We all know that one of the norms in recording these days is implemented with the use of click tracks / drum loops (especially for commercial music) for steady tempo and rhythm.

But i was just wondering how far would you go with it as an audio engineer and/or as a musician. I mean, as far as the type of recording goes, who would prefer what, where and when? I've always multi-tracked band recordings with the implication of the "click" in it. They're all straight beats anyway so i'm not just having any worries yet. I'd be very challenged to do songs with odd meters and tempo changes.

On the other hand, i haven't had the chance to do it on a Live-studio-recording situation yet. What would you normally do here by the way? To click or not to click?

In some thoughts, i was also wondering how did those great cats like Jeff Porcaro, Steve Gadd and Hal Blaine do it on their time. I've heard they had seldom used clicks on their recording sessions. They're incredible groovemasters with such steady tempos- no questions asked - but how did the recording generally took place in the process?



I'm just looking for some enlightenment.

There's no real answer -- it depends entirely on the production, the band, the sound you're going for.

My preference is to tracka band without a click as much as possible.... I thin kthe feel of a band working off of each other's timing is a big part of the emotional impact of the music... but sometimes the band isn't tight enough with their tempo, and so the click is necessary.

Other times I know that the production may need a lot of edits or changes further on and again a click becomes necessary to ensure consistency.

Both with click and without are completely valid approaches... all depends on the context of the project.
_________________
Bruce Valeriani - Mix Engineer

I totally agree with BlueBearSound, music can be good because its living, because you hear emotions...You can;t create emotion with a click track.
I'm not saying click track is bad for music, I do use it alot whenn you have to record the band in parts, whenn you have to 'over produce' the whole song.
Just use it as a tool, don't let the click lead....

In live tracking, and if its available, you may want to put the click into a secondary Cue channel, one that the drummer and bassist only can hear, then they will be able to stay on the beats more or less and the band can run around them without the basic beat being lost.

When i use a click track i might vary the tempo depending on the song and i would play in and out of that click or play around the click so i can get that push and pull thing going.

As another look at it: you can make a conducter track with embedded tempo/meter changes. I've sequenced entire orchestrations with that. They sounded gorgeous and were full of emotion because I took the time to make the tempo changes happen naturally. It allowed me to play each part and have it be synced up much better than if I had tried to play off my original recording.

I'd say you'd mostly use a click track if you're recording the band in parts and rather would not if they're recording togather (unless they're very sloppy)

I think the best bet on how you can figure out what works best, is listen to the best. Listen to the style you would like to record in. 99% of contemporary country, rock, or pop that are anywhere near the top 40 of their respective charts are recorded to a click. The dead giveaway is when you drop it into Pro Tools and try to sync it up with the click. Your tap-tempo function will get you within one BPM, and once you've got it on, you'll realize the whole song is perfectly synced. There is no human that could play that perfectly without having a guide.

Now, if you are wanting to record in a style that sounds older: classic rock, etc. I would say, record the whole band together sans-click.

Of course, this is all a matter of opinion. However, if you are trying to appeal to the vast majority, stick with the click.

If your really worried about losing the soul or feel of the track then make subtle tempo changes, a funk band will often be playing faster by the end of the song so if recording parts seperately you have a click that slowly gets faster as the whole song goes along. Then once you put the other parts down the drums will be locked in and the others can bring the soul back in by playing around the solid foundation of the drums. If your recording metal however I never trust metal drummers to be that good (althogh Ive never recorded anyone that pro) but still the tempo is usually so robotic its not a prolem. If you are recording the band together then as long as they're a tight group then there should be no problem whatsoever