Technical Setup: From Simple to Sophisticated - Your Complete Guide to Implementing Click Tracks and Backing Tracks
Bringing It All Together
In our first article, we established the heart behind using tracks in worship – they're tools for removing barriers so people can encounter Jesus without musical distractions. Our second article dove into content strategy, with Daniel Asher showing us how to move from basic playback to custom arrangements that truly serve your congregation.
Now comes the rubber-meets-the-road moment: how do you actually set this up?
This is where my friend Steve Cuny brings invaluable expertise. Steve works with me at our church and is a wizard at FOH sound. What I appreciate most about Steve's approach is his understanding of how to create great production environments with limited budgets. He gets the reality that most churches face – you want excellence, but you don't have unlimited resources. More importantly, Steve understands that the technical setup should always serve the greater goal of creating an environment where your church can go all in with their worship.
Whether you're starting with a basic click track setup or ready to implement a sophisticated multi-channel system, Steve will walk you through three distinct phases that can scale with your ministry's growth and budget. The beauty of this approach is that each phase builds on the previous one, so you're never starting over – you're always building forward.
What Daniel showed us about custom arrangements in Ableton perfectly complements what Steve outlines here. Daniel's content creation philosophy requires the technical foundation Steve provides, while Steve's progressive setup enables the creative flexibility Daniel advocates for. Together, they give you both the "what" and the "how" of tracks that serve your church well.
Let Steve guide you through the practical journey from your first click track to a professional-grade system that can grow with your ministry for years to come.
You can follow Steve's work at @the_steve_cuny on Instagram.
Phase 1: Implementing Your First Click Track (Budget: $200-500)
With how far technology has come, implementing a click has never been easier, or more affordable. If you're serious about starting to use click during your services, I am including some steps to get started below. Depending on the gear you have in place already, this should cost you a few hundred dollars to get going.
Essential Prerequisites
We are going to assume that you already have an in-ear monitor system in place (IEMs). Having an in-ear system is vital to using a click track. Thankfully these units have gone down substantially in price and there are many budget options available.
If you don't have one, purchase an iPad. You don't need to buy it new. Go to a website like BackMarket.com and buy a used one a few years old in good condition. It will save you money and you won't be able to tell the difference.
Pro tip: I always purchase a case and a matte screen protector for our iPads to protect them and help with fingerprints. This goes a longer way than you would think.
Software Setup
Setup an account at MultiTracks.com. Their base account is free and has a ton of features.
Download the Playback app from MultiTracks on the app store. This app is also free, and Playback has a lot of video tutorials and is very easy to use.
Create a set on the app and add as many click tracks as you need for your songs. They also let you add pads to each click if you would like some additional underscore in the key that you're in.
Getting Audio Out of Your iPad
Once you have all this gear in place you will need to get audio out of the iPad. Here is the process to begin doing that:
You are going to implement the headphone jack on the iPad to output your audio. The headphone jack is a stereo output so it will be two channels. One channel will be the click track and the other will be pads if you want to use them.
If you don't already have a "y cable" in your inventory, pick one up. It's a 3.5mm plug on one side and then two TS ¼" cables on the other end. It looks like this: Y Cable
The 3.5mm plug will go into the headphone jack on the iPad. The ¼" cables will need to be converted over to XLR or microphone cables. You will use a direct box to do this. It can either be 2 single channel boxes or a stereo direct box like this: Direct Box
You will run XLR cables from the direct boxes for each channel. These will go to wherever your FOH console is receiving signal from, whether that's a snake or directly into the console itself.
Next you will need to patch your FOH console and confirm you're receiving signal from those channels. Since a majority of churches route their in ears through their consoles you will need to route them there.
Adding Communication
If you don't already have a talkback system for your musicians this is a great time to add one. Place a mic near whoever is running click so they can communicate to the band when necessary. That person doesn't have to be a full blown music director but just having a simple way to communicate to the rest of the band's ears can make a difference during important moments.
This is a simple system, but by implementing the Playback app you are setting yourself for future growth. It's a powerful system that can flex with your ministry and grow with you and your team.
Phase 2: Adding Multi-Channel Tracks (Budget: $800-2,500)
Once you have Playback setup and your team is used to playing along with a click track, the transition into adding tracks along with that is fairly seamless. We can break this down into a few phases for introducing tracks:
Adding Tracks to Your Click Setup
Using the same hardware from Phase 1, you'll route your click/guide into channel 1 and tracks into channel 2 of your iPad's headphone output. You'll need to upgrade your MultiTracks account for full song access.
Critical principle: Start simple. With only one channel for tracks, choose stems carefully based on who's on stage and your church culture. Simple is best when deciding which track stems to feed – they should complement, not clash with existing musicians. This is where Daniel's arrangement philosophy becomes crucial: tracks enhance, not replace, live musicians.
If you don't have a relationship with your tech/FOH engineer, build one now. Their input is invaluable.
Scaling to 8 Channels
Moving to 8 channels transforms your mix capabilities. I recommend this standard routing:
Click | 2. Guide | 3. Percussion | 4. Sub Frequencies
Synth/Keys Left | 6. Synth/Keys Right | 7. Guitars | 8. BGVs
Required gear:
Audio interface: Behringer 8-Channel (budget) or Tascam 8-Channel (higher quality)
8-Channel TRS to XLR Snake (get 10'+ for flexibility)
USB dongle for iPad (if needed) that allows charging
Connect via USB, assign tracks in Playback app (MultiTracks has tutorials), and route to your console. This typically results in immediate mix improvements.
One note: If you already have a Dante system in place (digital audio network) at your church this would be a great time to switch to a computer and implement it. I will go into more detail about Dante in the next phase.
Phase 3: Professional-Grade Implementation (Budget: $3,000+)
At this level, you have an established team and technical crew ready for advanced capabilities. This is where Ableton Live becomes valuable, offering features that support Daniel's content strategy principles:
Custom arrangement creation with flexible looping and transitions
Real-time modifications using MIDI controllers
Advanced routing for unprecedented FOH control
Technical Requirements:
Dedicated computer running Ableton
Dante audio networking (recommended): Send unlimited channels over ethernet to FOH, monitors, and broadcast simultaneously
Professional consultation for Dante implementation (if needed)
Important consideration: Ableton offers maximum flexibility but introduces complexity. Only implement if you have dedicated personnel for weekly setup and operation. Because Playback is so robust, many large churches continue using it successfully.
Dante Benefits:
Expandable channel count with a click
Single cable to multiple destinations
Support for special elements (video sync, voiceovers, etc.)
Implementation Roadmap
Phase 1 ($200-500): Click tracks with Playback app on iPad Phase 2a ($200-500): Add single-channel tracks
Phase 2b ($800-2,500): Scale to 8-channel interface setup Phase 3 ($3,000+): Ableton + Dante for professional flexibility
The Heart Behind the Hardware
Every piece of gear and software decision should serve one goal: creating an environment where your church can go all in with their worship. Whether implementing your first click track or building a professional system, start with the heart, move to the practical, and keep your congregation's worship experience as the North Star.