I’d estimate that I use click tracks roughly 50 percent of the time in a live scenario. Of course, it varies from artist to artist. There are many different reasons to have a click track running for a song or an entire show. Sometimes, there is a complex light show that runs off of a time code, and the only way in which to sync the music and lights together is to use a click track. Sometimes the band uses certain elements like sequenced strings, loops, arpeggiators, or background vocals. In those cases, we’d need to lock with a click track, too. Even when I play with an artist where click tracks are not necessary, I still find it helpful to use a metronome for count-off’s. It keeps the transitions between songs seamless.

In my perfect world, I prefer using a combination of in-ear monitors and wedges. Sometimes I find in-ears to sound a bit weak and lacking in the low-end department. They rarely feel powerful, or rocking, enough. You have to really crank the volume up, which gets to be detrimental to the health of your eardrums. Therefore, it’s great to have an 18” inch sub behind me, and/or a couple of wedges that I can isolate musical elements such as the bass guitar, the kick/snare/toms, and so on.

For elements that require more time-accuracy, I’ll put them through the in-ear’s, such as loops, percussion parts, click tracks. That allows me to use the wedges and subs for vibe and energy. Having big wallops of air pushed at you is better than having little percussive nails shot into your ear canals! In the end, this helps me keep my overall stage volume lower, which in turn helps keep me from going deaf.

Some rooms have extremely weird acoustics and ringing sounds. In those cases, I might deaden the drums a bit with some gaffer tape or moon gel. Sometimes I put a little more padding in the bass drum because the low end is getting out of control. Sometimes a different microphone or microphone placement could be the solution. There are times where the cymbals could be too bright, or too dark. Maybe the stage is tiny, and everybody is standing way too close to one another. I try to adapt my sound to the size of the stage, the size of the venue, and the amount of people on stage and in the audience. There is no one thing that works all the time. And there is no perfect solution to every problem.