Time, metre, click and beat detective ? :

"metre"? Are you Ozzy, Brit or French? Just curious! I've only seen ozzies and francophones type it that way.

Not everything has to be in 4/4. Maybe you're adding in a measure of 3, 5, 6 or 7 to your parts. Some rudimentary music theory training would help you tremendously!!

No....I mean--sure, you might be changing signatures, but actually with a non accented click, that doesn't matter.

No--clicks are bad for some grooves. This neophyte idea that music equals a computer click is a visual person's paradigm that came with computers--be it Synclavier or MIDI sequencers....to now DAWS that actually code features assuming things are going to fit to a grid.

As someone who recognized this VERY early when I made money programming drums (and other keys)....and bought the only midi sequencer then which would allow a tapped tempo referenced to the SMPTE timecode on tape--I can assure you that you're not crazy....AND you're living in a time when such pursuits are much easier. No--you don't want to use anything automatic. Set up a two bar click to start you off at the right tempo....play the song....if you decide you DO need to actually do tempo based midi stuff-you record a second track while listening to that--of either clapping the beat....or drum sticks--sharper the better--no "shakers" or crap....and then you can either manually warp tempo to that--or you can have it autodetect from that track, and then manually clean it up. But, honestly--it's easier to do it manually. What you want to end up with is the computer click playing along with your second "live click" track. You should then be able to mute your clap track....and have a computer click and your original audio--this needs to "feel right".

FWIW--when I do this, I end up with variation of 3bpm or so throughout the song. And it feels completely different than grabbing the mean tempo and locking it.

My brother played like you describe - changed time signatures, strange meter, etc. He wrote some of the most creative music I ever heard and, the thing was, he didn't know a single iota of music theory and wanted no part of it. He wasn't trying to be heady or progressive - it was just what came out of him naturally.

Now.... he and I started playing together and formed a band. We worked on his songs and found a drummer and bass player who were excited to play this music but, it needed structure in order to be viable. It became my job to arrange the riffs into sections and build songs. Once we had solid arrangements, we could communicate as a band and to an audience.

I agree with popmann - don't worry about a click or tap tempo or beat detective. The key to making your madness (genius if you prefer?) is in the transitions between song sections i.e. Verse to Chorus, Chorus to Bridge and so on. If you can make those transitions seamless and natural then you're songs will take life. Add nice but simple melodies on top of what you're playing and your audience/listeners will be able to relate.

Keep playing how your playing. This is how art is made. There are enough nauseating formulas and cookie cutter crap because people are writing for radio play. You'll find your own formula and style eventually, keep at it!

Sorry for the 3rd post in a row but I forgot to mention - as a band we never once recorded to a click track in the studio. Just didn't fit.....

Is that you playing or were you the engineer? I saw the credits at the end looks like your production.

Beautiful playing and melody. Starts getting pretty trippy toward the end but still very cool. I heard a couple riffs that I would have turned into complete songs by themselves. But I know from experience that people who create music like this never really run out of ideas and don't have a problem writing a riff to build a song around. Kinda takes me back a decade or so....

kcatthedog your not really a click guy imo! Your songs would not sound the same if they were strictly gridded. Not sure what DAW your using but they all should let you map the tempo to whatever track you want it mapped to.