fear of click tracks

I think everyone knows that rigid metronomes just hold you back, and the thin g you are nissing is that clicks are just there to keep things tight. Loose is bad, but loose is NOT what most 'loose' players are at all! they play around the beat tightly. Military bands are the most rigid, and playing that rigidly is amazingly dificult, and often a difficult habit to break.

We do lots of recreations for backing tracks, and in most cases, we take the original and build a Tempo Map. Some classic songs are amazingly rigid when you expect flow, and others are crazily sloppy, changing BPM inside single bars. To be loose AND tight which is where the tempos flows, but everyone follows it, you need to be able to play to the click in the same way clasical musos follow the conductors waving arms, they don't watch every arm wave, but they get the flow with their peripheral vision in the main. if you compose flowing music, but need to add to it with new instruments, espcially drums and bass, you must build a tempos map then add it to the music so you can follow the track timing or deviations from it - you as producer, decide if the drums/bass are the primary beat and the click follows this, leaving the guitar to meander, or if everyone follows the guitar. one sounds better than the other. if you use clicks live, then its a skill that needs practice. you get used to it pretty quickly - ive been playing to clicks for a long time, and its a good skill to hone.
 
Yes there's some great advice here . Thus far my kit is limited .loop idea is probably out with my 8 track ( not a computer) some other ideas in here I could probably use
 
Once upon a time people learning an instrument played along to a metronome. It helped with establishing timing and stoped you dropping tempo when hitting a difficult section of the music. Playing along to a click is easy if you let the click be your friend, it's not there to stagnate the music or feel its there to maintain a tempo. You can play in front or behind the beat if thats the feel but just let the click carry the tempo.

I have played to click and drum machines for over 30 years, I can take it or leave it but if it need to be there thats no problem. I even performed in a live band with sequencers that absolutely needed clicks to maintain our song position and this was great.

Click tracks are also good when recording a song that later may require drums or percussion at a later stage, try putting that on with a track recorded without one, any slight variation in tempo becomes very obvious when the drums go on.

Alan.
 
Once upon a time people learning an instrument played along to a metronome. It helped with establishing timing and stoped you dropping tempo when hitting a difficult section of the music. Playing along to a click is easy if you let the click be your friend, it's not there to stagnate the music or feel its there to maintain a tempo. You can play in front or behind the beat if thats the feel but just let the click carry the tempo.

Exactly.

I think there is too much "fear click tracks"...and people just end up with that "deer in headlights" kind of moment, thinking they have to match the click perfectly in sync with it, instead of just playing along. :)
 
This topic is genre specific in my opinion.

Sometimes it's fine, sometimes it's not. When it's fine it's great. When it sucks, it really fucking sucks. :guitar:

Jazz group with solid internal meter? Yep all good.

Prog metal band? Oh God please no.
 
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