Got the beat?

This week I got together with a friend in his studio to lay down foundation tracks for a couple of new tunes I've written. While we had a lot of fun, it was a helpful reminder once again to focus hard on tempo when you rehearse.

I play to a click track when I record at home on my own gear. It's a necessary discipline if you want to add tracks featuring you or other performers later on in the process; you and they will need a rock solid tempo to play to, and won't be able to anticipate a tempo that moves around. (For readers not familiar with the term, a click track is a little automated metronome you hear in your headphones when you record to keep your tempo steady.)

Kelly, my recording engineer, insists artists play to a click track when recording. This critical step can save a lot of time and frustration later on when you're laying down other additional tracks. Kelly says that an artist's willingness to lay down a click track at the outset separates the pro from the amateur. He's worked with too many performers who claim their timing is rock solid, but who are quickly found out when a click track is added (or percussion, instrument tracks, or additional vocals are added later on.) A pro's timing will be dead on with a click track, says Kelly; these folks can lay down repeated takes to a beat that seldom wavers.

It's a good discipline to rehearse frequently to a metronome or some other automated, unwavering timing device that keeps your rhythm on beat throughout a song. If you are are easily frustrated in doing so, keep at it until you perfect it. It'll pay off if you ever play with others or do some recording. And your engineer and fellow musicians will appreciate it, too.

-dan silas