I didn't read every single post so someone may have mentioned this aleady. A study was done by an advanced percussion class at one of the big music schools - the subject: John Bonham. Apparently, the man couldn't stay on time to save his life. He drifted all over the place - slowing down on verses, speeding up on choruses and big build ups. etc.

There's a lot to be said for a drummer with clock-like timing but, I'll take a groove/feel/drifting drummer like Bonham every day of the week over a technically accurate time keeping drummer.

When clicks are unavoidable - we use short drum loops for reasons already stated (when you're on the click, it disappears only to be found again when you've drifted enough to ruin the take).

I'm not a drummer and don't know how a drummer can stick to a simple (and soft sounding) click.
But I know it is possible because the drummer I work with plays perfectly over a click. He almost always practice over click. And while he gets perfectly right on the time, it doesn't pevent him of giving any feeling he wants. I suppose it takes a lot of practice to achieve, but he's living proof that it is possible, and I testify that his abilities are very valuable for me, really help in the overall workflow. A drummer that can do nicely what's needed in the most convenient way for the task, instead of having to design the workflow for his abilities. Now I could't ask much less from a professional studio drummer.

Hmm...

ORIGINAL: Ognis

Because drummers are the worst musicians in a band.

Let me explain something to you. Drummers have a NATURAL feel for rhythm. When you put a metrodome (I know I spelled that wrong) to us, you throw us off. Simple as that. We have our own feel, within our head. As soon as we start to feel someting outside our own natural rhythm, we get thrown off.

You can't generalize things like that. My drummer (Joe) plays to a click without problems. Drummers who can play to a click will find themselves very busy with studio/recording work very quickly. Practice to a click. You won't regret it.

ORIGINAL: Ognis
How about this, try doing paradoodles, whilch is tapping R = right, L = Left.. RLRRLRLL, LRLLRLRR.. And see how fast you can do it to time

Not fast at all. Barely. lol. I don't have that kind of coordination. Just wondering- how does that apply or pertain to playing to a click?

David - I don't have a problem with your questions - but you're asking them to a person who hasn't been on the forum for over a year. his last post was 2/3/08, so he's not likely to respond to your post.

all the best drummers i've worked with, can all play to a click, without even discussing it.


and


the best of the best, can play their groove around the click, in any fashion they desire.

push the beat, play ON the beat, BACKBEAT

sure, there are GREAT pro drummers who never use a click, and play all over the place.

it is of my opinion, that these guys are so good, that they could play with a click if they really wanted to, but KNOW that the human quality of drifting time, is much more appealing than dead-on-time.

so the idea is, find a drummer that can play perfectly--with a click.

then throw the click away, and play from the heart.

It's because the percussive nature of the drums can, and do mask the click. Unless it's real loud and then it may seem to mask the drums and can make you not "believe" in what you're playing.
The comparatively sustained instruments don't so much and you can clearly hear the inter measure beats.
 
 
 
 

 
That being said, as someone who has spent many hours playing solo guitar pieces (especially classical) and adding expression with variations in tempo, I find it hard to play to a click track. I find myself wanting to pause on some notes and speed up other passages as the mood fits, and then before you know it the click is someplace else. 

In nine years you haven't gotten further with this topic...??? :o) :o)
 
The answer is: When a guitarist plays to a click he often (usually?) doesn't play precisely. but with a feel that follows
the rhythm. When a drummer follows the click, he has to follow the click exactly. If he's 300 milliseconds late here and an 350 ms early there, it doesn't sound like a feel, it sounds simply inaccurate. That's why non-drummers playing drums find it harder than with a guitar, bass or similar.  The guitarist only thinks he's playing to a click. A drummer either has practiced enough or he hasn't - I think usually they have.

I just went through a little of this....two things:
 
1) Are you hearing the click loud and clear above the playback of your drums?  Are you using a fast enough click with accents so you can "feel" the timing, clearly, without struggling to hear?  I had to get some sound isolation headphones and this fixed the issue of hearing the click in my ears nice and clear, like another drum in the drum set, if not a bit louder.  I also use a metronome track and will customize it to the click timing I need, adding emphasis on the bass note, so to speak.  It seems to help to feel the groove better.

 
2)  Bad timing to begin with - as has been said.  I found that I speed up during fills, ever so slightly, and without a metronome I never noticed I did that.  It took a little practice, but not that much actually, and the clicks being loud and clear in my headphones really helped with that.  Try a few practice runs first before recording to get yourself settled down and lined up with the timing.  
 
My two cents...

In my humble opinion it's not the best idea to record to a click in the first place. Say you have Sonar handy ... just whip yourself up a quick loop that has the exact feel you want in the song and then drag the end of the clip to repeat it until the end of the song. You can then lay down your basic tracks to that loop and your track will have that much more mojo and vibe.
 
The reason is, a click track is much too sterile and unmusical on it's own ... sort of like a drum machine. It's way too perfect and doesn't groove one bit. If you lay all of your tracks down to this click, everything will sound very robotic. It won't swing baby ...
 
Much better to make yourself a loop in Sonar that has an actual feel like the song you are trying to record. In a lot of blues music it is customary to play drums a little behind the beat. If you want your blues song to have this feel, you would be doing yourself and the song a disservice by starting the whole thing off playing to a perfectly quantized click track.
 
The other side of the coin is that it is also easier for a real drummer to play along with something that grooves like a loop with some actual feel than it would be him to play along to this sterile click track. You've got to get his flow going ... remember the very same things that make drummers less than perfect are the very same things that make them groove ... it's the little flaws that count.
 
Ever see a band with two drummers? How is they can lock in and play so well with each other if they are all such terrible musicians?