Metronome Strobe Light

[MultiScaleMale]

Try one of these hooked up to a Dr Beat on the hammer on anvil setting and you'll ditch the idea in about 5 seconds.

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[5StringPocket]

Just saw this part... Your drummer has gotta step up and do his part. If us bass players spend countless hours on our 1-5's, he can learn how to keep time.

I will say, I've seen the difference the LiveBPM app can make. It is not a metronome, it displays the tempo of the music it hears. In my dad band, the drummer couldn't keep time for nothing, it was very frustrating. I got him a phone mount for a bicycle and he mounted it on a cymbal stand and downloaded the app. He tried it once, liked it, but then refused to use it for a few months. A little nudging and some small suggestions along the way and he started using it again. It made a big difference.

Good luck.

Yes, every member has to step up and do their part or the whole band is affected. I do mine and it chaps me that another member doesn’t do theirs. The liveBPM app sounds interesting, especially if you can put in the reference tempo to see how far you are off. The set list has keys and tempo for each song.

 

[5StringPocket]

Try one of these hooked up to a Dr Beat on the hammer on anvil setting and you'll ditch the idea in about 5 seconds.

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Ha, you’re not kidding. That’s awesome.

 

[5StringPocket]

It sounds like you need a new drummer?

Yes we do, but he’s a longtime friend and it’s not my band to make the call so it’s complicated. One of the problems is that he just plays whatever comes to him, regardless of how the arrangement is written, so we just have to find a way to make it work.

 

[5StringPocket]

There are a number of valid comments so far. The real issue is with our drummer and whether this strobe metronome should even be done. It was only thought of as a practice tool and a soft strobe which is not too intense could be used, but if people aren’t listening to each other and the whole mix what’s the point.

I love to play live music but want to be well rehearsed and sound good. I hate jam bands where everything is loose and disorganized. Guess I’ll just have to hold my tongue a while longer and see if things get better.

 

[ChrisB2]

Yes we do, but he’s a longtime friend and it’s not my band to make the call so it’s complicated.

Tell No Tempo you're going to add a percussionist to fill out the sound, then set the new guy behind the kit and move No Tempo to egg shaker.

 

[Carl Hillman]

I agree that, if they can't play to an audible click, a visual click probably isn't going to help.

Seems like a flashing light is just a another layer of sensory input that has to be processed and compared to what is happening sonically...which a click already is.

Let us know if it works. I'm interested.

 

[landrybass]

Yea fire the drummer

 

[Freekmagnet]

I’ve been in your place a couple of times, and I commented you for trying to fix the problem.

In every band, all the members have a certain amount responsibility to do their own homework in order to perform the duties of their job. The drummer’s job is to set the tempo and keep consistent time - this is the minimum requirement for job of being the drummer. In reality, it’s up to the drummer to do his homework and learn to keep time, and it’s not your job to teach your band mates about meter.

 

[KidAmnesia]

Eyes are pretty tricky devices regarding to the perception of time. I have tried but could never follow a visual metronome.

 

[5StringPocket]

Eyes are pretty tricky devices regarding to the perception of time. I have tried but could never follow a visual metronome.

You may have something there. Sound is a more direct association.

 

[ewarren88]

Eyes are pretty tricky devices regarding to the perception of time. I have tried but could never follow a visual metronome.

Agreed! Flashing light metronomes without sound require extra effort for me to really sync with. I think the old-school windup swinging pendulum metronomes are better, because you can see an approach and departure from each beat even when the music volume is drowning out the click. Some metronome apps incorporate an oscillating bar or needle or whatever to accomplish this same effect.

I would definitely start with an audible source first. And only the drummer needs to have it if everyone else can simply follow.

 

[MoireBass]

How about sending the click to a ThroneThumper?



A 200 watt power amp and a transducer mounted to a drummer's throne to give him a beat he can feel.

 

[fdeck]

LiveBPM for the drummer. Everyone else follow the drummer. If he can't keep a tempo with LiveBPM then he just needs to practice a little more. It is a skill that can be developed. Hell, even I can get on the drums and keep tempo and I suck at drums.... and tempo.

A strobing LED light would drive me nuts.

LiveBPM is great. Everybody can watch it. A drummer showed it to me during a rehearsal, when the BL was complaining that we were pushing the tempo. Turns out we were steady.

 

[Michedelic]

Hmm, how did bands ever function before click tracks?

 

[5StringPocket]

Just saw this part... Your drummer has gotta step up and do his part. If us bass players spend countless hours on our 1-5's, he can learn how to keep time.

I will say, I've seen the difference the LiveBPM app can make. It is not a metronome, it displays the tempo of the music it hears. In my dad band, the drummer couldn't keep time for nothing, it was very frustrating. I got him a phone mount for a bicycle and he mounted it on a cymbal stand and downloaded the app. He tried it once, liked it, but then refused to use it for a few months. A little nudging and some small suggestions along the way and he started using it again. It made a big difference.

Good luck.

LiveBPM looks like a useful app. I downloaded it and it works. We’ll try an iPhone holder on the drum kit with this app and see if it helps. Thanks.

 

[Bullitt5135]

I don't get it. This problem never goes away for me. In most cover bands, it's generally unacceptable to play the wrong chords or sing the wrong lyrics. Yet almost every band I've been in has a laisse faire attitude about tempo. I listen back to our gig recordings, and a lot of songs are noticeably off-tempo. We start fast songs too slow and slow songs too fast...some as much as 10+ BPM. It drives me nuts. I raise the issue at rehearsal and offer possible solutions, but everybody just shrugs their shoulders and has excuses like "They played it a lot faster on the 1972 bootleg from the Cow Palace, so it's OK." My drummer agrees in principle but is offended by the suggestion of using a metronome or BMP tracker. I came up with a simple way to trigger a click for the next song, which fades out after 12 beats – just enough time for the drummer to lock in and set us off on solid ground. Nope...this is just a bridge too far. And so I will continue to suffer. I love everything else about this band. Sadly, I can't fire the drummer because he is critical in making things happen for the band.

 

[Shalto]

Not exactly answering the OP's question, but I have a soundbrenner pulse which flashes the tempo. You could just put one of those where the whole band can see it.

 

[Shalto]

I don't get it. This problem never goes away for me. In most cover bands, it's generally unacceptable to play the wrong chords or sing the wrong lyrics. Yet almost every band I've been in has a laisse faire attitude about tempo. I listen back to our gig recordings, and a lot of songs are noticeably off-tempo. We start fast songs too slow and slow songs too fast...some as much as 10+ BPM. It drives me nuts. I raise the issue at rehearsal and offer possible solutions, but everybody just shrugs their shoulders and has excuses like "They played it a lot faster on the 1972 bootleg from the Cow Palace, so it's OK." My drummer agrees in principle but is offended by the suggestion of using a metronome or BMP tracker. I came up with a simple way to trigger a click for the next song, which fades out after 12 beats – just enough time for the drummer to lock in and set us off on solid ground. Nope...this is just a bridge too far. And so I will continue to suffer. I love everything else about this band. Sadly, I can't fire the drummer because he is critical in making things happen for the band.

I'm going to be honest here. Almost every band I've ever played with has this issue. Players who don't rush just a little are so rare that they are near mythical. For almost any band, it's not going to happen without at least the drummer on IEMs (and if it's just the drummer the rest of the band has to accept, no excuses - I'm following the drummer as the rule)

There are plenty who will read this and think they don't rush. They are almost certainly wrong.

If anyone is reading this and thinks they are truly steady. Play a metronome game with yourself. Set it up so the click plays one bar, then cuts out for three bars, then comes back in. Play along, are you in time when it comes back in? Not a semi-quaver ahead? OK maybe...I doubt you but maybe. Now do that same exercise but cut the click for like 30 bars and see if you are locked up when it comes back in.

Now who has steady time?

If you want a band that doesnt have tempo issues...IEMs, or be a band that just happens to have the top 1% of the top 1% of steady players in the world.

 

[Bullitt5135]

Not exactly answering the OP's question, but I have a soundbrenner pulse which flashes the tempo. You could just put one of those where the whole band can see it.

I have Soundbrenner (and liveBPM and a few other metronome apps). I have programmed and organized our entire song list. As an alternative, I have also painstakingly created 16-beat MP3 click tracks for each song that can be organized for playback using Apple Music (iTunes). The idea is that the drummer controls the click to launch into the next song, then the click fades out at the end of 16 beats. What I don't have are bandmates who think tempo is a concern or a drummer who thinks he needs a reference click. What's that saying about leading a horse to water...?