Metronome

Yukio said:
Chris (@hands_on_lanzon) recently did a Radiohead song with his new clear plastic mechanical metronome (pictured earlier in this thread.) It creates an eerie atmosphere as his playing and singing float over the steady clicking of the metronome. I think you will like it:

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Thanks for the shout out. I tried cutting the beat in half and playing with the metronome on the 2&4, but I didn't have the ability to pull it off... yet! More practice to come. Also more work on vocals, for sure. I appreciate the Seasons for pulling me outa my shell.

I appreciate this thread too... it's another little nudge. It also led me to getting one of the smaller Nikkos, for its portability. I shall call it Mini-ko.
 
I'm old fashioned. I don't like batteries. I have mini windups that click (tick?) just fine. A Nikko Hi-Mini and two Wittner Mini Taktell.

I did give up and buy a Korg CA-30 universal tuner, but mostly used it to verify good "A"s on my Kratt pitch pipes, and my Wittner "A" forks.
 
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Okay, so I wound up getting the metronome I mentioned in post 27 on this thread, a Donner from Amazon that includes a bell. It's nifty, and as a few folks on AMZ commented, LOUD. I keep it pretty far away, or it crowds out everything else in my head. :ROFLMAO:

My first steps with it have been a little wobbly, to be honest! I've usually got my mental hands full with playing the song just by itself, and I've only recently tried to add singing. Doing both of those AND listening to the metronome AND adjusting my rhythm feels like a lot.

I believe, though! I know that I have a better sense of rhythm than most folks, but it's still humbling to learn how far off the mark I am so much of the time. I've been focusing more on trying to get every chord right, to the detriment of the songs themselves I think. Especially for having other people sing along, far better to be on time than to take an extra beat to get my fingers exactly where they need to be.

I know that there are indeed a couple of schools of thought on this topic. One says that speeding up without first nailing everything down just reinforces mistakes. That's what I stuck with, because hearing my own clams hurts my brain. LOL But I've been feeling for a while that this has getting in my way. Matt Dahlberg pointed out in a recent video session that a goal of 85% of "perfection" might be more practical, and certainly more fun. I haven't been able to entirely let go of it yet, at least partly because I feel I'm early enough in my journey that it really is worth getting the chords more right than I am. LOL

I dunno. What are other folks finding from the early days of their metronoming?
 
bilbo56 said:
I use this site to find BPM but usually can't keep up.
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Great resource! Thanks!

My general goal right now is 75%-ish. Even that is typically a stretch, but it's close enough to the target feel like I'm actually doing something. 🙂

And since Joe Cocker has come up here a few times, it's worth noting that he sang With A Little Help From My Friends a lot more than 25% slower than The Beatles did, and he turned their 4/4 song into a waltz, and it couldn't possibly have been more perfect!

So I'm not beating myself up too much about going a little slower than full throttle. 🙂
 
There’s a lot to be said for playing a song slower than the original version ~ and achieving accuracy is only one of the reasons. Music needs to breathe. When played faster than necessary, there’s no time for the player or the listener to fully appreciate what they are hearing. I like an up-tempo jig or reel as much as the next person. But we live in a chaotic, fast-paced world, and one of the ways we can counter that is by bringing the tempo of our songs down a few notches ~ to a place where the music can truly be savored. By both the player and the listener.
 
Having some fun with David the MetroGnome, learning Radiohead's 'Weird Fishes/Arpeggi.' I have no idea how to count this or what time signature it's in. I just tried to sync David with the syncopated snare from the original and feel it out. Now I just gotta actually figure out how to count (1‐2-3-5?!) and sing along for the current Season!

 
TimWilson said:
DUDE! My favorite track on one of my favorite Radiohead elpees, and both track and record are SORELY slept on by the masses! You slayed this, son!

Can you tell me more about your arrangement?

Thanks for sharing!
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I had this album on repeat forever! I think my favorite track might've been 'Jigsaw Falling Into Place', but I loved 'em all and the album as a whole experience. I could easily listen to that album a few times in a row with zero skipping. In Rainbows From the Basement.. so good!!

I got the arrangement from this YT vid...
 
ploverwing said:
Yup. Definitely needing this tool today. Working on "De tous biens plaine" (arr. Agricola).

I do NOT sound like this (nor will I because I'm using a different instrument 😂) but you'll get the idea of the piece:



There's a funky little brief switch to triplets about 3/4 way through. Waiting to do that with my teacher. In the meantime, working to get this timing nailed (plus it wouldn't hurt to get the notes right, too) before next lesson (three weeks... Because reasons). I can do this! Because metronome!
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Oh I love the renaissance time period 😍 I took a 16th century counterpoint class in grad school, and that class was so interesting! Helped that the teacher was top notch too!
 
ukeclass said:
Oh I love the renaissance time period 😍 I took a 16th century counterpoint class in grad school, and that class was so interesting! Helped that the teacher was top notch too!
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We got to play this together (my teacher and I) on Tuesday and he played his lute for one of the other parts, and it sounded SO PRETTY!! 😍
 
hands_on_lanzon said:
I think my favorite track might've been 'Jigsaw Falling Into Place
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A great one! And I'll admit that I go back and forth between Arpeggi and All I Need, which raises the hair on the back of my neck just thinking about. That howl!

I really think you did a fantastic job without this, and I prefer what you (and David) did more than the tutorial...which I'm totally gonna do with my metronome too! Can I ask what bpm you landed on?

Btw, I LOVE that dude's singing cover from a couple of years earlier. He would get sharper on the arpeggi, but I really like his singing on the Weird Fishes section.

Thanks again!
 
hands_on_lanzon said:
Having some fun with David the MetroGnome, learning Radiohead's 'Weird Fishes/Arpeggi.' I have no idea how to count this or what time signature it's in. I just tried to sync David with the syncopated snare from the original and feel it out. Now I just gotta actually figure out how to count (1‐2-3-5?!) and sing along for the current Season!

Click to expand...

Nice job. I purchased the same metronome.
 
Well this thread got me thinking about (and buying) a metronome. I thought long and hard about mechanical vs digital and almost pulled the trigger on a vintage wittner but ultimately the Matrix MR600 quartz model sold me for a couple of reasons. First its portable so I can travel with it, it has a volume control, a headphone jack and a built in tuner/tone generator that even supports A440 to A445 tuning.

The combo seemed hard to beat in such a small package. I got one used on ebay for less than $20. So far it's da bomb!
 

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UkerDrew said:
Well this thread got me thinking about (and buying) a metronome. I thought long and hard about mechanical vs digital and almost pulled the trigger on a vintage wittner but ultimately the Matrix MR600 quartz model sold me for a couple of reasons. First its portable so I can travel with it, it has a volume control, a headphone jack and a built in tuner/tone generator that even supports A440 to A445 tuning.

The combo seemed hard to beat in such a small package. I got one used on ebay for less than $20. So far it's da bomb!
Click to expand...
Ok, now I have "MAS." My cool see-through mechanical is too loud for the apartment I'm in. 😐
 
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