Super newbie question

[NPYYZ]

1987 Simmons SDS 7 kit, playing to a Click in my headphones. I was the only band member that heard the click.

https://video-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hv...e2&oe=55EDAC15

[NPYYZ]

Your click track should be in your head when you play. Have seen drummers use click tracks to play to live & they are terrible. Stifles the "Feel" Most bands to tend to very slightly deviate from the tempo but that is human nature. Hate clinical playing with a passion. Go with the feel...........

If you know what you're doing you can play around with the click to keep the "human" feel.

[Texdrumr]

I think we need to get away from ultimatums here. Clicks work for some and not for others. If it works for you - great. If not, quit judging those that do use them. And vice versa.

Division between people with a common passion drives me nuts. A little bit of respect goes a long way.

[js218]

^^^^^^^^^ Agree 100%.........



Jim

[Kevaruka]

If you know what you're doing you can play around with the click to keep the "human" feel.

Never had the need to do live. Recording is different. Click only used on slower stuff. Live.......Go with the flow

[gdmoore28]

Division between people with a common passion drives me nuts. A little bit of respect goes a long way.

Good point, Tex. But I don't think this thread (apologies to the OP!) has seen anymore than the typical low-brow internet jabs. We're all big boys, and it doesn't seem anybody has gotten their panties in a serious wad. Even though we are talking about a subject (metronomes, for crying out loud)that tends to draw sharp opinions, it's hardly an earth shaking issue. Just opinions.

Yesterday a friend and I discussed religion for over two hours, raised our voices a few times, and ultimately disagreed. Then we expressed our love for each other, had a carbonated beverage, and parted as we started - best friends for over thirty years.

I think it's still good here, too. I really love this site, and I have the utmost respect for you all. Even those who disagree. Not a big deal.

GeeDeeEmm

[Railroadin_saylor]

Well said gdm.

[jgziegler]

I think when giving advice, it's very important to understand the difference between what works/worked for you, and what is generally good advice.

I have ZERO musical talent. I can't dance, I've defo got a case of white boy rhythm. I didn't play to a click at first and my playing was crap. I think my teacher said it best, when you practice, ALWAYS use the click, when you don't, you're just playing. Now, that doesn't mean that playing without the click is useless or good timing can only be achieved with one, but i think we can all agree that if you are practicing rudiments or exercises, a beginner drummer should ALWAYS use a click (and not just beginners). Simply put, the number one important thing for a drummer is to keep the time, so why not take the easy route and practice to a click.

One of my guitarists tonight commented he's never had a drummer who pays so much attention to BPM, and that you should just feel it. But here's the problem, the other guitarist (who played drums and has very good timing), myself and the bassist all felt one of our songs at a certain speed. The next day we realized it was 12bpm too fast because before that we had been playing a faster song. It felt right to all of us, but it was wrong.

My point is (after my little tangent) that sure, back in teh day metronomes simply couldn't be heard over drums, and you guys learned without them. Good for you, really. Also understand in those days you also had a lot less distractions and more time to practice. You also had less access to music so you tended to listen to the same records over and over, making it much easier to remember how to play a song and the tempo.

But that was then. Today, you have metronomes on your phone, my ekit even measures how accurately im playing, so why not use these tools? for me, it's the same as saying, "buddy rich didn't know how to read drum music, so why should i?" well, that was then, and this is now.

[NPYYZ]

Never had the need to do live. Recording is different. Click only used on slower stuff. Live.......Go with the flow

You may have missed my earlier post. We used one live because we had all the bass parts programmed on a sequencer, so the click was necessary to keep the band on time with the sequencer. I played 4 years with a click 10 years without. Check out the link above, notice no bass player on stage.

[NPYYZ]

I think we need to get away from ultimatums here. Clicks work for some and not for others. If it works for you - great. If not, quit judging those that do use them. And vice versa.

Division between people with a common passion drives me nuts. A little bit of respect goes a long way.

Different opinions and ideas is how we learn. If everyone thought the same thing it would be a pretty boring place.

[longgun]

As I said in an earlier post.............the click took a long time to get used to..................it felt way too mechanical and I found myself playing to the click instead of making music.

After a year or so, I got better with it and now I actually enjoy it..................I look at it as a "percussionist" with perfect time playing with me........................best thing is, now I am back to playing music!

[gdmoore28]

As I said in an earlier post.............the click took a long time to get used to..................it felt way too mechanical and I found myself playing to the click instead of making music.

After a year or so, I got better with it and now I actually enjoy it..................I look at it as a "percussionist" with perfect time playing with me........................best thing is, now I am back to playing music!

Very good observation, longgun. Your line that you "... look at it as a "percussionist" with perfect time playing with me..." got me to think more about my own problems learning to play with a click. The "percussionist" reference, especially, struck a chord with me. I pulled out my Yamaha Clickstation which, while not having any percussion sounds, does have subdivisions that can be blended into the click sound. I blended in quarter notes and eighth notes at different volumes and . . . voila'. . . I'm suddenly playing any song I want to the click - and with complete comfort and ease!

I'm going to play with this Clickstation a little more, and if it continues to open up new ideas and better progress, I may start looking for a click with percussion voicings for the various note divisions. Thanks for the idea.

GeeDeeEmm

[jgziegler]

Is the click station able to save different clicks?

On my Yammy ekit module, I have 4-5 different clicks which i use, mostly due to the subdivisions. It automatically emphasizes 1, and as you wrote, for some of them, I've made the other sounds different....

[longgun]

Very good observation, longgun. Your line that you "... look at it as a "percussionist" with perfect time playing with me..." got me to think more about my own problems learning to play with a click. The "percussionist" reference, especially, struck a chord with me. I pulled out my Yamaha Clickstation which, while not having any percussion sounds, does have subdivisions that can be blended into the click sound. I blended in quarter notes and eighth notes at different volumes and . . . voila'. . . I'm suddenly playing any song I want to the click - and with complete comfort and ease!

I'm going to play with this Clickstation a little more, and if it continues to open up new ideas and better progress, I may start looking for a click with percussion voicings for the various note divisions. Thanks for the idea.

GeeDeeEmm

Glad to help. Hope it's working for you

[gdmoore28]

Is the click station able to save different clicks?

On my Yammy ekit module, I have 4-5 different clicks which i use, mostly due to the subdivisions. It automatically emphasizes 1, and as you wrote, for some of them, I've made the other sounds different....

Yes, the one I have will save several configurations, but I've never used them. I'm having so much fun with it now that I may have to re-read the instruction manual!

GeeDeeEmm

[jgziegler]

We have an interesting affliction, when we can spend hours just setting up the metronome!

[jmastrodimos]

Playing in a rock cover band, I've had to learn a couple songs where the timing has been problematic for me. The first is the studio version of Cream's "White Room." The second is Bad Religion's "20th Century Digital Boy." Listening to these tunes is one thing, playing to them is another. I believe there is a push/pull timing wise in these two songs, that when listening to is not so evident, but when playing to becomes evident.

The point is, there is some recorded music out there that is not recorded in perfect time, and in fact we can do a better job of it when it comes to laying down the groove.

Just a theory, but I think it carries some weight.

[__--byonin--__]

As a lot of people have said - it depends on the genre/style of the song. Any progressive rock/metal will go up and down in tempo purposely (as that's how it's written), but if you take modern rock tune, Foo Fighters for example, they will 99% of the time play to a click and it will be a steady tempo.

However, if you take a 70/80s funk tune, the tempo may fluctuate slightly, but not purposely (most probably because the bassist and drummer laid down the groove together and the rest of the band played over it).

Getting a basis of the tempo can be down by counting how many beats there are in 15 seconds, in a basic 4/4 tune at least, and multiplying it by four.