Big topic with little time to tackle!

You do whatever you need to do to make the music feel good. The click track won't be in the final mix, so whatever you do it needs to sound and feel good in relation to the other parts.

Depending on the tune and the parts already laid, sometimes I would still have the click as well as the guitar and vocal track, while other times I don't have the click on at all and just match the guitar and vocals. I just finished tracking drums on a project where the guitarist/vocalist "played to the click" but didn't lock to it very well; moving around slightly. In this case I turned the guitar and vocals down really low and played more to the click. Sometimes everything sounded fine this way, but other times the I was locked in with the click and the guitars/vocals had to go back and fix what they had done.

Guitarists and vocalists are acostumed to playing with just a click and are used to hearing the drums (or something) for inspiration ... so there parts were sort of all over the place feel wise. The goal is to establish a feel that works and maintain that attitude throughout the song. If you are on top of the click then on the back of the click throughout the song, it may be close, but you will be able to feel the movement in the mix even with the click turned off.

Do your best, have fun, and set your sights on making the music feel good ... doing whatever you need to do in order for that to happen ... with or without the click.

I've got a few articles on studio drumming in which I talk about playing with a click track. You might want to have a look at those ... but understand this isn't some sort of quick fix. You need to be practicing and working with the metronome long before you step into the studio. If you haven't been doing that, don't put the pressure on yourself ... just do what you need to (yes, I'm saying it again) make the music feel good.

Amen to that...another thing that I do (depending on the circumstances) is to mute everything on my kit except the snare in the headphone mix.  I can still hear everything yet the snare pop coming through is a bit easier to distinguish, therefore keeping me in line with the tick (or busting me whichever is the case).  My biggest problem when using a click with other recorded tracks is actually hearing the click itself.  You'll have to tinker with that a bit to get the balance you need.  Good luck. 

For me, I prefer to play with the drums coming through loud and clear. Having a sense of their presence (especially the bass drum) helps me musically and emotionally.

You mute everything but the snare? That's not what you said below.


I don't think we're that far apart on this, Chris. It's probably my fault for not being clear. I said, "I recommend keeping the click as low in the mix as you can stand and still feel emotionally comfortable about it being there." I was simply cautioning against having too much click and not being able to hear the music that's going on around you, much like you are. I suggested that it be low enough to blend in "even if it is prominent in the mix." In other words, get it so you can hear it, and have a "comfortable level of other instruments".

Ironically, the "frightening" part, for some who are inexperienced with a click, is actually letting go of their tensions about playing to a click and the need to have it wailing away as loud as possible for fear of losing it. I know, because I experienced this myself. If you don't trust yourself, you will, as you say, give a bad impression.

As to burying the click, I wasn't speaking of having it so low that it can't be heard clearly. But, when wearing open cans, a loud snare crack (we know you love rimshots) tends to partially, if not totally, block out a click set at a reasonable volume.  Even with IEMs (which I use for click track several times a week) that's been my experience - especially if I have snare in the monitor as you and bholt suggest. When I do practice this, I admittedly have the click lower than I would in a real-life situation.

I hope that's better.