Alternative methods of time keeping and recording.

[ReignOfRatch]

Hey guys.

I am a visual learner and I want to start using a metronome for myself during band practice so that it's easier to understand what I'm playing while we jam so I can write/record it later.
Once I write it I find it easier to improve my lines.

But using a metronome would require the rest of the band staying in time too lol.
And these metronomes need to be synced somehow.

The methods I currently know of are
A) a strobe light everyone can see
B) a metronome played over the PA (can drummers usually hear this?)
C) synced headphone metronomes. (the cheapest I found is the KORG SY1M but it looks uncomfortable and are not noise reducing which I need. Cheap alternative?)
D) vibrating metronomes (must sync to others and be under 80$)

I would appreciate some pros and cons from people who have tried multiple forms of metronomes for whole band timekeeping.

Thanks!

 

[RustyAxe]

Get a drummer ... a real drummer, not a drum set owner. The drummer IS the metronome for the band. If the rest of the band can't play to a good drummer no metronome is gonna help them.

 

[ReignOfRatch]

Get a drummer ... a real drummer, not a drum set owner. The drummer IS the metronome for the band. If the rest of the band can't play to a good drummer no metronome is gonna help them.

The drummer stays in time and is not the issue. I just have a hard time writing down what I played 2 hours ago when I don't have a metronome playing through both instances.

My biggest issue is I tend to turn 1/16 notes with an odd rest pattern between into syncopated tupplets when I go home to write. Then I practice this wrong pattern until the next practice, then we waste time trying to figure out what sounds slightly off.

The only input I need is on experiences using some form of metronome for the entire band that is not the drummer.

 

[Hamish MacCleod]

Try recording your rehearsals. The recordings don't have to be great, just good enough to keep you on track. You could also try a click track.
H

 

[Dave W]

I would just record it too.

Getting everyone to use a metronome if they haven't in the past is very difficult. Getting an entire band to use one is also very difficult. If one person hasn't practiced with one ever you are going to know it right away. If they don't continue to practice with one (at home) they're never going magically 'get it' one day and you'll always have a frustrating out of time band rehearsal. I've been in two bands that have tried it. It never worked out.
Band #1, me and the drummer were the only ones that ever used a click. We did fine...everyone else? No so much...
Band #2 had timing issues in the studio (the drummer) so the engineer suggested it thinking we'd all be fine. Not so much...

If you must go down that path I'd suggest a mixer or headphone amp, a metronome with an output that can be ran into said mixer, and enough headphones for everyone in the band. Then comes the issue of getting everyone to hear their rig through the headphones. To do it well you need to mic everything and get isolation headphones or IEM's. That turns..."How do I get everyone to see a blinking light on the wall" into something much more complicated...

 

[RustyAxe]

The drummer stays in time and is not the issue. I just have a hard time writing down what I played 2 hours ago when I don't have a metronome playing through both instances.
My biggest issue is I tend to turn 1/16 notes with an odd rest pattern between into syncopated tupplets when I go home to write. Then I practice this wrong pattern until the next practice, then we waste time trying to figure out what sounds slightly off.
The only input I need is on experiences using some form of metronome for the entire band that is not the drummer.

A metronome merely sets tempo ... as does a good drummer. Obviously, I have no idea what you're trying to accomplish with a metronome. I'd just record the rehearsal.