Did the Beatles use metronomes while recording?

[Bwanasonic]

Hey! And we've flown in, at great expense, (triple scale, no
less, ladies and gentlemen),

Steve Gad's clone to play the out-chorus on this song...He's
really outa-site, in spite of

the fact that the click track is totally irrelevant to what he's
doing now. I am listening to

the click, yes I'm suffering with the click track right
now...this guy is totally out of sync with it,

but what the fuck. Ed Mann will call him up later, show him the
sign. Okay Vinnie, where

is five?

Kerry M

[Paul Fury 161]

To whomever mad ethe point about drummers being expected to keep good time without a click back in the day - you're quite right. Wonder how many of them practised with a metronome at some point though?

This topic always make me think of the whole technique vs no technique thing, which gets me mad. people start citing drummers like Ringo and Moon as some sort of mascots for being self taught "feel" players. They grew up listening to jazz, classical and all the other stuff that was around before rock and roll, and were emulating that in their formative years. I would contend that self taught or otherwise, any of these players had developed their technique through imitation, and had absorbed much of the stuff that seems "uncool" these days, like learning a few rudiments.

Sorry for the hijack. I think drumsound's approach to clicks sounds like the best one to me, that's very close to how I work. Done lotsa records with and without click - but i' really glad that I can play to one if needed, or feel like my time is solid without one.

Sorry again for the change of direction - i'm working in Eilat for a month (playing guitar 7 nights a week in a cover band ) and the extreme heat here has fried my brain !

Take it easy ayllz,

PXX

P.S. BTW the reissue of "Girlfriend" by Matthew Sweet is really nice, been looking for that one on CD for ages.....

[heylow]

I didn't think many classic bands used metronomes. It was just expected that a competent drummer could keep time, and I think they generally did just that.

True but it's amazing how many cats seemed to know a good thing or two about the instruments they played back then. Not to make blanket statements, but it seems people were a bit more schooled, I think. It almost seemed like even the most self taught rockers knew a thing or two about theory.

I could be way off here.



heylow

[herodotus]

I hate metronomes, but am cool with drum machines.

Metronomes are confusing if a song is busy and syncopated, whereas a drum machine can be programmed to go with whatever groove you want it to. And of course it keeps perfect time as well. Drum machine-type plugins are free everywhere these days (unless you need RTAS of course) and midi files of every sort are also readily available, and are easily made from scratch, so if you have a drummer who hates playing with a click (like me, and I mean to the point of fury), you might want to give these a try.

If you want a dj to play your song, you had better have some kind of click, because they won't play it unless it lines up perfectly with other songs.

But if you don't care about djs, it really should be remembered that a great deal of music (Like, say, virtually ALL classical/baroque/romantic era music) is meant to be played without an exact metronomic tempo.

Such deviations from exact tempo are, in fact, an essential element of musical expression.

Even the music of a rock band like Zeppelin is filled with speeding up and slowing down. Personally, I think it can sound pretty cool.

[markee2004]

To answer your question; No, the remaining members claim that ringo was there metronome even for tracks that had no percussion all the way through, although there are many conspiracy theories.

[PublicMelody]

although there are many conspiracy theories.

I heard the original Ringo died, and was replaced by a metronome....with a bad drinking problem.

- Jim

[logancircle]

Clicktracks are very useful in making overdubbing easier/harder. It's WAAAY easier to play to a programmed beat IMO. You'll only play like lifeless shit if you're scared of losing the click.

[NewAndImprov]

I didn't think many classic bands used metronomes. It was just expected that a competent drummer could keep time, and I think they generally did just that.

True but it's amazing how many cats seemed to know a good thing or two about the instruments they played back then. Not to make blanket statements, but it seems people were a bit more schooled, I think. It almost seemed like even the most self taught rockers knew a thing or two about theory.

I could be way off here.

You know, it's my experience that with good players, the click becomes a non-issue. If you need a click, a good drummer can play to it and rock, and if you don't need a click, a good drummer with killer time will rock it wothout a click. For me it's generally the less-skilled players I record who make an issue out of the click, because they don't want to admit that they can't do it.

The solution? play with good drummers.