The Odds are you’ve heard Dale Baker play drums for years. In fact if you’ve turned the radio on anytime in the past 10 years, You’ve definitely heard him play. Most likely though you don’t know Dale by name, but that is exactly why He’s an Incredible Drummer. If you Listen to a song Dale’s played on you won’t first notice the drums. But again, thats why Dale is so great. He plays to compliment the song, and serve the song, not make himself sound like the world’s flashiest drummer. Don’t believe me then check out the list of some of the artist He’s Played with on his site “Sessions, Gigs and Recordings“. I’m pretty sure he has played on more CD’s then I even own! Dale is an adjunct instructor of Percussion at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary a Toontrack Endorser and a Vic Firth artist. He current travels playing drums, teaching lessons in Durham NC as well as teaching clinics and workshops and recording/producing. While we are on that subject If you’d like to have Dale play on your project, or teach you to play drums then get in touch with Him. We Jumped at the chance to be able to chat with Dale this past fall and try to pick His brain a bit about playing Drums and his approach to playing with loops. This will definitely be a post you’ll want to share with your drummers!
Can you tell us a little about your Musical Experience? How did you get started playing Drums and who are some of the people you’ve played with?
I began playing drums in 5th grade as part of my elementary school band program. Soon after that I began taking lessons with Mel Obsen, a drummer who had lived on the West Coast and was now living in my hometown. One of the best things he did with me was give me a chance to sub for him in a Summer Musical that a local college was putting on. Without a lot of training, I was thrust into an opportunity that stretched and forced me to grow. Eventually I ended up playing for more college musicals (I was in junior high at the time) and participating in the college’s wind ensemble, jazz band, and even a few combos. All this before I’d even graduated high school! Many of these opportunities wouldn’t have presented themselves had I not been fortunate to live in a small town where there weren’t a lot of drummers. These early experiences taught me to listen to my fellow musicians, to follow the conductor (or band leader, or vocalist), and play and adapt with a sensitivity that supported the ensemble.
After meeting Greg Bissonette at a Maynard Ferguson concert (he was playing drums for Maynard at the time), he spent some time with me after the show and told me that if I was serious about pursuing percussion, there was only one place to go: University of North Texas. He had just graduated from there, and was really keen on the idea that I check the school out. So that’s what I did, and though the place was so intimidating to me, I stuck it out and eventually finished with a Bachelors of Music degree with an emphasis in Music Education. Of the 60 or so Freshman percussion students that I began college with, there was only one other guy in my entering class that graduated with a music degree. It was an intense program to say the least! Most guys either changed majors, or dropped out to pursue other performing opportunities. While at UNT, I played in almost every major ensemble they offered, including the 1:00 Lab Band, the award winning UNT Marching Drum Line, African ensemble, Steel Band ensemble, Gamelan ensemble, and countless other small percussion ensembles and jazz combos. Some highlights: I participated in a clinic/ lecture with Tito Puente where I played claves (in the midst of a blazing Cuban rhythm section!) and performed concerts with Bobby McFerrin, James Moody and saw one of the first clinics ever by Dave Weckl before he started playing with Chick Corea. I was fortunate to take lessons with Colin Bailey, Ed Soph, Frankie Malabe, and hang out with the likes of Matt Chamberlain, Jim Riley, Keith Carlock and a bunch of other amazing musicians who all went on to some pretty big things post college (to say the least!).
Post college, I contemplated moving to NYC, LA or Nashville, but decided to settle in Dallas where I lived with Martin Baird, a producer/ engineer who had recently moved back from Nashville. He began recording bands out of the house we were living in, and one of those bands was Sixpence None the Richer. They recorded their first demos with him. From those demos they were eventually signed, and when they began looking for a drummer to tour Martin put me in touch with them and after auditioning, I got the gig. This was around ’93 before they had really started doing any shows. I stayed with Sixpence from ’93 until I left the band in early 2001. Playing with them was an amazing experience and allowed me the opportunity to grow in countless ways. I was fortunate to record on all of their recordings during the time I was in the band, as well as add percussion tracks, and participate in the arranging and production of some of the songs. During my time with Sixpence, I eventually moved up to Nashville, TN and began doing session work for other artists when I wasn’t working with Sixpence. I worked with Derri Daugherty on one of his solo records early on, played on some tracks for Rebecca St. James, did some B-Sides with Jars of Clay (which I think are still unreleased), played on a few City on a Hill records that Steve Hindalong and Mark Byrd produced. I worked with Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Michael W. Smith, Steve Taylor and did some jingles and soundtrack work for Scholastic Books, Pepsi, Frito Lay, Southwest Airlines along the way as well. I also did some sessions that were specifically set up for tracking drum loops, two of which were the debut album from Plumb and some early work for Natalie Imbruglia’s first record, “Left of the Middle.”
After leaving Nashville, I toured and recorded with Over the Rhine, during their “Films for Radio” period, and have played with regional songwriters and artists here in North Carolina and across the US. I’ve done work with Claire Holley, Rob Seals, and Lucy Hale (Los Angeles), ByWord (Idaho), Anthony Gravely (South Carolina), and Mark Williams (Samoa). Here in North Carolina I’ve worked with Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple, Tim Carless, Wade Baynham, Jeff Crawford, Mike Garrigan and the bands Luego, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, and The Physics of Meaning (to name but a few!). I also play most Sunday afternoons at Emmaus Way – an emergent church here in Durham, and occasionally will play at The Summit, Chapel Hill Bible Church, St. Philips Episcopal Church, and a few other churches in the area. Sometimes I feel like I’m one of those Methodist itinerant preachers going from church to church, except I play drums. You could say I’m an “itinerant drummer!”
I’ve also been touring a bit with Christa Wells and Nicole Witt, along with Ben Trimble (Fly Golden Eagle) doing house concerts, chapel services, and shows. We recently opened for the Indigo Girls in Cary, NC and finished a short tour of shows in the upper Midwest. We are also playing at colleges and high schools doing concerts and teaching master classes/ clinics. Christa and Nicole will typically teach a workshop on songwriting (they are both professional songwriters for Curb Records) and I’ll lead a master class on drumming. We’ve all really enjoyed playing together and are excited at the opportunities we’ve been getting to play and teach.
What Programs do you use to Create loops?
My favorite program right now – because it’s so easy to pull up and start using - is iDrum. It’s a little drum machine app that can also be played in stand alone mode. I’ve been talking with one of the guys at Toontrack Software, (the company that makes EZ Drummer) and they’ve sent me some of their software to try out, but so far I haven’t had enough time to sit down and figure that program out. It looks pretty awesome so far…I just wish I had more time to sit down with it and wrap my head around what it can do and how I could use it in my work. I also like to record myself playing percussion, and create loops of the live audio that I’ve played. Occasionally I’ll take my loops or audio bits and re-record them onto a cassette tape with vari-speed, to create some textures and nuances, to give them a different vibe.
What software/tools do you use live when you use loops?
For playback, I’ll typically use Ableton Live, or Apple Logic. In certain instances I’ve used Reason. But my go-to solution will probably always be Ableton Live, because of how their interface seems perfectly suited for midi-mapping and using the program in a Live context.
What tips can you give to drummers at churches that play with loops?
Playing music in church is probably one of the most challenging yet most rewarding things I feel privileged to do. I enjoy the feeling and sense of responsibility I get when I’m a part of a team whose primary mission is to serve and create an atmosphere that allows us all to worship and “move” closer to God. There is an aesthetic and theological aspect to all art, and in a church context those two dynamics are acknowledged in a way that rarely happens outside of the church. Playing music in church is about serving the greater “whole” and when adding additional elements (instruments, vocalists, etc) it’s important that we improve the sound and musicality of the group without distracting the congregation.
For drummers, I think it’s important to play in a way that creates space for the loop to exist as a separate element, in the same way that you adapt your playing style when a percussionist or another instrumentalist is added to the group. The more elements that are playing together, the more simply you must play. Creating space for the loop to “add” to the environment and make it more musical and worshipful is something that a good drummer should be aware of as they develop their arrangement and parts for a song.
How do you approach playing a song that has a loop?
First off, I make sure that I can hear the click track. If I’m unable to hear the click clearly, I will stop playing. Better to let the loop play by itself, than to potentially cause a train wreck. Depending on the loop, I will often times have the loop a little softer in my mix than the Click. Sometimes, I will almost have the loop turned off in my mix which only happens after I’ve heard it enough times to know what it sounds like and how I will play “with” it. The reason for doing this is that some loops will have effects or delay, or slightly be out of time – or loose – and that can sometimes be distracting when I’m trying to hold down the rhythm for the song. If I’m “tight” with the click, I’ll be “tight” with all the other elements that are going on. When I program my own loops, I will pay special attention to the ambient sounds that are present (if it’s a live loop that I’ve recorded) and try to correct any timing discrepancies that are related to additional effects such as reverb or delay.
What CD’s are you currently listening to?
Recently, I’ve listened to the newly re-mastered Beatle’s Abby Road, and the original vinyl version of the Magical Mystery Tour. I’ve been enjoying Brian Blade and Daniel Lanois videos on You Tube (specifically the one’s tagged “Black Dub.”). Jess Ray and the Rag Tag Army, Kelly Colbert (of The Basics) solo CD “Almost Back to Happy,” worship/ multimedia leader Nathan Fancher’s recent CD are some folks I know and I’ve been enjoying their music and hearing them blossom and continue to develop as artists. The other day I heard Richard and Linda Thompson’s “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight” and just was blown away that I’d never heard that record before. Last night I listened to a bit of Jeff Beck’s newest “Live at Ronnie Scott’s” with Vinnie Colaiuta on drums. And then I continue to be moved by Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Vrioon.” As you can tell, my listening is all over the map!
If you’d like to have Dale come work with your band at your church or do a “Drum Clinic” for your drummers you can contact Him through his Site. Make sure while your there to check out his Blog. Almost every Tuesday Dale posts some loops that He’s created. You can download them for free from His Site as well. He’s also still actively doing session and touring work so you may catch him on the road somewhere soon or better yet, have Him play for you sometime!
Related posts:
- Interview with Kyle Campos If you’re a Worship Leader and have been using loops...
