Drummers: Double Time Click Tracks?

[brandondrury]

Hey drummers,

I was just curious if you guys have tried recording with double time click tracks. I recently visited the tracking of my buddy's band who is working with a real producer and they tracked the drums with double timed clicks. I didn't get the time to ask why.

Then when I was Wagener's they did the same. I actually got the chance to ask why. It seamed incredibly obvious.

What are you guy's thoughts on this?

Brandon

[dach]

It just depends on the groove and where/when the accents actually fall on a "beat".

[Geisler]

I agree. It can be helpful, but it totally depends on the groove/feel.

[brandondrury]

So there are times when this is not a good idea?

Sorry, I don't think like a drummer. I'm sure I'd instantly hear it when recording a drummer, but I'm trying to imagine a situation when this would be a bad idea.

Help me out here, dudes.

Brandon

[dach]

If you have strong accents that are not on a beat... it feels much better to have silence... you can "feel" the distance from the click much better with a longer pause than if a click on an 8th or 16th is constantly taking you by surprise..

Click tracks are fine for straight meter type pop, punk, rock, country, etc.... but most of the time but when you're swinging/groovin' hard and off the beat, the less clicks the better... just enough to know where you are.

[brandondrury]

Okay, that makes total sense.

I still haven't gotten the opportunity to use the double time click track yet, so I really don't know much about it. I did get to watch one drummer who I've worked with before and it seamed like he played a lot more "naturally". With the standard time click, he was more trying to land eveyr single kick and snare on the exact beeps. With the double time way, it sounded more like he was playing drums, if that makes any sense. It was as if the click was more of a guide than the law.

Brandon

[Geisler]

I totally agree. I also think it has a lot to do with tempo. A fast song with a double click might come out sounding a bit too stiff/mechanical. A slow song with quarter note clicks might just have too much time between clicks--too much time to think about if you're going to hit it on the click or not.

I take a try it and see approach.

[snoopy]

...being a drummer I tend to rush when playing with just a quarter note click, worse when it's a driving song......as a matter of fact I'm working on a song now that has a double (eight note) click.....

[Bushman_212]

I like the idea of double time Clicks, it's never been an option i'd love to try it