Sometimes getting group handclaps for real isn’t possible. For when tracking the band or multiple takes for the solo recordist is off the menu, and sterile samples won’t cut it, we show you how to get the sound fast from very little.
In Summary
Ensemble handclaps can be generated by triggering or pasting samples, but these can sound inorganic. For the solo recordist who doesn’t want to commit to multiple passes, using an advanced delay on one or two takes can provide convincing replicates that push and pull.
Going Deeper
Using Real Handclaps
Ensemble Claps
Some songs just cry out for handclaps, and getting the sound of many joining in (when done right) can add a sense of ensemble and spirit to a track that is unique. Anyone who has tracked the band doing their own handclaps may concur that it’s often the point in proceedings where at least one participant forgets how to count or is otherwise unable… Certainly, some simple tasks can become mysteriously difficult under a red light! Sometimes getting the best hitters on the mic is the only way to avoid something that sounds like a box of castanets being kicked down the stairs.
Tracking Up
Fewer performers can be utilised and tracked more than once to get the right size of sound, and a familiar trick is doing each take at a different place in the room in front of a stereo pair of mics. While the solo performer can do this, the time taken to capture a given number of hands can grow exponentially.
Using Samples
An alternative can be to trigger real handclap samples from a single part, or from a suitably placed drum such as the snare. Careful deployment can work well, but when used higher in the mix, identical hits can give the game away immediately. This can be helped with alternating round robin samples; staggering two samplers with different samples can be an alternative
Generating New Handclaps
When the aim is to create slightly different replicates, delay can work when applied to one track of a real performance. The difference of each real handclap provides variation for subsequent hits and avoids the repetition of triggered samples. In the video, we use delay to get group handclaps from two tracks of single claps.
Tracks’ audio is slipped ahead of its original position to mimic slightly early hits.
Two instances of delay are used in-line; the first with a low dry component and a higher wet component; the second with a high dry and low wet components.
This creates a ‘ramp up/ramp down effect’ featuring slightly quieter early and late claps.
We use FabFilter Timeless 3’s flexible modulation to introduce micro timing and level ‘errors’ to ensure that no two hits are the same.
The effect is completed with EQ and reverb to taste.
Better Than The Real Thing?
Group handclaps can provide an organic percussive texture, and standing the band around a mic to get them can be hard to beat. Solo productions, or those with fewer hands on deck must get creative when extra size is needed for a tracked-up sound. Recording multiple passes can work but it can be labour-intensive. Alternatively, triggered samples break cover when higher levels of them are needed in the mix.
By using modulated delay and subtle sculpting in the mixer, along with some complimentary moves on the timeline, engineers and producers can generate usable group handclaps with very little recording involved. For demos or even finished productions, not having to track multiple overdubs can be a bonus. Certainly the options other than recording lots of people needn’t be binary choices between robotic samples or a chorus of clatter.
Photo by Daniel Lincoln on Unsplash
A Word About This Article
As the Experts team considered how we could better help the community we thought that some of you are time poor and don’t have the time to read a long article or a watch a long video. In 2023 we are going to be trying out articles that have the fast takeaway right at the start and then an opportunity to go deeper if you wish. Let us know if you like this idea in the comments.