Need some direction on how programs add click to backing tracks while performing live

[BiggRedd]

I'm in a band and we want to explore using tracks. I get the concept of how it general works. My main confusion lies in how do you add a properly timed click track to a back track. We would have the drummer using an ipad and in ear monitors, Want left channel click in his ear and right channel the track to front of house. I've been trying to research but the answer doesn't seem to jump out at me. Do most programs have the click feature built in and you just set it? Or do you have to create your own and add it in? Kind of lost on this part.

[MikeRivers]

It depends on what program you're using to play the track. If you're using a plain vanilla media player like the iTunes player, unless there's a "metronome" feature to iTunes (I don't use the program) you'll need to add the click track yourself.

 

Most DAW programs - programs built to record, edit, or create music, have a metronome feature. When you start a project, you select a tempo. The metronome reads that setting and clicks at that rate. The intent is to use this as the base when recording - you play to the click and, if you're good, your recordings will follow it.

 

You can import a track that you already have recorded, figure out its tempo (some programs have a feature where you tap a mouse button or keyboard key along with the track and it determines the tempo setting), and then turn on the click. If the track was recorded to a click, then the track and the click will play in sync, but if the track was played live or has some tempo variations, it can bet complicated. You can make a "tempo map" for the metronome click to follow.

 

Most DAW programs just click, but offer the option to record the click as a separate track. That's what you want. When you have the music and click lined up, "mix" with the music panned to one side and the click panned to the other, save (render, export) that mix, then you'll have a stereo file with the click on one channel and the music on the other.