Playing To A Click Live

gish

gish

Senior Member
I’m looking to begin using a click on live gigs; possibly to use just for the beginnings of songs, or even for the entire tune. I’ve played with backing tracks in previous bands so I’m comfortable with the click. To my fellow working drummers who use a click live (hopefully we have a few of you here) what are you using? App for your smart phone or a dedicated metronome? Do you program the tempos or have a cheat sheet to quickly alter the tempos between songs? Need some direction on the smoothest methods to incorporate a click for live work.
 
I don't play too often with a click live. But I do often program tempos into a phone app and use it to start songs I'm not familiar with, which comes in handy for gigs where I have to learn a lot of new music in a short time. I use PolyNome on my phone and it allows you to create a playlist of all the songs you'll be playing. You can configure it to play a short count-in click for each song at its appropriate tempo and the click will drop out until you cue up the next song. If the band you're playing with tends to stray from the set list, then this feature may not help.
 
I prefer the hardware Dr. Beat DB 90 to any app. The scroll wheel is great to quickly dial in a new tempo. You can use presets and playlists but you can also just quickly punch in numbers, as well as tap in. Additionally you can easily dial the tempo up or down by 1 bpm increments, if you want to adjust mid-song.

If you must use an app, the Soundbrenner is the nicest I’ve seen, and it’s free.
 
beatmirror would be a really cool app for you.
It will give you a 4-16 beat count off at your desired tempo, then after the count it listens to the pulse of the tune and displays the current tempo.
I use this at rehearsals, but not gigs.
 
There are a few situations where I use the Ten Key Click app just to get the starting tempo. Unfortunately, it's no longer available. Fortunately, it does still work on my phones and iPad. The beauty of it is just tapping in the tempo and pressing the 'start' button. No time-consuming scrolling or incrementing necessary. I used to use a BeatLab which also has a keypad, but it's another physical thing to carry around, and uses batteries.

The only possible disadvantage to the Ten Key Click is that it only holds two memory settings, you basically have to select the tempo each time. But that's really just one more click than you'd have to do if you had presets, so no big deal. It just means noting the tempos on the set list, which is also no biggie.

Don't try looking for it, it's gone. And they never updated it. AND it was $3.99, somewhat expense given how many more capable apps are cheaper or free. But it was the best 3.99 I ever spent!


TenKeyClick.jpg

On tour, I used to use sequences from an Akai S900 and later a Kurzweil K2000 rack sampler. Eventually the tracks were moved
to a Mac Pro server (which also sends the video) but I don't know specifically what program is used. That's someone else's job!

Bermuda
 
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I have a tendency to raise or lower the starting tempo of a song depending on how I'm feeling at the moment. This has caused me to question myself so much that I began to use a metronome years ago - but only for the beginning tempo. I found that obsessing over the "metronome vs. me" during a song was highly distracting, so I start the tune, then ignore it thereafter. A big plus of doing this is that the others in the band can't argue about the tempo any more!

GeeDeeEmm
 
I've been using Pro metronome It's a downloaded app on my phone. I have a 2 Channel headphone amp next to me. My metronome goes in one channel and the band mix in the other channel. I have your plug earbuds that don't go over 82 decibels. Since I don't move around I use a wired set up. It's a lot cheaper than Wireless in ears. I have all the songs listed in order that we play them on the app. I do not have an accented note just a constant click click click of a cowbell sound. That way it doesn't matter where one is I'll make that determination myself. I let the click run through the whole song.
 
My favorite was a sample pad with various tempos loaded. I could turn it on/off if necessary with a drumstick hitting a trigger pad. It's easier just to let it play through but, if someone train wrecks, it's nice to have a simple start/stop option.
 
I.play with a click throughout the song. If something goes wrong at least I know where the beat is, and because I'm usually singing the guitar riff to myself i generally know where i am in the song. What it doesn't do for me is let me know how many times the riff needs to repeat, or if we're supposed to repeat another section, but that's generally where the vocals let me know where we are.
 
lefty2 said:
I've been using Pro metronome It's a downloaded app on my phone. I have a 2 Channel headphone amp next to me. My metronome goes in one channel and the band mix in the other channel. I have your plug earbuds that don't go over 82 decibels. Since I don't move around I use a wired set up. It's a lot cheaper than Wireless in ears. I have all the songs listed in order that we play them on the app. I do not have an accented note just a constant click click click of a cowbell sound. That way it doesn't matter where one is I'll make that determination myself. I let the click run through the whole song.
Click to expand...
Great info here, thank you. I’ve downloaded the app and will start playing around with it. If I can save the tempo for every song on the list as you mentioned, them this app should work fine for me.
 
gish said:
Great info here, thank you. I’ve downloaded the app and will start playing around with it. If I can save the tempo for every song on the list as you mentioned, them this app should work fine for me.
Click to expand...
I think you have to buy something for that app to store the tempos. It seemed like it was only $3. It works great for me I just put the songs in order of the song list and my metronome becomes my song list. I have a little clamp off my hi-hat stand that holds my phone.
 
I used a click 98% of the time live. My setup is simple and easy.
1. Metronome (Tama Rhythm Watch)
2. 4 Channel Mixer (Yamaha)
3. In-Ear Monitors

I run the Rhythm Watch to Channel 1 on the mixer, and then line in a feed of the live band on channel two. This way I can control the mix in my ears exactly how I want it.

If I'm using backing tracks I can use channels 3 & 4 for the Click and Tracks from the device running them (laptop/ipod/phone).

Plug your ears into the headphone out on the mixer, and you're all set.
 
When our church only used a click track (before we started using backing tracks), we used a Boss DB-90. Easy to dial in BPM's, large display, etc. I would scroll through the BPM's, find it, then I attached a foot pedal to it to start it. For some reason, I liked using a pedal to start the metronome as opposed to pushing a button. This is an old pic, but hopefully it shows what I'm trying to say:

martinsmusicstand.jpg


drumpedal.jpg




I don't like the idea of using an app in a live situation. Granted, we use iPads now at church, but I'm not in charge of them, and the people that are know much more about them than I do.
 
The Soundbrenner app is useful for this too - as well as being a metronome (even without their watch thing), you can add a bank of songs and store the tempo, then program set lists too.
 
I’m running a Yamaha TF console for my Devo tribute band and the click gets a channel like any other instrument and it gets folded into the AUX mix for our in-ears. The key for bands running tracks and clicks is to have a console with enough AUX outputs.
 
bermuda said:
There are a few situations where I use the Ten Key Click app just to get the starting tempo. Unfortunately, it's no longer available. Fortunately, it does still work on my phones and iPad. The beauty of it is just tapping in the tempo and pressing the 'start' button. No time-consuming scrolling or incrementing necessary. I used to use a BeatLab which also has a keypad, but it's another physical thing to carry around, and uses batteries.

The only possible disadvantage to the Ten Key Click is that it only holds two memory settings, you basically have to select the tempo each time. But that's really just one more click than you'd have to do if you had presets, so no big deal. It just means noting the tempos on the set list, which is also no biggie.

Don't try looking for it, it's gone. And they never updated it. AND it was $3.99, somewhat expense given how many more capable apps are cheaper or free. But it was the best 3.99 I ever spent!


View attachment 89252

On tour, I used to use sequences from an Akai S900 and later a Kurzweil K2000 rack sampler. Eventually the tracks were moved
to a Mac Pro server (which also sends the video) but I don't know specifically what program is used. That's someone else's job!

Bermuda
Click to expand...

Old thread, but I noticed this while searching for another topic (and disclaimer: I'm the creator of this app):

Screenshot_20200226-091119.pngScreenshot_20200226-091129.png

The Andronome+ app has the ten key keyboard, unlimited presets and playlists. Easy to see and use also on a small screen (it all blinks!), so here are people keeping an old Android phone in the gigbag just for this. One cheap and one free version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skrivarna.andronomeplus.android

</shameless plug>
 
A Tama rhythm watch should work well. What I like about it is the big start/stop button right on the lip of it, so it's easy to give it a quick tap to start and stop it. Flashing light if you want to use that instead of an earbud. You can preset a bunch of tempos, or just use the big dial to change tempos fast between songs. Has a nice stand mount, I keep it under the hats. Here's a shot of it on the hat stand.
Editnote: the easy access stop and start is key, it's gotta be close. When someone gets irretrievably off, which definitely happens, you can turn it off, then turn it back on at any downbeat you choose.

87178528_10218459092422700_9216388316952264704_n.jpg

www.tama.com

Rhythm Watch RW200 | Rhythm Watches | PRACTICE TOOLS | PRODUCTS | TAMA Drums

Find a great collection of 「Rhythm Watch RW200」 at TAMA Drums. The first timekeeper designed specifically for the band's timekeeper, TAMA's Rhythm Watch has everything a drummer needs to make sure they stay on tempo-live and in the studio. Like the original Rhythm Watch, the RW200 features...
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