and support. 

On Wednesday, you'll be able to download the Podcast of last night's service and you can hear my guitar playing on Over the Rhine's "Born" and a song by Jann Arden.  On every other song, I played percussion so you'll be able to hear that as well.

I felt good about the work I did this past weekend and hope I get more weekends like it in the future (oh and I took some photos too...that's one I took at Emmaus Way at the top of the post...).

Don't Cross Over without taking the Cross Over.

Thanks Martin for sending this to me.  This is some crazy stuff.  I can't tell if the guitar player is barefoot or if he's wearing grey shoes. And the lead singer looks like/ reminds me of the co-star of that 70's cop show, CHIPS.

I'd love to know what keyboard the Shirley Jones type woman is playing (I'm betting it's one of the earlier Roland synths/ keyboards)...and some of the back up singers look like they could've been in episodes of Yacht Rock (look for it on You Tube). 

I'd love to know where the members of "Sonseed" are today.

Jesus is my friend by "Sonseed" from Peleg Top on Vimeo.

Picture of my Mac Keyboard

I wrote about this a while back, but I don't think I ever got around to posting the picture.  Well, here it is.  I bought the black keys for my laptop so as to make playing keyboard at Emmaus Way and elsewhere easier.  So far it's worked out great.  I love not having to take my non-compliant midi keyboard (old Oxygen 8 anyone?) along with a midi to USB box.  I just show up with my laptop and I'm good.

Tonight at Emmaus Way we played a killer Patty Griffin song called Mary.  I came up with a drum loop in Logic, and then pulled up an FM synth patch to better emulate the original recording.  I hit some clunker chords, but other than that, everything sounded fine and worked like a charm!  In addition to all of that I also played my E-Way drum set...which is always a hodge-podge of sorts using my crazy looking shaker/ tambourine/ jingle hi-hat thingy, a few hand drums (tonight it was the Big 'ole Djembe and my smaller "Chinese" tom-tom, and my 26" scotch marching drum.

Posted by email from dalebakerdrummer's posterous

Finally, you can hear it.

Alright, it took me long enough, but I finally got around to fixing the link to Away, the song I did with Mark Williams before Christmas of last year.  I hope you enjoy it!

Good news for Songwriters!

Via Wired, I found out about a ruling that will allow ASCAP to collect royalties due to it's publishers (and therefore the songwriters covered under those publishing agreements) from a few of the big Internet companies.  And furthermore, ASCAP has set up a petition of sorts that they are referring to as "A Bill of Rights." 

Geesh.  I can't help but wish that all musicians had the same sort of protection and heft and vested interest to guarantee payment for their creative work. I'm glad that songwriters have a group of folks/lobbyists/lawmakers/etc to protect them so that they can continue doing what they do best.  I just wish that there was someone in my camp that was doing the same for me. 

In my idealistic world, I think it'd be wonderful if all musicians (not just songwriters) were guaranteed a copyright royalty (or something along those lines) for their performances.  You know, spread the love ($$$) around. For this to be done, the definition of authorship would probably have to be altered or changed, but to me the whole thing regarding music authorship (especially in a band setting) is a bit arbitrary and just seems a matter of semantics.  But then again, I might just be a bitter old musician, who should have smelled the coffee earlier and become a songwriter, or a good neighbor.  In spite of my self-deprecation though, I still would like to believe my view has merit.

"If you're a music fan, the worst thing in the world that could happen is if great songwriters stop writing music because they can't make a living," said David Israelite, president and CEO of the National Music Publishers' Association, which is pushing for a higher royalty rate.

Here's my thought:  if somehow the money that gets set aside to pay songwriters and publishers was also divided up to pay the musicians that perform those songs, songwriters and publishers may not get AS rich as they currently are able to, but that the larger music community would benefit by being able to support more truly great musicians.   

What if you wrote a great song, and no one was talented enough to perform it?  I wish that someone like David Israelite was passionate about the musicians (the guys and girls in the trenches) that perform, interpret and bring great songs to life.  I know that the Musicians Union (bonus points if you spot the typo - geesh - on their home page! Punctuation, people!) is supposed to be the organization that does this, but compared to the power of the copyright/ songwriters lobby, it seems they come up with a little less power when it's all said and done.  I think it's because as a songwriter, there are laws that protect you.  With a Union, it's ultimately the strength of the Union that is protecting you. 

And as I write these words, I think about all the other creative professionals involved in getting that great song documented, such as the engineers that don't seem to have as many people lobbying for them as the songwriters do.

I'll end on this quote from Don Henley (taken from this 7 year old article and though the article maybe a bit out of context, I think the quote still works):

"...adding that the United States is the only country "in the free world" that doesn't have performance rights in addition to publishing rights. "If you're just a singer and not a writer, you don't make anything when they play your song on the radio," he said, adding, "This is about economic justice across the board."

Note to all you songwriters out there:  you may want to audit your publisher to make sure you get your fair share of the multi-million dollar payout!

Full article at Wired

Amplified Cardboard Tube - David Cossin

My friend Rachel went to see a concert performance of the Bang on a Can All-Stars last week, and she sent me a link to their website, sorta.  Looking through the site, I decided to click on the link for David Cossin and through another couple of clicks, found that he is the guy I heard on NPR about a year or so ago.  He was fascinating to listen to on the radio...I think he was getting ready to do a performance with the Dallas Symphony and the NPR host recorded the sound check or something like that. 

Anyway, this A.C.T. sounds like it could be an Asian Flute, or something you'd hear in a Peter Gabriel recording, or maybe something at a Blue Man Group show.  I'm fascinated by the sounds he gets, and would love to make my own version of this thing.  Here is the description of the instrument on his website:

"A.C.T. Amplified Cardboard Tube- This recording of an improvisation was recorded at WNYC radio for John Schaefer’s New Sounds program on September 4th 2002. Through amplifying this found instrument using control feedback I can create a singing drum. I can accompany myself with a real time looping sampler (Echoplex) that records instantaneously what I play."

And then there is a link to the audio as well.  Fun stuff.

23rd Psalm for Jazz Bassists

From my friend (and former roomie) Martin Baird:

23rd Psalm for Jazz Bassists

The Lord is my drummer, I shall not rush.

He maketh me to lay out in tasteful places

He leadeth me beside cool meter changes

He restoreth my "one".

Yeah man, though I read through the

trickiest of charts, I will fear no train wrecks.

For You are with it.

Your ride and Your snare, they comfort me

You setteth up a solo for me

In the presence of mine guitarists.

You annointeth my lines with drive.

My groove overfloweth.

Surely good feel and swing will follow me

through all the tunes of each set.

And I will dwell in the pocket

the whole gig long.

Amen.

Fionn Regan: Interview

Thanks to Able, I viewed the coolest video I've seen in a long time.  Not only is the song great, but the video makes you wonder if the song and video were recorded at the same time, or if they just added the sound effects later and he was just lip syncing along to a master track. 

After viewing the video and a few others on You Tube, I checked out Fionn's site and read the coolest interview I've read in a long time.  Fionn interviews himself, and I just love his answers.  They make me more curious about him, and makes me want to see him play live that much more (as if the videos weren't enough).  Read the interview here.  See the video here. Oh wait, I can embed this thing...I think I'll do that right now:

Valentines Day Music

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and though it's not as soon as Feb. 7th (according to this calendar we purchased for real cheap), it'll be here before you know it.  So wouldn't you know some enterprising company has put out a compilation of music suited for this particular day?  Well, it's coming out today, according to an article in the Morpeth Herald.  And I quote:

AS Valentine's day looms, celebrate the biggest acoustic love songs of all time with a brand new compilation CD.

With the ultimate in romantic ballads and love classics, Essential Acoustic Love is the album of the Spring.

And wouldn't you know it, the CD also features "Kiss Me" the song I helped make famous (through numerous tv appearances, and lunch-time performances for radio stations, not to mention I played drums and percussion on the track).  But I wouldn't purchase the disc for "Kiss Me." I'd purchase it for the combination of artists ranging from KT Tunstall, to Oasis, to Tom Waits and Emmylou Harris.

"All My Tears" at Emmaus Way Jan. 27th

This song is an excerpt from the larger Emmaus Way Podcast from January 27th.

Download:  All_My_Tears_at Emmaus Way Jan. 27 2008

I frequently play at Emmaus Way in downtown Durham, and on this particular Sunday I was fortunate to  play with a group of excellent musicians that all live here in the area. On the recording you will hear Jeff Crawford on bass and background vocals, Nick Jaeger on electric guitar, James Wallace on piano, and of course Wade Baynham on acoustic guitar and lead vocals. 

The recording was done with a stereo mic setup with the five of us playing in the round.  I had my big 26" Kick, along with my tamb/shaker/hi-hat pedal and was playing brushes on my snare drum. 

The song was written by Julie Miller and was famously featured on Emmylou Harris' Wrecking Ball album.  Before that you could have heard it on any number of Julie's records from the early to mid 90's.

Wade is the worship/ arts pastor for Emmaus Way and since moving to Durham 8 years ago, I've treasured my relationship with him.  In addition to his work at Emmaus Way, Wade also owns one of the best sounding studios, I've played in.  I've recorded many a drum track in his studio and think that his place is on par with some of the fancier and costlier places (Ocean Way Nashville, The Bennett House, to name two) I've recorded in.  Wade is also an excellent songwriter and producer/ engineer and plays a number of instruments really well. 

Jeff and Nick play in a band called Roman Candle and and along with that band they and also stay busy with Jeff's own project.  James plays in Max Indian and a bunch of other Chapel Hill bands.