Click or not to click?

[~BURNY~]

I play a few styles of music and practice to a metronome and a click. One of the practices is dragging or pushing the beat on purpose for the sense of feel and so on but still while keeping good time. In fact on some R & B dates, they will look at you very funny if you don't lay back full time, though they want you to have perfect everything. I don't hear about this much in thrashier metal, death, or speed. I'm sure when a groove section, or clean section comes up, someone in the band/production is looking for a bit more of a open feel and it's probably cause they want the snare or someone else to lay back a bit more. You'll find the best bands of the genre you like study other style and pick up these feels in put them into metal. Just like some lead players infusing jazz or classical, some infuse timing ideas.

I'm totally fascinated by the groove concept. As you said it's not incompatible with clever use of the click. And It's too bad that there's not much use of it in the metal scene.

 

[Hammer Bart]

I play a few styles of music and practice to a metronome and a click. One of the practices is dragging or pushing the beat on purpose for the sense of feel and so on but still while keeping good time. In fact on some R & B dates, they will look at you very funny if you don't lay back full time, though they want you to have perfect everything.

Very true. I also play with a funk/fusion band and the drummer is extremely critical of his own playing. He is always telling me that he has difficulties drumming grooves the way great drummers in the genre do. Mind you, he is actually a very good drummer and he has little problems playing it technically or merely staying in time. It's the feel of a song that can be very difficult to get right sometimes.
For this very reason we stopped playing a song by John Scofield that was on our setlist for a while. We could play the song and not mess up, and it didn't sound bad, but it just didn't groove as it should. It's hard to describe, but there are all kinds of amazingly weird grooves on Scofield's albums.

I realise that I have gone completely off topic, so I'll shut up now.

 

[MKS]

Thanks for all the feedback. I really appreciate it.

Honestly, I haven't spent much time in a professional studio so I wasn't sure how much a click is actually used. Now after reading this thread, I know.

Thanks again.

 

[ArtisanBass]

In my metal band, we can change tempos to change feels by 5-10 beats when deciding on them. In a pop band I play in, the drum can change the whole feel of the song just by adjusting the tempo by 2 beats or laying back or pushing. Great drummer. Something you don't find in metal too often. I haven't asked him to kick 6's at 180 though yet.

 

[elmuchoescadawg]

Obviously the click makes editing much easier but once youve got your recording done how much editing do you do? Obviously its going to be different for each project and will depend on all sorts but what do you guys consider to be the essential norm?
Quite a vague question I know but at the moment Ive been chopping up snare hits on blast beats...

 

[rhythmicpunisher]

What are you talking about? Theres great drummers all over metal!!! Even though I don't listen to as much metal as I do fusion these days....but I wouln't be the drummer I am today without metal!!!!!

 

[James Murphy]

Obviously the click makes editing much easier but once youve got your recording done how much editing do you do? Obviously its going to be different for each project and will depend on all sorts but what do you guys consider to be the essential norm?
Quite a vague question I know but at the moment Ive been chopping up snare hits on blast beats...

yeah.. with metal i am usually sorting out blast beats and the double-kick sections mostly... sometimes tom fills.. depends on the drummer if i need to do that or not, but blasts and kicks are almost always a must.

 

[elmuchoescadawg]

Does anyone delete parts of track where the instrument isnt being played for example if the ride is being played not the hats do you delete that section of the hats channel to eliminate spill and vica verca and similar with toms channels or do you guys leave the channels open? Again Ive tried both approaches band dependant but Im curious about how other people work.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

I mute toms when they are not played but leave the ride and hats whether they are played or not.