A click is a sonic artifact in sound and

music production A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Analog recording artifact

magnetic tape Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic storage made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on the earlier magnetic wire recording from Denmark. Devices that use magne ...

recordings, clicks can occur when switching from magnetic play to record in order to correct recording errors and when recording a track in sections. On phonograph records, clicks are perceived in various ways by the listener, ranging from tiny 'tick' noises which may occur in any recording medium through ' scratch' and '

crackle Crackle or crackling may refer to: Foods * Cracklings, the tissue remaining after lard and tallow have been extracted from animal fats ** Pork rinds in American English, pork scratchings in British English when served in small pieces as a snack ...

' noise commonly associated with

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analo ...

disc recording methods. Analog clicks can occur due to dirt and dust on the grooves of the vinyl record or granularity in the material used for its manufacturing, or through damage to the disc from scratches on its surface.

Digital recording artifact

In digital recording, clicks (not to be confused with the

click track A click track is a series of audio cues used to synchronize sound recordings, sometimes for synchronization to a moving image. The click track originated in early sound movies, where optical marks were made on the film to indicate precise timin ...

) can occur due to multiple issues. When recording through an audio interface, insufficient computer performance or audio driver issues can cause clicks, pops and dropouts. They can result from improper clock sources and buffer size. Also, clicks can be caused by electric devices near the computer or by faulty audio or mains cables. In sample recording, digital clicks occur when the signal levels of two adjacent audio sections do not match. The abrupt change in gain can be perceived as a click. In electronic music, clicks are used as a musical element, particularly in glitch and noise music, for example in the '' Clicks & Cuts Series'' (2000–2010).

Speech noise

In speech recording, click noises (not to be confused with click consonants) result from tongue movements,

swallowing Swallowing, sometimes called deglutition in scientific contexts, is the process in the human or animal body that allows for a substance to pass from the mouth, to the pharynx, and into the esophagus, while shutting the epiglottis. Swallowing i ...

, mouth and

saliva Saliva (commonly referred to as spit) is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands in the mouth. In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which DNA can be ...

noises. While in voice-over recordings, click noises are undesirable, they can be used as a sound effect of close-miking in

ASMR Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a tingling sensation that usually begins on the scalp and moves down the back of the neck and upper spine. A pleasant form of paresthesia, it has been compared with auditory-tactile synesthesia a ...

and pop music, e.g. in '' Bad Guy'' (2019) by Billie Eilish.

Click removal

In audio restoration and audio editing, hardware and software de-clickers provide click removal or de-clicking features. A spectrogram can be used to visually detect clicks and crackles (corrective spectral editing).

References

External links

Click and pop removal techniques
Audacity tutorial {{DEFAULTSORT:Clicking noise Noise (electronics) Acoustics Sound Audio engineering Sampling (music)