All Metronome Types/Bounce on Lyrics
From Bounce Metronome
| All Metronome Types | Taster | Basic | Pro | Swing and Lilt | Drum and Dance | Flamenco | Polymeters like 3/8 : 2/4 | Polyrhythms | like 4/4 : 4/3 | Additive Rhythms | like 4/4 + 7/8 | Polyrhythm Cycles | Polytempi like pi : 4 | Tap a rhythm | Harmonic Polyrhythms | Cycles of Harmonic Polyrhythms | Harmonic pi : 4 | Rhythmicon | Fractal Tune | Bounce on Lyrics |
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Controls Common to Many Windows
Bounce Metronome
Bounce on Lyrics Metronome main window - see F1 Help window for QUICK START...
This tip is shown when you hover the mouse over the title bar or the background of the main window. Hover mouse over individual controls for their help.
Bounce on Lyrics Metronome
You may need to use the RESET METRONOME button first if if you have come here from one of the other metronomes
Show a ball bouncing on the lyrics as for Karaoke or the Song Car-Tunes in early movies...
Option to show the lyrics as a separate window
The default is to show the lyrics in the main window along wiht the tempo dial and bouncing lyrics.
For more space for the lyrics, go to Opts >> Split Main Window . That puts the lyrics into a separate window which you can resize, and also show full screen.
Intro
This is a technique that was used in early movies when a bouncing ball bounced on the lyrics to help the audience to sing along with the movie.
The ball bounces on the lyrics. The shadow helps you to anticipate the next beat exactly. The red highlight shows the word to sing right now, and the next word to sing is highlighted in blue.
The metronome plays the beats of the rhythm as the ball bounces.
Quick Start
1. Select a lyric from the drop list.
2. Click the Play sound button or press the RETURN key to start the metronome and the bouncing balls.
3. To play faster or slower, tap a few times on the BACKSPACE key at the desired tempo, or click to adjust the position of the pointer on Tempo Dial (Ctrl + 222).
Adding your own lyrics
You can add your own lyrics to the drop list, or replace the existing lyrics.
To do this, click the Edit Lyrics drop list button, and then follow the instructions at the head of the lyric text file.
The preset list shows some a few nursery rhymes and lullabies and the like.
This metronome doesn't play the tunes yet
The metronome doesn't play tunes yet, just their rhythms. However this is on the wish list for the future - to play tunes - perhaps in abc notation, or as midi files. To find out more contact support@bouncemetornome.com.
For more about Car Tunes
For more about the bouncing balls in early movies, see
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_Car-Tunes ]
Quick start for all the time signature based metronomes
The rest of this help is as for Bounce Metronome Basic.
1. Select a time signature with a click on one of the preset buttons. For irregular (odd) time signatures such as 5/4 use the text fields below the tempo dial.
2. Set the tempo using the tempo dial. Or tap at desired tempo with BACKSPACE.
3. Use the STOP sound or PLAY sound button to stop and start the sound. Or use the RETURN KEY to stop or start the metronome.
4. To hear each beat split up into smaller subdivisions, use the appropriate button . Or to just hear the main beat, set the number of subdivisions to 1.
If you choose four subdivisions you will see an extra check box "Also 2" appear - this lets you emphasize two subdivisions as well (e.g. quavers as well as semiquavers). If you choose eight subdivisions you can use this check box to emphasize 2 and 4 subdivisions (e.g.semiquavers and quavers as well as demi- semiquavers) - and so on.
The bounces start and stop automatically with the sound. Click the button: STOP Bounce or START Bounce to stop and start the bouncing balls on their own - e.g. to stop the bounces with the sound still running, or start the bounces without sound for a silent metronome.
To choose which device on your computer to use to play the notes, use Choose OUT DEVICES and PARTS to play for each device (Ctrl + 41) in the Play drop menu.
This is the main window - when you close it, Bounce Metronome Pro will exit.
Other Visuals
To see the bouncing balls in a larger window use Metronome Bouncing Ball (Ctrl + 219). You can get to this quickly with the magnifying glass icon at top right of the bouncing balls display in the main window - or choose Bounce >> 2D Bounce - larger window from the Bounce drop menu.
For the 3D animations with bouncing ball, drum stick or conductor's baton style visuals use 3D Bouncing Balls, Drum stick or Conductor's baton (Ctrl + 224)
To resize the tempo dial and bouncing balls separately you can split the main window into several different windows. To do this, go to SPLIT MAIN WINDOW in the Options drop menu. To get back to a single main window go to ALL IN ONE WINDOW in the same drop menu.
Try out the many ways to display the bouncing balls in the drop lists in the bouncing balls windows.
To adjust colours go to Colours (Ctrl + 7) in the Visuals drop menu.
Keyboard Shortcuts
To set the tempo to the tempo of your taps, tap with the BACKSPACE key. To stop or start the metronome press the RETURN key. This works almost anywhere in Bounce Metronome. It gives an easy and quick way to adjust the tempo or stop and start the metronome at any time, e.g. while practicing with a musical instrument (since the BACKSPACE and RETURN keys are large and easy to find on the keyboard).
The BACKSPACE key is normally used to erase text. But you seldom need to use it in Bounce Metronome Pro and can use the Delete Key as an alternative in the few situations where it is needed. To use BACKSPACE as a tempo tap even when editing text, go to Tempo Dial - Preferences (Ctrl + 223) and select "enable BACKSPACE tempo tap even when you edit text in Bounce Metronome". (Keyboard shortcut CONTROL + BACKSPACE to switch the backspace tempo tap on or off even for text fields).
You can also silence or enable individual parts with the number keys. Just press 1 to silence or enable part 1, 2 to silence or enable part 2 and so on. Obviously this interferes with normal use of the number keys so it is normally disabled whenever you work with text fields in Bounce Metronome.
To switch this feature on even when you use text fields, use SHIFT + SPACE. Then when finished, use SHIFT + SPACE again to switch this feature off.
There are many other keyboard shortcuts which you'll find as you use Bounce Metronome.
Adjusting your rhythm
You can change the timing for any beat, skip beats, change the instrument to play or show / hide the bouncing balls for any of the parts.
Adjust individual beats
To change the timing or volume of any beat, go to Beats volumes and times (Ctrl + 76).
Adjust individual beats in the bouncing balls display
Or to adjust directly in the bouncing balls display, e.g. in the main window, switch on ADJUST BEAT TIMES in Bounce Options (Ctrl + 220).
Then, in the bouncing balls display you need to see the individual beats as BLOCKS at the bottom of the bouncing balls display. If they are hidden, show them with a click on the grey half circle to the left of the display.
Then LEFT CLICK and drag on the BLOCKS on the line between the beat and the next beat to adjust its timing.
To skip an individual beat, LEFT CLICK on its diamond in the bouncing ball display. It will change to a grayed out ellipse to indicate that the beat is skipped. To adjust accent RIGHT CLICK on the beat.
Change Parts
Your rhythm is made up of several parts. Usually there is one part to play the bar beat, then other parts play the main beat, and any subdivisions.
To see a list of all the parts and adjust the instruments, volumes, and individual bouncing ball colours, go to Show All Parts (Ctrl + 9). To adjust the stereo pan position of any instrument go to Stereo Pan (Ctrl + 50)
Change any of the parts in the bouncing balls display
You need to show the controls to adjust the parts - so if necessary click on the grey ellipse to the left.
Then use the diamonds, circles and rectangles to the left of the individual parts to hide any of the bouncing balls, change the instrument for a part, or silence any of the parts.
Use the triangles to the right to change the number of beats for any part, or increase or decrease the number of parts.
To find out what any of these controls does, just hover the mouse over it to bring up its tool tip.
You can use the controls in 3D Bouncing Balls, Drum stick or Conductor's baton (Ctrl + 224) similarly.
Hide graphics (button)
Hide Graphics - use this button if you are blind or prefer keyboard to mouse
Metronome Type (drop list)
Choose YOUR BOUNCE METRONOME type from the drop list depending on your interests...
The main window will change depending on which metronome you choose from the drop list, and then you can check the help for the main window for that metronome (hover mouse over main window title bar and see the F1 help for the main window for the metronome).
Here is a quick summary of what each one does:
Free Taster
Free version of Bounce Metronome. Has 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8 and up to 4 subdivisions.
Bounce Metronome Basic
Basic metronome for any time signature (including any odd time signature), and any number of subdivisions.
Also has the gradually changing tempo feature (though with fewer options for it than the Pro metronome).
Bounce Metronome Pro
All the features of the PRO metronome acessible within one window. If you want to focus on one particular feature then try one of the more specialised metronomes.
Swing Metronome
Use this to practise swing or to use lilt for a more lively rhythm.
Drum & Dance Metronome
For drum rhythms such as paradiddle, and dance rhythms mixing quarter notes, eighth notes and so on. You can select from a drop list of rhythms or enter a new rhythm.
Polyrhythm Metronome
Use this to practise polyrhythms (cross rhythms) such as 2 beats to a measure with 3 simultaneously, or 3 with 4, 3 with 5 etc.
Additive Metronome
to practise additive rhythms such as 2 + 3 (i.e. 5/4 divided into two beats followed by 3 beats) or 3 + 2 + 3 etc.
Rhythm cycle Metronome
Here you can make a cycle of rhythms and polyrhythms one after another. Useful for long additive rhythms with many rhythms one after another - or a cycle that combines ordinary rhythms with polyrhythms.
Fractional Rhythms Metronome
Fractional rhythms here are ones with either a fractional (e.g. 2.2) or irrational (e.g. golden ratio or PI) number of beats to the measure. The beats drift in and out of phase with the measure line.
Tap out a rhythm
Use this to tap out a rhythm and then play the bouncing balls metronome to follow the rhythm of your taps.
Harmonic Metronome
Here the idea is that each number of beats per measure is assigned a pitch, so e.g. 7 beats to the measure corresponds to the seventh harmonic, 5 beats to the measure corresponds to the fifth and so on.
The results sound harmoniously together as they use pitches from the harmonic series.
This idea is related to the Lambdoma arrangement of pitches, and to Theremin's Rhythmicon. Originally suggested by Barbara Hero and may be of interest for music therapy.
Harmonic Rhythm Cycle Metronome
Play a cycle of rhythms or polyrhythms one after another with the pitches following the harmonic series.
Fractional Harmonic Metronome
Here the idea is that you can use fractional or irrational rhythms e.g. involving the golden ratio or PI and combine that with the idea of using pitches corresponding to the number of beats to the measure.
So PI / 4 will be played using two pitches at a ratio of PI to 4 to each other.
The golden ratio rhythms are particularly interesting here because the golden ratio rhythm is in a sense the most polyrhythmic possible rhythm (ratio of beats most hard to approximate using a rational number). Similarly the golden ratio pitch interval is the most inharmonic possible pitch interval. It's a pleasant interval actually on most instruments - some inharmonic pitch intervals are very pleasant sounding (the ones that are often hard on the ear are e.g. detuned fifths, close to a very pure interval such as a fifth, octave or fourth,but obviously not hitting it).
So this combination gives the most polyrhythmic possible rhythm combined with the most inharmonic possible interval.
A Version of Theremin's Rhythmicon
Lets you play a version of Theremin's Rhythmicon using the number keys on your PC keyboard and the first six keys of the first row of letter keys e.g. q w e r t y as the keys of your instrument.
Theremin's Rhythmicon is an instrument with sixteen keys. Each key silences or plays a rhythm with a different number of notes to the measure, starting from 1 for the first key, 2 for second key all the way down to 16 for the last key. Each key also plays a different note of the harmonic series.
see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythmicon
Fractal Tune Metronome
Play the rhythms using fractal tunes. This is just a taste of what can be done in this way. It may give some idea of what your rhythm will sound like melodically. It also introduces you to the fractal tunes you can make with Fractal Tune Smithy.
Note - at present Bounce Metronome Pro is at version 3.2. but FTS is still at 3.0. Bounce Metronome Pro has many capabilities not in FTS such as the skipped beats for instance. So most of the tunes you make here can't be played in Tune Smithy itself until the release of version 3.0 hopefully some time in summer or autumn 2009.
Car - Tunes Metronome
Show a ball bouncing on the lyrics as for the Song Car Tunes in early movies.
This metronome is left out of the drop list of metronomes for blind users at present. Perhaps there is something one could do here without the bouncing ball graphics - i.e. to display the words of the lyric in time to the rhythm, perhaps arranged so that the screen reader reads out each word just before it is sung - but I'm not sure at present how useful it would be or how exactly one would do it.
All the other metronomes are accessible to blind users.
Lyrics
The preset list has lullabies and nursery rhymes most for 4/4 time...
The lyrics are only shown for parts with the right number of beats per bar. Other parts are shown as beat numbers. When you change rhythm, automatically selects a lyric to fit the current bar if available.
Most of the preset lyrics are suitable for a metronome at 4/4 (4 and 1 beats to a measure)). Some are sutiable for 6/8 or 2/4.
To edit use the Edit Lyrcs drop list button. Or use Edit Lyric and Lyrics Options (Ctrl + 231)
In the future I'll update this so that you can edit the text directly in Bounce Metronome itself - and also easily add your lyric to the drop list - and also have separate files for different lists of lyrics, e.g. you could have separate lists for nursery rhymes, and lullabies or whatever.
Some day I plan to add an option to enter the melody lines as well, probably in abc notation, so that Bounce Metronome can play the tunes for the lyrics.
Edit Lyric and Lyrics Options (Ctrl + 231)
Edit the lyrics here. Also has options such as text size, bounce height, whether to show bouncing ball or shadow, etc
Edit drop list... (button)
To add your lyrics, edit this file, add a new line with #### to the end, then add your new lyrics after that.
How to edit the drop list file
This button will open the file for editing in the program you have set up for editing text files (usually Notepad).
The file has all the lyrics one after another, with comment lines in between them.
The l ines that begin with # are comments, i.e. not displayed. These can be used to add notes such as the author of the lyric, where you got it, or any other details. If you have nothing you want to add then just add ##### which will mark the end of the last lyric so that your new lyric gets a new entry in the drop list.
After the comment, enter the text for your lyric one line at a time.
Place an underscore between any words you want shown for the same beat
Use hyphens - to split a word over two or more beats.
Use a tilda ~ for a rest - a beat which isn't sung.
Rests are shown as ... in the bouncing lyrics display
To repeat a word or syllable, place = after the word to repeat e.g. Break = -ers displayed as Break Break-ers (i.e. sing Break for two beats) Then add any comment line e.g. ###### to mark the end
of your lyric.
When you have finished editing the text, resave the file, and the drop list of lyrics will automatically update.
Option - add number of beats per bar for the lyric
After the comment, you can add the number of beats per bar for the lyric as e.g.
4 beats
If this is left out then the number of beats in the first line of the lyric is used as the number of beats for the rhythm - make sure you break the line at the right place so that the beats can be counted properly.
This number is used to automatically select an appropriate rhythm for the lyric. It's the same number that's shown in the window as "This lyric needs ... beats to the bar (or mulutiple of)
For the future
In the future I'll make it so that you can add your new lyric to the drop list automatically in Bounce Metronome.
Also in future, will have separate files for different lists of lyrics, e.g. you could have separate lists for nursery rhymes, and lullabies or whatever.
Some day also, I plan to add an option to enter the melody as well, probably in the popular abc notation used widely for folk songs, fiddle tunes and the like. Then Bounce Metronome will be able to play the tunes for the lyrics. The obvious way to do that is to add the new abc section after each lyric in the file, so that the tune is closely associated with its tune.
I'll make sure it is backwards compatible so that if your tune has no music with it, then that's okay too.
/ Show volume as a number (button) (Alt + /)
Change between the volume as text box, or as a graphic...
Click to change from volume as a text box to volume as graphic, and back again.
3 --- 4 (button) (Alt + 3)
Waltzes and minuets are examples of 3/4....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_metre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minuet
Listen to an example of 3/4
Minuet - Notebook for Anna Magdalena
http://musopen.org/music/piece/261
(from http://imslp.org/wiki/Notebooks_for_Anna_Magdalena_Bach_(Bach,_Johann_Sebastian%20 )
2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 are examples of "simple time" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_signature#Simple_time_signatures
4 --- 4 (button) (Alt + 4)
4/4 "Common time" examples: most songs, many nursery rhymes, some lullabies, some reels and marches, very common...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nursery_rhyme
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_(music)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reel_(dance)
Hardly need to give an example - but if you do need one, for instance Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or Hush Little Baby Don't Say a Word.
2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 are examples of "simple time" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_signature#Simple_time_signatures
Hearing the difference between 2/4 and 4/4
Actually you can convert 4/4 to 2/4 by writing the crotchets as quavers (or vice versa) and sometimes a piece of music could be written equally well in both time signatures.
However if there is a strong division of the bar into two sections then you would notate it as 2/4. If it is more clearly heard as divided into four beats, you notate it as 4/4.
See also
http://www.ars-nova.com/Theory%20Q&A/Q5.html
6 --- 8 (button) (Alt + 6)
Like 2/4, but each main beat is made up of three quavers (instead of two) Examples include many songs such as Greensleeves, some lullabies, and jigs ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jig
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensleeves
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lullaby
Listen to an example
Chopin's Berceuse Op 57
http://musopen.org/music/piece/1137
score here:
http://imslp.org/wiki/Berceuse,_Op.57_(Chopin,_Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric%29
The jigs are normally played with swing - scroll down to find out more.
6/8 is an example of compound time
This is just a musical convention. When the lower number in the time signature is 8, and the upper number is divisible by 3, then you count the quavers in threes, as dotted crotchets http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compound_meter_(music)#Compound_meter
Visual display for 6/8
This is shown with an extra part to beat the dotted crotchets.
For fast 6/8 the ball that bounces for the quavers may be too fast to follow easily, and you may wish to hide, or silence, the part that plays the quavers.
You can silence any of the parts in Show All Parts (Ctrl + 9). You can also hide or silence parts using the Parts controls which you can show to the left of the blocks in the main window (click on the gray half circle first if necessary to show them).
Jigs are normally played with swing
Jigs are normally swung with a lengthened first note and much shorter second note. To do that, switch on Lilt or Swing and then set the level of swing, e.g. to medium swing.
See Jigs: Trickier than you probably think
http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/tricky.html
There are different ways to play swung triplets. For a discussion thread see:
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/12135/comments
Subdivisions (spin) (Alt + N)
Increase or decrease number of subdivisions for time signature
Beats subdivisions - first time signature
How many subdivisions to play for each beat of the time signature...
Example, set this to 2 to play two subdivisions for each beat.
Example, 4/4 with the subdivisions set to 2 then the first part plays the crotchets, and then another part plays quavers
Fractions and decimal values also possible here. One example of use of that features - if you set this to a number just above or below a whole number, say for example, set it to 2.001, then over time, the subdivisions will gradually move in and out of phase with the main beat.
You can set which instruments play each part and the volume for each part etc. in Show All Parts (Ctrl + 9)
How to set subdivisions for all the rhythms in polyrhythms or rhythm cycles
The main window lets you set the number of subdivisions of the first rhythm only. But if you go to Combine Rhythms (Ctrl + 217) then you can also set the numbers of subdivisions independently for all the other rhythms in the cycle or polyrhythm.
More about the Fractional subdivisions (rarely used feature)
You can make this number fractional. For instance, you can set it to 3.1 or a ratio like 11/10, even an irrational number like PI which you can enter as a decimal 3.14159 or as the word PI, or a number defined using a formula.
This lets the subdivisions drift with respect to the main beat - if you aren't quite sure what this means, just try it out to see what happens.
It's an unusual effect but may be of interest on occasion. For instance try playing a tune along with a rhythm with drifting subdivisions - it is quite hard and may help one deal with distractions while playing.
Or for that matter try and see if you can play both the main beat and the drifting subdivisions simultaneously along with the metronome (e.g. on drums or keyboard).
For details of formulae you can use see the help for {{w81} - you can use those formulae for the numbers here and in most text areas in Bounce Metronome.
Lilt or swing (check box) (Alt + W)
For a more natural feel or practice Jazz rhythms, Scottish folk music etc...
I'll start by going through some typical ways to use this feature for a quick start. Scroll down if new to swing or lilt to find out more about them - see http://www.robertinventor.com/wiki/swung_notes.htm further down this page - also later in this page you can find out more about how the swing is implemeneted in Bounce Metronome.
Some typical ways to use this feature
Swing
You can use this to practise swing rhythms such as for Jazz. To do that you set up a rhythm with two subdivisions of each beat - and then as you adjust the swing, the first beat in each pair of subdivisions gets longer and the second beat shorter.
Lilt
Or you can use this to add a gentle lilt to the rhythm as a whole. You can use it like this with a rhythm without subdivisions such as 4/4. Just switch this on but set the slider to a small amount towards the left of the range. This will make the beats in the bar slightly uneven and more natural sounding which you may find helps with practice.
Scottish Jigs and other swung 6/8
If you use this option with compound time rhythms like 6/8 then the triplets get swung. In a triplet swing then the first beat is long, second beat is shorter third beat is between the first two in duration. It's similar rhythm to a triple stroke buzz roll on a drum - the triplet beats get shorter and shorter - then there's a slight pause before start of the next triplet just like the (very slight) pause you get as the drummer lifts the drum stick between buzz rolls - not really a pause - just a gap that is a bit longer than the gap between the last two strokes of the buzz roll.
Buzz rolls
You can also use this option with rhythms with more than 3 subdivisions of each beat. Each one will be played like a buzz roll on a drum of the same number of beats. Again you can use this with a hard swing for an n-tuplet version of the scottich swung triplet or for a buzz roll effect - or with a gentle lilt just to make the n-tuplets a bit uneven in an interesting way. If you want a buzz roll effect with 4 or more subdivisions, make sure you switch off the "Shuffle - Auto pulse as 2 subdivisions if possible" option in Swing and Auto Accents - Preferences (Ctrl + 232)
Swing part with most beats only=
Normally you swing just one of the parts, most often the part with most subdivisions. But when musicians play, the beats themselves are also uneven slightly, as well as the subdivisions. To set up a rhythm like that then you can switch off "Swing part with most beats only" - also switch off "Swing all the same" both in Swing and Auto Accents - Preferences (Ctrl + 232).
Then you can set the swing or lilt independently for each part. You might set the subdivisions to a hard swing for instance, and the individual beats to a gentle lilt.
You can also adjust the timing of any individual beats by hand in Template:W - what you might do is set up the rhythm first using swing and lilt for all the parts - then listen to it and then micro-adjust the individual beats to your preference to get the rhythm you like.
The way of doing lilt here for more than two subdivisions is only one way of doing it..
Swung notes
Swung notes are a feature of many types of music. Notes are played alternately longer and shorter than usual though normally notated all the same length. See the wikipedia article on Swung Note. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swung_note
Types of music that use swung notes include jazz, Celtic music, some dance and country music, and early music particularly France from the middle of the 16th century to late 18th century.
the early music use (notes inégal) see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notes_in%C3%A9gales
and the Dolmetsch site on notes inégal
http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory20.htm#egal
For the precursors much earlier in the Ars Antiqua rhythmic modes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythmic_mode
Gentle Lilt
In nearly all types of music the beats in a bar are uneven in a subtle way. You notice this especially if you compare it with computer generated music with the notes all exactly the same length. Varying the beat with a gentle lilt makes the music much more natural sounding and it is likely to be easier to play along with.
So, if you find it easier to play along with other musicians than a metronome, it may well be because you are used to playing with a lilt and can't adjust your playing to the strict clock like beat of a metronome. This gentle lilt in your playing is something good, to foster. So when you do metronome practice, it is good if you can adjust the metronome to play a lilt :-) (unless you need to play a clock-like strict beat for some reason for a particular piece say).
To do this in Bounce Metronome Pro, just use the gentler settings for swing, such as Gentle lilt. You may also want to unselect "Swing parts with most beats only". This lets you apply a bit of lilt to all the parts in the rhythm, e.g. do the four beats of 4/4 with a lilt to them - a gradual change of timing through the bar. You probably only want a small amount of lilt for this. Then you could use a larger amount of swing if you want to swing quavers subdivisions of each beat.
Amount of swing
With swung notes, you can feel that the beats are uneven in a more noticeable way than a gentle lilt. The second beat in a pair is normally faster than the first.
The amount of swing can vary. So for instance you can have a light swing with the beats in a ratio of 3:2 or a hard swing of 3:1 or a medium swing of 2:1. Or the swing can be in between those amounts, it's not a fixed thing that it has to be 2:1 for instance.
A medium swing has the same timing as a triplet crotchet followed by a triplet quaver (UK crotchet followed by quaver). However it isn't really a triplet rhythm - the second note you would expect in a triplet is missing. It is usually notated as a pair of quavers - understood to be played with a "swing feel".
You can set any of these amounts of swing in Bounce Metronome Pro by adjusting the slider.
" Triplet Swing" - really a swung duplet with triplet timing
The medium swing is also called a triplet swing because of the triplet timing. But it isn't really in compound time because of the missing second note. It is a beat with two subdivisions with an uneven rhythm. So, it is really, more accurately, a swung duplet with a triplet timing.
Jigs are played with Swung Triplets (not to be confused with triplet swing
Sometimes though you get true swung triplets - I mean triplets of three notes played with a swung feel to them, as in jigs in Scottish Folk Music. So in those, you have three different note lengths there rather than just the two note lengths of ordinary swing. The usual two numbers such as 2:1 for a medium swing aren't enough to specify the amount of swing of a swung triplet.
To find out more about the swing rhythm for jigs in Celtic music see Jigs: Trickier than you probably think
http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/tricky.html
There are different ways to play the swung triplets of a jig. For a discussion thread see:
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/12135/comments
Indeed there are many more ways you could play a triplet, with three notes - you could choose any note to be the shortest, then any other note to be the longest, giving six possibilities (L M S, L S M, M L S, S L M, S M L, M S L), and that's not taking account of all the subtle variations in timing within each of those options.
However, one natural and straightforward way is inspired by the way a drum stick behaves if you drop it lightly on the drum. It plays several subdivisions one after another each faster than the previous one, followed by a slightly longer beat to raise the drum stick for the next beat. You get the same rhythm if you drop a bouncing ball from a height. So that's the L S M option. That is exactly how it's played in the various styles of jig rhythm - whether that's a coincidence or not I don't know.
So that's how it's done in Bounce Metronome Pro. So you play the first beat a bit slower than usual, and the next beat a bit faster. That's followed by a medium length beat to raise the drum stick before the next series of bounces. So - just like the way you play the rhythm in a Celtic Jig.
Another subtlety about Jigs is that they are often played with the second triplet in the 6/8 slightly faster than the first so with a very slightly uneven step. Hardly noticeable, but if you listen carefully you hear it.
Also the bars vary in timing too with a lilt - again if you lisen carefully, the first bar may be normal speed, second bar a little faster, third back to normal, fourth a bit slower than the first, the tempo varying very slightly in waves like that. That's common in many styles of music but perhaps a little more noticeable in Celtic music.
Swung notes with four or more subdivisions
When you have four or more subdivisions, then Bounce Metronome Pro does it in the same way, each beat is played faster than the previous one, like the bounces of a bouncing ball or drum stick. So in a four subdivisions swing, the first note is slower than normal, then the next one is a little faster, the third note is the fastest of all, then followed by a slower note again for the lift of the drum stick before the next main beat.
Of course there are many other types of rhythm or "grooves" with uneven timings. Or you may want to vary the swing in subtle ways in the bar.
If that's what you need, you can also set the timings of the beats individually or tap out a rhythm for the bar yourself.
Auto Accents (check box) (Alt + C)
Varies volumes of the OFF BEAT NOTES automatically. For triplets or n-tuplets, makes them gradually quieter, in the way a drumstick bounces if you let it fall loosely...
When lilted in pairs then the second beat is quieter than the first in each pair. When lilted in triplets or more than three notes, each beat is quieter than the previous one exactly in the way it happens with a bouncing ball or drumstick (exponential decay). You can also set it to accent the last beat slightly in triplets or n-tuplets, as players sometimes do. Or you can set it to accent alternate notes. This depends on your settings in Swing and Auto Accents - Preferences (Ctrl + 232)
To get syncopation and Jazz type accents, i.e. with the off beat notes accented, set the amount of the auto accents larger than 100.
Automatic choice to lilt in pairs, triplets, or more notes
The automatic choice to lilt in pairs, triplets, or more notes depends on the reinforced beats.
For instance in the 6/8 preset the third beat is reinforced, as it is played in both of the first two parts. So this rhythm is lilted or swung as two triplets.
In 3/4 with each crotchet split into quavers, the second and fourth beats of the six beat part are reinforced. So this time, the six beats (of part 2) are lilted or swung in pairs.
In both of those examples the number of beats to the bar is the same, six beats for part 1.
You can override this by setting the metrical pulse yourself in Beats volumes and times (Ctrl + 76)
You can set any number as the metrical pulse and indeed, one can get interesting rhythms by using a pulse that doesn't match the rhythm, e.g. a metrical pulse of 4 in 6/8 or whatever.
Accent (button)
click to switch on NORMAL ACCENTS - ON THE BEATS - then after that with each click switches between normal accents and Jazz accents, then back again...
This button will be labelled Accent when the volume is set to normal accents, or Jazz if set to Jazz accents.
You can then press the button to switch between the two at any time. If set to normal accents, changes volume to 300 for Jazz accents. If set to Jazz accents, sets this to 50.
How this works is configured in {{w232]]
If you already have the desired type of accent you can use SHIFT + click on the button to set it to the preset value without switching the type of accent (saves need to click twice to get back to desired type of accent).
You need the volume to be over 100% for Jazz type accents between the main beats of the rhythm.
You need it to be below 100% for normal accents - emphasize first beat in each subdivision.
Beats volumes and times (Ctrl + 76)
Adjust the amount of the lilt or swing, or adjust individual beats...
Lets you adjust individual beats by hand. That's the only feature available here for Bounce Metronome Basic. The swing and lilt options are available for the other metronomes.
For a more natural feel or practice Jazz rhythms, Scottish folk music etc...
Reset Metronome (button)
New Rhythm - Resets rhythm and anything that changes its sound...
This resets the options such as tempo, timing, instruments, controllers etc, that change the sound of the rhythm.
Leaves visual options as they are e.g. whether to show as conducting patterns, bounce inside ovals, colours, textures etc.
Custom Reset
You can make a custom reset using File >> Save As RESET METRONOME for this view.
Reset nearly all settings
If you want to do a reset to get nearly all the settings back to the way Bounce Metronome was when you first installed it, then File | Reset Nearly Everything will probably do the trick.
Reset settings for a particular window
You can also reset the settings for any window in Bounce Metronome.
To do that click on the O (Organise Windows) icon in the window and in Organise windows (Ctrl + 51) you will find options to reset the settings for the window
Lyrics Display
Lyrics with bouncing ball. You can edit the text using "Edit Lyric here", keyboard shortcut ALT + E...
You can also edit the text in Edit Lyric and Lyrics Options (Ctrl + 231), or choose one of the preset lyrics from the droplist.
Bounce Metronome can't play the melody line=
Right now Bounce Metronome can play a metronome rhythm along with the lyrics, but can't play the melody line.
Some day I plan to add an option to enter the melody lines as well, probably in abc notation, so that Bounce Metronome can play tunes for the lyrics as well.
That's not ready yet though.
Combine Rhythms (Ctrl + 217)
Combine numbers of beats per bar as polymeters, polyrhythms or as additive rhythms (one after another) - also set the numbers of subdivisions separately for each rhythm..
This lets you combine rhythms to make a polyrhythm, or one after another as an additive rhythm (long bar or hypermeasure).
To find out about time signatures, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_signature
Tempi
Tempo in Beats per Minute - Set tempo
Or TAP AT DESIRED TEMPO with BACKSPACE
OR use LEFT, RIGHT, UP or DOWN ARROWS to CHANGE...
Tempo is usually measured in beats per minute, like heart rate. For more about this scroll down to What do the numbers mean?
Tempo is usually measured in beats per minute, like heart rate. For more about this scroll down to What do the numbers mean?
2 --- 4 (button) (Alt + 2)
Duple time, two beats to a bar, examples include polkas, many marches and reels...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duple_meter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polka
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_(music)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reel_(dance)
2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 are examples of "simple time" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_signature#Simple_time_signatures
Hearing the difference between 2/4 and 4/4
Actually you can convert 4/4 to 2/4 by writing the crotchets as quavers (or vice versa) and sometimes a piece of music could be written equally well in both time signatures.
However if there is a strong division of the bar into two sections then you would notate it as 2/4. If it is more clearly heard as divided into four you notate it as 4/4.
So for instance the Oom Pah type tuba polka music has a very clear division into two setions so is naturally written in 2/4.
See also
http://www.ars-nova.com/Theory%20Q&A/Q5.html
Tempo
Enter Tempo in Beats per Minute (like heart rates)- including decimal values or fractional BPM - or optionally as time for note in seconds...
Vary this to play the rhythm faster or slower.
You can use decimals, or ratios like 53/2 or any formula e.g. 3*21 or whatever.
If you want to enter the time for the note instead there's an option to do this in Tempo Dial - Preferences (Ctrl + 223)
Click and drag to adjust the number
You can also adjust the number here with click and drag. Click on the number and then with the mouse button held down, drag the mouse cursor up out of the text box to increase the number. Drag downwards to decrease the number. If there's a decimal point then you can adjust the numbers either side of the point in the same way, and you can also use Ctrl, Shift or Alt + click / drag to adjust by larger amounts. If it's a formula e.g. 3*21 you can use Ctrl +click to adjust the two numbers independently.
The keyboard shortcut to adjust the number in the same way is Page up or Page down.
Tempo in BPM
This normally shows the tempo as beats per minute (BPM) - like heart rates. So for instance 60 is 60 beats a minute, i.e. one beat per second. For more about BPM see the tool tip help for the tempo dial Tempo Dial (Ctrl + 222).
You can show the tempo for any part in the rhythm.
You can see the tempi for all the parts in the rhythm in the bouncing all display in the main Bounce Metronome window and in Metronome Bouncing Ball (Ctrl + 219), also as a text field in the More version of Tempo Dial - Preferences (Ctrl + 223).
You can see the tempo as a tempo dial in the main window or in Metronome Bouncing Ball (Ctrl + 219).
About the Parts and the Tempi for Parts
Many of the rhythms use several tempi at once. All the tempi are listed at the top of the bouncing ball display.
Example: with the preset 6/8 rhythm, you will see three tempi, for the bar beats, the two beats to a bar (for the centre beat) - and the six beats to a bar.
You can select the part to show on the tempo dial in Tempo Dial - Preferences (Ctrl + 223). Or left or right click on the part number at top left of the dial as a quick way to skip to the next or previous part, also the tempo part is synchronised with the selected part in Beats volumes and times (Ctrl + 76) or Beats As Text (Ctrl + 77).
When you set the tempo for any of the parts, the tempi for all the other parts will be updated to match. E.g. if you set the quaver tempo to 120 BPM for a 6/7 rhythm, the tempo for the dotted crotchets automatically updates to 40 BPM (a third of the tempo because the individual notes are three times longer).
EDIT LYRIC HERE (check box)
Makes the lyric editable here - only when the bounce is paused or stopped - pauses it if necessary...
How to edit your lyric
You need to edit your lyric to show where the bounces are. To do that you add underscores, dashes and tildas to the text.
You need to add:
_ between words all for the same beat
~ to skip beats
- to split word if spread over several beats
For details, see the tooltip help for the editable text area for the lyric.
Only editable when paused or stopped
The idea is - makes it easy for you to edit the lyric, then click play button to see result of your changes.
When you switch this option on, it will pause the bouncing balls if necessary.
If you want to edit the lyric while it is playing
You can also edit the lyric in Lyrics for bouncing ball (Ctrl + 230). If you edit it there, you can do it at any time whether the lyric is paused or stopped or not.
Tempo Dial (Ctrl + 222)
Tempo in Beats per Minute - Set tempo
Or TAP AT DESIRED TEMPO with BACKSPACE
OR use LEFT, RIGHT, UP or DOWN ARROWS to CHANGE...
Tempo is usually measured in beats per minute, like heart rate. For more about this scroll down to What do the numbers mean?
Tempo is usually measured in beats per minute, like heart rate. For more about this scroll down to What do the numbers mean?
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Controls Common to Many Windows
