All Views/Get rhythm from a recording
From Bounce Metronome
Next Vary Beat within bar - tempo and volume variation
Controls Common to Many Windows
Get rhythm from a recording Main Window
Metronome Type - DROP LIST
Select YOUR METRONOME from the drop list...
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:
Bounce Metronome Basic
Basic metronome with time signature, and subdivisions.
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 practice 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 practice polyrhythms (cross rhythms) such as 2 beats to a measure with 3 simultaneously, or 3 with 4, 3 with 5 etc.
Additive Metronome
To practice 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.
Hide graphics
Hide Graphics - use this button if you are blind or prefer keyboard to mouse
/ Show volume as a number (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.
Open, Audio file of Tune...
Open a temporary recording into the Temp Rec. window
Record Control...
Select whether to record from microphone, or midi, or "what you hear" etc...
What you see depends on your system and soundcard. Usually there is a fader for the microphone and one for your midi synth, or maybe "What you hear" or "Stereo mix" etc.
In the Record Control, normally you select "Midi" or "what you hear" or "Stereo mix" or some such option. The Record Control is often set to record from the microphone - if you leave it at this setting, you will get nothing recorded unless a microphone is plugged in.
Adding more faders to the Record Control
Sometimes you can show more faders in the Record Control window. To do that go to Options | Properties and choose which controls you what to show.
Special note for Vista users
NOTE Some sound cards can't record to audio at the same time as they play (i.e. are only "half duplex"). This is a Vista issue mainly nowadays as many soundcards that can record fine under XP don't record in Vista.
If you have one of these soundcards then you won't see any Stereo mix or any other option like that in the Record Control when you install the soundcard in Vista, though you will see it if you install the same soundcard under XP.
Try and see if there is anything there that looks likely, and see if any of them work. If you can't record to waveform audio, you can still use the record to midi.
One techy solution that some people find works with some computers, is to install an XP driver for your soundcard using the XP compatibility option in Vista. If that works, the XP driver will probably support full duplex recording under Vista.
The other possible solution is to add an extra soundcard to your computer which supports full duplex recording under Vista. You can do this even if you have a laptop or notebook as there are many USB external soundcards available nowadays.
Start rec.
Start the recording - short cut Page up...
This starts the temporary recording and the oscilloscope at the same time as the oscilloscope uses the temporary recording to analyse the sound to try and locate the wave.
Tip: the Page up shortcut also works from the PC keyboard music player.
To stop the recording you use Page down and again you can use that from the PC keyboard music player.
This stops the temporary recording and the oscilloscope at the same time.
This means you can pause the oscilloscope at a particular note you are currently playing in the PC keyboard player without needing to switch over to the oscilloscope to do it, to view the waveform at your leisure.
Record to RAM (temporary recording) (Ctrl + 71)
Recording to temporary memory - time limited by the memory available...
This records directly to your computer's temporary volatile memory (such as RAM or whatever). You can then save the result using the Save Rec. As button in the Temp Rec. menu.
The maximum time for the recording is limited by the amount of memory. On a computer of the last few years (as of 2007) this is quite long, perhaps a quarter of an hour or more. On an older computer it can only make very short audio clips.
You can configure it from the Temp Rec Times window, and choose there how much computer memory to set aside for the recording.
If you want to make longer recordings, limited only by the file space available on your computer, use the Record to File window
==[[All Windows/Play, Rhythms and Bounce/Beats/Find Beats from recording by Exact Count or Freq Spectrum Find Beats from recording by Exact Count or Freq Spectrum (Ctrl + 72)) | Find Beats from recording by Exact Count or Freq Spectrum Find Beats from recording by Exact Count or Freq Spectrum (Ctrl + 72))]]==
Find notes in clean recording - use other programs to clean them first...
The dection of notes is easily confused by background noise or low or high frequency sound.
So to improve the accuracy of the results, first use a sound editor to do a band pass or high pass to remove all frequencies outside the range of interest. Also do a noise reduction.
You could for example use Goldwave.
http://www.goldwave.com/
The count waves method is easily confused by low background noise such as traffic hum, and also by high fequency noise adding extra wave crossings. It can also be confused by any background noise as it can find regular patterns in noise not corresponding to any heard pitch.
The frequency spectrum method is less easily confused but background noise can add extra partials or lead it to detecting a pitch in the noise as the fundamental of the note to detect.
Both methods are programmed for solo recordings, withthe emphasis on high resolution pitch detection of the notes.
Any polyphony is just treated as noise and confuses the method.
Sometimes you can remove other instruments from a polyphonic recording to some degree using bandpass, most likely to be successful with instruments with few higher partials such as bird song and whistle, flute, recorder etc. If successful there, one might then in some cases be able to transcribe each part individually in Bounce Metronome and then combine the result.
==[[All Windows/Play, Rhythms and Bounce/Beats/Beats volumes and times Beats volumes and times (Ctrl + 76)) | Beats volumes and times 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...
How to use this window
Select the part you want to adjust at the top or the window. Then you can either use the bar chart graphics to adjust the timing and volume of individual beats, or use the slider to set the amount of lilt or swing.
To play a rhythm with swing, normally you will swing the part which plays the shorter beats (most beats to the measure), and set the other parts to a gentle lilt or a lilt of 100% for no lilt.
For instance in the 4/4 preset with two subdivisions, the automatic choice is to swing part 2 (which plays 8 beats to the measure). In the 6/8 preset you swing part 1 (which plays the 6 beats to the measure).
Sometimes you may want to lilt or swing several parts simultaneously. To do that unselect Swing part with most beats only.
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.
For 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
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.
See for instance: chapter " Microtiming studies" in thesis by Vijay Iyer at Berkeley university here:
http://archive.cnmat.berkeley.edu/People/Vijay/06.%20Microtiming%20Studies.html
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.
==[[All Windows/Play, Rhythms and Bounce/Beats/Beats - Set beat times and volumes individually Beats - Set beat times and volumes individually (Ctrl + 31)) | Beats - Set beat times and volumes individually Beats - Set beat times and volumes individually (Ctrl + 31))]]==
Set the beat times and volumes individually for each of the rhythms.
How to get here
Beats button in the Bounce Metronome window - or { Beats - Set beat times and volumes individually (Ctrl + 31)
How to use this window
Highlight the first row, which plays the first rhythm, usually the fastest beat pattern.
Then use the Set Beat Times and Volumes button or the Beats as Text to set the times and volumes individually for each beat in the rhythm.
You can also set the beats individually for the second row and later rows. This will change the timings for the first row. To do this, you also need to select Adjust beats up to part 2 (or higher).
Example. With the rhythm 6 2 1 for compound time, if you adjust the second row, corresponding to the 2, this will affect the 6 beats as well. If you make the first half of the bar shorter, then the three beats that get played in that part of the bar will need to be played in a shorter period of time.
If you have edited the beats for the first row as well, then the result is a combination of the timings of the first and middle row.
For instance if the first row has three short beats then three long beats, and the second bar has one long beat followed by one short beat, then the first three beats are shorter than the last three because of the first part timings, but made longer because of the second part timings.
In a situation like that, depending on the details, the first few beats may end up shorter, or longer than the last three. They may end up the same length as the last three if the timings balance each other exactly.
You can also use the Find Beats from recording by Exact Count or Freq Spectrum Find Beats from recording by Exact Count or Freq Spectrum (Ctrl + 72)) window to extract the beat timings from a recording, e.g. of a live performance, i.e. the "groove" - either automatically, or by eye by clicking on the visible positions of the beats in the recording.
Tempo for Part 1... (Alt + T)
Tempo in Beats per Minute - Vary this to play the rhythm faster or slower. You can type any tempo here including fractional BPM. Or TAP AT TEMPO with BACKSPACE - or use the ARROW KEYS to change by one NOTCH or one BPM. The tempo is in BPM like heart rate...
This normally shows the tempo as beats per minute (BPM). 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 Tempo Dial (Ctrl + 222)) .
You can show the tempo for any part in the rhythm, using the "Show tempo for PART". So for instance if the rhythm beats crotchets and quavers you can choose which of those you want to show the tempo for.
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 Metronome Bouncing Ball (Ctrl + 219)) , also as a text field in the More version of Tempo Dial - Preferences Tempo Dial - Preferences (Ctrl + 223)) .
You can see the tempo as a tempo dial in the main window or in Metronome Bouncing Ball Metronome Bouncing Ball (Ctrl + 219)) .
About the Parts and the Tempi for Parts
Many of the rhythms use several tempi at once. You can see all the tempi listed in the bouncing ball display. The tempo dial is colour coordinated (so long as you leave it at the preset setting of colour coded) to match the colours of the bouncing ball for the same part.
For instance with the preset 6/8 rhythm, you will see three tempi. These are for the bar beats, for the two beats to a bar rhythm which beats the centre beat - and for the six beats to a bar.
If unsure which part is which, select Show Beats in Bouncing Balls - Other Visuals Bouncing Balls - Other Visuals (Ctrl + 225)) . Then you can read the number of beats for each part in the rows for the Bouncing Balls display.
To choose which part to show the tempo for, adjust the number in the "Show tempo for PART" text field. Or you can 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.
When you set the tempo for any of the parts, the tempi for all the other parts will be updated to match.
E.g. in 6/8 if you set the quaver tempo to 120 BPM say, then the dotted crotchets will have a tempo of 40 BPM (a third of the tempo because the individual notes are three times longer).
Tempi
Tempo in Beats per Minute - OR : TAP with BACKSPACE key at desired tempo - OR USE LEFT, RIGHT, UP or DOWN ARROW keys to increase or decrease tempo by one BPM or one NOTCH - or step through a preset list of tempi and rhythms...
The tempo is measured in beats per minute, like heart rate. For more about this scroll down to read about What do the numbers mean?
Reset Metronome
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.
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 Organise windows (Ctrl + 51)) you will find options to reset the settings for the window
==[[All Windows/Play, Rhythms and Bounce/Tempo/Gradually Changing Tempo etc Gradually Changing Tempo etc (Ctrl + 42)) | Gradually Changing Tempo etc Gradually Changing Tempo etc (Ctrl + 42))]]==
Configure the gradually changing tempo...
To use this feature first you have to switch on "Gradually Changing Tempo".
You can set it to vary gradually over a time period in minutes and seconds, or over a number of measures. To use measures, switch on "Show Measures"
Overview - and the Simpler version of this window
You set the start tempo by clicking on the tempo dial.
Then you can set the tempo you want it to change to, and the time when you want to reach that tempo.
Then select what you want it to do next.
Note - you can vary the current tempo even while the tempo on the dial is changing. When you click on the tempo dial, this sets the current tempo. The start tempo shown in this window will get adjusted upwards and downwards accordingly to match the change in the current tempo - try it - you'll see that it all works out fine.
How does the gradually changing tempo feature help?
This will help you to practice a piece at faster and faster (or slower and slower) tempi as you become more proficient.
It also helps you get used to playing at any tempo - useful if you have a tendency to get "locked in" to a few fixed tempi for all your pieces
It will also help you when you want to practice professionally smooth slow and gradual tempo changes (shown in scores as Ritardando and Accelerando). One of the things that marks out a professional player is that when you want to change tempo gradually, you can do it in a regular way with the utmost smoothness.
Smooth here means that you go through all the in-between tempi on your way to the new faster or slower tempo. Of course there are many ways to get from one to the other. To give a bit of variety there's an option to use a wave type transition or a steady increase or decrease in tempo.
Stepping progression (in the Pro metronomes)
This is useful if you want to play faster and are close to your limit. Starting at a comfortable tempo for your piece, it goes gradually faster by 2 bpm (say) - then goes back by 1 bpm. Theen forward by 2, back by 1, and so on.
In this way you gradually gets faster, then you relax from that faster tempo then speed up again and almost imperceptibly find you are playing faster than you thought possible.
Any number of tempo "Zones" (Pro feature again)
You find this version of the window if you keep clicking "More" several times from the simpler versions of the window.
It's the sae idea but you can vary the tempo through any number of Tempo "zones".
Tempo Scripts
For more advanced features - such as to vary the rhythm for each section, and so on, then you need to investigate Tune Script Tune Script (Ctrl + 171)) .
Stepping through a list of tempi and time signatures manually with the up and down arrow keys
If this is what you want to do, then you need the option:Up / Down arrow key cycles through list of tempi in Tempo Dial - Preferences Tempo Dial - Preferences (Ctrl + 223))
Changing tempo (Alt + E)
This lets you vary the tempo slowly over a number of minutes or seconds. You can do it either at a steady rate or changing more slowly at the beginning and end of the tempo variation for ultra smooth tempo transitions...
Helpful for practicing gradual changes of tempo - accelerando or ritartando - or to practice a rhythm slowly at first then faster and faster over a number of seconds or minutes.
To set the amount of tempo variation and how long to take to change the tempo, use Gradually Changing Tempo etc Gradually Changing Tempo etc (Ctrl + 42))
How to change tempo drop list
You can also choose how it gets varied in the How to change tempo drop list in Gradually Changing Tempo etc Gradually Changing Tempo etc (Ctrl + 42)) .
Choose Following sine wave there for ultra smooth transitions so that you change tempo imperceptibly to start with.
Choose or linear if you just want to change tempo at a steady rate.
See the tip for the drop list in Gradually Changing Tempo etc Gradually Changing Tempo etc (Ctrl + 42)) for more information about this
Lilt bars (Alt + R)
Helps to give a more natural feel to the rhythm by varying the timing subtly from one bar to the next...
When you play or sing a tune, while keeping to a steady overall tempo, it's natural to vary the timing very slightly from one bar to the next. Playing all the measures exactly the same is a bit like walking with all your strides exactly the same like a robot. It isn't wrong to do that - it is done sometimes - especially with music based on repeating sound loops. However it is more common for the measures to vary in a subtle way from bar to bar.
Often the bar timing varies with the melody line and the feel of the tune, so this can't be preset in advance. But a fairly common pattern is to start at normal tempo, second bar is a tiny bit faster, third is back nearly to normal tempo and fourth bar is very slightly slower than normal, then continue in that way in waves of subtle tempo variation, slower and faster.
So this is the preset pattern.
You can vary the amount of the lilt. You can also set the instant tempo for each bar individually for as many measures as you like.
This option may make the metronome feel a bit more lively and make it easier to play along with. It is also good practice for playing with other musicians and help make your own rhythms more organic and lively.
Play then SILENT
Switches the sound off for a few measures at a time - this can help you learn to play at a steady tempo and to play tricky rhythms WITHOUT THE METRONOME...
You enter the numbers of measures to play and to be silent for in Gradually Changing Tempo etc Gradually Changing Tempo etc (Ctrl + 42)) .
The idea here is that you continue to play when the sound stops. Then when the sound comes back again, aim to be exactly in time with the metronome, or as close as you can get to it.
You can try this either with or without the bouncing ball visuals as an extra cue to help you stay in time.
One reason to do this is to help you to learn to keep a steady tempo without a metronome. You can also use it when you learn tricky rhythms e.g. polyrhythms etc, to see if you can keep them going during the measures when the metronome is silent.
You can easily look away from the screen when the sound stops if you want to avoid the visual cues - but can't close your ears to sounds in the same way - so that's why I did a check box for the sound, and not the visuals.
What this does is to play the rhythm with sound for a few measures, then switch off the sound, then play it again alternately like that.
==[[All Windows/Play, Rhythms and Bounce/Bounce/Bounce Preferences Bounce Options (Ctrl + 220)) | Bounce Preferences Bounce Options (Ctrl + 220))]]==
Includes: SYNCHRONISE BOUNCES WITH SOUND - configure LEFT MIDDLE AND RIGHT MOUSE CLICKS on the bouncing balls display - KEYBOARD TAPS AND SHORTCUTS - and other options for the bouncing balls.
Bar beat ball
Display a bouncing ball for bar beat parts (parts with one beat to the measure)
==[[All Windows/Play, Rhythms and Bounce/Bounce/3D Bouncing Balls, Drum stick or Conductor's baton 3D Bouncing Balls, Drum stick or Conductor's baton (Ctrl + 224)) | 3D Bouncing Balls, Drum stick or Conductor's baton 3D Bouncing Balls, Drum stick or Conductor's baton (Ctrl + 224))]]==
Show in 3D as drum sticks, conductor's batons, or bouncing balls...
For options for the 3D visuals, see 3D Bouncing Ball Visuals 3D Bouncing Ball Visuals (Ctrl + 226))
BouncingBall
Shows balls bouncing in time with the rhythm, and various controls you can use to adjust the rhythm...
Quick start for the Bouncing Balls controls
LEFT CLICK ON THE GRAY SEMICIRCLES to Show / hide the blocks and the parts adjustments.
LEFT or RIGHT CLICK on BLOCKS to ADJUST INDIVIDUAL BEATS, e.g. to skip beats, accent beats, or change volumes. Hover the mouse over a beat for more information.
You can also LEFT CLICK on the main display to restart the bar. This only works if the balls are bouncing silently. When the sound is playing the bouncing balls always synchronise with the sound.
You see this tip when you hover the mouse over the bouncing balls themselves. hover the mouse over the title bar of Metronome Bouncing Ball Metronome Bouncing Ball (Ctrl + 219)) for background information.
More Details
The gray semi-circles to left and right can be used to show the beats for each part as blocks below the bouncing balls - and to show controls you can use to adjust the individual parts in the rhythm.
Each row of shaded blocks shows one of the parts. For instance 6/8 has three parts. One of the parts plays the six beats to a bar (as quavers). Another part plays two beats to the bar, so that you can hear the middle beat clearly. Another part plays the bar beat.
Each row is the same colour hue as its bouncing ball, though lighter in shade. In each row, the blocks show the individual beats in the rhythm, and the size of each block shows the duration of the beat. The blocks are all done with the first beat of the bar to the left, and last beat to the right (and shown reversed when the balls bounce from right to left).
If you have the display set up so that all the balls bounce together then the balls for each part bounce on the divisions between the beats. However you may have the balls bouncing in opposite directions for polyrhythms like 3 with 4 / 4. If you have a setup like that and also beats varying in size, then the balls may not bounce on the divisions between beats for all the parts.
How to use the blocks to adjust the rhythm
You can LEFT CLICK on a beat to SKIP it, or to adjust the timing of individual beats. You can RIGHT CLICK to ACCENT it, and MIDDLE CLICK or SHIFT + CLICK to adjust the volumes. For more details hover the mouse over the blocks.
Tap out rhythm
You can RIGHT CLICK on any of the parts, to tap out an entire new rhythm. The last click ends the bar so for instance to tap out a bar with four beats, tap four times for your rhythm, then add a fifth tap for the start of the next bar.
Right click on the part you want to adjust the rhythm for - as the rhythm is used for the currently highlighted part.
Another way to tap out an entire rhythm is to use the SPACE BAR on your keyboard. Again, right click on the desired part first to choose the part to set the rhythm for.
Then use Ctrl + SPACE to switch on the SPACE BAR RHYTHM TAPS. Then tap out the rhythm. Use CTRL + SPACE to switch the taps off again when finished
How to play your rhythm back at speed
To play your rhythm at the speed you tapped it, set the beats tempo in the main window to 60 beats per minute. Set it faster than that, or slower. if you want it speeded up or slowed down.
Parts adjustments
You can ue the diamonds, circles and rectangles to the left of the bouncing ball display to hide any of the bouncing balls, change the instrument for a part, or silence any of the parts.
You can use the triangles to the right to vary the number of beats in each part or the number of parts.
To find out what one of those controls does - just hover the mouse over it.
How the blocks work for scripted additive rhythms
These rhythms show up as separate measures along the bottom of the window, one after another, with only one of them highlighted.
With these rhythms, you can click to select one of the measures of the rhythm - this lets you change between the sections of the script manually.
These rhythms are made automatically by Bounce Metronome by creating a script for Tune Script Tune Script (Ctrl + 171)) . Because the rhythm is scripted, you can't adjust the beat timings by hand for these rhythms, at least not permanently. If you do adjust the individual beats (for instance using Beats volumes and times Beats volumes and times (Ctrl + 76)) ) then the next time that bar is played the script will just set the beats back to the way they were before.
However you can play these rhythms with swing.
You can also make your own scripted rhythms with skipped beats or using any of the other features of Bounce Metronome using Tune Script Tune Script (Ctrl + 171)) - explore auto script in that window.
For instance, one way to do it, if you switch on auto script and then play the rhythm slowly until the script highlight reaches the bar you want to adjust, you can then adjust the beats using Beats volumes and times Beats volumes and times (Ctrl + 76)) as normal and your changes will be added into the script at that point.
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 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.
==[[All Windows/Out/Controllers/Stereo Pan Stereo Pan (Ctrl + 50)) | Stereo Pan Stereo Pan (Ctrl + 50))]]==
Set stereo pan positions for each part for a more immersive experience...
You can use this to place individual instruments in different locations to get a more immersive experience. For instance in a string quartet, the violin is to left, then second violin, then viola then cello in that order.
See also Standard orchestral layout below.
Auto
With Stereo Pan, you hear the notes played spread out in space. Switch this on if you want to set the stereo pan automatically. Configured in Stereo Pan Stereo Pan (Ctrl + 50)) ...
You can auto pan by part, by position in seed, by position in scale, and various other options.
Auto pan is configured in Stereo Pan Stereo Pan (Ctrl + 50)) .
You can also set the stereo pan positions for each part manually as well, again in Stereo Pan Stereo Pan (Ctrl + 50)) .
Next Vary Beat within bar - tempo and volume variation
Controls Common to Many Windows
