Today's Random Question: Click Tracks

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 7/26/18 at 10:49am

I was watching a video of a percussionist in a pit playing an overture. The click track was also audible as were a couple cues from the conductor. The clicks of course changed with the tempo. Does the orchestra really hear this all through the show? I have to think, despite how helpful it is, that it would get to be annoying after awhile. You'd hear it in your sleep after listening to it for 2.5 hours 8 times a week. Do all the pit players hear this or just the drummer? After you've played a long-running show do you need it, or do you instinctively know the tempo and cues? 

[whatdoesntkillme]

Posted: 7/26/18 at 11:45am

For shows that use click tracks, everyone in the pit hears it. But most of them can create their own mix, turning up and down different tracks (individual instruments, instrument groups, vocals, click track, etc) to customize what they hear during the show. It's not so much about knowing the tempo and cues but really more about keeping everyone together. Plus, there could be any number of substitute musicians or a different conductor at any given performance, so the click helps maintain the same sound no matter who's playing/conducting. 

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 7/26/18 at 12:07pm

Click-tracks would primarily be used in instances of pre-recorded music combining with the live orchestra, or for some other reason that required the tempo to be exactly the same every night. (I.E., the pre-recorded vocals in PHANTOM probably have a click track, if the live orchestra is even accompanying those moments.)

[Loopin’theloop]

Posted: 7/26/18 at 12:35pm

SomethingPeculiar said: "Click-tracks would primarily be used in instances of pre-recorded music combining with the live orchestra, or for some other reason that required the tempo to beexactlythe same every night. (I.E., the pre-recorded vocals in PHANTOM probably have a click track, if the live orchestra is even accompanying those moments.)"

Exactly and most dance shows use prerecorded vocals during the ensemble numbers.

[whatdoesntkillme]

Posted: 7/26/18 at 12:54pm

SomethingPeculiar said: "Click-tracks would primarily be used in instances of pre-recorded music combining with the live orchestra, or for some other reason that required the tempo to beexactlythe same every night. (I.E., the pre-recorded vocals in PHANTOM probably have a click track, if the live orchestra is even accompanying those moments.)"

Since Phantom pre-dates software like Ableton, the players do not wear headphones and thus do not listen/play to a click. The conductor may (I can't remember), but the instrumentalists do not. Phantom's pre-recorded vocals/music are controlled at the soundboard; most contemporary shows' pre-recorded tracks are controlled either by the conductor, the keyboardist, or the percussionist.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 7/26/18 at 1:49pm

There's a lot of generalization going on here. Like many other things, how clicks are handled is a case-by-case basis.
Sometimes only the conductor hears the click. Sometimes only the drummer. Sometimes conductor and rhythm section. Sometimes everybody hears it whether they want to or not, and sometimes the musicians have control over their individual mix (i.e. Avioms or Roland systems).

Sometimes the "click" is a clicking sounds, sometimes it's (like in the case of Radio City) the sound of somebody counting and occasionally subdividing beats.

The click track could be to line up pre-recorded vocals; pre-recorded drum beats; to prevent dancers or singers from complaining about shifting tempos (it never works); or because some technical element requires the same timing every show.

The click could be triggered by the conductor, drummer, percussionist, keyboard player, sound mixer, or even from the light board. It all depends on the specific need and the technology available at the time. 

And to say that "most dance numbers have pre-recorded vocals" is disingenuous. Many do, most do not.

[Tag]

Posted: 7/26/18 at 1:57pm

Another element nowadays is that sometimes the orchestra is physically spilt up in different locations.  Some in the pit, some in a random room buried in the basement, some on deck, etc.  Although they all would have a monitor view of the conductor, a click track helps to keep them in sync.

Also, especially on shows where the conductor is playing at a keyboard (more common now), their hands are not usually visible.