studio troubles

agoo758 · House Cat Joined: 29 Aug 2004 Posts: 166

i dont have much time... so ill make this short and sweet...

im new in this part of the drumdog forum so it will probably sound classic, and i apologize

im used to playing live music in which i control the tempo... so it doesn't have to be correct down to the last nano second

but then i went into the studio whith that cruel click track, and well, you can peice it from there, after about 2 hours worths of takes for one song ( and a couple of broken walls) we finaly gave up on me and recorded together and it was decent

is this just something that you can either do or cant do? or is it just a matter of experience and i should learn how to do this by myself?
_________________
ametures practice till they get it right, pros practice it till they never get it wrong

stewbacca · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 2:58 am Post subject:

IF you can't play fairly close to the click, then the sound engineer is screwed. I often wondered how even the crappiest of popular drummers seem to have perfect time. All you gotta do is be pretty close, and the sound guys can fix the rest.

By the way, if you can't play pretty close to a click track, then you might want to start practicing on a practice pad with one. Its ok to flow a little bit live, but if its a constant issue with the tempo, then you are breaking the basic rule for the drummer; keeping time.

I play in a live band with a sequencer and a click, so I have no room to wander, tempo-wise. A year of this has pretty much solidified my time.
_________________
http://homepage.mac.com/strib/drums/drum1.jpg

agoo758 · House Cat Joined: 29 Aug 2004 Posts: 166

ACE · Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 11:04 am Post subject:

unless you want the sound engineer (who by the way will love you for getting paid for hours on end to fix your tracks) to alter the feel of YOUR sound, it's always better to be precise yourself. Playing with a click is something that you have to spend time doing to get it right, and then you have to keep doing it to keep it solid. At the very least you should spend time practicing with a click before you go to the studio so you can spend your money on more important things than recording the same song for a few hours. If you do buy a metronome, make sure you get one with a headphone output so you can actually hear it while you play. Another good idea is to wear earplugs while you listen to the metronome becuase it's at a frequency that will end your days of being able to listen to anything faster than you can say "what's that you said?!" - Hope this eases some of your frustrations. Take care.

drumonster · Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 11:05 am Post subject:

No that is not something you can or can't do. That takes practice. Buy yourself a drum machine (cheap) put in a simple beat and then play to it.
If you stop hearing the machine your are right on it.
After a while you will notice a difference, your timing wil get better and better.

mks · Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:53 am Post subject:

You must practice practice practice. Recording in a studio with a click is almost becoming mandatory these days. Especially since the digital revolution it is easier to mix and arrange sounds if you're synced the midi time code.

Hardly any pro-producers record without a click.

Don't fee bad about it either. Starting out with a click can be a real P.I.T.A.! Just start playing to a simple tempo such as 120BPM and play a simple beat with the click. Once you get comfortable, start adding a few fills. Then after awhile try a simple solo along with the click.

Best of luck.