The Music Realm Ltd

Metronomes

Firstly, let’s get the boring stuff about what a metronome is out of the way. Contrary to what the name may suggest these are NOT very small people living in the darkened tunnels of the London Underground.

You will all know (I think/guess/hope/imagine) that a metronome is a device used by musicians to keep a consistent tempo during practice or performance. It produces a regulated pulse, often in the form of a ticking sound or a visual cue, to help musicians maintain a steady beat. There are various types of metronomes from mechanical, to digital, software apps.

Traditional mechanical metronomes are operated by winding up a spring mechanism (rather like an old-fashioned watch or clock) with the tempo set by moving a weight on the pendulum. There is no need for batteries, which is environmentally friendly, but need to be placed on a level surface or they will develop a limp. Some models can be set so that a bell rings on the on the first beat of the bar. You also need to be careful not to overwind the spring as well or it will stop working. A lot of people like the visual help given by seeing the pendulum swing as well. The disadvantage is that they can be bulky, especially the pyramid style ones, and expensive.

Wittner are, in my opinion, the best traditional clockwork metronomes with the Piccolo models like the Wittner Taktell Piccolo Metronome, which has the advantage over the pyramid shaped ones of being more portable, but if your metronome is going to stay at home, there are some lovely options available.

Electronic of digital metronomes have the advantage of giving a consistent beat as they are battery operated, and as a result are highly accurate. My favourite is the Seiko SQ-50. It has a dial which you turn to set your tempo and uses traditional metronome timings, and means it is quick to set the tempo and I like that the sound of the beat is of a more analogue style. There is also a red light on the top of the metronome which flashes with the beat. This metronome also gives a A or B-flat tone to tune to if needed, and has a volume control and has a mono 3.5mm stereo mini jack. Reliable and easy to use model. It runs on a 9v battery which is supplied with the metronome.

Of the digital offerings the Korg MA2 is probably the best out there if you can get past the sound which is very “digital” (for want of a better word). As with the Seiko SQ50 it has a volume control and will give you an A to tune to. The advantage it has over the Seiko is that you can sub-divide the beat which can be useful but sounds completely manic on faster tempos! It uses (and comes with) AAA batteries, which you can probably nick from your tv remote if necessary. This model also has a 3.5 mm stereo mini jack.

These are the offerings on Amazon, though for the life if me I don’t know how they can get the black/blue combo (my preferred colour choice) rather than black/red as I haven’t been able to get these for years.

Finally, it is also worth thinking about tuner-metronomes if you also need the combined functionality of a metronome and a tuner. My favourite, by a country mile is the Korg model TM70. The tuning range (c1 to c8) and the metronome range (30 -252) will cater for most requirements, and there is a transpose function which works well for wind and string instruments.

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