Stage guide · 6–8 minutes

Playing to a click with a band.

When only one player is on a click, the rest of the band are listening to each other. If they push the tempo, the click stays at the starting tempo and the person wearing it has to close the gap alone.

By Matt · GigClick developer and drummer

The problem

Why the click and the band fall out of step.

A click stays at a fixed tempo, while a band can speed up or slow down. When only one player hears the click, that player has to follow both.

Intros are often where the problem shows first. Before you start playing, you have little influence over the tempo. The band may already be speeding up while the click in your ears continues at the starting tempo. By the time you come in, the two no longer match.

The click does not change with the band. It is not a shared reference; only you can hear it. That leaves you trying to close the gap while listening to two different beats.

The click can then make the band harder to hear. Turning it up only makes the two conflicting beats more obvious.

Hear it happen

What the drift actually sounds like.

Reading about this is not the same as hearing it. In the video below, the band moves from 120 up to 128 BPM and back while the click remains at 120. You then hear the same passage with the click muted and the count shown on screen.

Headphones are worth it here so you can hear the fixed click against the changing band tempo. The video shows the problem from the drummer's side, but the same thing happens to anyone wearing the only click on stage. Watch it on YouTube if the player above does not load.

The fix

Mute the click. Keep the count.

Muting the click does not mean giving up the tempo reference. You can keep the count on screen without another sound competing with the band.

With the click muted, you can hear where the band is while still checking the original tempo on screen. That makes it easier to guide the band back without playing against a second beat in your ears.

GigClick's visual-only mode uses the same timing as its audible modes. The timing engine continues to generate every beat on the same schedule but outputs silence. Muting does not reduce the accuracy of the count.

Bluetooth audio also adds a delay between the phone and your headphones. GigClick has to measure and correct that delay to keep the audible click and visual count in sync. Visual-only mode has no audio delay to correct, so the display becomes the reference.

Setting it up

What to check before the first song.

On stage, you need a clear sightline, enough screen brightness and a phone that will not lock during the set.

Before you play

Put the phone where your eyes already go. Keep it in your usual sightline so you do not have to turn to see it. If you have to hunt for it, you will stop using it by the third song.

Check it at the actual light level. A display that is clear in a lit rehearsal room may be hard to see on a dark stage next to a bright wash.

Load the set in order. Tempo, meter and click pattern saved per song means no thumbing through numbers between songs. GigClick keeps the screen awake while a visual mode is running, so it will not sleep mid-set.

Decide what happens if the in-ears fail. A visual count does not depend on the audio path, so you can still see the tempo if a pack loses power or a lead comes out.

The other side

When the sound is still the right call.

Muting works when you are the only person on a click and the band is free to move. In other situations, keeping the click audible may be the better choice.

When the whole band is on it. If everyone has the click, it is a shared reference rather than a private one, and the conflict disappears. Nobody is closing a gap alone.

When you are locked to something anyway. Backing tracks, click-driven lighting or video require the band to stay with a fixed tempo. In that situation, everyone needs to follow the same timing.

When you cannot see the phone. If you cannot keep the display in sight, use the audible click and mix it as low as you can while still hearing it clearly.

On your own. When you practise alone, there is no second tempo competing with the click. Keep it audible — and if you want to test whether the time is really yours, gap training removes the click for whole bars at a time and shows you where you land when it returns.

Back to contents

Keep going

A reference you can read, not just hear.

GigClick runs the same timing whether the click is audible, visual or both, keeps setlists ready to load in order, and saves the tempo, meter and grouping for every song. If the set has odd meters in it, the odd-meter guide covers counting those, and the timing practice guide covers holding time without the click in front of you.