Device to show playing tempo

drummerboyky

Junior Member
Hey all... I am a noob drummer and would like to find a device that I can somehow attach to a drum (snare or bass) and it will detect the frequency of hits to the drum and show me in real time the tempo I am playing. So, if a song is supposed to be at 100 bpm, it will show me a running average of how fast I am playing.

Anybody know of such a device?

Thanks!!!
 
Even if such a thing exists, I think it would be very hard to calibrate: if, for example, you're playing a bar of 4 with a straight 1/8th note groove at 100 bpm then it would be unlikely that you'd be striking anything 100 times during that minute. I mean, if you're playing 1/8th notes on the hi-hat/ride then at 100 bpm you will play 200 1/8th notes in that minute. If the bass drum is on the 1 and 3 and the snare is 2 and 4 then each will only be played 50 times in a minute. So any such device would have no way of telling that you're going for 100 beats per minute. Unless, of course you play a bass drum on all 4 beats of the bar which is what used to happen a lot in disco music.

If you want to find a way of making your time keeping consistent then I recommend simply playing to a click as much as possible until you body and brain get used to the idea. You'll never be as perfect as a machine, but then would you want to be?

Good luck.
 
I have one. It's called the Beatbug. The guy makes and sells them himself. He also makes one called the Temporef and another company makes one called the Grooveguide. I chose the Beatbug because I didn't need all the extra features of the Temporef.

http://www.luglock.com/tempometers.htm

http://www.drumperfect.com/Groove_Guide_PRO.htm

It works very well. To put it simply - it's exactly like the 'tap' function on a metronome, except instead of a button, it has a trigger that attaches to your snare. So it picks up your backbeats, and you can either double that figure to work out the bpm, or just remember the half-note value that each song should be (my preferred way). It gives you a reading after your second stroke, because that is all it needs to calculate the tempo. This isn't a device that should be watched constantly, or relied upon, but it simply serves as useful feedback that you would not otherwise have. I bought mine when, after a few gigs in a new covers band, I noticed that the singer's tempo was so damn accurate it wasn't funny. He could honestly start a song at the exact right speed. So after buying this thing I had far less complaints, and heaps more confidence at gigs.

If you don't want to attach it to your snare there are other options, such as triggering your bottom hi-hat.

It does have a couple of weaknesses, I'll go into those another time if you want to hear more.
 
There are a few free or cheap phone apps out there that do this. I use "Live BPM" on my Android phone (I think the developer posts here?) and it's surprisingly easy and accurate--I just open the app, set my phone on my music stand and I'm good to go. It also displays a graph so you can visually track your tempo, say over the course of a song.

spleen
 
There are a few free or cheap phone apps out there that do this. I use "Live BPM" on my Android phone (I think the developer posts here?) and it's surprisingly easy and accurate--I just open the app, set my phone on my music stand and I'm good to go. It also displays a graph so you can visually track your tempo, say over the course of a song.

spleen

Thank you for your summary :)
I'm the developer of liveBPM. Feel free to check it out and drop some feedback :)

Cheers,
Daniel
 
Hey all... I am a noob drummer and would like to find a device that I can somehow attach to a drum (snare or bass) and it will detect the frequency of hits to the drum and show me in real time the tempo I am playing. So, if a song is supposed to be at 100 bpm, it will show me a running average of how fast I am playing.

Anybody know of such a device?

Thanks!!!

Of the two KETTLES posted I would recommend getting the GROOVE GUIDE. I've used them all in playing situations through the years and the GROOVE GUIDE is the best product when it comes to ease of use, its also well built. Pricer than the rest but worth it if you're going to get into visiual tempo monitoring. Pair it up with a good trigger like a DDRUM and the GROOVE GUIDE is bullet proof.

Here's Dennis Chambers using one in the studio it pops-up in the vid @ 1:27 and 2:09

Its a great tool for identifying tempos "So, you want this song around 122 or 130?" You can actually tell people in the moment what tempo they're playing their music at, demonstrate different tempos to them/band and tell them exactly what the tempo is, pretty cool. Live you can shut out a bass player with less than acceptable time, just play to the GG. Rush solos with guitar players then come back to tthe original tempo no problem, stuff like this the GG excels at.

These types of devises will make it easier to 'find your own way' help you improve your timing.
 
Hey guys! I got some new information for you.

The iPhone version of liveBPM is now waiting to be reviewed by Apple :)
So, it should be available very soon :)
 
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