THE PENULTIMATE CUT

...and once you're recording to a click, you get the option of using the greatest tool in the recording arsenal-editing.

Once again, let's turn to Neil Peart for some thoughts.

"Another sensitive area of recording is editing... editing is an art form for the engineer, but for the drummer it can be demoralizing and of questionable ethics. Why not just keep trying until you get it the way you want it? There are a few valid reasons that I would like to try to clarify.

One reason is spontaneity. Sometimes your part will not be firmly arranged. Every time you play the song it will be slightly different. Sometimes it's nice to leave a section wide open, close your eyes, and go for it! Great things do happen by accident. Editing is the only way to capture these "accidents."

A good example of the principle of editing is the pair of long fills that introduce each vocal section in the second half of "The Camera Eye." I wanted something really special and exciting there, but I didn't want it to be organized and pre-arranged. The only way to capture that spirit of wild abandon is to be that way. Every time we did a take of the song, I would close my eyes to those sections, let go, and flail away. This ranged from the ridiculous to the sublime, but I was able to choose the most successful, exciting fills for the finished track. What it really boils down to is that it's always you playing. Editing just gives you the opportunity to choose the very best you can do... another good reason for editing is time. Studio time is precious and costly, and the pressure during basic tracks will bear down on the drummer! Everybody else can repair a note here or there, but the drummer's part has to be perfect. The number of microphones involved in creating a drum sound precludes the possibility of "dropping in" to fix one bad snare beat or a click of the sticks. If a difficult track takes a long time, it's you they're waiting for!

This was brought home to me sharply during the recording of "La Villa Strangiato" for our album Hemispheres. For four endless days and nights we played that very long and difficult instrumental again and again! We wouldn't give up. Over and over we played it until our fingers were raw and swollen and our minds were drained and dark. We were determined to get the whole thing perfect, but in the end I just couldn't do it, and we ended up putting it together from a few different takes."

From Modern Drummer, 1982.

Nowadays, we can actually fix a flubbed snare or stick click. Not only that, we can replace entire sections of a song, make sure the entire band comes in on the downbeat, put the perfect cymbal hit at the end. And when you're on the click, the possibilities are literally endless. We can entirely change the arrangement, double the length of that solo, etc. etc. ad infinitum. Sometimes there are too many choices, but we can deal with that. In the end you listen to the song, and the song trumps everything.