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Metronome system?

zackthompson

zackthompson

Jul 18, 2011
925
256
Winston Salem
#1
Do you guys know of a really cheap way to get/make a metronome system? My band wants to start playing with a metronome live, but we don't have a lot of money to spend on a nice system with in-ear monitors. All i need is something that will let the drummer control the metronome, and only the drummer, guitarist, and keyboard player hear it through, say, some ear buds. It would be nice if the whole band could have it, but 3 people will do for now. Thanks!
 
#3
If the drummer is stable, he's the only one who needs to hear the metronome. Just buy a simple electronic metronome with an output for headphones.
I think it would be terrible if others are hearing the metronome and the drummer goes slightly off. Then it's better just to follow the drummer.
 
#4
Well, the plan was to give our drummer a metronome and everyone follows his time. Until we got to a slow song that the acoustic guitar player started it by himself, without drums. The 2 of them need to hear the same tempo for those songs. It works fine on fast songs. It doesn't work on slow songs, which is when our timing is the furthest off.
 
#5
If you guys have problems to keep the tempo,the metronome will make thing even harder.
I mean,there is a need to work more on the tempo than the songs per se,apparently.

Just by experience,I was auditioning lately for some bands,and couple of the drummers could not keep it up,the songs started with a rhythm, and ended a lot slower.
There was no way to tell the kids that was wrong,after all,I was the one being judge for my playing.
I got the gig,of course,but didn't say a word,next week the drummer was fired and the replacement was way better,the guys in the band were asking themselves how come they didn't notice this problems before.
Once you start playing with those that can keep the tempo,they become the metronome of the band,specially on stage.
But this need work,doesn't come easy.
 
#6
Our timing isn't horrible. Basically we're the only ones that notice the bad timing. It's nothing to where we have ridiculous speed ups or slow downs. We just want to fine tune our timing. I figured out a way. Buy a metronome app. Get a headphone splitter. Buy 2 sets of bluetooth ear buds. Give one set to the drummer, one to the guitarist. Eventually, we'll buy a 5 way headphone splitter and buy 5 bluetooth headsets. It's still wayyyyyy cheaper than a full out personal wireless in ear system.
 
#7
You could go the DIY route my band did for awhile. We bought the cables and wired our own and bought ear buds and adapters and plugged them into a box which our drummers iPhone was plugged into with a metronome app running. Pretty ghetto but it worked for a while.
 
#8
This may not be not the cheapest solution but Peterson makes metronomes that can network together and be synchronized to a single unit. The advantage is that this system does not need to interface through a PA system and it's wireless. They also include a vibrational sensor that lets you feel the pulse instead of following a click or flashing light.

The disadvantage is that they are $125 each...but I guess that's still cheaper than in-ears for the whole band.

Link Removed
 
#9
Are you using backing tracks or do you just need a click track?

Here's how we do it. All our backing tracks are mixed down to mp3's with the click panned hard one side and the track panned hard the other side. Drummer has the mp3's on a laptop and the signal is split so the click goes to one channel on his mini mixer so only he hears it and the other side goes to the main mix and then his monitor send goes to the other channel on his mixer and he adjusts his levels to his taste.

If you don't have backing tracks simply find a program that makes a click track (Audacity does this and it's free) and set it up so only hears it. He would need a small mini mixer and some headphones.
 

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