STEWART COPELAND

by **DirtyMartini** on 03 Mar 2010 22:35

I've found a new website that makes me smile.

Here's a post of the tech explanation behind this little web app, but to jump straight to the fun part, head to "In Search of the Click Track" to take a look at tempo deviations in your most or least favorite song to determined if it is drummed by Man or Machine.

The Police/Stewart Copeland v. Britney Spears/HAL 9000 is the example used on the main page of the site.

Has some pretty obscure tunes in the database, so throw in an artist and see what you get. The Police, Oysterhead, even some Stewart solo/composition is in there. Plus you can discover fun things like proof that the Army's not the only one on Ecstasy and Neal Peart is a robot.

[The search function is wonky, so try variations (both artist and song title, just artist, just title) to get a better indication of whether or not the song you want is actually in there.]

by **Rancid Date** on 04 Mar 2010 02:14

Nice Find! Very interesting.

"......a thinking, feeling human."

by **TheEqualizer** on 04 Mar 2010 05:14

Did Ginger Baker really use a click track? Hmm.

by **smudge** on 05 Mar 2010 01:22

Ooooh. Nerdy fun! Thanks DM. I'd love to know how they're determining BPM. i.e. what the algorithm is. I took a look at The Waterboys 'Red Army Blues' and there are discontinuities in the graph. The track has intermittent drums - so I guess despite a pretty even tempo, they're - er - missing an absence of beat. Kraftwerk are interesting for not being an entirely flat line.

by **plutonic** on 05 Mar 2010 16:03

I'm glad to see that there has been additional research into this fascinating area.
:mrgreen:

by **Divemistress of the Dark** on 05 Mar 2010 18:19

Over the course of the song there's a general increase in tempo that builds tension and excitement.

Oh yeah? Who'd Stewart pay off to write this? Sounds like the best rationalization of the speed issue I've heard! :lol:

LOVE IT! HAAAAA! Thanks for makin' my Friday, girl...

by **Johnny O** on 05 Mar 2010 20:16

I always wondered if this is why I am insanely bored with much of Synchronicity. Everything sounds pre-produced with Stew playing along to tracks that were made by Stingo with a drum machine. No life or passion in alot of those tracks despite The God of Thunder's best efforts IMHO....

by **Krokodyle** on 05 Mar 2010 20:28

Neat article, though I'm not sure how accurate their assumptions and/or analyzer is.

When I first got into mixing/recording audio as a kid (back in the very early 80s), my mom's b-friend was a sound engineer (studio and live). He let me sit in the studio a few times for some of the smaller bands he recorded/mixed and I was surprised to witness him setting up a click track. I had always thought that "real" drummers shouldn't need them. He explained that it was very common for bands (big and small) to use them, both studio and live, more so than people realized. He also mentioned that sometimes, studio environments can be a bit...um...'jovial' you might say (though a more apt description would be that the musicians--and the people in the sound booth--were stoned/drunk off their a$$es), and in order to ensure that expensive studio time was not wasted, a click clack could help keep the foundation of the session(s) steady. He had worked with some fairly well-known AOR artists in the 70s & 80s, and they all used them in some fashion. Not for every song, but more than the general public/other musicians suspected.

I think the page's assumption that if a drummer (like Keith Moon) is wearing headphones he's listening to a click track is patently incorrect. :roll: