Si-o-lent click! Holy-click! & the hihat trigger pad?

[Jules]

OK, I have a theory - when an engineer has an idea, you can be pretty sure another one somewhere has the same one as well.

I am looking for a silent count (in) solution..

For situation FREE OF A CLICK TRACK

Say a drummer stops in the middle of a song and the tune drops to just a rhy gtr & vocal. The drummer can wave in time as a silent click, but I would like a 'silent' drum pad that generated a sound that could be used as 'live click' for future overdubs AFTER the live take. (no chance to see waiving!)

Presently I play a tambourine in the control room in sync with the drummers silent rhythmic waving and record it on a spare track.

What is available as a TOTALY silent trigger pad?

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hihat trigger Pad???

When I once recorded just the drums with no HH or OH (and overdubbed those later), I got an AWESOME sound -with THE MOST cool Deaftones style 'close hi hat" & HUGE ambient drum combo...

So who has any secrets on tricks to get this stuff down individually? Play a hihat trigger pad & pads where the cymbals go?

I suppose this suits rock production... perhaps not other, normal 'whole kit at once' styles...

Ideas & positive brainstorming from the "metalheads" out there please

[Dave Martin]

Well, it doesn't have to be a hat - I've got a couple of pads around here, (one's a Roland pad, and one is a home-made pad). They can be set to trigger anything in the drum machine. If I were doing what you're talking about, I'd probably set one of them up to trigger a shaker sound (or a hat) and the other to trigger a tambourine hit. then the drummer could keep 1/8 notes going on the shaker and use the tampouring sound for the 2' and '4'. Keeps a back beat going that way.

Of course, if you're doing a full-on rock production the way that a lo of guys do it - get a good drum track then replace all the other instruments, youcan simply have the drummer PLAY the at, since you'll be ducking it in the mix. Undortunately, no trigger is completely silent; the sound of the drum hitting the trigger makes a thud noise. On the other hand (I justthought about this) a Roland Handsonic is pretty much silent, though the drummer would have to pick up his sticks again at some point...

[Screws]

Isn't there a way to just rig a momentary pedal like a Roland DP2 or the Yamaha thing to trigger a sound in the Alesis D4 or one of the Roland TD heads?

For that matter, a small keyboard set up next to the hi hat would allow the drummer to press a single key and trigger any midi sound you want -- even at a pre-determined volume that is just enough for them to hear in the cans during the quiet parts.

[joeq]

I have always dreamed of having a cheap little video camera that could be synched to the audio tracks and viewed in a quicktime window or something.

Overdubbers could simply watch the drummers silent counting, follow a conductors ritard, or cut clean when the guitarist made that downward slashing motion with his headstock.

[David R.]

Not sure if this is what you are talking about, but I have had situations where there is a break in the music, and the band comes in at a different tempo, or the break is not an even bar/measurement which makes a click useless.

After the first take, I make a track of "count-ins." Set up the tempo by counting into it. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get the tempo right, it can be hit or miss, but then anyone playing to the tracks after has a great 'one-two-three-four.'

I have used the talkback mic for this, but usually it is best to use a vintage Neuman through a Pheonix pre, set to ......

[Jules]

" On the other hand (I justthought about this) a Roland Handsonic is pretty much silent, though the drummer would have to pick up his sticks again at some point..."

AHA! I've been dying for the right excuse to get one of these!



More stuff to save up for

[Steve Smith]

I would go with the handsonic for this as well, great box, and really good perc samples to boot.. as a second choice the keyboard option would work really well too.

and remember to record the box so that you have it for ods of course!

[e-cue]

Use an opto-theremin. Set it where it just clicks when you break the beam of light. That way the drummer can wave a stick over it and "click click click click"... You could use a reg theremin too but there's a couple disadvantages: rf interference with other feeds and not as much accuracy.

I like the video idea too.

[Steve Smith]

Originally posted by e-cue
Use an opto-theremin. ...

IIRC the handsonic has one built in....

[MMazurek]

I believe there are trigger 'bars' as opposed to pads that may work better also.

They're more 'rubbery', and they're hit with the edge of the stick, so much more silent than the THUD of pad.

I'm also considering something like this, because NONE of the kid I record want a click track. They click sticks, but don't understand the hassle of 'choking' out the OH's when they want the clicks removed later, until it's too late.

(I like long cymball ringout)

[e-cue]

Originally posted by Steve Smith
IIRC the handsonic has one built in....

But I didn't think you could trigger a sound with the D beam... I thought it was just a controller of some sort. No?

Waving a stick through the air is about as silent as you can get, unless the drummer acts like Zorro. Even then, I'll take "Whosh Whosh Whosh ZORRO!" to "thud thud thud" anyday.

[Dave Martin]

Originally posted by e-cue
But I didn't think you could trigger a sound with the D beam... I thought it was just a controller of some sort. No?

As much as I hate to say it, the Handsonic wind chimes seem to have become 'the' windchime sound for a lot of guys... Triggered by waving something over the sensor.

[Jules]

'trigger bar' that sounds good. Hand sonic too. Recording the camera I use to see the live room has also crossed my mind too!

[Drumsound]

A few companies make triggers that have mesh heads. They're pretty quiet.