Click Left

Click Left is a backing track player for drummers who play to a click. Put your tracks on a pad grid, send the click to your ears and the mix to the desk, and hit a pad when the singer looks at you.

It does one job. There are no lyrics, no mixer, no MIDI and no plugins. It replaces a laptop or a hardware sampler for the drummer who wants the track to start, play and stop.

BUILT SO THE AUDIO NEVER STOPS Every file is decoded and checked at import, before it can reach a setlist. On stage, nothing touches the disk, the network or the database. A watchdog restarts the engine if it ever stalls. If the system interrupts the audio, Click Left stops and tells you rather than carrying on by itself. After a crash mid-set it offers to pick up where you were.

IMPORT A FOLDER, GET A SETLIST Import stereo WAV, AIFF, M4A or MP3 from the Files app, Dropbox, Drive, a USB stick, AirDrop or Finder. A folder becomes a setlist, in file order. Tempo and stage notes are read out of the file names: “07 - Slow Burn (72bpm) [half time, no fills].wav” gives you the tempo cue and the note on the pad. The importer works out which side the click is on.

LEVELS MATCHED BETWEEN SONGS Loudness is measured for the mix and peaks for the click, at import. Every song reaches the desk at the same level without an evening of trimming.

A STAGE SCREEN YOU CAN READ FROM THE THRONE Sixteen pads a page in big type, with three text sizes. The song’s notes and waveform are in front of you, with time left in the song and in the set, a tempo light, click level trim and a fade-out stop. The song you are on is a strip of white tape with a box round it. Played songs are crossed off and the next one is circled.

CLICK TRACKS Add a setlist entry with no file for the numbers you play live to a click, with tap tempo and a bar and beat counter.

WORKS WITH YOUR RIG Click to any output, track to any one or two outputs, on any audio interface or a plain Y-cable. Bluetooth page-turner pedals work as next and play. A soundcheck screen verifies every file and the rig before you walk on.

NO ACCOUNT, NO SERVER Nothing is collected and nothing leaves the iPad. Works with no signal.

FREE TO TRY The free version holds six songs and one setlist, enough to take it on stage once. A single purchase unlocks unlimited songs and setlists. No subscription. Family Sharing is on.