Do you use a metronome? Poll.

Came over from rhythm guitar and thought my internal clock would be good enough - wrong. OK for rhythm guitar, but, not for bass. Yes I use a metronome or drum track. Drum tracks take a little looking for so a click track (metronome) normally work.

 

Sometimes.



Probably not as much as I should....

 

I also use a click track when recording which helps but mostly just proves i need to practice with the metronome more.

 

Excuse me if this comes off trollish... But "never" is the wrong answer in this poll.

 

Drum tracks. Helps strength because you know when you slow down.

 

There's not a choice on there that corresponds to my usage. I use it every time I practice something that I need to use a metronome on, but I may not hit that every time I practice. I also like to use the nome when I'm NOT practicing. I tend to record sessions and gigs and I like to check performance against the nome, to see where things were pushing and pulling and assess that against my memory of what I felt was going on during that particular tune.

I'm pretty sure any long time TBers are familiar with my stance on using a metronome, but for those who are newer and don't want to search for it, it is as follows:
1. improving time feel - there are a series of improvisational exercises that I got from my teacher and that he got from his teachers, Sal Mosca and Lennie Tristano. Those are generally outlined in the REALLY Learning a Tune thread. Suffice it to say, the goal is not to memorize tempos but to develop a real-time visceral feeling as to when you are pushing or pulling against the time stream that the tune started in. It's all part of developing a relaxed and tension free physical approach and is very much related to ear training for pitch relationship and chord function.
2. pressure to test technique - when working on scales, arpeggios etc. what you may come up with for string crossing, position shifts, fingering etc. out of time may not, in fact, be the most efficient or "elegant", solution as soon as you apply a rhythmic constant. So if it works out of time and you can execute it at QNOTE=40 bpm but it falls apart at 60bpm, you have some direction to start tearing apart WHERE and WHAT the problem is.

 

Yep. If not that then digital drum tracks.

And when I'm recording by myself I'll often use the 'quantize' button because it just sounds way better than non-quantized tracks in many cases.

When creating digital loop drum tracks I can get it to where it sounds 'tight' and 'good' without quantize. But I still usually prefer the quantized result eventually.

I don't care what anyone says...or all the hoopla and controversy about metronomes. I'll use mine whenever and wherever I want to use it.

For those that think one's playing level and skill is ultimately determined by whether they use a metronome or not...I say there's a whole bunch of areas that need far more attention.

 

Nope.
Drum machine, yes.

 

drums loops into a DAW are the same as a metronome, so: yes. and many of the recordings i do for my bands use a click track, so: yes. IMO: playing with any time-keeper is just another skill/experience to have as a bass player.

 

I used to all the time. Now I just learn tunes. I'm not trying to be Victor Wooten though.

 

Well as we know , a wind-up metronome goes ' tok tok tok tok tok'.

Now, interestingly, you don't have to be right on the 'tok' when plucking.
You can go 'b-tok b-tok b-tok b-tok' or you can go 'bum-bum tok tok tok bum-bum tok tok tok'

You can also vary the plucking volume as ' bum bum bum bum tok tok tok'

But when you use a digital drum machine...well that's a different kettle of fish.

Take the digital swing-beat ' snp snp tut tut umphataaata umphataaata' for example.

You could play ' bum ba-bimbim bum ba-bimbin' or you could play ' bum ba-doodle bum ba-doodle'......possibilities are endless.

Same with the generic digital loop ' ba DUP tish ba-babba DUP tish'....bass line could be ' BUM mute b-bubba BUM mute'...almost old hat these days..

An electronic metronome is also dangerous territory..

Before you know it you've got 'tokka t-tokka tokka t-tokka tokka-t-tokka' or.. ' t-tok tok tok tok tokka tokka tokka'

Then you're into 13/1 time at 185 bpm. Not for the faint of heart.

I always use an amplified metronome through a 15" speaker when playing Mountain's "Mississippi Queen" or I can't hear the timing. Blasphemy I know...should be using a cowbell.

To get creative, have two out-of-sync metronomes going at once.

Timing with a metronome can be confusing. Take the famous line in 'Taxi Driver' where Bickle says

" Me? You tokka to me?"

 

Some sort of drum loop, pretty much any time I'm doing anything more than noodling.

 

Why?

 

Just play along with recodings. Or a click sometimes in the studio.

 

I disagree. They are two completely different things.

 

hey....you get to do that!

 

Either a metronome or a drum machine (which is what I prefer, actually).

 

I use a click track when multi-tracking, because a rambling five minute song with drum, guitar and keyboard parts (as well as bass) would get ugly in no time otherwise. As far as metronomes go, I don't even own one.

 

Me too.