Getting started

ClickSmith works on one song at a time, entirely in the browser. It is built for a laptop or tablet; the waveform and the panels also fit a phone.

Quick start

1. Open ClickSmith from the dashboard and drop a file onto the page, or press Choose file. MP3, WAV, OGG or M4A, up to 200 MB. The status line reads Decoding audio…, then Loaded: name — duration.
2. Wait for Detected: … BPM in the Tempo panel, with a confidence reading. If it says Tempo not detected, tap it in or type it.
3. Press ▶ and listen. Adjust the Click offset with the −10 / −1 / +1 / +10 ms buttons until beat 1 sits exactly on the first downbeat.
4. In Rhythm, pick the time signature and subdivision and tap the beats of the accent pattern.
5. In Click, choose a sound. Then press Export WAV · L/R split — see Export the click track.

Everything you change while playing is audible straight away: BPM, offset, metre, subdivision, accents and the tempo map all update the click you are hearing without a restart.

The screen

• Waveform — the whole song in colour with the beat grid, the cursor (white line), cues and the loop. Click to set the cursor; ⊙ Follow keeps the playhead centred; FIT · 1× resets the zoom.
• Transport — ⏮ To start, ▶ Play / Pause, ⏹ Stop, and the time readout. Pause holds your spot (Paused at 1:23 — press play to resume); Stop and seeking go back to the start.
• Five panels: Tempo, Rhythm, Click, Markers, Mix.

Tempo

• Detected shows the automatic estimate and its confidence; ↻ Re-detect runs it again.
• Tempo field with − / + for one-BPM nudges.
• Tap Tempo — four taps for an average.
• Click offset — shifts the click relative to the song in 1 ms and 10 ms steps.
• Tempo map — for songs that change tempo, see Handle a song that changes tempo.

Rhythm

• Time signature — 4/4, 3/4, 6/8, 5/4, 7/8.
• Subdivision — 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 or Triplet.
• Accent pattern — tap a beat to cycle ghost → normal → accent.

Click

Six built-in sounds — Sine, High/Low, Clap, Wood, Rim, Cowbell — or ↥ Own sample. Fine-tune synth sets Pitch, Length, Tone and Decay. Under Per beat, tap the Beat 1, Beats 2–4 or Subdivision card to give that slot its own sound (default = main sound).

Mix

Song, Click and Master levels. Set the balance you want in your ears; the Song and Click levels are baked into the export.

Keyboard on the waveform

With the waveform focused: ← / → seek one beat (Shift = one bar), I / O set loop in and out at the cursor, + / − zoom. Mouse wheel zooms, Shift+wheel scrolls, double-click resets.

Next

• Handle a song that changes tempo — when one BPM is not enough.
• Add cues, spoken markers and a rehearsal loop — cues, spoken markers and the rehearsal loop.
• Export the click track — the L/R split and the stems.