Click tracks

What do you guys think of drummers who can't play to a click? As in whenever they try, they end up having to slow themselves down, especially after a fill, due to their natural tendency to speed up.

Of course this is all dependent on the style of music. For punk or that screamo/hardcore stuff, I don't think a click track would be a good idea.

Sure there are plenty of name drummers that don't play to a click. But when the producer, engineer, and all of the other band members think it suits what they're after, and the drummer tries and practices to it, but still can't settle in, and he makes up excuses by saying he feels more comfortable playing without it, and saying he thinks it ends up being more natural and more emotional without it....

I think it exposes a flaw in the foundation of their playing and style.

I believe that it's the drummers job to play on tempo. If a drummer can't play with a click track, then he's not that great of a drummer. A lot of people say they can play better to a click track than just to people playing because they have something to play too and something to groove to that's on tempo and there's not someone else speeding them up like the guitar or bass player.

I've spoken to many drummers, and they've all told me that click tracks can do one of 2 things, it can help you to achieve a more consistent and fluent tempo, however it cripples you when going freeform doing fills, changes and so forth. I personally have never used a click track or metronome yet. I play soley by ear...I couldn't read a a drum note or tablature if it was put in front of me. Its easier for me to follow along with the band, especially the bass player....so I can syncopate with him.

I know a drummer from a hardcore band that records just to a click. No scratch guitar, vox or bass. I think it's important to be able to play to a click but I also think that some music doesn;t sound good if it does not have that natural push/pull to it.

More than often it's other bandmembers dragging a drummer along and speeding things up or slowing down.

Drummers allways get the blame for it, wether they are the cause or not, they take the blame.

A clicktrack can help the band avoid this arguement.

That's the reason i use it in the studio, because my guitarist is a non rhytmical bastard with no timing whatsoever and i'm not taking the wrap for it.

When i'm recording other bands than mine, i allways start without it.

A good drummer doesn't need it and a half bad one can't play to it.

Clicktrack makes allot of drummers nervous and many play better without it than with it.

Drummers should decide for themselves what they like best.

Anybody telling me what to do during recording is looking for trouble, and from my recording experiences that's what allot of drummers feel like.

Making recordings of your band practices provides a good mirror for later evaluation.

If your drummer has bad timing and hes a reasonable guy, he'll admit it and work at it.

The guy recording it has, or in my opinion should, have no say in it. He's just there to document what's happening.

A band has to be self concious enough to deal with rhytm problems.

Peter

Could you picture Clutch playing to a click?

no.

Obviously you've never seen or heard my drummer. Hes all over the place constantly with his timing. If I was still doing gigs he would definitely have to go.

Do you want a drummer or a scapegoat?

I rarely record without a click and gig frequently with one too (the band in question uses a lot of sequenced backing) and I think rather than it controlling me, I find it's a tool to eliminate the possibility of me (or anyone else) pushing or pulling the song during recording.

I've recorded a couple of albums this year without guitar/vocal ghosts, just using the click plus my version of charts and I find it a much more rewarding and creative process as there's just you, engineer and producer. With this set up, I get a great deal more done, a lot quicker than having other band members getting in the way!!!

Treat it like an available tool that'll help you get to a finished result.

I can see a drummer using a click to start off with, learning how to play keeping tempo,ect...

But every drummer should get to a point where you shouldn't have to play to a click anymore. You know you can play good when you don't need somthing telling you where the beat is, your playing the beat.

I use to use one, but I feel that I really do not need one anymore. The only reason I use one is to check my bpm, thats it.

I can play to a click no problem. I also play guitar and bass and like to do the "one man band" thing in my studio so a click is a mustfor that situation.

This happend to me in my last band. The guitarist is a good friend of mine. He would always be spot on at practice but as soon as we got infront of a crowd he would take off like 1000mph. The bassist and I talked to him about it more than once but he just brushed it off. So one show at a river lot (no too many people there) the bassist and I decided to lock in together like we always do but this time not speed up when the guitarist did. Boy was that an experience for the guitarist. At our first break he told me he couldn't keep in time and didnt know what was wrong haha. At least he didn't try to blame me for it but after talking to him about it again we go it worked out.

I can do it, but I despise it. I almost always record live (even in studio) with a band anyway, so there's very little point. I don't play dance music, so as long as it doesn't sound bad, I could care less if the tempo is perfectly dead on through the whole song.

Whether it's philosophically good to play to the click or not, if you want to have a real career as a professional drummer, you've got to be able to nail the click every time. Like it or not, it's a skill that has to be practiced, just like double strokes or two bass drums. If you can't do it, get a metronome, and get thee to the wood shed!

/w

look.

If you can't play with a click, you can't keep time. make sense?

A pro drummer can play with a click whenever necessary. Not always easy, but c'mon.

All it takes is practice for chrissakes.

get thee to a wood shed indeed!

I don't think a click cripples the 'free form' solo type of drumming at all.

+1

Plus if your band ever uses sequences or pre-recorded stuff, you really need it.

precisely. there's a difference between being a purist and simply neglecting to learn one of the most fundamentally important parts of playing your instrument.