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September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | The ZoomH2 has a built in metronome feature.
tink... tink... tink... tink... tink...
I thought I had some sense of timing until I tried recording multiple tracks last year. It's very, very hard to remember to drift off the beat at exactly the same time and pace as the "rhythm" :rolleyes: track first recorded.
When I'm trying to concentrate on the sound I'm playing I find the tink... tink... in my ear very distracting. I know I need to find a tool to help me out. Maybe one of those old fashion, top of the piano, arm that swings back and forth type of things might work. That would give me visual que to follow rather than yet another sound to concentrate on. Or, maybe a basic drum machine??? |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Metronomes are tools of an insidious Fascist plot. |
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June 2006
Posts: 7307
Location: South of most, North of few | rent a drummer, I hear they work cheap. |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | . . . but, steal the silverware |
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February 2004
Posts: 2487
| .... then drink all the beer in the fridge |
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September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Ooooo... look what I scarfed up.
Vintage Metronome
Found it with 3 minutes left to go.
For $20 I can't really go wrong.
I'm thinking (and hoping) that it is "vintage" enough to be well built.
(Rememeber back in the day when a VCR weighted 15 pounds? That was because they used things like real brass gears instead of plastic. *** Tuppy.. Sorry about the knock on plastic ***) |
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January 2004
Posts: 627
Location: Cherry Hill, NJ | Brad
My advice is that you gotta feel the beat, rather than listen to it. Once you do that you'll stay in sync with the rhythm. |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Tommy's right. Just keep at it. Playing along with recorded music will help your sense of timing as well.
The only reason I use some kind of rhythm tool (click, drum machine, whatever) is if I'm working on something that I plan to add midi or drum loops to later. |
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November 2007
Posts: 24
Location: indianapolis | Same boat as you when I started recording a lot more by myself than with others. I think the click track is a learned skill for recording like many technical aspects of playing an instrument. (I would name some but I really have no technique.) Practise will make the click track disappear and your tracks will be in time. |
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June 2006
Posts: 7307
Location: South of most, North of few | Originally posted by Northcountry:
.... then drink all the beer in the fridge Uh Oh,I've been found out! :D |
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October 2005
Posts: 4046
Location: Utah | We've got a vintage metronome that goes "tick.......tock tick.......tock tick.........tock". It turns every song into a swing tune! Hopefully yours works better. |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | I find it easier to follow a very basic/simple drum track than a metronome. |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Maybe there's a way to mute it and just watch the arm swing? |
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July 2005
Posts: 1609
Location: Colorado | Keep working at it - slowly turn it down in the cue mix...you'll get better...If you are all playing the session together...you can keep it together - but for overdubbing - or laying down multiple takes - they gotta be in time - even if there is some "feel" to the time. I also learned to play in time better with a click track by learning to play at much lower volume in the headphones...the click isn't that annoying somehow at lower volume - and I found if I actually listened to what I was playing - I played better...all of this is working on the assumption you are not struggling to play the part. If not... get the rhythm down first - the notes/chords down second - and know it backwards and forwards...this gives you the mental bandwidth to keep it in time. T28 is right - a simple rhythm track can be easier...I like KIck and hi hat only. Somehow the good ones play in time and in tune! |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | When playing live with the loop machine, I use the beat track only to lay down the first layer, then shut it off thereafter. I find the beat track very distracting. Maybe its different for recording. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Metronomes are boring and drum machines are eventually annoying. Play with a good drummer, or when practising play with backing tracks, that will sort your timing out. In the 80's I spent so many years playing in showbands with drummers who were on headphones listening to clicktraks that I can now actually fart in perfect time to anything. It's like any other musical skill, it just takes some practice and dedication. |
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December 2001
Posts: 7223
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Ahhhh click tracks...
I use different setups for artists in the studio depending on the music.
If it's acoustic guitar tracks.. I try to set up something pleasant like a closed high-hat sound and maybe a "click" on the 1st beat.
As I use Sonar mostly to record, I can put actual time in such as 3/4, 4/4 or 2/4 etc..
The "trick" is that I try to keep it as quiet in the monitor as possible so they are listening to what they are playing, not the click.
What you must keep in mind, and maybe someone else can explain this better, is that you RARELY play ON the beat, and that goes for a drummer too. They play on time, they produce the beat.
In Blues, one tends to play behind the beat. In rock a little ahead. Jazz, all over the place.
That's the issue with a LOUD click.. You end up chasing the click.
When I set up for recording... I try to have a pattern, sometimes an actual drum pattern that is pleasant, subtle, and in the 2/4, 4/4 or whatever. I then tell them to play to that pattern like it's just a real boring drummer.
If you don't have those tools, just keep in mind, the click is for TIMING not for the BEAT. You will get in front, in back of, and on top of it, it's how music gets its "feel." |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Once you have the experience and the skill it becomes part of your subconcious. You stop "counting" and start "feeling" the groove. The best drummers I have ever worked with almost always expect a click track. As long as they know where the "one" is, they can do what the hell they like. |
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July 2005
Posts: 1609
Location: Colorado | Well said gentleman - keep it soft if you use one - remember the click is the reference - not the beat or the feel - know the stuff well enough to listen to what you are playing - and do it enough that it just happens. |
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January 2006
Posts: 1478
Location: Michigan | Brad instead of investing in a Click-Clock music timer I use another much easier way to get your timing down is to play in your garage and turn your cars turn signal on and keep a beat to that.
WARNING DO NOT DO THIS WITH THE CARS ENGINE RUNNING.GWB |
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July 2005
Posts: 1609
Location: Colorado | Is the flash one - or is the off one? |
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April 2006
Posts: 2491
Location: Copenhagen Denmark | Left or Right...or emergency for those who wear glasses....??.. |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Is this a foreign car or domestic? they click at different speeds I've found. |
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June 2007
Posts: 3084
Location: Brisbane Australia | Two Irishmen.
Paddy says to Mick "go to the back of the car and see if the indicator is working"
Mick "yes it is, no it isn't..."
:D |
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December 2007
Posts: 54
Location: Eaton Rapids Michigan | "tick tock Clarice..." |
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The Evil Metronome