Comments on: In search of the click track

By: Mac Santiago

Mac Santiago — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 08:11:18 +0000

Extremely intriguing.Here’s my take on timekeeping and clicks.Sorry it’s a little winded.It’s part of an article I’m working on……A Poorly Played Note Well Placed…..”…..Is better than a well played note misplaced” This was my friend Wade’s reaction after I told him about the book that I had recently given birth to late last year entitled “Beyond the Metronome”.I thought to myself this probably was the best one yet e.g. it seemed that every musician I’ve spoke to regarding this subject had a reaction or experience in regards to tempo,groove,pocket or whatever one chooses to call that thing that gives rhythm it’s flow or value… the “Big Beat”.We can all agree is is the common thread through almost all music ,especially and not exclusive to that which has it’s rhythmic roots in Africa.i.e.folk,blues,jazz,swing ,rock,R&B ,hip-hop.,etc. ……Of course most players know that whatever one might think of anothers’ compositional abilities, choice of notes in an improvisational setting or even tone quality, judgments most readily fly in regards to a player’s intonation and time or inchronation(in-internal,chron-clock)…that is an individual’s own ability to create or carry that rhythmic objective both accurately and with an over-all sense of “steady”. This is not just for drummers and rhythm section players either.Everyone has an influence on the groove.A trumpet player playing a nice accent over an and -of- four hit…early,can bring down an otherwise solid groove.So, how does one go about getting this groove together.?Play with records? Play with a metronome?Sure ,if you think that following someone or something elses time is good enough.Getting ‘with it’ or in-sync is important but who’s tempo is it?The guy beating on an imaginary plane(the directors ictus) or some drummer or bassist reading a difficult passage in the music or focusing on the babe in the third row? And we all know how fun it is to practice with a metronome.e.g.that tug-o-war ,so often called a ‘crutch’ and generally the end result is unnatural at best.So, what do you do when you listen to a recording of yourself and you feel as if your in a race to beat one with a drummer who has sucked the life out of an otherwise great groove? Through many years of playing and discussing this somewhat vague topic I have come to the conclusion that in addition to being a good follower of the tempo,that is being able to ‘sync’ yourself to what’s going on, one should practice creating it and have a recognition of it just as one recognizes good intonation. Creating that steadiness that the music deserves should come from every player at any ability. In the practice room, a process of learning to subdivide and play with the metronome at quarter-notes is a great start but should be viewed as only the beginning. Gradually removing the metronome and replacing it with your own internal one seemed to be an appropriate step and one that was often missing in the aforementioned advice often given to students of the groove. With the exception of playing faster tempos to a slower click or displacing the click to beats 2 and 4(as the swing drummer’s hi-hat)an actual process has seemed to have ‘snuck’ under the radar or just plain taken for granted..As a result most young players and even some seasoned pros who can “play their asses off” can consistently show tendencies to rush through musical phrases or show an inability to recreate a given tempo from the beginning to the end of a tune,song or piece of music.In recording and even live, I’ve even noticed an increasing reliance on click tracks that lend themselves to players bouncing back and forth on either side of the beat in an effort to stay ‘with’ it. In the exercise below a student of the groove is given an opportunity to examine his /her own perspective of tempo.Granted the clicks indicated in the chart are metronomic(digital that is) and are to be used as a guide just as a metronome is but obviously diminished (halved) periodically.The idea is to take whatever you are playing, e.g.keep it simple and something you know real well.Remember well played is well placed…and as the click gets ‘longer’ in duration,substitute the click with your own estimation of where the groove is.Your own ‘internal click’.This way the metronome or click gradually becomes less of a guide for the time as your internal clock takes over.Ending up in perfect rhythmic unison with the the clicks is the ultimate goal, but how close you are to them (late or early)and it’s consistency is more important and should give you a fair estimate of your conception of the given tempo.Remember this: you must stay true to your perception of the groove.Becoming further away each time means you are not playing the given tempo or altering it to some degree or another i.e.rushing or dragging.At this point try again.Employ more subdivision this time.Maybe incorporating more non-essential movement as often players do.i.e. a slight movement of the head or shoulders. by not telling her/him what to play but where to put it..Well played”(in-tune etc)and …”Well placed”(rhythmically accurate).

By: thinksicily

thinksicily — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:37:31 +0000

An extreme example of accelerando in programmed music is “Alphabet Aerobics” by Blackalicious – check it out.

It’d definitely be interesting to check out more of the old jazz drummers. I’d be intrigued to see how folks like Big Sid Catlett and Cozy Cole compare with Art Blakey or Max Roach.

By: harvey

harvey — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:17:20 +0000

Awesome article! I’m just starting to get into drumming with a click track, gonna go plot stuff now.

By: Revisiting the click track « Music Machinery

Revisiting the click track « Music Machinery — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:55:36 +0000

[...] the click track One of my more popular posts from last year was ‘In Search of the Click track‘ where I posted some plots showing the tempo deviations from the average tempo for a number [...]

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:49:52 +0000

is this The Anthony Pittarelli the kick a** drummer of the band Child?

By: Interesting Reading… – The Blogs at HowStuffWorks

Interesting Reading… – The Blogs at HowStuffWorks — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:30:24 +0000

[...] In search of the click track – “Sometime in the last 10 or 20 years, rock drumming has changed. Many drummers will now don headphones in the studio (and sometimes even for live performances) and synchronize their playing to an electronic metronome – the click track. This allows for easier digital editing of the recording. Since all of the measures are of equal duration, it is easy to move measures or phrases around without worry that the timing may be off. The click track has a down side – some say that songs recorded against a click track sound sterile, that the missing tempo deviations added life to a song…” [...]

By: Guitar Lessons For Children

Guitar Lessons For Children — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:25:47 +0000

Dude this was incredibly interesting. I don’t know if I’ve just been a little naive but I almost did not expect Breaking Benjamin to be using a click track.. although now that I think about it I guess I can believe it.

Anyway, this is super interesting, thanks for sharing your findings. You even gave the code which is awesome. I’m not sure if PHP is really made for this but I can still give it a go hehehe.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:05:18 +0000

Hey I was wondering if you could check some bands with faster drum beats like “As I Lay Dying – Forsaken” or “All That Remains – Empty Inside”.
Thanks.

By: Danno

Danno — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:36:32 +0000

Hey Brian U, Boss has been making metronomes with earbuds and LED’s since the late 70′s – early 80′s. Mechanical metronomes have been around since the early 19th century, and musical compositions since that time have included markings that correspond to a metronomes BPM.
Your second paragraph brings up a good point: grab a Robert Johnson record and “graph” him. His time signatures change sometimes every measure!
Like this article. Your next subject should be Dragonforce!

By: Take Solace

Take Solace — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:06:40 +0000

Thanks for the info. Pretty cool idea. It didn’t answer for me the question of sterility, but I guess that’s probably unanswerable. Each song is different. And at least we know that Brittney Spears isn’t sterile..