A
click track is a series of audio cues used to synchronize sound recordings, often to a moving image. The click track originated in early sound
moviesFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
, where marks were made on the
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
itself to indicate exact timings for
musicianA musician is a person who performs or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument.* A singer uses his or her voice as an instrument....
s to accompany the film. It can be thought of as a recording of a
metronomeA metronome is any device that produces regular ticks . More precisely it produces a regulated aural, visual or tactile pulse. It dates back to the early 19th century. A metronome is used by some performing musicians for practice in maintaining a consistent tempo; it gives composers an approximate...
in that it serves a similar purpose.
The invention of the click track is sometimes credited to
Carl StallingCarl W. Stalling was a noted American composer and arranger of music for animated cartoons. He is most closely associated with the Looney Tunes shorts produced by Warner Bros., where he worked, averaging one complete score each week, for twenty-two years.-Biography:Stalling was born and grew up in...
, although other sources have given it to
Max SteinerMax Steiner was an Austrian American composer of music for theatre productions and films. He probably is known best for the score he composed for Gone with the Wind and for the score and theme song for the film A Summer Place.Steiner was born Maximilian Raoul Steiner in Vienna, Austria-Hungary...
and
Scott BradleyScott Bradley was an American composer, pianist and conductor.Bradley is most famous for scoring the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer theatrical cartoons, including those starring Tom and Jerry , Droopy Dog , Barney Bear , and the many one-shot works of Tex...
.
The click track was sufficiently useful as a synchronisation tool that it became part of standard recording technology, whether for films, radio or other sound recording and the click track took one of the tracks on a multi-track tape recorder.
By the late 20th century, particularly in the realm of
synthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument that is capable of producing a variety of sounds by generating and combining signals of different frequencies...
s and digital recording, the click track became computerised and synchronising different instruments became more complex, at which point the click track was supported or replaced by
SMPTE time codeSMPTE timecode is a set of cooperating standards to label individual frames of video or film with a timecode defined by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers in the SMPTE 12M specification...
.
The click track may also be used as a form of
metronomeA metronome is any device that produces regular ticks . More precisely it produces a regulated aural, visual or tactile pulse. It dates back to the early 19th century. A metronome is used by some performing musicians for practice in maintaining a consistent tempo; it gives composers an approximate...
directly by musicians in the studio or on stage, particularly by
drummerA drummer is a person who plays drums, particularly a drum kit , marching percussion or hand drums. The term percussionist applies to a musician performing on any percussion instrument, but usually refers to one who plays classical or Latin percussion. Most bands for Rock, Pop, Jazz, R&B etc...
s, who would listen via
headphonesHeadphones are a pair of small loudspeakers, or less commonly a single speaker, with a way of holding them close to a user's ears and a means of connecting them to a signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio or CD player. They are also known as earphones, earbuds, stereophones, headsets or,...
to maintain a consistent beat.
A
click track is a series of audio cues used to synchronize sound recordings, often to a moving image. The click track originated in early sound
moviesFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
, where marks were made on the
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
itself to indicate exact timings for
musicianA musician is a person who performs or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument.* A singer uses his or her voice as an instrument....
s to accompany the film. It can be thought of as a recording of a
metronomeA metronome is any device that produces regular ticks . More precisely it produces a regulated aural, visual or tactile pulse. It dates back to the early 19th century. A metronome is used by some performing musicians for practice in maintaining a consistent tempo; it gives composers an approximate...
in that it serves a similar purpose.
The invention of the click track is sometimes credited to
Carl StallingCarl W. Stalling was a noted American composer and arranger of music for animated cartoons. He is most closely associated with the Looney Tunes shorts produced by Warner Bros., where he worked, averaging one complete score each week, for twenty-two years.-Biography:Stalling was born and grew up in...
, although other sources have given it to
Max SteinerMax Steiner was an Austrian American composer of music for theatre productions and films. He probably is known best for the score he composed for Gone with the Wind and for the score and theme song for the film A Summer Place.Steiner was born Maximilian Raoul Steiner in Vienna, Austria-Hungary...
and
Scott BradleyScott Bradley was an American composer, pianist and conductor.Bradley is most famous for scoring the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer theatrical cartoons, including those starring Tom and Jerry , Droopy Dog , Barney Bear , and the many one-shot works of Tex...
.
The click track was sufficiently useful as a synchronisation tool that it became part of standard recording technology, whether for films, radio or other sound recording and the click track took one of the tracks on a multi-track tape recorder.
By the late 20th century, particularly in the realm of
synthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument that is capable of producing a variety of sounds by generating and combining signals of different frequencies...
s and digital recording, the click track became computerised and synchronising different instruments became more complex, at which point the click track was supported or replaced by
SMPTE time codeSMPTE timecode is a set of cooperating standards to label individual frames of video or film with a timecode defined by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers in the SMPTE 12M specification...
.
The click track may also be used as a form of
metronomeA metronome is any device that produces regular ticks . More precisely it produces a regulated aural, visual or tactile pulse. It dates back to the early 19th century. A metronome is used by some performing musicians for practice in maintaining a consistent tempo; it gives composers an approximate...
directly by musicians in the studio or on stage, particularly by
drummerA drummer is a person who plays drums, particularly a drum kit , marching percussion or hand drums. The term percussionist applies to a musician performing on any percussion instrument, but usually refers to one who plays classical or Latin percussion. Most bands for Rock, Pop, Jazz, R&B etc...
s, who would listen via
headphonesHeadphones are a pair of small loudspeakers, or less commonly a single speaker, with a way of holding them close to a user's ears and a means of connecting them to a signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio or CD player. They are also known as earphones, earbuds, stereophones, headsets or,...
to maintain a consistent beat. This allows for easier editing on a
digital audio workstationA digital audio workstation is an electronic system designed to record, edit and play back digital audio. A key feature of DAWs is the ability to freely manipulate recorded sounds...
or
sequencerA music sequencer is software or hardware designed to create and manage computer-generated music....
, since "gridded-up" parts can be easily moved around and spliced together without worrying about minute differences in timing. This approach to recording is sometimes criticized for making the music sound "dead" and artificial, but in the right circumstances it can be useful.
It is not uncommon for musicians or engineers to subdivide click tracks at slow tempos (for instance below 70
BPMBeats per minute is a unit typically used as either a measure of tempo in music, or a measure of one's heart rate. A rate of 60 bpm means that one beat will occur every second....
) into smaller parts, with (for example) a click on the start of a bar and a beep on every individual 1/4 (or 1/8, or 1/16, etc) note.
Some musicians also use pre-recorded
backing tracksA backing track is an audio or MIDI recording that musicians play or sing along to in order to add parts to their music which would be impractical to perform live.-Uses:...
with additional parts such as synthesizers, strings or layered background vocals to recreate parts that would be impractical to play live, in which case a click track synchronized with the backing track is played through
headphonesHeadphones are a pair of small loudspeakers, or less commonly a single speaker, with a way of holding them close to a user's ears and a means of connecting them to a signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio or CD player. They are also known as earphones, earbuds, stereophones, headsets or,...
or in-ear monitors to keep the musicians in sync with the backing track.
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