Let me preface this entire entry by declaring that metronomes are a VITAL tool for any musician. And it’s not something you outgrow – you will always want to practice with a click of some sort, so this post is NOT about that.

I’ve been recording quite a bit lately and I’ve come to realize several things about my playing and my perception of time and music. Strap on your philosophy helmets, boys and girls, this is going to get bumpy.

I don’t like click tracks when I record.

There. I said it. It’s out in the open and I can’t take it back. Well, I could edit the post and change the date like it never happened and then some guy will be all “Hey! There goes that anti-metronome drummer!!! Let’s key his car!” and I’d feign shock and amazement and demand that this fellow prove such atrocities against my character. He’s pull up drummertalk.org and Alas! the post would be gone. HaHA! He’d look the foolish sort, wouldn’t he?!

So .. what was all that?!?! Yeah, I was up until 330am last night working on my taxes. Back to the blog …

When I record, I’ve found that I play better when there’s no mechanical beat-keeping sound blasting over the song. I want to record to music not machines. It’s not that I can’t, it’s just that when I ask the engineer to shut off the click, I focus on several other musical things happening. What is the bass player doing and how is his inflection? Is the vocalist emphasizing something that gets over-looked when there’s a click happening? Is the rhythm guitar just a bit behind the beat and more laid back? All these things are easily buried when you’re focusing your attention on a click. It takes great discipline to discern the music amid the incessant clicking, but it can be done. It’s not that I can’t record to a click, it’s only that I prefer not to if I can.

The one time I want to have a click is when I’m laying down the first track. I understand the advantage of having a click, and I know how much of a benefit it is to producers. If I am laying down my stuff first, I don’t have any other musical reference to base my groove off of, so the click is helpful just in a tempo sense. That way, I’m establishing the feel for the song and the other musicians can lock in with me.

So that’s really all I have to say about that.