Try this. Play a piano part into the sequencer (no drums). Quantize it, make it tight. Now play ANOTHER piano part with it, but make it quieter than the track you are recording... Hard, isn't it? If you can't distinguish what YOU are playing and what is the track, it makes keeping time much harder.

It's REALLY hard to play drums to a drum track turned down, because you immediately swamp out what you are listening to. There's a reason they use click tracks for recording... it is because the sound is different to anything the drummer is playing.

Essentially, you need a separate output on your arranger from whatever the track is coming out of. I don't know if the Tyros HAS a separate click out, but if it has, you route that to the drummer's monitor, along with the track. Preferably, he has in ear monitors or headphones (you would be surprised at how loud he will need the click, if he is using speaker monitors, it will probably be loud enough that the audience would hear the click - not good!).

If the Tyros doers not have a click out, you will have to create a separate track on all the SMF's with a click sound every quarter note (crotchet), and route that to the auxiliary outs, and route THAT to the drummer's headphones.

Oh, and don't worry about creating a tempo track that 'moves' a bit. Either he can play to steady time or he can't. If he can't... his drift will be different every night so creating a track to match him will be an exercise in futility. Just keep the tempos exactly where yuou are already used to them. If he can't play with them, get another drummer!

They need this guy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCQVCt_re5A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2wUPywzVVE&feature=related

Thanks...

Yep the ability to play along with pre-recorded music is paramont.

I'm hoping I/we'll also here from others who are intergrating
MIDI with live instruments.




[This message has been edited by TP123 (edited 05-05-2009).]

that guy is like a human metronome ... I wonder if he keeps that kind of time playing with a live band ...
... and that's quite a set of cymbals ...
t.



[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 05-05-2009).]

Takes a great drummer to play with a click and great drummers hate it. John Blackwell (off the hook R&B drummer) came into the store a few days ago and we chatted about the Timberlake tour and he was talking about playing with a click, The whole show was on a click. Needless to say he did not enjoy the tour as much as playing with Prince where HE is the click.

[This message has been edited by Kingfrog (edited 05-05-2009).]

Our new drummer has the chops to pull it off...

but we'd appreciate any advice.

thanks

Like Diki said as long as you can get some sort of clear metronome click out to headphones for your drummer he will have a pretty good chance of tracking the MIDI files while plays. That will give him an audible timing reference that he can hear over the sound of his own drums.

But I can also understand if he isn't so thrilled about having a set of phones on his ears feeding him a click all night

But seriously try to give him some breaks where he plays some songs without the click as well just to be able relax a bit.

[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 05-05-2009).]

Any Tyros users know IF and how to route a click track signal?

Hello! The Tyros have a clickbutton on the panel.Route the sound to a separate aud.out
3 or 4. Can be done inside the Tyros.Give the clicktrack a separate channel on the mixer,send it only to the monitor or in ear.
now start the click,the drummer can count in,and you start as usually. And as we used to say..If any one doe`s a mistake,we will take the drumsticks from him.
After a while you wont hear the click,only when the drummer is sleeping,then you let him know there is a Lott of drummers out there.
I think this is the future for arrangers,it works fine,but you have to give it some time.
//Tryggve