A click is a sonic artifact in

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

and

music production A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

, characteristically impulse-like, that is to say, almost instantaneous, sharp, aharmonic sound.

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 magnetic ...

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 A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

, 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' noise commonly associated with analog 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

digital recording In digital recording, an audio signal, audio or video signal is converted into a stream of discrete numbers representing the changes over time in air pressure for audio, or Color, chroma and luminance values for video. This number stream is s ...

, 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 Film, moving image. The click track originated in early sound movies, where optical marks were made on the film to indicate precise ...

) can occur due to multiple issues. When recording through an

audio interface An audio interface is a piece of computer hardware that allows the input and output of audio signals to and from a host computer or recording device. Audio interfaces are closely related to computer sound cards, but whereas sound cards are opt ...

, insufficient

computer performance In computing, computer performance is the amount of useful work accomplished by a computer system. Outside of specific contexts, computer performance is estimated in terms of accuracy, efficiency and speed of executing computer program instruction ...

or audio driver issues can cause clicks, pops and dropouts. They can result from improper clock sources and

buffer Buffer may refer to: Science * Buffer gas, an inert or nonflammable gas * Buffer solution, a solution used to prevent changes in pH * Lysis buffer, in cell biology * Metal ion buffer * Mineral redox buffer, in geology Technology and engineeri ...

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 Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

, clicks are used as a musical element, particularly in

glitch A glitch is a short-lived technical fault, such as a transient one that corrects itself, making it difficult to troubleshoot. The term is particularly common in the computing and electronics industries, in circuit bending, as well as among pl ...

and

noise Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...

music, for example in the '' Clicks & Cuts Series'' (2000–2010).

Speech noise

In speech recording, click noises (not to be confused with

click consonants Click consonants, or clicks, are speech sounds that occur as consonants in many languages of Southern Africa and in three languages of East Africa. Examples familiar to English-speakers are the '' tut-tut'' (British spelling) or '' tsk! tsk!' ...

) result from tongue movements,

swallowing Swallowing, also called deglutition or inglutition in scientific and medical contexts, is a physical process of an animal's digestive tract (e.g. that of a human body) that allows for an ingested substance (typically food) to pass from the mou ...

, mouth and

saliva Saliva (commonly referred as spit or drool) 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 ...

noises. While in

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...

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

ASMR An autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR)Marsden, Rhodri (20 July 2012), ''The Independent''. 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 ...

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

Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single "Ocean Eyes (song), Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her broth ...

Click removal

audio restoration Audio restoration is the process of removing imperfections (such as white noise, hiss, impulse noise (audio), impulse noise, crackle, wow (recording), wow and flutter (electronics and communication), flutter, background noise, and mains hum) from ...

and

audio editing Audio editing software is any software or computer program which allows editing and generating audio data. Audio editing software can be implemented completely or partly as a library, as a computer application, as a web application, or as a loa ...

, hardware and software de-clickers provide click removal or de-clicking features. A

spectrogram A spectrogram is a visual representation of the spectrum of frequencies of a signal as it varies with time. When applied to an audio signal, spectrograms are sometimes called sonographs, voiceprints, or voicegrams. When the data are represen ...

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)