I just cannot play with a click

[budadek]

As a drummer, I'd say... practice, practice, practice!

My suggestion would be to count loudly. If you can't do that with a metronome, firstly count loudly every beat. After you do that, try to adjust your playing and loud counting to the metronome. Should come easier

 

[wtfuhz]

It always feels weird the first few times hehe. Your ear will learn to find the groove

 

[BigRed360]

Anybody else notice how in the thread title "I just cannot play with a click" the "c" and the "l" in "click" run together and look like a "d"?

Just an observation. Carry on...

 

[somegeezer]

As most people have indicated, using a drum machine/progam to create a "drum groove" can feel more natural than a simple click. However, if your timing is not yet developed enough to be able to play with "click" - then you really should work to improve your timing.

All musicians should have a well developed internal clock that allows them to keep accurate time - the concept that it is the drummer's job to keep time is simply incorrect, inaccurate and perhaps a way for some musicians to simply make an excuse why they have not learned to keep time.

You may note I used the phrase "play with a cick" vs. play to a click. Many musicians (and often drummers in particular) make the mistake of becoming intimidated by the click, thinking each beat must precisely follow the click. This is the wrong way to approach the issue. A click is simply a guidline, it can be OK to play a little ahead or behind (or even behind on the verse and ahead on the chorus) whatever best serves the music - as long as you do not stray from the beat. Playing around the click (or playing with the click) can make the process less stressful and help allow the music to breath.

Bullshit. It's exactly the job of a drummer to do this. Whilst it is the job of the bassist to keep rhythm and the guitarist to show off with widdly widdly woo and the singer to look pretty. ;P

I also say bollocks to the "if you can't play to click, then drums won't help". Hearing a kit instead of *ping click click click ping click click click* gets you so much more into the feel of it actually being a song. All that pinging and clicking just makes me want to stab everyone in the room. This coming from someone who CAN play to it.

 

[jamesbecker]

i cant play guitar to a click to save myself.. just doesnt have the feel! what i like to do is get a drum sample and repeat it for the length of how long im recording.. just a simple drum loop from EZdrummer and copy + paste it, make it the tempo i want then record over it.. once im done all the guitar parts etc il re do the drums with EZdrummer or record live and its always in time..

 

[RAMI]

I also say bollocks to the "if you can't play to click, then drums won't help". Hearing a kit instead of *ping click click click ping click click click* gets you so much more into the feel of it actually being a song. All that pinging and clicking just makes me want to stab everyone in the room. This coming from someone who CAN play to it.

You're talking about 2 different things. Finding a click track annoying versus being able to play with one have nothing to do with each other, as proven by the fact that you hate them but are still able to play to one. So, Farview's statement that if you can't play to a click, you'll have trouble playing to a drummer holds true.

 

[RawDepth]

Try doubling the bpm of the click. Ie: the song is 120 bpm, set the click meter to 240. Works for me.

There is your answer. Set it to double or quadruple the basic beat, (such as in Hi Hat ticks,) and you can easily stay with it.

 

[somegeezer]

You're talking about 2 different things. Finding a click track annoying versus being able to play with one have nothing to do with each other, as proven by the fact that you hate them but are still able to play to one. So, Farview's statement that if you can't play to a click, you'll have trouble playing to a drummer holds true.

It's actually often the annoyance of the click that makes it difficult for people to play to. If anything, my point about being able to play to it myself was just pointless information.

 

[RAMI]

It's actually often the annoyance of the click that makes it difficult for people to play to. If anything, my point about being able to play to it myself was just pointless information.

No, it wasn't pointless at all. It made a good point. Even if I don't 100% agree with you, I can respect your opinion on the subject more knowing you can play to a click, as opposed to someone who can't and blames it on the sound of the click.

 

[aaronmcoleman]

I can't hear the click very well sometimes so i end up off. When I used clicks I'd have to turn it up so loud it would bleed out of my crappy headphones, and kill my ears.

Now I use a simple track from ezdrummer (you can get the addictive drummer demo and just use a simple,track from that too for free). I can hear the drums much better, get tighter timing, and keep the volume low.

I have a lot of trouble with a click, but I'm not a drummer and would never have to record drums to a click either, so I think the addictive/ez drummer solution works for a lot of us non-drummers.

 

[Lt. Bob]

Bullshit. It's exactly the job of a drummer to do this. Whilst it is the job of the bassist to keep rhythm .

really it's kind of the drummer and bassist together to keep the time. As a bassist I can drag or push the best of drummers. But with a good drummer AND a good bassist ...... that's when the time locks in.

 

[Beat Poet]

I can't hear the click very well sometimes so i end up off. When I used clicks I'd have to turn it up so loud it would bleed out of my crappy headphones, and kill my ears.

If you want retain a "live" feel but still want the tightness of playing to a click, it can actually be beneficial to have the click on at a low volume, but set it without an accent on the first beat of each bar. That way you can hear the click ticking, but it if you slide out, it's no big deal and you can easily get in sync with it again.

 

[Farview]

If you have to turn the click up to earbleeding levels to hear it, you need to pick a different sound for the click. I tend to go for a cowbell, because it has some length to it. That way, you can be right on top of it, but not lose it.

 

[BassMan53]

If you have to turn the click up to earbleeding levels to hear it, you need to pick a different sound for the click. I tend to go for a cowbell, because it has some length to it. That way, you can be right on top of it, but not lose it.

The first question that comes to my mind is how hot are you tracking?

 

[aaronmcoleman]

The first question that comes to my mind is how hot are you tracking?

Really low. But being in the same room as an electric, or recording a loud acoustic can get pretty loud. I've changed the click sounds but still don't really like it. Maybe someday I'll mess with a click again.

 

[somegeezer]

really it's kind of the drummer and bassist together to keep the time. As a bassist I can drag or push the best of drummers. But with a good drummer AND a good bassist ...... that's when the time locks in.

I was being a sarcastic bastard when I said it. =P As a bassist myself, I do the same.

 

[GONZO-X]

I just cannot play with a click

having discipline is important to becoming a good player.

you need to develop to the point, that you can easily groove to ANY source, even a click.

you should be able to groove behind it, on top of it, and in front of it.

you should develop your ability to swing.

in other words, practice.



it helps, when recording, if you can set a 'click' sound internal to the DAW, that is something like a kick drum, instead of a 'click'.
then you just pretend you're playing with a drummer who has impeccable timing.


all of this only matters to those who really want to get good.

 

[aaronmcoleman]

having discipline is important to becoming a good player.

you need to develop to the point, that you can easily groove to ANY source, even a click.

you should be able to groove behind it, on top of it, and in front of it.

you should develop your ability to swing.

in other words, practice.



it helps, when recording, if you can set a 'click' sound internal to the DAW, that is something like a kick drum, instead of a 'click'.
then you just pretend you're playing with a drummer who has impeccable timing.


all of this only matters to those who really want to get good.

I don't buy it. I know tons of good players who can't record to a click. They all do fine with drummers but clicks are a problem. Using a kick as a click is kinda different than using a normal click. It's more like playing with a drummer. If that's your point, I agree. But playing to a normal click track is something a lot of player struggle with.

I do think it's more important for a drummer so he can lay down a track, but to a guitarist it may not matter as much.

 

[elbandito]

Originally Posted by elbandito
Try doubling the bpm of the click. Ie: the song is 120 bpm, set the click meter to 240. Works for me.

There is your answer. Set it to double or quadruple the basic beat, (such as in Hi Hat ticks,) and you can easily stay with it.

I'm glad somebody noticed that... I was beginning to think that this thread was more about philosophically arguing the role of a drummer than coming with a practical solution to the troubles of playing with a click.

 

[grimtraveller]

I also say bollocks to the "if you can't play to click, then drums won't help". Hearing a kit instead of *ping click click click ping click click click* gets you so much more into the feel of it actually being a song.

That may be true. Actually, I think it is true. But it misses the point. If you can't play to *ping click click click*, it makes no sense that you'll be able to do it to *boof boof pap pap*. They are exactly the same in every way but sound and the timing reference, be it metronome, clock, click or drum machine is all about the time, not the sound.

Bullshit. It's exactly the job of a drummer to do this. Whilst it is the job of the bassist to keep rhythm

Yes and no. It is everybody's job in a playing situation to keep time. But the human ear responds to sonic rigidity, ie things that get hit to produce beat. So we notice drums and percussion roles in time keeping in a way that we wouldn't a guitar, violin or even bass. Non hit instruments can afford to be a little fluid because things like notes can slide, slur or be bent. But they still have to keep time.
The bass is an interesting one because it fulfils more roles in music than any other, I think. What it does could be covered by other instruments, yet it's all in one versatility makes it the kingpin.

I was being a sarcastic bastard when I said it.

And how was anyone supposed to deduce this ? The only bit that comes across as sarcasm is the bit about the singer and the guitarist. The rest reads like a serious point of view.

i cant play guitar to a click to save myself.. just doesnt have the feel ! What i like to do is get a drum sample and repeat it for the length of how long im recording.. just a simple drum loop from EZdrummer and copy + paste it, make it the tempo i want then record over it.

Your second statement cancels out your first. If you can do the second, you are already playing to a click. Perhaps it should be said that the word "click" is simply a catch all word that means any timing reference.
And by the way, a real living human drummer is a timing reference.

It's actually often the annoyance of the click that makes it difficult for people to play to.

I can see that, in that it can be an annoying sound. But that's different from the ability or willingness to play to a click. Either you can or you can't. If you can't, practice till you can. Otherwise it's no longer can't but won't. I can't emphasize enough that this thread is not about the sound of a click but the principle and philosophy of a click.

The first question that comes to my mind is how hot are you tracking?

I would think it was not so much a matter of hot tracking, but hot monitoring.