The Vanishing Metronome Click
Bounce Metronome Pro is especially useful for what you could call "the Vanishing Metronome Click" of a traditional metronome.
Still from the Bounce Metronome Pro visuals - these help you to play in time with the clicks
It's one valuable exercise you can use with any metronome, to play more and more in time with the metronome clicks. Get close enough and the clicks merge with the attack and vanish - when you most need to hear them! This is especially so for loud instruments like drums, but on any instrument the clicks get at least somewhat less distinct as you get more in time with them.
That's the aim of the exercise. When you get spot on, often you find that the clicks "vanish" - at any rate you can't hear them any more. The metronome seems to stop ticking for a few beats. Then you see how often you can do that and how long you can keep it up.
So, with a traditional metronome frustratingly you hear the click less clearly the more you are in time, and it may seem to stop ticking when you are in time. Or if you can still hear it, you hear the clicks less distinctly the more you are in time. So as soon as you get almost exactly in time, it is very natural to lose your orientation and drift out of time until you hear the ticks more clearly again. It is tricky to keep up such exact timing that the clicks vanish for more than a few clicks.
Since Bounce Metronome Pro beats the rhythm so precisely and works as a silent metronome, then the visual conductor or drumsticks help you see the beat easily even when you can no longer hear it very clearly. This helps you keep your orientation in the beat and continually helps you to play more and more in time with the ticks even when you can't hear them or find them less obvious. This makes it easier for players of any instrument to play more exactly in time with the clicks. So it continually helps you improve your timing unlike the traditional purely sound based metronome which can sometimes actually encourage you to play at least a few milliseconds out of time just so you can hear the clicks.
Since its visuals show your position in the beat so precisely, it can also help players who want to learn to play consistently fractionally before the beat - i.e. to slightly anticipate each beat. You can also practice playing fractionally behind the beat as well.
All this will help you to play in time with other players, and improve your sensitivity to fine nuances of timing. That is - as part of a balanced and well planned practice routine - one may need to take care not to rely so much on the metronome that you can only play in time when you use one. See: Metronome advantages and disadvantages
You can also see your position in the bar very easily too, with visuals which help you to internalise the rhythm of the bar.
Or to find out more see What is Special About Bounce Metronome Pro
BTW for blind musicians, you can't use this feature of the metronome yet, but I have an idea for "pitch bounces" which I hope will work in the same way even when you can't see the visual bounces - for some future update.
See also: How to refine your timing - Try to play so that your notes merge with the metronome tick
Also: Metronome advantages and disadvantages |
