Blind Musicians' Metronome

Intro - Screen Shot and description - What it sounds like - Return key to stop and start - Main shortcuts - Page up and Page down to adjust numbers - Fast Help - Adjusting the rhythm - The other metronomes - Built in tool tip help

Intro

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This is a metronome especially designed for blind users.

With this text based interface, you can play all the same rhythms as a sighted user. You can use all the features - except for the bouncing ball visuals of course - and an option to get beats from a groove via clicks on the visual display of the waveform. Everything else is accessible through your screen reader.

For details of the features accessible for blind users, see the Feature Comparision list.

To find this metronome, first you install the same version of Bounce Metronome Pro that is used by a sighted user.

Then if you have a screen reader installed and running it should automatically start up with the text based version of the user interface.

However, if your screen reader isn't detected, use the Hide graphics button, the first button in the main window (to sighted users this looks like a small featureless dimple below the metronome types drop list).

You get a free 30 day Test drive - with all the features completely unlocked.

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What it is like to use

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Here is a screen shot for any sighted readers of this page:

Main window with graphics hidden

There are quick keyboard shortcuts for all of the controls in this window.

At the top of the window you find a drop list of all the metronomes, here set to Bounce Metronome Basic. You can select other metronomes here. The Basic one is a good starting point as it has fewer controls to learn, and the same shortcuts are used for the other metronomes.

Then there's a Play Sound button, volume control, then buttons for some of the common time signatures like 3/4, 4/4, 6/8 etc.

After that there's a field to set the number of sub-beats of each beat. Then there are some fields to adjust the tempo, then you can adjust the number of parts in the rhythm - for instance 6/8 will have three parts, to play the eighth notes (quavers) the dotted quarter notes (dotted crotchets) and the bar beat.

You can vary the number of beats in each part, and silence or play any of the parts or set the instrument to play each part. Then there are buttons to bring up other windows you can use to adjust timing and volumes of individual beats, and adjust the part properties (e.g. the stereo pan location of each instrument).

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What it sounds like

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Here is what it sounds like with the standard settings, playing 3/4: Bounce Metronome Basic 3/4.

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Return key to stop and start the metronome

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You start and stop the metronome using the Play Sound button. You can also use the RETURN key to start and stop the metronome. This works wherever you are in Bounce Metronome. Also the keyboard focus stays with the control you are using so that you can start and stop the metronome at any time without need to navigate to the play button or back again.

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Overview of the main shortcuts

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It's Alt + V to set the volume and Alt + T for the tempo. You can also set the tempo by tapping at the desired tempo with the backspace key.

You can use any of the preset time signatures with shortcuts such as Alt + 3 for 3/4, Alt + 4 for 4/4, and Alt + 6 for 6/8.

You can play sub-beats of every beat using Number of sub-beats for preset (Alt + N).

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Page up and Page down keys to adjust numbers

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You can use the Page up and Page down keys to increase or decrease the number of sub-beats. The same method works with other numbers in Bounce Metronome in single line text fields. Since these shortcuts are easy to use, the spin controls to adjust numbers are all hidden in the No Graphics version of the program.

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Fast Help

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For a reminder of the main keyboard shortcuts and other help to get started, use the Fast Help button in the main window.

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Adjusting the rhythm

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The rhythm is made up of several parts each played on a different instrument. To read the details of all the parts in the rhythm go to the "Tempi for all the parts" field, shortcut Alt + H. To choose which part to show the tempo for go to Show tempo for Part (Alt + O). So for instance if the rhythm is in 4/4 with two sub-beats, you will see three parts, for the bar beat, the four beats to a bar, and the eight beats to a bar to play the sub-beats.

So for instance if you want to set the tempo for the four beats to a bar, choose the part which plays 4 beats (normally part 1).

You can skip individual beats, set the times for the beats, and set the volumes for the beats using the Adjust individual Beats as Numbers (Ctrl + 77) window.

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The other metronomes

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This description is for the basic metronome. All the other metronomes work in the same way with the same main window shortcuts. Of course they also have additional shortcuts for each one as needed.

If you want to read more about them before you download, look at the pages for the individual metronomes in this web site. These pages are designed for sighted users so don't go into details of the keyboard shortcuts, but will give a good idea of what the metronomes can do.

You'll find audio clips for each metronome and an introduction to their capabilities. To find these pages see the Metronomes contents table

To try them out download Bounce Metronome, and select the metronome of interest in the drop list of metronome types. The tool tip help will help you to find out how to use the metronome.

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