metronome

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Smith
  • Start date Start date
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John Smith

Hi everyone.
Granddaughter needs a freeware metronome if anyone has one.
Thanks everyone.
 
John said:
Hi everyone.
Granddaughter needs a freeware metronome if anyone has one.
Thanks everyone.
Click to expand...

Program: Metronom
Author: Ulli Meybohm
Install: (n.i.)
Ware: (Freeware) German language
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/ftp/Metronom.zip

This one was given high marks in an ACF discussion in July. See this
thread for more info.

Subject: Re: Metronome software followup
From: Little Girl <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 13:18:45 GMT

Susan
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Posted to alt.comp.freeware
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§meagol said:
Try Virtual Metronome 2.0 from here : -

http://www.geocities.com/bancika/software/index.html

Infinitely adjustable for tempo but doesn't have any refinements for 1st
beat accent, preset time signatures etc. But a very small download and no
installation required.
Click to expand...

There's no need for metronome to do anything but beat time. It should
make a very crisp click sound and be able to turn the click off. It
should have a flashing "light" on-screen; it's fine if this stays on at
all times. The nature of the click should be adjustable, and the
appearance of the light should be adjustable, too. The additional
factors mentioned only make the student dependent on the metronome as a
crutch -- the player needs to develop independent skills in order to be
self-sufficient. Use of metronomes is central to the methodology that I
developed.

Additional bells and whistles that are useful?
I'd like to have two or more pre-sets that would enable the player to go
back and forth between two intended tempos. Or different "saves" for
different situations.

What metronomes should not have:
- Emphasized individual beats
- "Time signatures"
- Bells
- Any tonal sound whatsoever
- Bouncing balls, colored lights, etc., etc.
- Underlying arcane, obscure, obsolete, abusive, or highly-proprietary
software environments.

I know what I'm talking about. I teach instrumental technique mastery
for all instruments: in other words, how to practice -- a subject that's
missing from conventional music study. Most music learning is painfully
ineficient -- we're told to "practice," but never _how_ to practice.
That's what I deliver. I have extensive training, which includes work in
music psychology at a major university, and I bring all of it to what I
teach my students.

In preparing to offer workshops in the future, I've been trying out all
the free metronomes I could obtain (with the kind help of the
participants of this board). I anticipate that many of my workshop
students will be pretty poor; they'll be scraping up their pennies to
pay for my workshops, so if they're paying me good money for what I'm
teaching them, I can at least try to save them a few bucks on a
metronome. That was my motivation.

Installation is generally a turn-off to me for this type of software.
I'd rather see any presets retained in a control file instead of our
increasingly humongous, Byzantine registries. (Please, to anybody doing
programming: If at all possible, please, please, please do not write to
the registry!)

Evaluating these programs has been a real frustrating slog: almost all
of them have been duds. A few have been long on fancy gee-gaws, and
short on essential functionality. Some have been unusable for a real
musician. One of the programs caused repeated computer crashes,
requiring rebooting. It was the most fascinating of the programs, but
depended on an installed development tool that made it extremely fussy
and unpredictable.

Only two of these programs made it to my desktop: EchoView and Metronom.
They're not perfect, but they are quite decent and I can recommend them.

I think that I just saw one or two mentioned in this new thread whose
names I don't recall -- perhaps it's time for me to open my exploration
again. And maybe it's time for me to get samples of the commercial
offerings (I felt pretty worn out after the last round).

Let me offer, too, that a simple, basic, inexpensive electronic
metronome is a lot easier to deal with while practicing than a computer
keyboard and mouse. The instrumentalist's work is interrupted by turning
around and groping at the keyboard or reaching for the mouse and then
pushing it around. Imagine that you're "wearing" your bassoon, with a
music stand in front of you and the computer off to the side; or that
you're a jazz drummer surrounded by your drum set and the computer is a
few feet away. I'm talking big-time awkward here: that's the real-world
situation. Or, you can use a little battery-powered metronome that sits
on the music stand right in front of you.

I pay attention to the ergonomics of this process. My goal is to make
practicing efficient and productive so that the student can overcome
what often feels like insurmountable difficulties -- so that learning
music can be enthusiastic and satisfying.

Does all this make sense to you?

Richard Steinfeld
 
Richard said:
Only two of these programs made it to my desktop: EchoView and Metronom.
They're not perfect, but they are quite decent and I can recommend them.
Click to expand...

FYI - Metronom is available for download now. :)

Program: Metronom
Author: Ulli Meybohm
Install: (n.i.)
Ware: (Freeware) German language
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/ftp/Metronom.zip
(145 KB)

Susan
--
Posted to alt.comp.freeware
Search alt.comp.freeware (or read it online):
http://www.google.com/advanced_group_search?q=+group:alt.comp.freeware
Pricelessware & ACF: http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)
 
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