Tom Baker: News and Notes

Massive redesign underway

I have just begun a massive redesign of this website. Since launching this site in the Spring of 2006 I have been using a template provided by the hosting service that I'm using. I have decided that I'd like to try this whole website design thing out. I will no longer be using this template, but instead am building the new site from the ground up (with a little help from a good friend and website designer who has given me access to his code to try to learn from).

The results of this redesign should be interesting, and the site will ultimately be less cluttered and a lot more navigable and functional. I am also looking to use the launch of the new website to totally change the way that I release music.

I plan to release a new instrumental project that I've been working on off and on for the last couple of years as a download, rather than as a physical CD. I will also be releasing this project under aCreative Commons license, meaning that whoever downloads the music is free to share it with whomever they chose as long as they do not sell it.

There are a number of reasons that I have decided to do this, chief among them being my longstanding hatred for DRMed music and over zealous prosecution and persecution of piracy by the RIAA. I'm not saying that artists don't have the rights to profit from their art and control their intellectual property, but I believe that a certain level of good will should be afforded the consumers of that art as well.

My token of good will is a free download of my new project and the promise that I will never release anything that has been encrypted and crippled by malicious software that ensures that even the legal owner of the product must use certain hardware and software in order to use the legal copy. Piracy is another issue altogether, and not something that I support. That said, the bulk of solutions to this problem as offered at present also interfere with legal products, software, and services as well. To me, these solutions become more of a problem than the original problem (piracy) and I cannot support them.

I am not sure how I will do releases in the future. I may release all of my music in this manner and rely on the good will of the consumer (you) to support this music via donations. I may find a service to use that will legal distribute my music without crippling the product for the consumer. We'll see where this little experiment takes us.

Either way the winds of change are blowing around here at The Woebegotten Wonderland. The new website will be up soon and the rest of these issues will begin sorting themselves out at that time.

Tom

I'm not sure how I feel about this...

FromArs Technica:

IFPI CEO John Kennedy agrees. "Baidu is China's largest violator of music copyrights, generating huge revenue by deliberately providing access to illegal content," he said in a statement today. "The record industry wants partnership with China's internet companies, but one that is based on respect of copyright and the law. It is totally wrong that internet giants like Baidu should build a fortune by abusing the rights of artists, songwriters and record producers."

That's the record companies' job, right?

I'll have some more comments about this issue as well as the future of this website and my music in the very near future.

Tom

Audacious New Music!

It sure has been a while, hasn't it? Anyway, I have been working on editing new instrumental material for a new album. I have several hours of instrumental improvisation that I have recorded on the Yamaha AW4416 and I am now in the process of editing it withAudacity. I have also been looking at some old material that hasn't been released and editing it as well.

One song that I have just posted in theSonic Samplings section is titled "Holy Mess" and is an instrumental that I created in Audacity with parts that were recorded for a demo version of the song that was eventually released on Significantly South of Serenity.

Enjoy the new song, and I will keep you posted on the new material as it develops.

Tom

Do not press!

Because every website needs a SUCK button.

Change for change's sake

After getting my first hair cut in four and a half years (more on that in a later post) I decided to make some more changes. I'm a little sick of the color red, so I traded the red background of this site in on something that's more of a "seafoam". I'm not sure that I like it yet, but at least it isn't that red.

I'm pretty sure that I'll put some different visuals up on the site, as I am about as sick of looking at the pictures in the background and the logo as I was of looking at the red. I may totally change the template soon, too. I don't know. the point is that I'm not afraid to make some changes, as if 16 inches of hair being removed from my mane wasn't proof enough of that!

Stay tuned for more details about changes here and new developments with The Silent Screen, who now have a new singer and a TON of new material to begin recording. I'll try to post more here in the near future.

Tom

Update: The promised "more" on my haircut is availablehere.

I've Gone Flash Crazy!

That's right! I'm totally nuts! As if the flash music player wasn't enough I've now added a flash slide show to my home page. I'm not sure why. I was just a little bored and put one there. I'm really liking this whole MyFlashFetish.com thing. It's really easy to use and now a bored Tom can add all kinds of unorganized flash content to his website without totally screwing up everything. That's awesome! I'm just rambling on now. I think I'm going to go to bed.

Tom

Flash Player!

I'm starting to get a little full of myself. I have just added a new flash player to this site. I didn't actually make it myself, but I did copy the code from another site, changed it a little, and pasted it here with a little playlist that actually works! The Tom is a very excited creature! I need to take a cold shower or something to calm down.

Alright, I feel a little more composed. The flash player doesn't look exactly how I want it to, and the playlist is supposed to play in a random order, and does not appear to do so. Oh well, it's a start. And I'm stoked.

Until next time,

Tom

Update (11:23 pm)-I've done some more tweaking and the "random" function is now working. Yea!

Fresh Brewed Tunes!

Hello all! Long time no see. I know I haven't really kept things up very well around here. There are a lot of balls that I've been juggling that are up in the air somewhere, and unfortunately some fall from time to time. And this ball's been dropped a few times. Sorry about that.

We left off last time with The Silent Screen demoing some new material. That material was in somewhat of a gestational stage. The new stuff is growing and maturing, and one particular song took some major steps forward this week and has been deemed (by me at least) to be worthy of posting here. That song is one of Scot's titled "January Song" and is available in the new "Fresh Brewed Tunes" section of the Sonic Samplings page,here to be listened to and downloaded.

There are also a few other songs in that section that are new to the website as well. There would be more songs by The Silent Screen up, but our last rehearsal/demo recording session was rather rudely interrupted by what ended up becoming about two inches of standing water in our rehearsal area. That was exciting, let me tell you!

Well that's about all the time I have for now. I'll try to not be away for quite as long next time.

Tom

Dear Someone

Scot and I got together yesterday and worked on songwriting and doing some demos of songs for the new album. We came away with two brand new songs, the first of which is titled "Dear Someone" and postedhere.

There will be others posted as soon as I can get them finished and mixed. In the meantime, enjoy.

Tom

4th Ave UMC update

All went well at the Wednesday Evening Forum. The church was very welcoming, and even had me come back on Sunday morning to play some songs during the worship service. After the service I took the opportunity to take some pictures of their majestic sanctuary. I have posted a slide show some of those pictureshere.

Tom

Post Y gig update

I'd like to thank everyone who came out on Saturday to see The Silent Screen with Adrea LaRoche and Javelin Catch. I thought the show went very well. It was a small crowd, as a lot of people chose not to brave the elements. But the people who did come out were awesome and I thought were pretty well rewarded (and very appreciated).

The room was a little weird, but the mirrors provided a cool vibe (see pictureshere) and the acoustics were not nearly as bad as I thought they would be from just looking at the room. All in all I'd say things went well and I'm looking forward to doing it again soon.

Tom

[Added 2/7/07: You can now see a slide show of The Silent Screen's gig at the Yhere.]

This is why we're musicians, not promoters.

More news from the gig front:

After Shivas Irons backed out of the February 3rd Y gig we decided that there really wasn't enough time to try to book another act, so we thought we'd just add some material to our set and have Javelin Catch do the same. Who doesn't want to play more, right? Well, apparently if you're breaking two new members into your band more time to fill is a decidedly bad thing. When Chappy contacted Javelin Catch with the latest updates they replied that they really only had about a half hour of material they were comfortable with. That left two and a half hours for The Silent Screen to fill.

Now, I've played that long before, but it wasn't pretty! It was decided that while between the three of us we had enough material to fill that much time, some of it would probably suck in a very bad way. If you feel as strongly as we do about playing original music, two and a half hours is a ton of material. It was decided the best thing to do was to try to find another opening act. EnterAdrea LaRoche.

Chappy used to drum for Adrea's band a few years ago and ran into her recently. When we decided that we would need another opener her name was the first one that came to us. Chappy called her up and she graciously agreed to save our audience from having to endure my playing a hour of improvised looped guitar instrumental filler music. So, everyone come out on Saturday and support the least flaky musician I've encountered over the last month or so.

You're welcome to support me too, if you wish.

Tom

More news about the Y gig.

Here's a flyer that Chappy came up with to promote The Silent Screen's upcoming gig at the Northside Y in Lexington (click on the image to enlarge it). As you may be able to tell, there are only two bands listed. Shivas Irons has backed out and there really isn't enough time for us to find a replacement. This means that you will get to see even more of The Silent Screen! Ok, I guess we'll give Javelin Catch some extra time to play, too. All we do is give...

Tom

Baker Monkeys!

I have started a new Blog that will prominently feature my little brood of Baker Monkeys. It should remain mostly autonomous from this site, but if you're interested in seeing and hearing about my kids, the Blog ishere.

Tom

Correction!

I mentioned inthis post that The Silent Screen would be headlining an all ages show at the Lexington, KY Beaumont YMCA on February 3rd. That information was inaccurate. The Silent Screen will be headlining an all ages show on February 3rd. It will be at a Lexington, KY YMCA. It is, however, not going to be at the Beaumont YMCA. Somehow we got something crossed up in the booking of this gig. It will actually be at the Northside YMCA. You can find more information about this coming gighere.

Also, the other bands involved have been officially booked, as well. They areJavelin Catch from Walton, KY andShivasIrons of Lexington, KY. Please come out and support all of the bands from 8:00pm to 11:00pm.

Tom

This ought to get some more hits on the website!

Hello all and Happy New Year to you! I am sure that everyone knows (or should be able to tell) that I got a new digital camera for Christmas and have been something of a nuisance with it ever since. You know what that means, don't you? Yes, I have posted some more new pictures to the website.

It may have been mentioned here before (it is in theBio, in case anyone has actually read that) that I, among the myriad other things that I do, lead the music for the "contemporary" service forTrinity Hill United Methodist Church here in Lexington. I decided, for several reasons not worth going in to here, to take some pictures of the Praise Band during the warm up and the service (actually Shannon took the pictures during the service as I was somewhat occupied). I have posted those pictureshere.

Now what, you ask, is this about getting some more hits on the website?

Well, that's for the other set of new pictures that I've posted.

My brother has always maintained that I have an issue with porn. No, not pictures of naked people. He meant gear porn, pictures of guitars and stuff. So I have decided to make some homemade "gear porn" and post it to the internet. I hear the internet is full of porn and that people like to go see it, so I figure that having some "gear porn" (availablehere, by the way) on this site has got to be good for some more hits.

Hmmm... Now that I think about it I do feel a little dirty. I guess I'm going to have to learn how to live with that.

Tom

And there was much rehearsing in the land of Tom!

I just got home from rehearsing with The Silent Screen. We had a good rehearsal. I don't know if you've noticed the new section on the sidebar titledSee Tom Play, but if you have you will note that The Silent Screen will be playing on February 3rd for an all ages show at the Beaumont YMCA in Lexington, KY. We are in the process of working on some new material and tightening up (and in some cases totally re-working) some of our older material for this gig and (hopefully) a few more opportunities like it.

I know what you're thinking. Did he just call an all ages show at the friggin' Y and "opportunity"? Yes I did. I think this sort of event is much better for musical performance than playing out at clubs, especially around here. The people who go to the type of show that we will be playing at the YMCA are going there specifically to hear music, and more specifically our music. I have played these types of shows in the past and I find them preferable to club gigs both in terms of audience reception and opportunity of merchandise sales. I would like to do more of this type of thing in the future.

Anyway, as I was saying, The Silent Screen was rehearsing tonight. It is also just a few days after Christmas. Although I may be too old for Santa to bring me any toys, I did manage to get one very cool toy from my family this year: a digital camera. So being the obnoxious prat that I am, I took a bunch of pictures from band practice today and went and posted them on the internet. My how I am so easily amused! If you'd like to see what rehearsal looks like from the perspective of a guitarist, clickhere.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Tom

Merry Christmas!

*Exhale*

*pant, pant, gasp*

*Deep breath to collect myself*

I just got back from my Christmas shopping. It is finally finished! I never really understood that the incarnation of God was necessary to save the economy, but Jesus did his part and by God I have done mine!

Shannon best described my method of shopping in her newpost. The money quote, which will do some foreshadowing here is this:

He waits till something cool jumps out at him and then buys it. For the three people on his list he now has 6 or 7 items that could be for... any of them. I mean, come on, what guy doesn't like PROG, right?

Well, I have a new DVD out of that deal. I was wrapping up the Christmas presents that I bought, and I had to decide who to give what to. Some items were very clearly intended for a particular person. Other items were just ambiguously cool, and one item in particular ended up going to me. I got myself the new Dream Theater DVD.

I have to say that I love that band and I am not sure how anyone can play the way that they do. When I meet new musicians who have not heard my band I will describe some of our songs and our tendencies to do some long instrumental sections in our music and switch time signatures around and some of the myriad other musical devices that we employ and they'll respond with something like,

So you're a prog band, then?

The answer to that question is always a resounding NO! Those prog guys have to rehearse way too much. We are an "Art Rock" band. We make a lot of noise in an unconventional manner and get to call it art. I've always loved prog and have a deep respect for those that can pull it off. I'm just not one of those guys.

Anyway, I have discovered a very strong liking for Dream Theater over the last few years, and as their newest DVD "Score" celebrates their 20 years together with a pretty wide sampling of their music, I have found it to be very entertaining and a good way to catch up to a lot of the music that I have missed being a relative newcomer to their music. This is not the first DVD of theirs that I have purchased, but it is the newest, and a couple of things about their updated appearance jumped right out at me:

1). John Petrucci's new look makes me think that he really looks up to Lars Ulrich.

2). James LeBrie has my hair.

His look hasn't changed that much over the years, so I'm not sure how I missed it before, but that man has my hair. Seriously. It's a little scary. I'll post pictures that prove this as soon as I can find the camera.

Well, I've probably rambled on enough for now. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and if I don't write before then a Happy New Year as well!

Tom

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

[Note: Picture added at 8:43pm after Caleb's Birthday dinner.]

To mark the third anniversary of our youngest's birth, I thought I might reprint what I wrote last year for his second birthday, followed by a list of some stuff that's changed over the last year. Without further ado, let the recycling begin!

It's hard to believe that it's been two years already.

Our baby, Caleb Robert Baker, turns two today. What is equally hard to believe is that this child, Bam-Bam, he who wields the weapons of mass destruction that our president will never find on a daily basis at his siblings and our pets; he who's life's goal is to become a Jedi Knight (although I'm almost certain that he will turn to the dark side and become a Sith like his sister before him); he of Viking Warrior attire, physique, disposition, and fighting style; he to whom the only way to properly carry a cat is upside down; he to whom the only real sport is a contact sport, even golf (I see football and ice hockey in his future); he to whom even video games are full contact and no holds barred; he of countless emergency room trips for various feats of daring-do; he who lost his first tooth (again, I see ice hockey in this boy's future) at an age (four months) younger than when most children have received their first tooth, due to his rambunctious nature and aggressive sleeping style; "Mr. Boo-Boo Head" himself; how could he ever have ever been appropriately referred to as a "baby"?

Well, he is officially a "baby" no longer (even per his mother's and grandmother's standards regarding such matters). We have a two-year-old on our hands now. A "Big Kid". One who can walk and talk and who knows sixty-seven ways to kill you with a toy lightsaber. If the first two years of his life are any indication, the next few should be pretty exciting.

God help us all.

Well, Caleb is now three. No longer a "terrible two", yet somehow still terrifying. He has traded his lightsaber fetish for a sword fetish, which is still as deadly if not quite as geeky.

He actually may be a little bit geekier. He has declared that he is a "Jousting Guy", also know as "The Green Knight". He believes that this is a viable career path. He will even site Medieval Times as proof.

He still loves contact sports, although his emphasis has changed towards boxing, which he calls "the punching one". Caleb has a somewhat disturbing love for violence that seems to be contagious, but so is his smile.

Caleb is passionate, and it seems is growing more so every day. He, for as in-your-face as he can be with his rough housing, is just as in your face with his love. He thinks pulling hair is snuggling, but he does it so affectionately that the recipient can't help but like it. He has been known to randomly go up to people and say "I like you", and mean it. When he is angry, he is angry at everybody. But when he is happy, he is happy with everybody. No one's day would be complete without Caleb telling you why he loves you. My favorite is when he says: "Daddy I love you, you don't shout at me any more." I have no idea why he would say that, really (Well... maybe a little bit of an idea -- as his Grandmother says: It's a good thing Caleb's cute! He has been verbally corrected more than a few times, sometimes at a fairly high decibel level.)

While I may not like it, and he may not like it (he has thrown fits all week about not being able to be a two-year-old any more) Caleb is growing up.

So happy birthday to my knight in shining armor. Now try not to kill your sister this year!

Tom

Stupid Criminals: Musician Edition

I stumbled across this atKentucky.com:

Owner: Man tried to hide guitar in pants

Associated Press

DE QUEEN, Ark. - The guitar-shaped bulge in Morgan Conatser's clothing tipped off a music store owner that there might be a crime in progress. Clifton Lovell, owner of Guitars and Cadillacs on U.S. Highway 71 in De Queen, was talking with a customer last week when he saw Conatser, 29, walking out of the store.

"I saw him walking out to his pickup truck and the bulges in his leather jacket. I said, 'Hey what have you got there,'" Clifton Lovell said.

He said Conatser, 29, replied, "Nothing."

Lovell pointed toward the unnatural shapes in Conatser's jacket and pants and said, "You've got something."

Conatser then removed a solid body electric guitar from his pants leg and from underneath his jacket.

"The neck of the guitar was almost down to his knee and the back of the guitar was almost up to his neck. It wasn't hard to spot. There was no way he could sit down or get into the pickup," Lovell said.

With the guitar back in the store, Lovell didn't intend to call the sheriff's office. But then he discovered a wireless sound system was missing. Lovell called the Sevier County Sheriff's Department and gave a description of Conatser and his pickup.

Deputy Jeff Wahls called Conatser's father, who told Wahls how to find the house.

The deputy found Conatser at home, where Conatser went to his bedroom closet and retrieved the sound system, Wahls said.

"He made a statement saying he needed the property because he needed to make ends meet," Wahls said.

Conatser was arrested on a charge of theft of property under $500 for the sound equipment because the guitar had already been returned to the shop owner. The sound system was worth about $200.

"This is a new one on me and I couldn't believe he tried," Lovell said. "The strings were pressed down and he didn't make any noise."

Conatser was issued a misdemeanor citation and released. Conatser can resolve the charge by paying a fine or he can contest the charge in Sevier County District Court.

I have nothing to add to this.

Tom