How to use the gap click
- Calibrate input latency once on this device, so the offsets describe your playing and not your speakers.
- Set the tempo, the bars with click, the bars of silence and how many cycles to play.
- Press Start. After a one-bar count-in, tap every quarter note on the pad, the space bar or any key, including through the silence.
- Compare the two sets of numbers: with the click and in the gap. The difference is your inner clock.
Why gap-click practice works
With a click running all the time, you can correct every beat against it. Taking it away for a few bars shows the tempo you drift to on your own. The drift chart makes it visible: most players either speed up in the silence or settle slightly behind. Knowing which one you do tells you what to listen for in a band.
Make it harder, one step at a time
- Lengthen the gap: 2 on / 4 off, then 1 on / 8 off.
- Try slow tempos. Slow time is harder to hold than fast time, because the gaps between notes are longer.
- Play a groove or a rudiment from the sticking trainer on the kit and tap only the quarter notes.
- Check your subdivisions in the timing test, then play along with music.
Then play with a band that never rushes
A generated backing track keeps perfect time. Use the link next to the tool to open the Studio at your tempo, and read our guides on drum practice backing tracks and BPM and key in AI music.