recording WITHOUT a metronome?

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anyone record without a metronome?

I think i might do it from now on, it seems that it takes the life out of a perfomance, i think i'll record the guitar and use sonars audiosnap(like protools beatdetective) to align the tempo to my midi drum tracks, innstead of having everything exactly in time with a metronome.
 
wtf? i think the midi drum track takes the life out of the performance.

you may want to add a groove to it and then record your guitar part TO it. or record your guitar to it and go back and add a real drum kit to it. when it comes to metronomes/clicks, there's not too much to discuss. also, why post a whole new topic when you can just try it and get answers faster?
 
I don't mean to bag on you but what's different about MIDI drums when compared to a metronome? Same thing!
 
Anyone who thinks a metronome takes the life out of a song needs to listen to Baba O'Reily and Won't Get fooled Again by the Who.
 
tocs said:
it seems that it takes the life out of a perfomance..........



align the tempo to my midi drum tracks,
Click to expand...

Hehe...No offense, man....but that's one of the funniest things I've ever read. :):eek:
 
tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick !!!!!!!!!!! I just listen to my Timex :)
 
We didn't use a metronome on our album but then we did have a real drummer.
 
tocs said:
anyone record without a metronome?
Click to expand...
At the very least, there's something to be said for playing and/or creating without a click, or recording too. So then the question is, are you're going to have to go back and chop it up anyway or just fix a few things? Where is this in the 'creation and learning to play' process? (Learning to play in tempo?)
 
If you can do some live tracking with really good musicians then you don't need a metronome, it can really give a song great dynamics and good musicians use eachother for timing.
 
Having MIDI drums, or a click track to use as a reference really helps.

Not many of my songs use a metronome or even drums. I don't have any problems keeping time with myself, but things always seem tighter when some sort of drum/midi track was used. I can't even play to a click, I at least need some fake drums. I can't play to a "tick tick tick tick"...

If you're worried about the click track messing with the "feel" of the song, then either

a) learn to play "freely" with a metronome
b) Record one scratch drum/rhythm track that is right on time. Record a few more tracks over it using that drum/rhythm as the reference. Then go back and redo that reference track with the other tracks in the song.
 
Micter said:
I don't mean to bag on you but what's different about MIDI drums when compared to a metronome? Same thing!
Click to expand...

naw.. big difference. MIDI doesn't mean it has to even be quantized.. it's very possible to get lifelike performances using midi instruments.. it's how you play it, and how much/little you quantize and "perfect" it. If it's too perfect it'll not be human.. Ideally the best thing to do is get a digital drum kit and play the stuff in that way via MIDI, but if you've been a drummmer for a while you can usually replicated what you "would have played" with a pretty good ammount of accuracy.. remember, the sample discs out now are lightyears ahead of what existed in the past.. I've actually fooled people into thinking a whole album I did was live drums (half the songs were, and half of them were purely sampled...some of them my own samples, admitedly)
 
Being able to play with a metronome without it effecting the way you perform can only be done with practice. Many bands don't ever practice with metronomes so when they get in the studio they automatically lose the option of using one with a positive outcome.
So if you can't play with a metronome without making your performance sound forced don't use one until you learn.
 
No click -







I am all for a band playing without it IF they can! These three bands were QUITE capable of playing with it, but all felt it made their music sound a bit "stiff", and it actually did.

There is NO editing in any of these songs either!
 
My drummer cannot play in beat to save his life. We have been play songs at our shows entirely way too fast and recording them has been a pain in the ass because he can't play with a metronome.
 
Anyone who thinks a metronome takes the life out of a song needs to listen to Baba O'Reily and Won't Get fooled Again by the Who.
Click to expand...

I don't think a metronome necessarily takes the "life" out of a song, but it does impart a certain mechanical feel. That isn't necessarily bad. Great artists can work with whatever tools they want.
Lots of great music is also created that simply could not be tracked against a metronome. There are small "speed ups" and "slow downs" that are dictated by the emotional content of the music, reflected through the drummer and whole band. Must of the great artists of the 60's & 70's did not use click tracks. It became popular only when musicians started recording their parts individually. not as a band.
Try to synch a click-track to Hendrix, Cream, Jethro Tull, Mountain, etc, etc, etc.....It can't be done.
The idea that music MUST be tracked against a click-track is the one that is a myth. But I admit that it is convenient, and is probably better than a bad drummer.
 
tocs said:
anyone record without a metronome?

I think i might do it from now on, it seems that it takes the life out of a perfomance, i think i'll record the guitar and use sonars audiosnap(like protools beatdetective) to align the tempo to my midi drum tracks, innstead of having everything exactly in time with a metronome.
Click to expand...

I do sometimes record without a click.

It seems there is only one tempo that I can play for any length of time.

That tempo is 150.75 BPM plus or minus a beat or two.

Some tempo seem more comfortable to me than others. 120 BPM seems too fast and too slow all at the same time.

If I want to do a slow song at say 60 BPM I have to set the click at 120 playing half time.

I don’t think a click in and of itself gives or takes the life from a performance, it’s the feeling you impart that makes all the difference.

You don’t have to be dead nuts in the center of the beat but you can’t be too far off either.

And if you speed up from the start, then on the rewind the difference is so obvious you will come off as a rank amateur.
 
i've always felt that if the musicians, and specifically the drummer, can perform with a metronome in a way that means they're simply using it to keep themselves at a constant speed, rather than being sort of 'forced' to play at a speed in a way that feels unnatural to them, then i sounds fine. sort of depends on the song and style too, of course. but if the drummer's used to dictating the speed all the way through, it won't come off well.

Andrew.
 
Manslick said:
If I want to do a slow song at say 60 BPM I have to set the click at 120 playing half time.
Click to expand...

i have this same (problem?)

is that pretty common or do we just have attention deficit disorders?
 
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