To Click or Not to Click
A lot of artists say they must have a click track to record. Others don't want any kind of click track. There are good arguments both for and against using a click track. Of course, my preference is the proverbial, "it depends."
But, it depends on what? Some musicians who have come into my studios will speed and slow down for no reason at all, and sometimes it messes up the song. In these instances I will throw a click track into the mix. On occasion I have sent musicians back to rehearsal with the guidance to download a metronome app to their smart phone or computer and practice with a metronome.
There have been times when I've put a click track into the mix and told musicians to play a song through a few times with a click track, each time making the click track softer in the mix, until finally the musicians are laying down the song with no click track. By the time they get to no click track, the tempo is steady, yet it has some of the subtle tempo changes that add dynamics and life to a song.
And then there are musicians who have a metronome built into their brain. They are maddening. I mean, how the hell do they do that?
My favorites are musicians who have tempo down solid, yet there are subtle tempo changes in just the right places that breath life into the songs.
With all of that said, there are some songs that simply sound better when recorded to a click track with only the most minor tempo changes, if any at all.
Check out this rather scientific analysis of music recorded by some of the best pop and rock musicians at Music Machinery - http://musicmachinery.com/2009/03/02/in-search-of-the-click-track/
To click or not to click....
Enjoy the Music!
Jimmy
www.jimmyhaggard.com
www.haggardstudios.com
But, it depends on what? Some musicians who have come into my studios will speed and slow down for no reason at all, and sometimes it messes up the song. In these instances I will throw a click track into the mix. On occasion I have sent musicians back to rehearsal with the guidance to download a metronome app to their smart phone or computer and practice with a metronome.
There have been times when I've put a click track into the mix and told musicians to play a song through a few times with a click track, each time making the click track softer in the mix, until finally the musicians are laying down the song with no click track. By the time they get to no click track, the tempo is steady, yet it has some of the subtle tempo changes that add dynamics and life to a song.
And then there are musicians who have a metronome built into their brain. They are maddening. I mean, how the hell do they do that?
My favorites are musicians who have tempo down solid, yet there are subtle tempo changes in just the right places that breath life into the songs.
With all of that said, there are some songs that simply sound better when recorded to a click track with only the most minor tempo changes, if any at all.
Check out this rather scientific analysis of music recorded by some of the best pop and rock musicians at Music Machinery - http://musicmachinery.com/2009/03/02/in-search-of-the-click-track/
To click or not to click....
Enjoy the Music!
Jimmy
www.jimmyhaggard.com
www.haggardstudios.com
Comments
Post a Comment