Lesson 19

19. How to Create a Click Track in Audacity

Resource Type:

Tutorial Video

Duration:

3 minutes

Outcomes:

Learners are expected to:

SO 3.10.          create a click track using the "Click Track" effect

SO 5.9.            demonstrate the uses of a click track

Suggested Evaluation:

Instructors may choose to observe learners complete this task as the evaluation method.

Procedure:

A click track is an essential tool for recording. Without a click, even the most talented musicians would find it difficult to keep each track exactly in time as they record. While recording, your click track serves as your conductor or metronome to keep you exactly in time. Learn to use a click and it will be your best friend in the studio.

When you first begin playing with a click track you may find it a little strange. The more you play with a click track you will become more comfortable with it. Eventually you will be completely at home playing with the click and your recordings will sound VERY professional.

Audacity has a built-in ability to create a click track. Some of the click track parameters you can customize are, the number of bars (measure) or duration of the click track, the number of beats per bar or meter, the sound of the click itself, and the strength of pulses of the click track.

To create a click track you can follow these steps:

1. Open Audacity, start a new project and go to the GENERATE menu

2. Select CLICK TRACK...

3. You will now see the Click Track window.

4. Go through all the settings to create the click track you need.

Start experimenting with the settings. The setting that you will work with the most will be “Tempo,” “Beats Per Measure” and “Number of Measures.”

When creating a click track for a recording figure out how long you want your track to be. You may not know the number of bars you need exactly, so estimate. Once you have created your click track do a quick run through your song to ensure you have enough bars. Give yourself a few extras at the beginning of your recording for your convenience when getting ready to start.

As you record each of your tracks it is a good idea to count out loud along with the click before being playing. Counting can be edited out later and will give you a clear visual and sound reference as you sync up your tracks.