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Click Track - 2 - The Process - 1 - Record the Click

You must sort out with the MD/Conductor the tempo of the music, how long it is (how many bars), how many beats in each bar and whether the music will speed up and slow down. You must also sort out how many beats they want as count in.
Decide what the click is going to be in consultation with whoever is going to be listening to it. This is usually the MD and the drummer. Conventionally, a rimshot (the side of a snare drum being hit with a wooden stick) is used on each beat of the bar. Sometimes, they will want a different sound on the first beat of each bar for emphasis. They may also want a separate track for count-ins and bar numbers, particularly if there are long periods of silence in the backing (e.g. if it is used for chorus parts in a verse/chorus type song).
Record the click track onto one track of your recorder. The drummer or MD could do this 'live' but a better way, if you have the facilities, is to use a computer sequencer. With this you program in the number of bars and their tempo, and 'record' a MIDI note on each beat. The advantage of this is that you can change the tempo and the click sound very easily. Once the song has been programmed, you can record the entire song onto your chosen track. NB it is also possible with some MIDI Timecode (MTC) compatible equipment to synchronise the computer to the recorder and therefore free up your click track. We would advise against this as it is an inherently less reliable system, particularly in performance, as there is another item (the computer and the link to the recorder) to go wrong.

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