METRONOME help really needed... Please!!!

mabhz

Senior Member
Well, this is kind of embarassing, but i REALLY need some assistance, so i will have to expose my extreme ignorance.....

I just bought myself a nice fancy Boss DB-90 metronome, because i felt the need to have some guidence on my rudiments and basic patters practicing (im a novice drummer). The DB 90 was the choice because of its built in rhythm coach feature.

I have a plain old "tic" metronome from my guitar playing days, and my Roland TD-6 VDrum has a built in metronome, which is a mess to work with.

So, I wanted something that could help when practicing 5, 6, 7 or 9 notes per beat, and also when doing a routine like:
|| 4 notes per beat | 6 notes per beat | 8 notes per beat | 4 notes per beat | etc...

So i guess you guys got the picture. I wanted a metronome that would do more than just count the beats and accent the one. I wanted something that would "sing" all the subdivisions on the beat, like 6 notes, 7, triplets combined with 4 notes, etc.

The point is.......... do the hell do i do this on a digital metronome?????

I read the manual over and over (http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/_support/om.cfm?ln=en&dsp=0&iCncd=696&iStcd=4) and i CANT seem to find a way to do anything more than the most basic rhythm combinations you can think off!!!

Heres the only things I found on the DB-90:
. Click on every tempo of the mesure (1-9)
. Click on the 1st (strong) beat and the AND for each tempo ("1, &, 2, &, 3, etc")
. Click on the "1, e, &, a", "2, e, &, a", etc
. Click fro triplets (1, tri, plet, 2, tri, plet, etc)

How the hell do i make this thing consider 2 groups of triplets on a tempo?? Like 6 groups of notes per tempo, instead of just 3?? What about 9 notes per tempo??

Looks like the maximum amount of beats i can hear on a tempo is 4... So, i cant have 8 notes per tempo?????

I mean....... thats how fancy expensive digital metronomes work these days???
Maybe theres an "indirect" way of getting those countings off of the dawn thing that i just cant seem to find!!

I know this really sounds like some stupid dumb newbiee questions, but, yes, im a newbiee and im really surprised that i paid big bucks on the best metronome i could find and yet it only puts out the most basic stuff!!

HELP, please!!;.
 
Not entirely sure I get you, are you stuck on how to program different subdivisions? If the manual doesn't mention triplet/sextuplet/nontuplet divisions, or any odd-number divisions, then it probably isn't capable of playing them. I don't know of any standalone metronome that features odd subdivisions. My Tama Rhythmwatch allows Q/8/16 subdivisions but no 5/7/9s. Sorry. Might be worth getting a refund on it and trying some others out instore to see which one best suits your needs.
 
Thanks for you reply, Jones!

I will try to make myself more clear this time!!

I cant seem to find a way to make this expen$$$ive metronome "play" more than 3 or 4 straight notes in each tempo.

The "maximun" amount of note combinations i can get from each tempo is:

1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4....etc
1 tri plet 2 tri plet 3 tri plet 4 tri plet ... etc

I CANT seem to find a way of mixing two-triplets in each tempo, so you end up with sextuplets.

Got my point??

Maybe theres some simple way of doing it, some "indirect" way, but i just can seem to figure it out!!!

Also, seems i cant get polyrhythms!! What the manual calls a polyrhythm is actually and odd time signature, like 4+3 (1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, etc...).

I thought that ANY digital metronome would be able to cope different note subdivisions for each tempo in a bar, like:
|| 1st tempo | 2nd tempo | 3rd tempo | 4th tempo||
|| sextuplets | 8th notes | 16th notes | triplets ||

Got my idea??

Anyone heres uses this DB-90???
 
Thanks for you reply, Jones!

I will try to make myself more clear this time!!

I cant seem to find a way to make this expen$$$ive metronome "play" more than 3 or 4 straight notes in each tempo.

The "maximun" amount of note combinations i can get from each tempo is:

1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4....etc
1 tri plet 2 tri plet 3 tri plet 4 tri plet ... etc

I CANT seem to find a way of mixing two-triplets in each tempo, so you end up with sextuplets.

Got my point??

Maybe theres some simple way of doing it, some "indirect" way, but i just can seem to figure it out!!!

Also, seems i cant get polyrhythms!! What the manual calls a polyrhythm is actually and odd time signature, like 4+3 (1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, etc...).

I thought that ANY digital metronome would be able to cope different note subdivisions for each tempo in a bar, like:
|| 1st tempo | 2nd tempo | 3rd tempo | 4th tempo||
|| sextuplets | 8th notes | 16th notes | triplets ||

Got my idea??

Anyone heres uses this DB-90???

As I say, it's likely that the subdivisions you describe are the only ones it can play. Polyrhythms are not usually possible on hardware metronomes, although I believe there is a software metronome that can do all the things you require. I'll see if i can find it.
 
He wants a metronome that will play fives on beat one, sixes on beat two, fours on beat three, etc.

Metronomes don't do that. Drum machines will, if you want to bother programming them to that degree. Though, as was suggested to him on another forum, it's better for him as a player not to have a click on every single stroke he plays.
 
I have a DB-90, and while what you're asking for is indirectly possible, I don't know how useful it will be to you. Here's how, though. Let's say we're trying to get an even septuplet (seven). I usually use voice 2, as it's the most generic-sounding metronome setting. Anyway, press VOICE and dial until you see it select 2.

Now press BEAT/PATTERN once and dial until you see 7. Slide up the Accent, quarter note, and master volume (far right). If you dial the tempo all the way up to 250, you'll have an even septuplet at 250/7, or approximately 36 bpm, which is pretty dang slow.

You can double this by sliding up the eighth note, but every other beat will start on the off-beat sound. You can triple by using the triplet instead of the eighth note, and you can quadruple by using the eighth and sixteenth. This will get you an even septuplet at 143, and it will sound ridiculous. Only one in four beats will start on the accent sound, which is pretty annoying.

So is your DB-90 useless? I don't think so. I use it daily, both in teaching and in playing. You said that you wanted to work on rudiments, but I'm not aware of any rudiments that use the odd groupings you're describing. Yes, you can play a seven-stroke roll as an even septuplet, but that's not very realistic. It makes much more musical sense to play it as six thirty-second notes and a sixteenth, or as a sixteenth-note sextuplet leading into a quarter note.

Anyway, let's say you're working on paradiddles. Set the metronome to 60, click COACH until you see Gud (Gradual up-down), and hit start. If you play eighth's, it's easy. Every two beats, it adds a bpm. Soon you're at 70, no sweat. Then 80, then 90, until the metronome maxes out at 250, at which point it turns around and goes down to the original tempo. If 250 is too fast (and it probably is), you can tell it to slow down by hitting WRITE.

You'll be practicing your rudiments old-school open-closed-open, but with the metronome forcing you to pace it out at a VERY gradual pace. This gets you to practice not just the slow and quick tempos, but also the intermediate tempos where you have to balance wrist action and bounce.

I generally hit the TRIG/GUIDE button and dial it down to zero, as otherwise, the DB90 plays with you, which I honestly don't find helpful.
 
You can do this with Bounce Metronome Pro. It's for XP, Vista or Windows 7. It's rhythm cycle metronome can play any several rhythms one after another.

See here:
Cycle of Rhythms Metronome

It can also do polyrhythms which you wanted. Also many other features: mixed meters, odd time signatures, swing rhythms, subdivisions, accent or skip beats - just about anything you might want by way of rhythms.

Its bouncing balls, conductor's baton or drum stick visuals help you to keep time with the metronome.

What is Special about Bounce Metronome Pro

Here is a video of it playing 4, 6, and then 8 notes per beat:

Metronome Rhythm Cycle - 4/4 with 4, 6 then 8 notes per beat

The main disadvantage of course is that it is less portable than a hardware metronome. But if you have a small laptop or netbook running XP or later, then you can use that.

Unfortunately mobile phones don't run Windows XP. Some can run a stripped down version called Windows CE (with related versions) but the software isn't compatible with Windows CE. You should be able to run it on the Windows 7 based iPad clones that are likely to be released in the near future, which are similar in size and look to the Mac iPad.

But anyway if you can practice with a PC or netbook etc then it may be just what you are looking for. The price is only $26.99 at present for the Pro metronome which is what you need here. You can get a 30 day free test drive with all the features fully unlocked.

Buy it here:
Click Here to buy Bounce Metronome Pro - with money back guarantee.

Get your free test drive here:
Your Download with free test drive

Be sure to say if you have any questions about it at all.

Thanks,
 
simple solution ... turn off the accent.

I know you want it to give the "the 1" [first beat of each measure] but do that yourself.

So, whatever time signature you are in, the beat is the primary note value. For example ... In 6/8 ... the click at about 152 would be the 1/8 note of a mid tempo song. Do this for any time signature ...
 
Turning off the accent is the best solution offered up yet.

If you have an iPhone or an iPod touch you should download Tempo or Tempo2 by Frozen Ape. It's less than $5 and it is very accurate and does more than my Yamaha and Tama metronomes did. It will do exactly what you've listed.

Best app I have for my phone.
 
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