12th April 2012
|
#1 | | Gear interested
Joined: Jun 2011 Location: Perth, Western Australia
Posts: 23
Thread Starter | A Better Click Track Plugin For Pro Tools?
The one feature that I miss the most since moving from Logic to Pro Tools is the click track plugin, Klopfgeist. For those who are unaware, it's a synthesiser plugin optimised for click track/metronome duties. The beauty of this plugin is that it can be used in a largely automated form when activated from the menu, however you can also choose to use Klopfgeist as a software instrument by inserting it as a plugin, allowing you to program your own click tracks as MIDI information and adjust the tonality, pitch and envelope of the click sound.
The standard Pro Tools Click plugin will not accept MIDI information so you are stuck with the beat resolution of the current tempo and accents on the first beat of each bar and it doesn't offer any control over tonality which occasionally causes problems. TL Metro also has pretty limited functionality and uses samples rather than synthesis which is quite unwieldy.
I would love to have something like Klopfgeist in Pro Tools. I guess there might be ways to rewire or wrap Klopfgeist to use it in Pro Tools but that all sounds rather clumsy.
Does anyone know of a click plugin with similar functionality that comes in AAX or RTAS? Something that uses synthesis instead of samples, accepts MIDI input and allows you to control tonality and/or the envelope.
Cheers
__________________
Chris Wright
| 
|  | |
12th April 2012
|
#2 | | Gear addict
Joined: Apr 2011 Location: Atlanta, Ga
Posts: 380
|
hmm interesting. I've never thought about having a click do anything other than the basics. Guess I just never saw the need.
What do you usually do with all of this added functionality? Is this to meet requests of artists/musicians?
Just curious because myself as a drummer all I really care to hear is 1-2-3-4 and I'm good.
| |
| | |
12th April 2012
|
#3 | | Gear interested
Joined: Jun 2011 Location: Perth, Western Australia
Posts: 23
Thread Starter | Quote:
Originally Posted by drumzalicious  hmm interesting. I've never thought about having a click do anything other than the basics. Guess I just never saw the need.
What do you usually do with all of this added functionality? Is this to meet requests of artists/musicians?
Just curious because myself as a drummer all I really care to hear is 1-2-3-4 and I'm good. | I think it's just a good tool to have at your disposal. There are plenty of artists who find the default click to be distracting or uninspiring which is why I like to have an alternative. Sometimes I'll program finer subdivisions (soft 16th notes with slight accents on the 1 & 3 and 2 & 4) when the artist is having trouble staying in time. Sometimes I'll have to change the tonality when another instrument is occupying the same range and adjust the envelope when it's more suited to the song. It's all just about trying to make the artist comfortable while they're laying down their take.
| |
| | |
12th April 2012
|
#4 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Nov 2007 Location: Sweden
Posts: 1,224
 |
You an use any virtual instrument as a metronome in PT. just double click the metronome on the transport and choose a new output for the click. Of course you need to set up the new instrument first.
| |
| | |
12th April 2012
|
#5 | | Moderator
Joined: Jun 2006 Location: Sydney via London
Posts: 18,915
|
Why not just load samples from klopfgeist/whatever into your favourite sampler, then set up a series of midi files to trigger? A bit more work, but not prohibitive.
| |
| | |
13th April 2012
|
#6 | | Gear interested
Joined: Jun 2011 Location: Perth, Western Australia
Posts: 23
Thread Starter | Quote:
Originally Posted by JonesH You an use any virtual instrument as a metronome in PT. just double click the metronome on the transport and choose a new output for the click. Of course you need to set up the new instrument first. | That's not quite the solution I was hoping for, but it might be helpful. I'll try it out, thanks. Quote:
Originally Posted by psycho_monkey Why not just load samples from klopfgeist/whatever into your favourite sampler, then set up a series of midi files to trigger? A bit more work, but not prohibitive. | I'd rather use some kind of synthesiser click than a sampler. Samples tend to go missing and it's easier to make on-the-fly adjustments the click envelope and tonality etc with a synthesiser. Still, I just want something fairly light on, i.e. something optimised for the task like Klopfgeist.
| |
| | |
26th April 2012
|
#7 | | Gear addict
Joined: Apr 2011 Location: Atlanta, Ga
Posts: 380
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris W I think it's just a good tool to have at your disposal. There are plenty of artists who find the default click to be distracting or uninspiring which is why I like to have an alternative. Sometimes I'll program finer subdivisions (soft 16th notes with slight accents on the 1 & 3 and 2 & 4) when the artist is having trouble staying in time. Sometimes I'll have to change the tonality when another instrument is occupying the same range and adjust the envelope when it's more suited to the song. It's all just about trying to make the artist comfortable while they're laying down their take. | interesting. I find the default click sound a bit ugly myself and usually end up switching it to "MPC Click". Especially when there is a vocalist recording to prevent bleed.
| |
| | |
26th April 2012
|
#8 | | Gear addict
Joined: Dec 2010 Location: New York, NY
Posts: 457
|
I personally use 8th note metronomes, so it'll count ^1 v& ^2 v& ^3 v& ^4 v&, with emphasis on the actual quarter beats, but it'll still sound like a metronome. It's interesting, but it helps me keep time more effectively since I can't keep time worth a shit.
| |
| | |
26th April 2012
|
#9 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 627
|
I've bounced down klopfgeist into an audio file and imported it into Pro tools
and it works well for me. I make note of the tempo or even import the midi
and everything lines right up. No delay or latency.
| |
| | |
26th April 2012
|
#10 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 537
|
I take reason loops apple loops, etc, whatever I can find, and use the extract groove template.
then instead of the click it might be a tambourine quantized to the groove i just made.
things lock up much tighter and way more musical this way
| |
| | |
26th April 2012
|
#11 | | Gear nut
Joined: Oct 2009 Location: kill devil hills, north carolina, usa
Posts: 143
|
if i need a simple beat, i run the pro tools metronome to a boss drum machine via midi and run its audio back to get better sounds.
If i need a more complex beat, i use bfd eco
| |
| | |
26th April 2012
|
#12 | | Gear Head
Joined: Aug 2009 Location: Vienna, Austria
Posts: 54
|
TL Metro!
| |
| | |
26th April 2012
|
#13 | | Gear Head
Joined: Aug 2009 Location: Vienna, Austria
Posts: 54
|
TL Metro is great!
| |
| | |
28th September 2012
|
#14 | | Gear interested
Joined: Jan 2012 Location: Spanish Fork, Utah
Posts: 10
|
Definitely TL Metro. I picked it up when it was still a paid plugin from TL Labs. It's free and included with Pro Tools as of V8 but a lot of people aren't aware of it. It lives in 'instrument' in the plugins insert. It even has tap tempo.
__________________
Alexander Jenkins
Sound design, original score and 5.1 mix for 3D & 4D film, motion ride film, trailer and 3DTV pay-per-view | |
| | |
28th September 2012
|
#15 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Aug 2008 Location: Nashville, Tn
Posts: 621
|
I use a delay plugin on the click to provide subdivisions. Usually the "long delay" That way you can use the mix control to alter the volume of the subdivisions.
__________________
MacPro 2.8 "Nehalem" quad, 12gRam, Osx 10.7.3 | Cubase 6.5, Logic 9.1.6, Pro Tools 10.2, DSP-Quattro, Bidule | SSL AlphaLinkAX, SSL MadiExtreme 64 | Api 3124+ , Focusrite Isa-428, Distressor, dbx-160x | Adam P11a's , Ns-10's , Avantone's | to many plugins and VI's to list | lots of mics as well
| 
| | |
28th September 2012
|
#16 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jun 2002 Location: los angeles
Posts: 1,410
 |
my .02
create your own click with whatever sounds you like (ie: Klopgiest sounds, or tambo or whatever) - turn on Elastic Audio and have it follow your session tempo ... need to work in another session - import that track to new session ... you can make clicks for 4/4, 2/4, 3/4, 6/8 on different playlists and just import the one track into your new sessions ... and you only have to make maybe 4 bars - you can loop it later and consolidate the track for less stress on your computer ..
cheers
john
__________________
Macpro 2.8 (2008) / OS 10.6.8 & 10.8.3 / 10gb memory
MacBook Pro 2.16 / OS 10.6.8 & 10.7.5 / 2gb memory
Logic 9.1.8 / Aurora 16 & Lynx AES16e-SRC / PT10.3.4 on SL and 10.3.5 on ML / Nuendo 6 Demo (6.03) on ML
| |
| | |
29th September 2012
|
#17 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Aug 2008 Location: Nashville, Tn
Posts: 621
| Quote:
Originally Posted by jwh1192 my .02
create your own click with whatever sounds you like (ie: Klopgiest sounds, or tambo or whatever) - turn on Elastic Audio and have it follow your session tempo ... need to work in another session - import that track to new session ... you can make clicks for 4/4, 2/4, 3/4, 6/8 on different playlists and just import the one track into your new sessions ... and you only have to make maybe 4 bars - you can loop it later and consolidate the track for less stress on your computer ..
cheers
john | Just put the track in tick mode and it will adjust to the session tempo. I did this for a long time. Works great.
| |
| | | |
New Reply 
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
^^
