I’d like to say a few words about the dreaded click track. With a purist’s pride, I resisted using this electronic metronome for many years, although the pursuit of really good time has been a constant trial for me. It wasn’t until the sessions for Permanent Waves that I finally relented and agreed to give it a reluctant try. Imagine my surprise—I like it! It was much less difficult to work with than I had anticipated, because I could ignore it, except at crucial “pivot points” when one “click” would insure accuracy. As another musician pointed out to me, “If you can’t hear the click track, you know your timing is right.” If you’re locked into the tempo, your good timekeeping covers up the sound of the click. The results are very satisfying. With all there is to keep in mind while recording a basic track, doubts about meter can […]

January 1983 Issue