Add Click Track


Add Click Track window
The Add Track menu's Click Track option can be used to add a click track (metronome) to the song.

The Tempo section specifies the tempo to use:

Length is the length of the click track in hours : minutes : seconds format. This setting isn't available for the "Extract from track" tempo option.

The Sound section specifies the drum instrument (MIDI note) and MIDI Instrument to use. If you plan on adding a drum track using an editor later, then it's a good idea to use the MIDI Instrument you'll be using for the drums in order to avoid any timing differences. After changing a Sound property a Store as default button appears in the bottom-left corner. You can click this button to remember the current settings.

Bar Accents increases the volume level of the first beat in every bar. Other subtle accents may be added as well, depending on the time signature.

Tip: You can make the click track mute during playback automatically using the Mute click track during playback option in the Preferences window.

Note: the click track will be updated automatically on editing the time signature. If you don't want that for some reason you can rename the click track (so it's no longer called Clicks.mid).

Extracting tempo from a track


Add Click Track window

Click tracks started being used in recording studios somewhere in the early eighties. Having a well defined constant tempo makes editing tracks easier. You can easily copy parts from one verse to another because the tempo is the same, for example.

Music wasn't always played with such a strict timing however. There are no click tracks in classical music. Most guitar-based pop songs were recorded without a click track, this often results in (subtle) tempo changes when the chorus starts for example.

If your song would benefit from a 'live', organically evolving musical tempo you can use the "Extract from track" option like this:

  1. Record a guide track. The track has to contain beats only (ie. you can't extract tempo from an album track or a guitar solo track). You'd typically play quarter notes. It can be either MIDI (tap the beat on the MIDI keyboard) or audio (clap your hands or tap on your desk).
  2. You can tap the beat while playing guitar, for example. Or you can tap along with an existing track.
  3. Optionally edit the track to correct any mistakes, or to remove any beats that don't represent the tempo.
  4. Add a click track using the "Extract from track" option. The track containing the beats can be selected from a list. Also, you can specify what the beats represent (quarter notes, 8th notes etc.).
  5. Use the Tempo Editor to edit the time signature. Typically, the length of the first measure (#0) will have been adjusted so the second measure (#1) coincides with the start of the song. This might require the use of a weird time signature like 27/4 in the first measure.
The changes can be undone in the Tempo and Time Signature editors.

You don't have to actually use the click track if you just want to see bar lines in editors of course. The song tempo is stored in MIDI tracks, so you can even remove the click track if there are other MIDI tracks present.

Usage examples:

Tip: You don't have to use a click track or bars in MultitrackStudio. If you want to work by ear completely you can make the editors and the transport counter show seconds instead of bars, so it works just like a tape recorder.
By default, the editors and the counter switch to bars automatically when a MIDI track is added. You can switch off the Bars button at the top to switch the editors to seconds. You can click the counter and choose "Hour : Min : Sec" The default behavior can be changed in Studio-->Preferences ("Switch grid to bars automatically" and "Switch counter to bars automatically").