Bandmates don't want to record to a click

USMC_Trev said:
To really reduce it down to the very last granule of core truth, is the OP's goals the same as his Ivan Broski's? If they're really his best friends they can sit down and have that talk, handle critiquing each other and themselves. Do they all share the same satisfaction of "it's good enough"? It doesn't appear so. Hopefully OP can say to his friends and bandmates in a band meeting (no **** sit down, no instruments, no distractions, neutral site) that he's not satisfied with the level of effort and that he wants to step it up a notch, and then another notch after that, and keep pushing. *If and only if* that's his goal. If his goals don't match the bands, then it's logical to seek situations where the outcomes align with the goals. That's where the "life is too short" statement comes from.

That's not unreasonable. We should all be doing that in everything we do. And that's why the discourse here has elevated beyond the click track, which should be a non-issue.
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I agree to some extent with most of your points. If you are in the band to try to make a career out of it, it's so tough to make it in the music industry today you need to be brutal. But if you are doing it for fun and maybe a bit extra money from local gigging than it's worth putting up with differences to play with people you enjoy spending time with.
 
Tahoebrian5 said:
I agree to some extent with most of your points. If you are in the band to try to make a career out of it, it's so tough to make it in the music industry today you need to be brutal. But if you are doing it for fun and maybe a bit extra money from local gigging than it's worth putting up with differences to play with people you enjoy spending time with.
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Exactly. It's all about coming to terms with what defines the goal and what everyone is willing to put into it.
 
For goodness sake, if they don’t want to record to a click, just let them mix and master the stuff once.

Or record songs in one take. If they can play perfecly, who needs click anyway? If not, they should just shut up and do what they’re told.
 
Why not take the songs after you recorded them and make a tempo map that has the BPM vary the same way it does in the non-click version?

That's what my band did with a lot of our songs that go up and down a few BPM per section and it turned out great.
Or just record your parts to a click and have the drummer just play to the parts without the metronome.
 
Tahoebrian5 said:
I'm not sure that recommending the guy quit the band with his best friends over the question of a click track is appropriate. Being in a band is about compromise. Try it with, try it without, then have some beers and talk it over.
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I've made such compromises all my musical career. All its gotten me is a career playing small stages and rehearsal rooms, while others, who have not settled for playing with amateur musicians are playing the big stages and festivals.

Like USMC_Trev said, if you have ambitions and the rest does not, it's probably better not to be dragging along a lot of dead weight. Because it will come crashing down at some point. When not everybody is sharing the same mission statement, or not willing to do what it takes to accomplish that goal, it will cause resentment and arguments. No amounts of beer or talking will fix that. Either part the band while you are still friends, or find actual like minded musicians for the real project and keep the old band with the friends just for fun.
 
KyleG said:
That's what my band did with a lot of our songs that go up and down a few BPM per section and it turned out great.
Or just record your parts to a click and have the drummer just play to the parts without the metronome.
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This is what we've decided to do on the next song. They're working with me at least. We're kind of at the OK lets try it phase.
 
mwd said:
So there are optional MIDI instruments in a project such as tambourine, maracas, hi-hat, etc. that can be substituted.
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I did this, not for the whole song, but for a few count-in clicks when we didn't have a drummer (used programmed drums). Interesting to have a goose or sheep doing the count.
 
Glad to see they’re at least trying it. Just don’t let them tell you that the click is slowing down or speeding up. Lol Playing to a click is a learned skill for most people (myself included). No shame in not being able to nail it on your first experience. The click is an unforgiving bitch who loves to point out one’s timing flaws, but she can be tamed through practice and perseverance.
 
For me, it's about the genre and style of the music. Some music lends itself to tempo fluctuations other music does not.

I think it can add a little energy and excitement to sections of songs to speed up a little bit for a chorus. Or gives a nice tension and release to slow down a little bit for a quiet verse.

The bottom line is, is the drummer giving the performance that you want for the record or not?

In Pro Tools its pretty easy to post edit multitrack drum parts to correct timing. You can make it as close or as far from the grid as needed.



It's also pretty easy to make a tempo map so that loops and midi tracks follow the drummer's timing (or another track's timing).
 
barhrecords said:
For me, it's about the genre and style of the music. Some music lends itself to tempo fluctuations other music does not.

I think it can add a little energy and excitement to sections of songs to speed up a little bit for a chorus. Or gives a nice tension and release to slow down a little bit for a quiet verse.

The bottom line is, is the drummer giving the performance that you want for the record or not?

In Pro Tools its pretty easy to post edit multitrack drum parts to correct timing. You can make it as close or as far from the grid as needed.



It's also pretty easy to make a tempo map so that loops and midi tracks follow the drummer's timing (or another track's timing).
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Nice video! Thanks for sharing.
 
Some music is better without a click. Heck, half the magic of the Stones is the way they push into the chorus and pull back coming out. Same thing with a gazillion blues tracks. Ringo had awesome time so the Beatles didn't really need one. I can't imagine that Petty recorded to a click too often.
 
searching said:
I'm doing all of the recording, mixing, editing, and guitar playing. basically everything except playing the other instruments for our band's recordings and some of the band mates are very adamant about not recording to a metronome. Their argument is that it will sound more natural. We record the drummer first, and with the current method, he's playing along with both guitarists live with the guitars coming through his headphones only. I've done several songs like this with them and they turned out pretty good. I want them to be better though. We've already had to re-do a song because of bad tempo changes.

So now, how do I convince them that anyone in their right mind records to a metronome? Does anyone even record without a metronome at all these days? It just seems like this is not a discussion that we even need to have. As a producer, engineer, or whatever you want to call my role here, how do you guide the artist to make the right decisions for a good final product? (In this case I am the artist also) If you're working at a studio and an artist comes in and wants to record without tuning his guitar, or something else ridiculous, where is the line that you draw and say "don't be a dumbass"? (in nicer words)
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So is your drummer one of the band members not recording to a click?
 
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