Count off


A count off, count in, or lead-in is a verbal, instrumental or visual cue used in musical performances and recordings to ensure a uniform entrance to the performance by the musicians and to establish the piece's initial tempo, time signature and style. Although a count off usually lasts just one or two bars, it is able to convey the music's style, tempo, and dynamics from the leader to the other performers. A count off is generally in the same style of the piece of music—for instance, a joyful swing tune should have an energized count off. A misleading lead-in, one which indicates a different meter than that of the piece, is a false trail.
Counting off is evident in musical genres other than Western classical and popular music; Ghanaian ethnomusicologist J. H. Kwabena Nketia has observed the benefits of such techniques in West African music.
Image:Countoff.jpg|thumb|400px|center|A two-bar percussive and verbal count off played on a closed hi-hat
A silent count off, such as those given by an orchestral conductor using a baton, may be given as a value "in front".
In recorded music, the final two beats of the count off are often silent to avoid spill onto the recording, especially if the piece has a pickup. The count off is typically edited out after the recording has finished. There are, however, instances where the count off is deliberately kept on a recording—sometimes even edited onto a recording. In the case of "I Saw Her Standing There" by The Beatles, the count off was edited onto a different take of the song. A recorded count off can be made by musicians through an open microphone or through the studio's talkback system, the latter being done by non-performing personnel such as the producer or engineer. The inclusion of a count off in a studio recording may give the impression of a live performance, as on the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Reprise".
Pre-count and count-off are functions of digital audio workstations which give an amount of click track—typically two bars—before the recording begins.

Examples

  • "Let's Dance" by Chris Montez
  • *The song's verses accent upbeats on beats 1 and 3 and vice versa for the rest of the song, so drummer Jesse Sailes counts it off as "one—two—one, two, three".
  • "I Saw Her Standing There" by the Beatles
  • * Paul McCartney's count off of "one—two—three—four!" was recorded on the ninth take of the song, and then edited on to a different take comprising the rest of the song; George Martin liked the "spirited" raw live feel of the count off and decided to have it spliced onto a better performance.
  • "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
  • * The song features a bilingual count off of "uno, dos, one, two, tres, cuatro".
  • "Taxman" by the Beatles
  • * George Harrison performs two count offs on the track—one is to set the tempo, and another is for effect which was added later.
  • "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles
  • * John Lennon used a droll count off of "sugarplum fairy, sugarplum fairy"; the count off was not part of the take included on the album version but was first released on Anthology 2 in 1996.
  • "Give Peace a Chance" by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band
  • * The version recorded for the Live Peace in Toronto 1969 album features Lennon beginning with a count off in German: "eins, zwei, ein—zwei—drei—vier".
  • "Get Up Sex Machine" by James Brown
  • * The song begins with a few seconds of spoken dialogue, which Brown ends by saying "can I count it off? One—two—three—four!"
  • "I Don't Wanna Face It" by John Lennon
  • * The third track from Lennon's posthumous Milk and Honey album features a "characteristically free-form" count off of "un, deux, eins—zwei—hickle—pickle".
  • "Patience" by Guns N' Roses
  • * The song begins as bass guitarist Duff McKagen gives out the count off. "One, two, one, two, three, four".
  • "You Get What You Give" by the New Radicals
  • * Gregg Alexander counts the song off with "one, two, one–two–three–OW!"
  • "Walla Walla" by The Offspring
  • * The track starts with the count off "One and two and three and four and" which repeats as it approaches the tempo of the song.
  • "Lonely Swedish " by Tom Green
  • * The count off happens mid-song after the bridge and before the final chorus. "One, two, three, four".
  • "Son Song" by Soulfly featuring Sean Lennon
  • * The song begins with a count off by Lennon. "One, two, three, four".
  • "You'll Never Meet God " by Carly Hennessy
  • * Co-written by the New Radicals' Gregg Alexander, the song echoes his introduction to 1998's "You Get What You Give" with a count off of "one, two, one–two–three–OW!"
  • "Vertigo" by U2
  • * During the final two bars of a four-bar drum introduction Bono counts off the song with "unos, dos, tres, catorce" – Spanish for "some, two, three, fourteen".
  • "Hot to Go!" by Chappell Roan
  • * Starts on "five, six, five, six, seven, eight" mimicking a cheerleading chant.