my workaround is, I set the tempo, create a rudimental drum track and record along with the drum track. It is a kind of click track, but doesn't annoy you as much as a click track.
I do the same, most of my recordings have programmed drums or loops but if I record a song without any drums I make a drum track just to keep the tempo.
i don't do this for myself since a click doesn't bother me, but i do it for clients if they need. i'm by the hour so why not? more work= more money. or they could practice and save themselves some money. up to them really. On extreme occasion there's an artist i like enough to just let them get away without a click or backbeats of any kind. (so far only twice) but that's usually for more folk-style acoustic guitar stuff. in that case it just makes more work for me later, since i'm my first call studio musician, to match their tempo on bass, drums, or extra guitar parts. but i have to really love someone's music and feel for that!
This is what i came to the comment section to say! Taking the time to make a groove, in keeping with the track, gets a totally different (better!) performance out of the player than sticking a click in their ear.
I recently started recording my own music (using a click track), and I can say firsthand that this is SOOOO accurate! It was super frustrating at first, but my timing is drastically improving. I notice a difference even while playing freestyle.
Thank you for this 😅. Playing to a click was scary to me in a way. It Actually exposed my weakness weirdly enough. I'm building my own studio currently and making my own music, and I'm finding that the click is a key. I can't do anything without it unless it's just jamming out. I'm an amateur in the recording field in all fairness. I got a lot to learn 👍
I dont think any of those famous rock bands in the past ever used a click track, like Van Halen, Thin Lizzy, KISS, The Sweet, Queen, Iron Maiden, etc. When I try to make a cover song of those bands it's impossible to set a static BPM... Whenever there's a fill, a Chorus, etc they start to deviate from the metronome click… So either I set an average BMP but then I can forget to play the cover exactly as the original. So how does one capture all those varying tempos from a famous song when making a cover in your DAW? Well, I create "midi notes" using the "Hitpoints" from a "wave-file" of the original song, to get it "perfect", and which involves a lot of work Before it sounds "close enough" to the original song… Joey Sturgis has a great YT-video on how to do this! Then I can make a "Tempo Track" in Cubase from those "Hitpoints" to follow the original song almost perfectly… Then I have an almost perfect metronome to that original song… But if I make my own song then I Always use a click track of course...
@recordingrevolution I find the click extremely liberating as a drummer. Ease of locking in and playing around the click and getting creative. Not to mention it’s easier to concentrate on “what” to play if i can dish off “when” to play to the metronome. Pulse = Freedom for me.
I am a director for a small church choir, I've always joked that "I'm just the guy in front waving his arms like a fool". I busted out laughing when Graham said the conductor was "flailing his arms to look cool". I thought, "Oh no, my secret is out!" Great content as always Graham!
haha. awesome! There's definitely different levels of conducting. i used to run a Buddhist youth group of random instruments, and they relied heavily on me for rhythm, even though i was generally playing guitar. so i got really used to exaggerating my body movements so they could see the rhythm, and giving "full body nods" for cues. i think you're playing at the level above that. were the performers all have good rhythm and don't need to pay attention to the conductor. They're really just there like a front person to get the crowd hopped up. but then there's a level above that, which certain orchestras and whatnot are at. they have phenomenal individual timing, but are watching the conductor closely and playing to his/her feel, emotion, and direction all the time. that highest level is the best. the conductor hears and experiences the music from the audiences point of view turning it from a performance to an experience! like a real time sound guy, humanized metronome, auto correct, and critique all in one. doesn't get any better. Anyway, rant, rant rant, that's the levels i like to think of it as.
@@slavesforging5361 Absolutely, the conductor/director has many more responsibilities than just tempo; cues, balance/blend, etc. Additionally, most of what the director does IMHO) is in rehearsal, and most people only see the "final product"; the performance. By that time, the director is just "reminding" the musicians.
One thing that gets rarely mentioned is: the click track doesn't have to be at the same tempo - or meter - throughout the song (which is the biggest drawback of a fixed metronome). If a song needs to have different parts at different tempos (or indeed different meters), in every decent DAW it's fairly easy to set up a variable click track (or a MIDI track if the song is particularly complex).
awesome points! i started recording when i was young, and as a drummer, i wrote all of my music on sequencers and played along with those tracks. that was in the early midi days of a tape 4 track, but that carried over once i went daw. i ALSO have sections that lose the click if it goes free form, but it always comes back. i also always play with a click live in any pop scenario. there's always some kind of track going on, and learning to play comfortably with a click means you get to a point where you'll never even know it's there :-)
This guy is bang on. All my songs have a click and I create a separate track just for the click. Use the free metronome app and record into your file and then edit in the program what you want. For example a tempo of 80 bpm, take that click and then break it up into 1 bar of 4/4. Make the first beat louder so you know when beat 1 is there. Paste and copy that bar to the number of bars that your verse or chorus etc is. That allows you to change timing too such as 5/4 or 7/4 etc. The click has saved me so many times over the last few years.
In a modern, studio recording, a click is absolutely essential. If the goal is to have a less pristine, rough-around-the-edges live feel, then yeah, I'd opt not to use a click. The bands that can't record to a click are usually the ones who say "nah, we don't want to record to a click, because we don't want to sound like robots", and, to be honest, it's usually the drummers who say that. Yet timing can waver pretty drastically within the beats of a bar even when using a click, so it'd still sound human. If everything was quantized, that's when the robotic feel starts to creep in. It's also reassuring to hear that I'm not the only one who has had someone say "the click is speeding up/slowing down".
in the digital world, I 100% agree with everythig you say Graham. And as others below point out, if the metronome classic click is bothering you, get a simple drum midi pattern or loop that fits the style of your song and work with that until a drummer records their part. If you bother with a drummer. However (there's always a however ;-) )... I have, as a bass player, had the good fortune to play with some very, very good drummers. As well as reading/controlling the song dynamics extremely well, they all kept damn good time. This enables the other musicians to relax. Now I had to learn a vital lesson, that I must not sit on the drummers timing. They are not Robots (I hear some drummer jokes coming...). I learnt that each musician in the band must be responsible for their own timing, a sort of shared responsibility. (having said that, I've played with bad drummers that speed up and slow down - its very painful!). These lessons played out in the live side of playing, but were also applied in the studio. And so here's the crunch... With those great drummers, I've done some of that good ol'fashioned live in the studio recording, on good ol'tape. No clicks (one particular studio I recorded in in the 90's had a ban on computers!). And the recordings are great. Even did some editing on some (get your rasor blades out folks). I feel very lucky to have had that experience. Working with those great drummers helped me develop a good sence of timing as a bass player and guitarist. But for the last 10 years I've been producing and engineering music in the box, with minimal out board and a handful of good mics. 99% of the time the first thing I/we do is SET THE TEMPO. Occasionally I've recorded someone without. And very occasionally it works. Mostly it doesn't. IT SAVES SO MUCH TIME! Tempo maps are great way to get some push and pull, though they take time. (Isn't time relative ´¨´?). I've edited non-click computer recordings. It takes a LOT of time and a LOT of patience! And after you spend an hour trying to make that one edit work, you realise it ain't going to and that's not easy. In those times I remind myself of the Abby Road engineers splicing Strawberry Fields different takes together, that had different speeds to each other and the vari-speeds of the tape machines had to be adjusted by ear. Then I realise it ain't so bad but I can still her the voice in the recess of my mind going... WHY DIDN'T WE USE A CLICK! Oh yeah. And now I have two artificial heart valves ticking inside me for the last couple of years! I fall asleep every night to the click track of my own pumping heart machine! WE Are RoBOTs lololololol....
Hey. Great video Graham. There is only one thing that I think should be mentioned. A slight tempo increase in the chorus to get a bit more excitement or a slight decrease in tempo during a "down" moment isn't necessarily a bad thing. It only embellishes the music(it's actually one of the things that a good conductor does). And you can do it __with__ a click track. You just need to edit the tempo map. Ok. two things :) You can also tempo map a live performance to get a "perfect" grid to make editing easier. Keep up the good work.
Love the clicktrack!! as a drummer i realy do. I also always use a metronome with band practice. sometimes other musicians (or yourself) can drag you down or speed you up in thempo.
I absolutely agree that a click track makes overdubbing and editing and looping and the use of time-dependent plugins so much easier, and for most people in (home) recording it's the way to go. BUT it just isn't true, that it is always the best choice. There is a reason why there is a conductor in front of the orchestra and not a big metronome. Particularly classical and romantic music is highly agogic, and that's an integral element of its expressiveness. And that's also true for many songs in popular genres of music: musicmachinery.com/tag/click-track/ Drummers like Steward Copland don't just "keep time", they shape the rhythmic flow of the song. Hence: "rhythm section". And you can't deny that there are some incredibly skilled musicians, who can't or wouldn't ever want to record to a click track, because for whatever reason they aren't comfortable with it - and I think one should respect that. For instance, Joanna Newsom recorded the harp and the voice of those incredibly complex 10+ minutes long songs on Ys without a single blunder in single takes, but you couldn't bring her to use a click track (- and she shouldn't). Again: I think that the click track is a great tool, which is indispensable for many styles of music and especially helpful in home recording. But the whole "This is the only way to do it, and everyone who disagrees is wrong." attitude is just off the mark.
Since I started using a click for live and studio settings a couple years ago, find myself missing it when it's not there. Staying in tempo is not my strong suit so I appreciate the guidance. Make the same push with artist and musicians I work with now.
I practice everything to a metronome. My timing has improved substancially. I use the metronome to find the tempo when recording an idea, so I have it for a later time. When recording, I use a click track. I'll do one of three things, 2 bars/ turn it off, keep it on throughout, or turn it off/ on at different sections( a more exciting chorus section or ritard at the end of the song).
Click track has its downsides. It depends what you're going for. I find it a lot easier to stay with the click if I use a dummy drum pattern in stead of the click, especially if there's already lot of other stuff going on in the mix when I lay down a track. In a live band setting a click can kill the vibe even for seasoned musicians. The variation in tempo isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can often add to the song. You can emulate this in a DAW, but then you take away the possibility of having those magical moments of inspiration. Even live bands perform to a click on their in ear monitors. They have to, because they use a lot of pre recorded tracks. I think that's super boring. Much of the music is too sterile for many people's taste today, and I bet we'll soon see a change.
@recordingrevolution a few years ago I never did, the I started having some classical guitar lessons to try and expand my skill set and my teacher made me realise how important timing and tempo is in a piece of music. I hate the sound of metronomes so I always record my basic acoustic or electric guitar rhythm and do a tempo detection from that and work out my average tempo, then I put a drum loop in that sounds good with the guitar. If its just pure acoustic then I will use the metronome sound or edit the audio to the tempo detection average. My playing has improved immensely and I have greatly improved my sense of timing when playing live!
Yes to the click, but I also often use the tempo track to up the BPM a little in the chorus so it still has that natural lift. You can still fly in parts if you need to (although these days I REALLY prefer to play/sing EVERYTHING so it keeps the interest factor and not every chorus sounds the same). Thanks, as always, for the effort you put into your channel.
If you want to remove all feel and life of a song, go right ahead with your metronomes. If a rigid tempo grid is contributing to convey the essense of a part- or song, i.e. arpeggios etc. you should use click, but at all other instances we should all stay off the grid. There are always workarounds to keep a groove and a tempo for a song, like with Bohemian Rhapsody -recorded in layers with Freddie Mercury's que piano acting as the metronome. When a song goes into a climax the bpm SHOULD go up slightly, as is the case with stairway to heaven and many other classics. It is also perceived as natural to the ear. But then again these were musicians who actually knew how to band, and understood the craft of a good performance. DAW heads will never understand, copy pasting passages with no regards to unique deliveries, but to promote the metronome as a must is basically an insult to the artform that is music, making the industry rush headlong into the one dimentionality we've been seeing over the last 20 years. I enjoy many of your videos, but this time I belive you really fell through with your arguments, completely loosing track of the artistic and historical perspective.
It's a vital skill. To those who say "use a drum beat instead", ok fine, but you don't always get a choice. I play live in church with a click track. No choice. Just bleeping. You need to be able to do it. And a beat actually covers up your inconsistencies whereas a click forces you to feel the bar length as well without the audio clues. Some musos drift of the bar when the drums stop and lose the internal feel.
So true! And too add a little intensity to your song, set the click tempo a few beats faster for the choruses, etc. Another trick I use, in Logic at least, is to Flex Time a scratch track -- really, just like quantizing Midi -- if parts are really off, they can get kind of wobbly/flammy, but no matter, it's not a keeper. Just like doubling a track, playing to the accurate-tempo scratch is really easy and makes light work of any tricky tempo parts.
I had a suggestion since they're times when an organic tempo is aesthetically pleasing. If you want that non robotic effect. Then just spend more time adding tempo markers on top of your DAW. Have midi "pre production" instruments play out the general gist of the song so you'll know when you want the song slowed or sped up. Then you can do the live recording and performers will follow the slowing/quickening tempo. Just don't do drastic or instant tempo changes though since performers base their "hits" off of previous click intervals. I like subtle increments of 3-6 to simulate a more sloppy human performance) They're also times (Like before a beat drop transition) where a slight slow down gives a powerful effect. Or maybe a haunting piano finishes it's piece and it slows the rhythm to a halt at the resolution.
Many DAWs such as Studio One have excellent time-stretching algorithms that allow you to automate the tempo quite a bit (+/- 20bpm or more) without the audio being noticeably altered, so you can add in the kind of excitement you might see with a real drummer speeding up during a chorus or song ending.
This is one more example what a brilliant recording teacher Graham is. A seminar with Jaquire King was THE eye opener for me. It is not about the big name in the industry. It is about the inspiration and charisma for teaching that someone has or has not. Graham, you have it like no one else has. No one else? Well Joe Gilder also has it. No one else comes close to you two. Not even close
Click tracks make it easier for me to find the tempo that matches the emotional groove of a song. Some people will adjust up or down 2 bpm's at a time trying to chase that, but I just start with the round number bpm closest to my untimed practice speed and then drop it up or down 10 bpm's to find what creates that emotional swell most suitable to the song. I also have to consider the constraints of using distortion; I use a lot of gain because it's the only way I can get a good sound on my bass, so that determines how fast I can get away with playing a bassline. I've had to slow some stuff down to a bpm below my comfort zone. For example, Lament for Chris Cornell. I recorded it to 60 bpm, but my natural tempo for that song is closer to 70 bpm. Street Lamps is recorded at 50 bpm; my natural speed for that is 60. Another thing to consider is that when you play back a recording, it's always going to sound about 10 bpm's faster than how it sounds to you when you're playing. Listening is passive, but playing is a deliberate act of following a beat, so it alters your perception of time. I also practice my songs are various tempos because playing a song at different tempos improves your ability to keep time to the song's native tempo. I've also found that how high or low I strap my bass can affect how well I keep time. When I strap up just high enough that I lift my shoulders up when I play the lowest strings, it throws off my timing. If I adjust the strap a notch lower so that my shoulders don't rise, it gets rid of the problem.
I have practiced instruments to drum loopers for around 15 years and that has certainly helped. However, I have more recently found that through recording all of my own music, it is almost impossible to do without a click. No way around it either. If you want perfectly timed songs, at some point one of the instruments will definitely need to be perfectly timed, thus the whole band ideally. 🤭😌 I am no pro producer, by a long shot... I am a formally trained Vocalist and self taught Musician of 20 plus years, but I pretty much realized that the click is probably your best friend if recording your material. I also think that live, this would probably be best as well. I just wish the sounds were more pleasant, or somehow melded with the tunes 🤔🤓 Maybe there is and I am not aware of it ? Great video ! 🧑🎤 Ah ! Found it ! Record scratch tracks for the drums and bass, at minimum the drums... Then play those back as your click... 🤓🤔🥱😬
Thanks, Graham. Another discourse in recording wisdom. Much Props. Here's an alternative I've considered - and it borrows straight from your analogy of an orchestra's conductor. There may be a time when a piece NEEDS to be "conducted". That is, the composition demands tempo changes - accelerando, rallentando, etc. If you're working with limited personnel (recording all the tracks yourself), here is a good idea. place the score in front of you, and practice conducting the piece several times. Then video record yourself conducting. When it's time to track the parts, simply monitor this video. Then, just as with a track, every part can be nudged into time because every part was played to the same conductor. If you would consider this technique, let me know. If you have a better idea, also, let me know. Either way, good to have you in my corner. Some day, will have to get together.
Double edged sword for me man. I use clicktracks 80 to 90 % of the time, but sometimes I like to experiment without one. Sometimes it's ok to let the music speed up or slow down when you are playing. Some of my favourite recordings from the 60's and 70's where made that way, but I think there is such a thing as restraint as well. And clicks are also super helpful for the reasons you just described. I suppose my rule (if I can call it that) is: use a click. Unless you have a good reason not to.
Totally agree. A click is essential! Although I was blown away recently with Logics new follow tempo feature. It enables the tempo to shift up and down along your analysed track in session. So if the drummer got faster by accident the click follows and will increase tempo by a couple BPM. So cool and really useful if you can’t find the ‘feel’ when laying down your first instrument!
I've recorded both with and without a click track, and although recording without one is manageable, it makes editing such a pain and if you have to move around the timing of some notes it's near impossible. With a click track its just so seamless and easier, and it helps loads when you need to lay down other sections of your track - I can't count how many times I've tried to layer strings with piano and had it be off because of not using a click lol. After a while, the comfort of not using one turns into having to use one, and all the reasons you said in this video are why!
I started recording without using a click track, because I didn't know what I was doing. Now I use one. The first thing I noticed using a click was now I wasn't "dedicated" to the first track that all the others followed. I can even speed up and slow down, but if I don't pass the click or let it pass me, I can easily redo the track without it effecting other tracks, because they are ALL in the same time. It's almost silly to have to talk about it. It's that important. At first I found the click distracting, now I find it enhancing. like tapping your foot, or having a perfect drummer.
I often just lay down a drum loop and set the tempo speed to match the drum loop if the musician I’m working with has an issue playing to a click. On the other hand when recording a band it’s always better to record a solid rhythm track with a live rhythm section and not worry about the grid or click track. This always gives a better result. All the reasons Graham is presenting makes it easier for the protools engineer to edit or mix, but the best music is recorded from performers creating a performance and in this case it’s the engineer’s job to just capture their performance. There are multiple ways to achieve a song on a record, but most of the songs that survive the test of time are bands captured performing mostly live and not so much a computer guy manipulating every sample to a grid. All this grid perfection helps the engineer more than the musician when talking about production. In my world we do it diff depending on the result we are trying to get. I know on the last Drive by Truckers record they tracked the rhythm section to 2” tape then transferred these rhythm tracks to Protools before editing overdubbing and mixing. No clicks were used but EZB ( their drummer ) has an atomic clock in his brain, which allows for the songs to breath with subtle tempo changes. I normally use a click when writing or working out a part but not when the band is laying down a rhythm track.
Steve Smith, one of the greatest drummers in the world - and one of my all-time favorites - was fired from Journey during the recording of Raised On Radio because he couldn't record to a click track (see his interview in "The Drummer's Journal", issue 11, winter 2015/16). Was that a good choice? I don't think so. But either way he learned the lesson, learned how to play to it, and that during sessions that's absolutely necessary, so he now plays to a click track when recording. I am bad at keeping time, but having a metronome around always helps me keeping time, and also correcting it if I rush or drag. So there's no excuse, people need to learn how to play to a metronome. If you, reader, don't like it and don't plan on doing sessions or becoming a professional, that's fine, just enjoy yourself the way you want (I totally support that if it's just for fun!), but if you want to act professionally there's no excuse - just learn how to play to the damn thing! You'll thank us later :-)
I build a basic song template using Band In A Box, import the instruments as .wav files into my main DAW, add markers for sections such as chorus verse, bridge etc. Then I record my rhythm guitar, bass, keys etc. to replace most of the Band in a Box tracks. I also import pro drum loops and percussion parts which will groove loop to the song tempo. Works like a charm and a lot more inspirational than a metronome clicking away in the background.
I've only recently tried recording with click tracks and found them frustrating as all get-out (a mostly Southern expression for all you Northerners). What I've found that does work are drum tracks. I'll load up a drum loop or plugin, and it's much easier for me to find-and feel-the groove. What is your opinion on click tracks vs. drum tracks? Also, one real-life example of uses for click tracks are Drummers themselves. You mentioned conductors, but drummers often listen to a click track in their in-ear monitors, which guides the whole band to keep them in sync. Lastly, what's the advantage of using a click track when you basically nullify the click track by quantizing drums or use off-beat/randomized grooves to make the drums sound more "human"?
Here's the thing, if you can't play with a click track don't bother recording or going into a recording studio or for that matter playing organized music with real musicians. Great vid as always Graham
@recordingrevolution, I'm an orchestra player. A conductor does a lot more than keeping a steady tempo. In classical music, tempo changes throughout the piece (accelerando, ritardando...), that doesn't happen a lot in popular music. Some body has to coordinate these changes. In classic music, there are also dynamics (how loud throughout the song). That doesn't happen in popular music either, at least not in a precise way (ok, in the chorus everything goes to fortissimo, thats the dynamics in popular music). In this sense, somebody has to "mix" (dynamics for each section of the orchestra) and "master" (sense of dynamics for the whole orchestra). Bottom line: the conductor is being a "metronome" 10% of the time. And that's to mention only the concert itself. You can think of a conductor as a football coach. 90% of his job happens before the concert, at rehearsals. So please don't say a conductor is a metronome. =)
Just recently started recording to a metronome, I'm terrible at it so it takes longer but it makes my music sound so much better. I don't sound so sloppy now
Love using a click. Done a ton of recording and using a click saves you you soooooo much time. You can move like lightning with it and without it you'll spend hours getting overdubs, especially percussion overdubs, to lock. A good musician will make a click feel as natural as if there was no click being used at all.
Well said...absolutely, especially the drummer. Go in a studio and not on that click, you'll be told to get it right. Time is money. I argue this many of times with rookies stating no way to a click, looses all the humanized feeling of the song...I listen to their work and they are not even close to the beat. Many realize they need to and stop practicing and move on.
I work bottom up, always with a click. Drum loops, bass performance, rhythm guitars, go in and either program or play drums, another pass on bass to expand any ideas or to tighten with the other instruments, leads, vocals.
Yes, I record to click but I'm thinking if I should start to record without it. Click track does not make the song better or worse. But without click there's more live and emotion. I don't mind if I have to mix song that is not in tempo, but it's should feel like it's 'on time'. And I'm working with real instruments, not much with midi or sample stuff.
I agree with John,---great video! Just a note for those who resist this advice,---when you see a pic or vid of your favorite band in the studio and the drummer is wearing headphones, do you think he is listening to the guitar solo?
Oftentimes yes, that is exactly what they are doing. In any studio situation where the instruments are isolated from the drummer headphones are a must click not withstanding.
I agree with what he's saying but I record to MIDI programmed drums - that is similar to recording to a click track. Of course if you have syncopated drums, you may end up with more holes in your drums - a click track would definitely be better in that case since its consistent.
I just got back into playing and recording after taking 20 years off. My first discovery was that my timing wasn't nearly as good as I thought it was. I was like "what the hell is going on". I started using a click track to practice, it was hard at first, but my playing, timing, everything is starting to come back. So yeah, they work.
I just midi in a drum beat instead of a click track. It's just more natural feeling. I also don't want to be on the beat, I like to hang back etc, I don't want a extra super tight feel.
I record to a metronome but for certain pieces, where it might just be one instrument, I sometimes don’t. Some songs I use a drum machine as the click to play to. There’s songs where I just have an arpeggiator. But for music that’s not programmed I record to a click definitely.
I record my two children. They’ve been Playing with a click track since they were eight years old. Both of my children are now 15 and 12. They don’t even have to think twice when recording with a click there easily able to login. It also makes my ability to make corrections so much easier.
You are totally right about click tracks, they are important for modern recordings, but the conductor analogy is totally wrong. The Orchestra conductor is not a metronome, it’s quite the contrary, the conductor’s timing varies throughout the music, there are timing variations throughout the piece typical of classical music that creates nuances with his variations which brings life to the music. Edit: In other words, the conductor brings feel to the music.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! A side note if they want to get you music played by a DJ these days, if the loops are off the grid they may not get added to their set.
It goes without saying that fluctuations or even immediate changes of tempo can be very expressive. I think the argument that click tracks completely destroy the possibility of this is totally silly! Play to the metronome where the music is metric and pulsed and then just ignore it when you get to the part that is supposed to be more free! It’s not as if you can’t manipulate click tempo in the DAW before you start recording anyway.
I'm going to have every Client I work with watch this video before we start the recording process. Made the mistake a few times not recording with a click track... total nightmare.
Recording to a click is necessary for music based on looping, cuting/pasting, etc. But for other genres, or live, if you need a click track what you really need is either more practice or bandmates who can actually play. There's absolutely nothing wrong about speeding up or slowing down as long as the band stays locked together. It makes the music way more human and interesting. I'd say the use of click tracks is one of the reasons why a lot of modern Rock music sounds so sterile and boring. In art, perfection sucks.
Alwwaayys used click track it kinda taught me how to play guitar in a lot of ways, I also learned a lot of weird time signatures as a benifits to just hacking riffs out to a click all night, I don't know what the weird signatures are but I thinks that's the greatest benifits, not having to manually count while playing in a band situation
I can't live without it, and quantizing as well. I use to be so hard headed about it, until I tried recording in my DAW to prove a point. To say the least, although I was alone, I got embarrassed, and woke up to reality.
I generally compose drum rhythms to a click track to begin with, and then record the remaining instruments around the first recorded instrument. The click track seems to disappear after though. But this certainly hits home and I will definitely consider using one more consistently now. I'm curious as to how this might affect vocal recording...
All these tips are about how it's easier for the engineer to edit things if the tracks are played to a click, but there's no discussion of whether or not a song may sound _better_ when the band increases speed during the chorus.
I record to click tracks but dont quantize everything. I think there should be a balance between perfect timing and making something sound natural and organic.
100% click track every time. only time I let a band get by on it is if the drummer can do it to a click, but it throws off the guitarist or bass player they can record to the drums. however they almost always require more takes to get it right when it goes that way.
I agree, you should touch on tempo mapping in a video. Sometimes the different sections of songs require a few bpm up or down. But a click should still be used imo
AMEN! Even live drummers uses click tracks so often. Tempo is a big part in professional sounding productions. You sound amateur without it most of the time. Yes it may be a pain, which in fact prouve that you are not perfect in your timing. It just exposes your need of a click track! So even if it is just for pre production, everything will sound just tighter. So Yeah, I use click track and I won't stop...
maybe the fact that most modern music is slaved to click tracks is why I don't like most modern music.. I want to hear music that organically breathes. A good drummer or conductor has great timing but should be able to breath with the music which a mechanical click will not be able to let you do. Sure, develop a sense of timing using your metronome but don't be slave to a click track all the time... sorry, my ears were raised with 60's and 70's organic music and when programmed drums loops came in the 80's I hated it
every singled time, I use a click, I dont have it overpowering, but its always low in the mix and if i ever start to miss its always there to bring me back (and when i do start to drift it always seems to become extra loud
Yes, definitely I've heard folks playing that obviously did not get that they weren't playing in time. They evidently, and sometimes for years, were playing to their own sense of timing in their head but it didn't coincide with an actual meter. I've even played them the record to show them they were playing an incorrect time. With that said I will admit I like a wound up, old school, metronome. Why? Because many click tracks I've head actually have an accent to them which I find unbelievable. They will emphasize, and I couldn't believe it, count 3, as in one, two, THREE, four. Etc. Now I ask you how many songs accent the third beat? Very strange.
A lot of comments about speeding up and slowing down in music so that means click tracks are bad but musicians who play to clicks know all about pushing and pulling, playing ahead and behind the click. It has a psychological effect of making the click feel like it's slowing down or speeding up.
I do always use a click track while recording. But wouldn’t it be nice to have a tool that takes the whole song and finalize it on the transients just a tiny little bit off click? Only to humanize the song. It’s like when I import my favorite songs into my DAW as a reference. it is never 100% on grid.
I won’t work w people who scoff at click tracks anymore. Ever. If they say they don’t like click tracks or whatever, that means they never truly practice and can’t truly hold their own. Even though I’m recording in a bedroom I won’t work w bedroom “musicians”. Lol for real doe!
it's on my list of studio prep that i give to clients. practice playing to a click for two weeks before coming in! also, know your parts! i do prefer tracking a live band all at once without a click, but not many bands these days can do that either! anybody who says the click "throws them off" or "messes up their flow" likely just never practiced enough with one and aren't ready for the studio. Truth. Of course i don't mind putting together a scratch beat instead of a click for them, but they're paying for my time, so it's really up to them. practice and be ready to record, or don't and be ready to pay more for my extra work to make them sound good. but then again anyone not willing to play to a click always seem to be the same people who aren't willing to pay for a decent recording anyway, and just want you to do it for free. so... it's a good measure of what type of client and recording experience you're going to get, as well as if they're going to actually pay you!
I usually prefer to use a kick drum sample in my click track. Because if I have any bleed from musician's headphones at least it is a drum sound and not a click.
I feel that you can both record to a click and without a click. For most musicians I would say definitely record to a click, because they can't stay in time otherwise. But for really solid and dedicated musicians that maybe have practiced the song to a click a 100 times already, then recording without a click can produce some really interesting aspects. The greatest example of this that I know of is Man in the Box by Alice in Chains, if you listen closely you can here that the drummer slows the second verse down by about 5 BPM and isnt really fully on time the rest of song, but because he is so good and has such good rhythm you can barely notice and its adds a great human element to the song Also this is all assuming that the band is either recording in a live setting and everyone is following the drummer or that the drummer records their parts first and then everyone else tracks over the top of them... I don't know how well recording without a click would be if somebody else were to track first.
Okay, I have questions regarding Click Tracks, I'm with you and every time we roll in the studio and lay both the scratch track and the final, I always load my drummer with a click in his ear, but only the drummer. He is the metronome for the rest of the group. In your opinion, when members return one by one to lay their tracks, should they just use the drums for timing or do you believe they should have a click in their headset mix as well? It seemed redundant to me so I don't make them listen to that, only follow the drummer who at that point is right on the mark...or should be pretty dang close. Your thoughts?
my workaround is, I set the tempo, create a rudimental drum track and record along with the drum track. It is a kind of click track, but doesn't annoy you as much as a click track.
I do the same, most of my recordings have programmed drums or loops but if I record a song without any drums I make a drum track just to keep the tempo.
i don't do this for myself since a click doesn't bother me, but i do it for clients if they need. i'm by the hour so why not? more work= more money. or they could practice and save themselves some money. up to them really.
On extreme occasion there's an artist i like enough to just let them get away without a click or backbeats of any kind. (so far only twice) but that's usually for more folk-style acoustic guitar stuff. in that case it just makes more work for me later, since i'm my first call studio musician, to match their tempo on bass, drums, or extra guitar parts. but i have to really love someone's music and feel for that!
This is what i came to the comment section to say! Taking the time to make a groove, in keeping with the track, gets a totally different (better!) performance out of the player than sticking a click in their ear.
I recently started recording my own music (using a click track), and I can say firsthand that this is SOOOO accurate! It was super frustrating at first, but my timing is drastically improving. I notice a difference even while playing freestyle.
what a chocker ofc it is accurate.
Thank you for this 😅. Playing to a click was scary to me in a way. It Actually exposed my weakness weirdly enough. I'm building my own studio currently and making my own music, and I'm finding that the click is a key. I can't do anything without it unless it's just jamming out. I'm an amateur in the recording field in all fairness. I got a lot to learn 👍
Everything has its pros and cons. I don't think that click track is bad. But I love recordings that was made in the past with just band playing live.
I dont think any of those famous rock bands in the past ever used a click track, like Van Halen, Thin Lizzy, KISS, The Sweet, Queen, Iron Maiden, etc. When I try to make a cover song of those bands it's impossible to set a static BPM... Whenever there's a fill, a Chorus, etc they start to deviate from the metronome click… So either I set an average BMP but then I can forget to play the cover exactly as the original. So how does one capture all those varying tempos from a famous song when making a cover in your DAW? Well, I create "midi notes" using the "Hitpoints" from a "wave-file" of the original song, to get it "perfect", and which involves a lot of work Before it sounds "close enough" to the original song… Joey Sturgis has a great YT-video on how to do this! Then I can make a "Tempo Track" in Cubase from those "Hitpoints" to follow the original song almost perfectly… Then I have an almost perfect metronome to that original song… But if I make my own song then I Always use a click track of course...
@recordingrevolution I find the click extremely liberating as a drummer. Ease of locking in and playing around the click and getting creative. Not to mention it’s easier to concentrate on “what” to play if i can dish off “when” to play to the metronome. Pulse = Freedom for me.
Agreed!
Hear hear!! I agree 100 % same here.
interesting. i've definitely never heard that before. especially from a drummer!
💚🎶 ☝️
I am a director for a small church choir, I've always joked that "I'm just the guy in front waving his arms like a fool". I busted out laughing when Graham said the conductor was "flailing his arms to look cool". I thought, "Oh no, my secret is out!"
Great content as always Graham!
haha. awesome! There's definitely different levels of conducting. i used to run a Buddhist youth group of random instruments, and they relied heavily on me for rhythm, even though i was generally playing guitar. so i got really used to exaggerating my body movements so they could see the rhythm, and giving "full body nods" for cues.
i think you're playing at the level above that. were the performers all have good rhythm and don't need to pay attention to the conductor. They're really just there like a front person to get the crowd hopped up.
but then there's a level above that, which certain orchestras and whatnot are at. they have phenomenal individual timing, but are watching the conductor closely and playing to his/her feel, emotion, and direction all the time. that highest level is the best. the conductor hears and experiences the music from the audiences point of view turning it from a performance to an experience! like a real time sound guy, humanized metronome, auto correct, and critique all in one. doesn't get any better.
Anyway, rant, rant rant, that's the levels i like to think of it as.
Never make eye contact with the tenors. It only encourages them.
@@slavesforging5361 Absolutely, the conductor/director has many more responsibilities than just tempo; cues, balance/blend, etc. Additionally, most of what the director does IMHO) is in rehearsal, and most people only see the "final product"; the performance. By that time, the director is just "reminding" the musicians.
@@kcorkins That's a great point about the prep work the conductor does interpreting the piece! very, very true.
@@recordman555 ahhh. sad but true. show offs!
One thing that gets rarely mentioned is: the click track doesn't have to be at the same tempo - or meter - throughout the song (which is the biggest drawback of a fixed metronome).
If a song needs to have different parts at different tempos (or indeed different meters), in every decent DAW it's fairly easy to set up a variable click track (or a MIDI track if the song is particularly complex).
awesome points! i started recording when i was young, and as a drummer, i wrote all of my music on sequencers and played along with those tracks. that was in the early midi days of a tape 4 track, but that carried over once i went daw.
i ALSO have sections that lose the click if it goes free form, but it always comes back.
i also always play with a click live in any pop scenario. there's always some kind of track going on, and learning to play comfortably with a click means you get to a point where you'll never even know it's there :-)
This guy is bang on. All my songs have a click and I create a separate track just for the click. Use the free metronome app and record into your file and then edit in the program what you want. For example a tempo of 80 bpm, take that click and then break it up into 1 bar of 4/4. Make the first beat louder so you know when beat 1 is there. Paste and copy that bar to the number of bars that your verse or chorus etc is. That allows you to change timing too such as 5/4 or 7/4 etc. The click has saved me so many times over the last few years.
YES I do and it makes every thing better. I’m still learning but getting better. Thank You.
So many benefits using click tracks, makes everything so easy! Just use it! Great topic Graham!
Young bands should try recording themselves individually on a daw before going to a studio. Would really save them a lot of time and money
use a kick track instead of a click track! unless ur recording drums. just use something outside of the range of whatever ur playing.
I do this just because the sound of the click really annoys me and puts me off
In a modern, studio recording, a click is absolutely essential. If the goal is to have a less pristine, rough-around-the-edges live feel, then yeah, I'd opt not to use a click. The bands that can't record to a click are usually the ones who say "nah, we don't want to record to a click, because we don't want to sound like robots", and, to be honest, it's usually the drummers who say that. Yet timing can waver pretty drastically within the beats of a bar even when using a click, so it'd still sound human. If everything was quantized, that's when the robotic feel starts to creep in. It's also reassuring to hear that I'm not the only one who has had someone say "the click is speeding up/slowing down".
in the digital world, I 100% agree with everythig you say Graham. And as others below point out, if the metronome classic click is bothering you, get a simple drum midi pattern or loop that fits the style of your song and work with that until a drummer records their part. If you bother with a drummer.
However (there's always a however ;-) )... I have, as a bass player, had the good fortune to play with some very, very good drummers. As well as reading/controlling the song dynamics extremely well, they all kept damn good time. This enables the other musicians to relax. Now I had to learn a vital lesson, that I must not sit on the drummers timing. They are not Robots (I hear some drummer jokes coming...). I learnt that each musician in the band must be responsible for their own timing, a sort of shared responsibility. (having said that, I've played with bad drummers that speed up and slow down - its very painful!). These lessons played out in the live side of playing, but were also applied in the studio.
And so here's the crunch... With those great drummers, I've done some of that good ol'fashioned live in the studio recording, on good ol'tape. No clicks (one particular studio I recorded in in the 90's had a ban on computers!). And the recordings are great. Even did some editing on some (get your rasor blades out folks). I feel very lucky to have had that experience. Working with those great drummers helped me develop a good sence of timing as a bass player and guitarist.
But for the last 10 years I've been producing and engineering music in the box, with minimal out board and a handful of good mics. 99% of the time the first thing I/we do is SET THE TEMPO. Occasionally I've recorded someone without. And very occasionally it works. Mostly it doesn't. IT SAVES SO MUCH TIME! Tempo maps are great way to get some push and pull, though they take time. (Isn't time relative ´¨´?). I've edited non-click computer recordings. It takes a LOT of time and a LOT of patience! And after you spend an hour trying to make that one edit work, you realise it ain't going to and that's not easy. In those times I remind myself of the Abby Road engineers splicing Strawberry Fields different takes together, that had different speeds to each other and the vari-speeds of the tape machines had to be adjusted by ear. Then I realise it ain't so bad but I can still her the voice in the recess of my mind going... WHY DIDN'T WE USE A CLICK!
Oh yeah. And now I have two artificial heart valves ticking inside me for the last couple of years! I fall asleep every night to the click track of my own pumping heart machine! WE Are RoBOTs lololololol....
Hey. Great video Graham.
There is only one thing that I think should be mentioned. A slight tempo increase in the chorus to get a bit more excitement or a slight decrease in tempo during a "down" moment isn't necessarily a bad thing. It only embellishes the music(it's actually one of the things that a good conductor does). And you can do it __with__ a click track. You just need to edit the tempo map.
Ok. two things :)
You can also tempo map a live performance to get a "perfect" grid to make editing easier.
Keep up the good work.
Love the clicktrack!! as a drummer i realy do.
I also always use a metronome with band practice. sometimes other musicians (or yourself) can drag you down or speed you up in thempo.
I absolutely agree that a click track makes overdubbing and editing and looping and the use of time-dependent plugins so much easier, and for most people in (home) recording it's the way to go.
BUT it just isn't true, that it is always the best choice. There is a reason why there is a conductor in front of the orchestra and not a big metronome. Particularly classical and romantic music is highly agogic, and that's an integral element of its expressiveness. And that's also true for many songs in popular genres of music: musicmachinery.com/tag/click-track/ Drummers like Steward Copland don't just "keep time", they shape the rhythmic flow of the song. Hence: "rhythm section".
And you can't deny that there are some incredibly skilled musicians, who can't or wouldn't ever want to record to a click track, because for whatever reason they aren't comfortable with it - and I think one should respect that. For instance, Joanna Newsom recorded the harp and the voice of those incredibly complex 10+ minutes long songs on Ys without a single blunder in single takes, but you couldn't bring her to use a click track (- and she shouldn't).
Again: I think that the click track is a great tool, which is indispensable for many styles of music and especially helpful in home recording. But the whole "This is the only way to do it, and everyone who disagrees is wrong." attitude is just off the mark.
ofc it dose but you dont need that if u can play in time as a band, as you should stive for.
Since I started using a click for live and studio settings a couple years ago, find myself missing it when it's not there. Staying in tempo is not my strong suit so I appreciate the guidance. Make the same push with artist and musicians I work with now.
I am newbee from South India and all your videos are excellent and very useful to me on various decision making scenarios.
Its all well said. Its sad that those guys who really need to know this will never watch this video....
I practice everything to a metronome. My timing has improved substancially. I use the metronome to find the tempo when recording an idea, so I have it for a later time. When recording, I use a click track. I'll do one of three things, 2 bars/ turn it off, keep it on throughout, or turn it off/ on at different sections( a more exciting chorus section or ritard at the end of the song).
Click track has its downsides. It depends what you're going for.
I find it a lot easier to stay with the click if I use a dummy drum pattern in stead of the click, especially if there's already lot of other stuff going on in the mix when I lay down a track.
In a live band setting a click can kill the vibe even for seasoned musicians. The variation in tempo isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can often add to the song. You can emulate this in a DAW, but then you take away the possibility of having those magical moments of inspiration.
Even live bands perform to a click on their in ear monitors. They have to, because they use a lot of pre recorded tracks. I think that's super boring. Much of the music is too sterile for many people's taste today, and I bet we'll soon see a change.
@recordingrevolution a few years ago I never did, the I started having some classical guitar lessons to try and expand my skill set and my teacher made me realise how important timing and tempo is in a piece of music. I hate the sound of metronomes so I always record my basic acoustic or electric guitar rhythm and do a tempo detection from that and work out my average tempo, then I put a drum loop in that sounds good with the guitar. If its just pure acoustic then I will use the metronome sound or edit the audio to the tempo detection average.
My playing has improved immensely and I have greatly improved my sense of timing when playing live!
Yes to the click, but I also often use the tempo track to up the BPM a little in the chorus so it still has that natural lift. You can still fly in parts if you need to (although these days I REALLY prefer to play/sing EVERYTHING so it keeps the interest factor and not every chorus sounds the same). Thanks, as always, for the effort you put into your channel.
If you want to remove all feel and life of a song, go right ahead with your metronomes. If a rigid tempo grid is contributing to convey the essense of a part- or song, i.e. arpeggios etc. you should use click, but at all other instances we should all stay off the grid. There are always workarounds to keep a groove and a tempo for a song, like with Bohemian Rhapsody -recorded in layers with Freddie Mercury's que piano acting as the metronome. When a song goes into a climax the bpm SHOULD go up slightly, as is the case with stairway to heaven and many other classics. It is also perceived as natural to the ear. But then again these were musicians who actually knew how to band, and understood the craft of a good performance. DAW heads will never understand, copy pasting passages with no regards to unique deliveries, but to promote the metronome as a must is basically an insult to the artform that is music, making the industry rush headlong into the one dimentionality we've been seeing over the last 20 years. I enjoy many of your videos, but this time I belive you really fell through with your arguments, completely loosing track of the artistic and historical perspective.
Loved your rebuttal. A lot of great points.
It's a vital skill. To those who say "use a drum beat instead", ok fine, but you don't always get a choice. I play live in church with a click track. No choice. Just bleeping. You need to be able to do it. And a beat actually covers up your inconsistencies whereas a click forces you to feel the bar length as well without the audio clues. Some musos drift of the bar when the drums stop and lose the internal feel.
I personally find it easier to play to a drum track rather than a click. its probably me, but I find it hard to feel the time when I play to a click.
same here!
Well .. drum track .. click track .. nobody says u cant make ur click track sound nice!
If you want to play along to a drum track that's fine, but you still need click track when recording the drum track.
@@melodica5407 I use programmed drums, so it's just set to a certain bpm. I dont play drums so that's the best I got.
@@seangriffey8669 Oh great. That means you already are using click track in different form 😂
So true! And too add a little intensity to your song, set the click tempo a few beats faster for the choruses, etc. Another trick I use, in Logic at least, is to Flex Time a scratch track -- really, just like quantizing Midi -- if parts are really off, they can get kind of wobbly/flammy, but no matter, it's not a keeper. Just like doubling a track, playing to the accurate-tempo scratch is really easy and makes light work of any tricky tempo parts.
Always using a click track. And a tempo map if required. Really saves a lot of guesswork in the editing stage.
I had a suggestion since they're times when an organic tempo is aesthetically pleasing.
If you want that non robotic effect. Then just spend more time adding tempo markers on top of your DAW. Have midi "pre production" instruments play out the general gist of the song so you'll know when you want the song slowed or sped up. Then you can do the live recording and performers will follow the slowing/quickening tempo.
Just don't do drastic or instant tempo changes though since performers base their "hits" off of previous click intervals.
I like subtle increments of 3-6 to simulate a more sloppy human performance)
They're also times (Like before a beat drop transition) where a slight slow down gives a powerful effect.
Or maybe a haunting piano finishes it's piece and it slows the rhythm to a halt at the resolution.
Many DAWs such as Studio One have excellent time-stretching algorithms that allow you to automate the tempo quite a bit (+/- 20bpm or more) without the audio being noticeably altered, so you can add in the kind of excitement you might see with a real drummer speeding up during a chorus or song ending.
This is one more example what a brilliant recording teacher Graham is. A seminar with Jaquire King was THE eye opener for me. It is not about the big name in the industry. It is about the inspiration and charisma for teaching that someone has or has not. Graham, you have it like no one else has. No one else? Well Joe Gilder also has it. No one else comes close to you two. Not even close
Click tracks make it easier for me to find the tempo that matches the emotional groove of a song. Some people will adjust up or down 2 bpm's at a time trying to chase that, but I just start with the round number bpm closest to my untimed practice speed and then drop it up or down 10 bpm's to find what creates that emotional swell most suitable to the song.
I also have to consider the constraints of using distortion; I use a lot of gain because it's the only way I can get a good sound on my bass, so that determines how fast I can get away with playing a bassline. I've had to slow some stuff down to a bpm below my comfort zone. For example, Lament for Chris Cornell. I recorded it to 60 bpm, but my natural tempo for that song is closer to 70 bpm. Street Lamps is recorded at 50 bpm; my natural speed for that is 60.
Another thing to consider is that when you play back a recording, it's always going to sound about 10 bpm's faster than how it sounds to you when you're playing. Listening is passive, but playing is a deliberate act of following a beat, so it alters your perception of time.
I also practice my songs are various tempos because playing a song at different tempos improves your ability to keep time to the song's native tempo. I've also found that how high or low I strap my bass can affect how well I keep time. When I strap up just high enough that I lift my shoulders up when I play the lowest strings, it throws off my timing. If I adjust the strap a notch lower so that my shoulders don't rise, it gets rid of the problem.
I have practiced instruments to drum loopers for around 15 years and that has certainly helped. However, I have more recently found that through recording all of my own music, it is almost impossible to do without a click. No way around it either. If you want perfectly timed songs, at some point one of the instruments will definitely need to be perfectly timed, thus the whole band ideally. 🤭😌
I am no pro producer, by a long shot... I am a formally trained Vocalist and self taught Musician of 20 plus years, but I pretty much realized that the click is probably your best friend if recording your material. I also think that live, this would probably be best as well. I just wish the sounds were more pleasant, or somehow melded with the tunes 🤔🤓
Maybe there is and I am not aware of it ? Great video ! 🧑🎤
Ah ! Found it ! Record scratch tracks for the drums and bass, at minimum the drums... Then play those back as your click... 🤓🤔🥱😬
Honestly, I don't think there is a debate if you should or shouldn't record to a click track. The reasons are so obvious, well explained.
On recording, yes. But in my opinion some music genres with click tracks may feel anti climax and lack emotion, specialy live.
Thanks, Graham. Another discourse in recording wisdom. Much Props. Here's an alternative I've considered - and it borrows straight from your analogy of an orchestra's conductor. There may be a time when a piece NEEDS to be "conducted". That is, the composition demands tempo changes - accelerando, rallentando, etc. If you're working with limited personnel (recording all the tracks yourself), here is a good idea. place the score in front of you, and practice conducting the piece several times. Then video record yourself conducting. When it's time to track the parts, simply monitor this video. Then, just as with a track, every part can be nudged into time because every part was played to the same conductor. If you would consider this technique, let me know. If you have a better idea, also, let me know. Either way, good to have you in my corner. Some day, will have to get together.
Double edged sword for me man. I use clicktracks 80 to 90 % of the time, but sometimes I like to experiment without one. Sometimes it's ok to let the music speed up or slow down when you are playing. Some of my favourite recordings from the 60's and 70's where made that way, but I think there is such a thing as restraint as well. And clicks are also super helpful for the reasons you just described. I suppose my rule (if I can call it that) is: use a click. Unless you have a good reason not to.
Totally agree. A click is essential! Although I was blown away recently with Logics new follow tempo feature. It enables the tempo to shift up and down along your analysed track in session. So if the drummer got faster by accident the click follows and will increase tempo by a couple BPM. So cool and really useful if you can’t find the ‘feel’ when laying down your first instrument!
I've recorded both with and without a click track, and although recording without one is manageable, it makes editing such a pain and if you have to move around the timing of some notes it's near impossible. With a click track its just so seamless and easier, and it helps loads when you need to lay down other sections of your track - I can't count how many times I've tried to layer strings with piano and had it be off because of not using a click lol. After a while, the comfort of not using one turns into having to use one, and all the reasons you said in this video are why!
I started recording without using a click track, because I didn't know what I was doing. Now I use one. The first thing I noticed using a click was now I wasn't "dedicated" to the first track that all the others followed. I can even speed up and slow down, but if I don't pass the click or let it pass me, I can easily redo the track without it effecting other tracks, because they are ALL in the same time. It's almost silly to have to talk about it. It's that important. At first I found the click distracting, now I find it enhancing. like tapping your foot, or having a perfect drummer.
I often just lay down a drum loop and set the tempo speed to match the drum loop if the musician I’m working with has an issue playing to a click.
On the other hand when recording a band it’s always better to record a solid rhythm track with a live rhythm section and not worry about the grid or click track. This always gives a better result. All the reasons Graham is presenting makes it easier for the protools engineer to edit or mix, but the best music is recorded from performers creating a performance and in this case it’s the engineer’s job to just capture their performance. There are multiple ways to achieve a song on a record, but most of the songs that survive the test of time are bands captured performing mostly live and not so much a computer guy manipulating every sample to a grid. All this grid perfection helps the engineer more than the musician when talking about production. In my world we do it diff depending on the result we are trying to get. I know on the last Drive by Truckers record they tracked the rhythm section to 2” tape then transferred these rhythm tracks to Protools before editing overdubbing and mixing. No clicks were used but EZB ( their drummer ) has an atomic clock in his brain, which allows for the songs to breath with subtle tempo changes. I normally use a click when writing or working out a part but not when the band is laying down a rhythm track.
I cant work with bands/musicians that dont play/record to a metronome.
Its just such a waste for all the reasons Graham says AND MORE
Good vid Graham
Steve Smith, one of the greatest drummers in the world - and one of my all-time favorites - was fired from Journey during the recording of Raised On Radio because he couldn't record to a click track (see his interview in "The Drummer's Journal", issue 11, winter 2015/16). Was that a good choice? I don't think so. But either way he learned the lesson, learned how to play to it, and that during sessions that's absolutely necessary, so he now plays to a click track when recording.
I am bad at keeping time, but having a metronome around always helps me keeping time, and also correcting it if I rush or drag.
So there's no excuse, people need to learn how to play to a metronome. If you, reader, don't like it and don't plan on doing sessions or becoming a professional, that's fine, just enjoy yourself the way you want (I totally support that if it's just for fun!), but if you want to act professionally there's no excuse - just learn how to play to the damn thing! You'll thank us later :-)
I build a basic song template using Band In A Box, import the instruments as .wav files into my main DAW, add markers for sections such as chorus verse, bridge etc. Then I record my rhythm guitar, bass, keys etc. to replace most of the Band in a Box tracks. I also import pro drum loops and percussion parts which will groove loop to the song tempo. Works like a charm and a lot more inspirational than a metronome clicking away in the background.
I've only recently tried recording with click tracks and found them frustrating as all get-out (a mostly Southern expression for all you Northerners). What I've found that does work are drum tracks. I'll load up a drum loop or plugin, and it's much easier for me to find-and feel-the groove. What is your opinion on click tracks vs. drum tracks?
Also, one real-life example of uses for click tracks are Drummers themselves. You mentioned conductors, but drummers often listen to a click track in their in-ear monitors, which guides the whole band to keep them in sync.
Lastly, what's the advantage of using a click track when you basically nullify the click track by quantizing drums or use off-beat/randomized grooves to make the drums sound more "human"?
Here's the thing, if you can't play with a click track don't bother recording or going into a recording studio or for that matter playing organized music with real musicians. Great vid as always Graham
@recordingrevolution, I'm an orchestra player. A conductor does a lot more than keeping a steady tempo. In classical music, tempo changes throughout the piece (accelerando, ritardando...), that doesn't happen a lot in popular music. Some body has to coordinate these changes. In classic music, there are also dynamics (how loud throughout the song). That doesn't happen in popular music either, at least not in a precise way (ok, in the chorus everything goes to fortissimo, thats the dynamics in popular music). In this sense, somebody has to "mix" (dynamics for each section of the orchestra) and "master" (sense of dynamics for the whole orchestra). Bottom line: the conductor is being a "metronome" 10% of the time.
And that's to mention only the concert itself. You can think of a conductor as a football coach. 90% of his job happens before the concert, at rehearsals.
So please don't say a conductor is a metronome. =)
Just recently started recording to a metronome, I'm terrible at it so it takes longer but it makes my music sound so much better. I don't sound so sloppy now
Love using a click. Done a ton of recording and using a click saves you you soooooo much time. You can move like lightning with it and without it you'll spend hours getting overdubs, especially percussion overdubs, to lock. A good musician will make a click feel as natural as if there was no click being used at all.
Well said...absolutely, especially the drummer. Go in a studio and not on that click, you'll be told to get it right. Time is money. I argue this many of times with rookies stating no way to a click, looses all the humanized feeling of the song...I listen to their work and they are not even close to the beat. Many realize they need to and stop practicing and move on.
I do agree that click tracks are necessary, unless you're recording a singer/songwriter sort of thing.
I work bottom up, always with a click. Drum loops, bass performance, rhythm guitars, go in and either program or play drums, another pass on bass to expand any ideas or to tighten with the other instruments, leads, vocals.
Yes, I record to click but I'm thinking if I should start to record without it. Click track does not make the song better or worse. But without click there's more live and emotion. I don't mind if I have to mix song that is not in tempo, but it's should feel like it's 'on time'. And I'm working with real instruments, not much with midi or sample stuff.
I agree with John,---great video! Just a note for those who resist this advice,---when you see a pic or vid of your favorite band in the studio and the drummer is wearing headphones, do you think he is listening to the guitar solo?
Oftentimes yes, that is exactly what they are doing. In any studio situation where the instruments are isolated from the drummer headphones are a must click not withstanding.
haha! good point clicks or scratch rhythm instrument.
I agree with what he's saying but I record to MIDI programmed drums - that is similar to recording to a click track. Of course if you have syncopated drums, you may end up with more holes in your drums - a click track would definitely be better in that case since its consistent.
I just got back into playing and recording after taking 20 years off. My first discovery was that my timing wasn't nearly as good as I thought it was. I was like "what the hell is going on". I started using a click track to practice, it was hard at first, but my playing, timing, everything is starting to come back. So yeah, they work.
I just midi in a drum beat instead of a click track. It's just more natural feeling. I also don't want to be on the beat, I like to hang back etc, I don't want a extra super tight feel.
I record to a metronome but for certain pieces, where it might just be one instrument, I sometimes don’t. Some songs I use a drum machine as the click to play to. There’s songs where I just have an arpeggiator. But for music that’s not programmed I record to a click definitely.
I record my two children. They’ve been Playing with a click track since they were eight years old. Both of my children are now 15 and 12. They don’t even have to think twice when recording with a click there easily able to login. It also makes my ability to make corrections so much easier.
You are totally right about click tracks, they are important for modern recordings, but the conductor analogy is totally wrong.
The Orchestra conductor is not a metronome, it’s quite the contrary,
the conductor’s timing varies throughout the music, there are timing variations throughout the piece typical of classical music that creates nuances with his variations which brings life to the music.
Edit:
In other words, the conductor brings feel to the music.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! A side note if they want to get you music played by a DJ these days, if the loops are off the grid they may not get added to their set.
As an orchestra player I completely agree. My only problem with click tracks is if there are any tempo changes mid song
I record to click tracks! I have to practice performing to a metronome more often, though.
It goes without saying that fluctuations or even immediate changes of tempo can be very expressive. I think the argument that click tracks completely destroy the possibility of this is totally silly! Play to the metronome where the music is metric and pulsed and then just ignore it when you get to the part that is supposed to be more free! It’s not as if you can’t manipulate click tempo in the DAW before you start recording anyway.
I'm going to have every Client I work with watch this video before we start the recording process. Made the mistake a few times not recording with a click track... total nightmare.
Recording to a click is necessary for music based on looping, cuting/pasting, etc. But for other genres, or live, if you need a click track what you really need is either more practice or bandmates who can actually play. There's absolutely nothing wrong about speeding up or slowing down as long as the band stays locked together. It makes the music way more human and interesting. I'd say the use of click tracks is one of the reasons why a lot of modern Rock music sounds so sterile and boring. In art, perfection sucks.
Alwwaayys used click track it kinda taught me how to play guitar in a lot of ways, I also learned a lot of weird time signatures as a benifits to just hacking riffs out to a click all night, I don't know what the weird signatures are but I thinks that's the greatest benifits, not having to manually count while playing in a band situation
I can't live without it, and quantizing as well.
I use to be so hard headed about it, until I tried recording in my DAW to prove a point.
To say the least, although I was alone, I got embarrassed, and woke up to reality.
I generally compose drum rhythms to a click track to begin with, and then record the remaining instruments around the first recorded instrument. The click track seems to disappear after though. But this certainly hits home and I will definitely consider using one more consistently now. I'm curious as to how this might affect vocal recording...
Modern music production is nowdays about fear and overthinking every step to be the absolutely right one
Yeah a 1 2 3 4 is really hard to figure out... my brain can’t take so much overthinking. 😏
All these tips are about how it's easier for the engineer to edit things if the tracks are played to a click, but there's no discussion of whether or not a song may sound _better_ when the band increases speed during the chorus.
I record to click tracks but dont quantize everything. I think there should be a balance between perfect timing and making something sound natural and organic.
100% click track every time. only time I let a band get by on it is if the drummer can do it to a click, but it throws off the guitarist or bass player they can record to the drums. however they almost always require more takes to get it right when it goes that way.
I agree, you should touch on tempo mapping in a video. Sometimes the different sections of songs require a few bpm up or down. But a click should still be used imo
AMEN! Even live drummers uses click tracks so often. Tempo is a big part in professional sounding productions. You sound amateur without it most of the time. Yes it may be a pain, which in fact prouve that you are not perfect in your timing. It just exposes your need of a click track! So even if it is just for pre production, everything will sound just tighter. So Yeah, I use click track and I won't stop...
maybe the fact that most modern music is slaved to click tracks is why I don't like most modern music.. I want to hear music that organically breathes. A good drummer or conductor has great timing but should be able to breath with the music which a mechanical click will not be able to let you do. Sure, develop a sense of timing using your metronome but don't be slave to a click track all the time... sorry, my ears were raised with 60's and 70's organic music and when programmed drums loops came in the 80's I hated it
Another reason that doesn't really get talked about is that it makes audio editing easier, such as quantizing drums or guitar.
every singled time, I use a click, I dont have it overpowering, but its always low in the mix and if i ever start to miss its always there to bring me back (and when i do start to drift it always seems to become extra loud
Never knew there's even a debate going on about this.
Lol, a click track will ruin some types of music. Just depends on what you're making.
Yes, definitely I've heard folks playing that obviously did not get that they weren't playing in time. They evidently, and sometimes for years, were playing to their own sense of timing in their head but it didn't coincide with an actual meter. I've even played them the record to show them they were playing an incorrect time. With that said I will admit I like a wound up, old school, metronome. Why? Because many click tracks I've head actually have an accent to them which I find unbelievable. They will emphasize, and I couldn't believe it, count 3, as in one, two, THREE, four. Etc. Now I ask you how many songs accent the third beat? Very strange.
playing with a metronome can be fun if you know how to use it....it must be tied to a routine specific to be efficient
A lot of comments about speeding up and slowing down in music so that means click tracks are bad but musicians who play to clicks know all about pushing and pulling, playing ahead and behind the click. It has a psychological effect of making the click feel like it's slowing down or speeding up.
I ALWAYS use click tracks for all of the reasons you identified. Makes the finished product SO much more professional and cohesive.
I do always use a click track while recording. But wouldn’t it be nice to have a tool that takes the whole song and finalize it on the transients just a tiny little bit off click? Only to humanize the song.
It’s like when I import my favorite songs into my DAW as a reference. it is never 100% on grid.
Great video! Thank you for this and for all you do!
This is such a great video. I hate using a click track, but I know I need to use it and I probably hate it becuase my timing sucks so bad 😂
Hey Graham,i never have,but You made a convincing case for me to,at least Give it a go. Thank You for Your advice.
I won’t work w people who scoff at click tracks anymore. Ever. If they say they don’t like click tracks or whatever, that means they never truly practice and can’t truly hold their own.
Even though I’m recording in a bedroom I won’t work w bedroom “musicians”. Lol for real doe!
it's on my list of studio prep that i give to clients. practice playing to a click for two weeks before coming in! also, know your parts! i do prefer tracking a live band all at once without a click, but not many bands these days can do that either!
anybody who says the click "throws them off" or "messes up their flow" likely just never practiced enough with one and aren't ready for the studio. Truth.
Of course i don't mind putting together a scratch beat instead of a click for them, but they're paying for my time, so it's really up to them. practice and be ready to record, or don't and be ready to pay more for my extra work to make them sound good.
but then again anyone not willing to play to a click always seem to be the same people who aren't willing to pay for a decent recording anyway, and just want you to do it for free. so... it's a good measure of what type of client and recording experience you're going to get, as well as if they're going to actually pay you!
THANKS A LOT. I recently stopped click track because it stucks in my head lol. But tbh nice explaination. Gonna try this out really soon :D
It depends. The conductor is the counter opposite of a click track. Bad example. Sometimes songs need some variation in tempo.
I usually prefer to use a kick drum sample in my click track. Because if I have any bleed from musician's headphones at least it is a drum sound and not a click.
Real talk.
I feel that you can both record to a click and without a click. For most musicians I would say definitely record to a click, because they can't stay in time otherwise. But for really solid and dedicated musicians that maybe have practiced the song to a click a 100 times already, then recording without a click can produce some really interesting aspects.
The greatest example of this that I know of is Man in the Box by Alice in Chains, if you listen closely you can here that the drummer slows the second verse down by about 5 BPM and isnt really fully on time the rest of song, but because he is so good and has such good rhythm you can barely notice and its adds a great human element to the song
Also this is all assuming that the band is either recording in a live setting and everyone is following the drummer or that the drummer records their parts first and then everyone else tracks over the top of them... I don't know how well recording without a click would be if somebody else were to track first.
Graham with a tan! Great video :)
Yep! I definitely record to a click track. It keeps me on time
Okay, I have questions regarding Click Tracks, I'm with you and every time we roll in the studio and lay both the scratch track and the final, I always load my drummer with a click in his ear, but only the drummer. He is the metronome for the rest of the group. In your opinion, when members return one by one to lay their tracks, should they just use the drums for timing or do you believe they should have a click in their headset mix as well? It seemed redundant to me so I don't make them listen to that, only follow the drummer who at that point is right on the mark...or should be pretty dang close. Your thoughts?
I just check my vocs with a metronome. If its in pocket or just a bit ahead im good 👍 nice vid bro!
Ever since my first recording I’ve used a click track. As a 10 year musician outside of producing i know it’s severely important. 😂