Top 6 Uses Of An Online Metronome
A metronome is an instrument anciently developed and used by musicians for a range of varying purposes, right from helping them perfect their adherence to the right beats to forming integral parts of Opera music.
Metronome: The Beat Producer To Your Music And Tempo Counter
If you have ever been involved in a discussion with a group of musicians, you have most likely heard the words ‘tempo’ and ‘metronome’ quite frequently. If you have and you were clueless about what it is, in simple words, a metronome is a device that produces regular audible beats or clicks, set to suit the user whereas tempo is the speed of any given piece of music.
In other words, a metronome produces sounds that help determine, test, or match the tempo of the music, which is why it is called the tempo counter. It has been used since ancient times to guide musicians and improve their speed-based performance in music.
History Of The Metronome
Over the years, a metronome has evolved from a hefty device with a simple mechanism to a simple digital counter with an elaborate mechanism. Let’s trace the evolution of this music wonder device.
The first-ever metronome, according to official records, was patented by Johann Maelzel and was titled "Instrument/Machine for the Improvement of all Musical Performance, called Metronome". However, primitive versions with the same idea and concept using different mechanisms were already invented to create enough inspiration for Maelzel.
In fact, the first-ever metronome-like concept can be accorded to Gallileo for his pendulum model which was transformed into the first mechanical metronome, but soundless, by Etienne Loulié in 1696. There are also accounts of the source of inspiration coming from Abbas ibn Firnas, a polymath, physicist, and inventor from the ancient Iberian Peninsula around as early as 800 AD. However, the account of Maelzel taking and incorporating ideas directly from musical mechanical metronome invention by Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel has gained the most popularity.
It was not until the mid 20th century that modern metronomes in the form of electronic and software versions were produced. These, with more technological advancement and the internet revolution, came to be available in the form of online instruments.
Today, if you want to use a metronome, all you need to do is enter the keyword in the search engine and you get a digital ‘timer-like’ display that you can start by simply setting the speed and pressing the play button. The result comes in the form of consistently timed beats or clicking sound that you can use for practicing and improving your skills in music.
Top 6 Instances When An Online Metronome Can Be Helpful For You
There’s so much you can do with an online metronome. If you’re finding trouble imagining how a simple looking instrument can do much, read below to be amazed.
- Practice To Perfection
First things first, an online metronome can do best what mechanical, electromechanical, electrical, and digital metronomes generally do; help you practice music in an improved manner. The regular pulse is immensely useful to perfect your beats and the efficiency and accuracy that online versions bring along are unmatched.
- Test The Tempo
A metronome is called a tempo counter for a reason. With an online metronome, you can test the tempo of any music, any time, anywhere. In fact, several online metronomes have features of testing music tempo so the process becomes automatic for you.
- Get Reference For Music Editing
Metronomes are used for audio engineers and music editors to synchronize their music with the singers. Complicated numbers can be synced smoothly if, when recording, a singer uses metronome click tracks to give audio cues to the audio engineers. If you’re a professional or practicing to be one, you can always start with the conveniently available metronome beats and click tracks to gain a command over recognizing auditory cues in music editing.
- Give Beats To Your Rap
Starting off as a rapper? Need standard, regular beatboxing to get you started? You might get tons of them on Youtube or other sources on the internet, but nothing can get more standard and customized as an online metronome. Decide your own pace, get inspired, change the pace as per requirements, and get started as a rapper!
- Improve Running Speed And Performance
Did you think a metronome can be helpful only for musicians? Well, the scope of its applications is huge if you get a little creative. Save yourself time and money, and use the free online metronome to improve your cadence while running. Set the required cadence according to your capacity and improve by increasing one beat per minute every week. Sync to the clicks of your metronome and you wouldn’t even realize when you’d have come a long way, literally and metaphorically.
- Perfect Synchronization In Dance
Is your dance partner giving you a hard time? Simply test the tempo of your music with a click on an online metronome and practice on the beats until you’re synched and set to groove on the music.
If these applications aren’t motivation enough or useful to you, you can always use the company of the regular clicks of the metronome to calm you down when there’s a commotion in your head. Our heartbeats are known to synch to what we listen to; slow down, and relax with an online metronome.
