What alternatives to a metronome ??? .

ThePrettyDamned

frankus;239878" said:

octatonic;238147" said:Some mates.



it's certainly cheaper to get a 10 pack (one for each finger) than buy a set of elixirs

Took me about ten seconds to work out what was going on there...

Lololol

imalone

Surprised no-one has suggested a subway dwarf yet.
IGMC.

thomasross20

Got to admit it's a good idea to play with one... BUT I have NEVER used one. Probably to my loss as a player, who knows!

kelvinburn

I used to use delay. Set quite a long delay time and play along with the repeats. Sort of like the Brighton Rock solo. Really helps with note choices as when you play a wrongun it stands out like a sore thumb.

ChrisMusic

Thanks for your input on the use of a looper @steamabacus.  You covered a lot of ground in an excellent post.

I totally agree that the primary purpose of practicing in time is to develop an internalised sense of rhythm.  That is unless you are unlucky enough to have to play live to the unrelenting tyranny of the click track, which probably makes it superflous.

The collective ability to find a groove between musicians is an extremely fulfilling achievement when it all comes together.

Good rhythm has a life and pulse and movement all of it's own, and the expression of that goes far beyond the constrictions of the metronome or midi clock.

I might not go as far as 57Deluxe's animated GIF, but headbanging, foot tapping, or any body movement that involves performing the pulse is a great aid to timekeeping, and transmitting that to those around you, and helps synchronise the whole band.  It passes that energy on to the audience as well, and is visually, and usually audibly, much better than a static performance IMO.

I take it from your comments that the rhythmic synchronicity of the looper is purely down to the timing input from press of footswitch and the played pulse up to, and including, the next press of the switch.  That means that you can use simple multiple loopers quite easily, (comparatively) which is an interesting proposition.  I had previously thought that using a midi clock and maybe a level of quantisation was the best way forward.  I told you I have very limited knowledge of this technology, but it is becoming clearer.

I can see that there is a tactile "latency" in the use of most switching mechanisms, from the transmission of the initial nerve impulse to push, through to the physical contacts being made.  You also have to cut in fractionally ahead of the beat to not truncate the leading edge, or attack, of the first note, I presume, and obviously stop proportionately ahead of the end of the last measure ?

What a fascinating journey this is turning out to be, and a great way to explore through the experiences and help of others on the forum, thanks all  

ChrisMusic

Playing along with records, or the TV or whatever is a great way to switch groove, key, etc, especially if it is a fairly random stream.  Even within genre it can feel vastly different to just listening.  Just playing through exercises unplugged works well this way too, and noodling of course.  So good call on pointing that out @koneguitarist.

The potential for a bit of variability and even of poor timing in recorded material is a good teacher for anticipation, and for fitting in when others stray, so I would personally look on that as a bonus.  It makes you more aware of that drift too.

Thanks too to @frankus for extending that train of thought to earlier radio, good point.  I have to say though, frankus, it is my guitar neck that I have to use repeatedly, so I would prefer to use Elixirs  :-O

Great point @kelvinburn about using delays for this, especially the bit about note choice.

As for DAWs, that is inevitable for me I think, but for now I want a simple and versatile solution for practice, which is transferable into a recording environment as well as having live potential, but thanks for the encouragement anyway @hubobulous, I will get there eventually.

frankus

I remember Dario Cortese saying he and a drummer mate used to have competitions to see who could play on the slowests beats ... like 1/2 bpm ... and using stuff like audacity to see who was closest

get a metronome and play slow and I reckon you'd be able to play any venue with confidence even with your greatest nemesis sat in the front row shouting "YOUR SHIT" through a loud hailer.

Sambostar

I saw a Boss Dr Beat db-33 on Ebay.  99p, almost bought it, but I have a Zoom G3 tucked away somewhere.  I kind of like the look of it though.  Any good?

stefjudd

I agree with everyone- there are some great pieces of gear... I often use a metronome but find that (depending on what it is you are practicing) it's sometimes more 'real' and fun to practice stuff over a backing track- just seem to get more into it!

ChrisMusic

Thanks for the eBay pointer @Sambostar, much appreciated.

Agreed @stefjudd, practice should be fun, or at least not executed under Chinese water torture, which is roughly synonymous with the piercing metronome beat.  A drum machine is a much more musical way to practice IMO, but nothing beats playing with other musicians for getting timing tight.  So I am looking forward to that again.

Sort of a corruption of RandomHandClaps egg timer post.  Interesting idea @frankus.  I know people who play the pulse at lower and lower sub divisions of time to see if you come in on beat.  A good test IMO, one beat to a bar, one beat to 2 bars, one beat to 4 bars, and see how quickly your sense of time starts drifting.

PolarityMan

frankus said:

I remember Dario Cortese saying he and a drummer mate used to have competitions to see who could play on the slowests beats ... like 1/2 bpm ... and using stuff like audacity to see who was closest

get a metronome and play slow and I reckon you'd be able to play any venue with confidence even with your greatest nemesis sat in the front row shouting "YOUR SHIT" through a loud hailer.

Thats really really hard! 

another good one is setting up a click track so it has a couple of bars gap then check you're still in when it comes back, you can then see how many bars you can go clickless and still come back in time.

NPP

I find that a simple drum loop with nothing but a stick or closed hi-hat on the 2 and 4 is much easier on the ear than a metronome. I had a free metronome app to do that on my previous PC but now I have a Mac which comes with Garageband - and that is so complex I can't even create that simple pattern!

ChrisMusic

Hey there @NPP, what was the PC app ?   I am not on PC personally, but it might help someone else looking at this discussion.

As to Garageband, I thought about that, but I'm not keen on being tied to the computer (ha, says he on here, typing away again!), and I really don't want to commit to learning any new software right now, and my old Mac is stressed enough as it is.

When I do have enough spare time, or need a DAW, then I want to put the time in just once and climb the learning curve one single successful time with the right kit, and then get on with the music.  

kelvinburn

@PolarityMan that Sir is genius. Have a wisdom

NPP

@ChrisMusic, the PC app I used is bounce metronome: http://bouncemetronome.com There's an incredibly complicated pro version, but the free demo was enough for me. 

As you, I hesitate between using the computer as a practice tool and keeping it completely separate. I still have a 1990s Boss drum machine for when I want to get away from the PC but if I could be bothered to rig up the connections properly the computer would be a good tool as it can do so many different things - youtube lessons, looking up songs, metronome etc. 

daveww

@57Deluxe that's just what I need 

I've also got a foot tambourine which is pretty good for some things.

http://www.gak.co.uk/rs/pictures/tn1_80178.jpg

kelvinburn

http://www.mybeatbuddy.com/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Public&utm_campaign=FB+Public

kelvinburn

^ this looks promising

ChrisMusic

Interesting find...

ThePrettyDamned

kelvinburn said:

^ this looks promising

It does.  It looks like a really great solution for the likes of me, for simple home jamming.