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#187492 12/31/12 04:07 PM
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I have audible metronome selected but when music is playing I can really only hear the fist click well. For example, in 4/4 I hear plainly the first click of the bar but because 2, 3 & 4 have a volume that is lower, I can barely hear them. Is there a way to make clicks for each beat equally loud?


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Yes in the prefs


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@John,

Thank you for responding.

I am aware of the settings in Preferences Count-in/Met, but what setting specifically will allow me to hear all four beats at equal volume?

Also, I was not notified by email that I had received a response. How do I fix it so that I receive an email telling me there is a response to this or some other thread?

Thank you


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Hi WAS,

Prefs->Countin/Met and take a look at the options provided there.

About halfway down in the little Metronome window is a dropdown slot -- "Instrument" that allows for picking other sounds than the default "Sidestick" sound from the Percussion bank in your selected MIDI synth.

The sound is generated by MIDI and fires various instrument sounds in the MIDI synth Percussion Bank.

While we cannot get rid of that (rather annoying to me) harder attack on beat 1, changing of instrument to another patch that may be more easily heard overtop of the music playback is easy and works.

Sometimes when working with a student, I have to switch that over to the Kick Drum at first so that they more easily hear the beats. Once they start getting the notion that in order to play to a metronome (or with other musicians as well!) that is imperative that they have to always count internally for themselves in order to anticipate when to play, rather than waiting to hear a beat and then trying to "catch" it when its already too late in time to do so, I back off of that setting to something a bit harder to hear (and less BOOM_BOOM). The Closed HiHat is a favorite for the next level.

PS -- I also find it a good thing to invoke the Visible Metronome dropdown to display all beats all the time in numbers, as well. I usually set that to display in the upper RH area, out of the way of the chord grid and music notation.

HTH,


--Mac

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@ Mac

Thank you. I'll try your suggestions.

I suppose the suggestion I am about to make sounds a little silly, but I hope someone will consider it just the same.

What is really helpful when you're trying to learn to read is someone speaking in the background "One, two, three, four." I've noticed that some of the upper-end digital metronomes have this feature. I wish it was a part of Band in a Box.

Thank you again.


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@Mac

I think I am missing something fundamental. I am only hearing the metronome in the lead-in, prior to the song actually starting (I am using the Melodist for testing)

Once the song starts the metronome sound goes away. What am I missing?

Last edited by WAS; 01/02/13 10:23 AM.
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What was really helpful to me, at some tender and too-young age, was a private music teacher of the old school persuasion, back in the 50's, who would sit next to me during lessons and literally shout, "one and two and three and four and" while pounding on my left shoulder with the cork end of his baton.

Only took a couple or three lessons like that to make me decide that it was time to count for myself and stop that madman before I ended up a casualty of war or somethin'...






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Test


Woody - Sacramento
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I appreciate the input from Mac and others but I need to be clear on what Band in the Box is designed to do.

I am only hearing the metronome in the lead-in, prior to the song actually starting. Is this the way BB is designed or is it also possible for the metronome to be heard while playing? If yes, what do I need to do to make that happen.


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Revisit the Metronome window as above and take your time, read all of the few commands there, check what's in the dropdown slots to select.


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@Mac

There are numerous (17) options in the pattern drop-down. As far as I can tell, these are the only options that might affect what I want (four straight even sounds for the metronome). Experimenting with all of those could take quite a bit of time. Don't mean to complain but it seems like a lot of work for a question this simple.

Can you tell me definitively if Band in a box supports this option hearing four even metronome sounds (of any kind)?

If not, is there a way to play the lead-in bars endlessly? They have four straight even tones, but the loop function does not seem to include lead-ins.


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Quote:

@Mac

There are numerous (17) options in the pattern drop-down. As far as I can tell, these are the only options that might affect what I want (four straight even sounds for the metronome). Experimenting with all of those could take quite a bit of time. Don't mean to complain but it seems like a lot of work for a question this simple.




You must have missed this sentence I posted earlier in the thread up there:

Quote:


While we cannot get rid of that (rather annoying to me) harder attack on beat 1, changing of instrument to another patch that may be more easily heard overtop of the music playback is easy and works.






Quote:

Can you tell me definitively if Band in a box supports this option hearing four even metronome sounds (of any kind)?




Unfortunately for both of us, the answer is, "Not at this time" -- at least, I've never been able to get the built in metronome to not accent beat one like that to date. Yeah, I know. At one time I did post it as a Wishlist Request but it seemed that nobody else was concerned with the issue. I also wanted User Selectable accents or no accent by the beat, wouldn't it be nice to emphasize TWO and FOUR when teaching Swing? A metronome that turns the beat around is nonexistent these days, to my knowledge. I still use the old fashioned clicker when teaching here, setting it to half tempo and teaching the student to turn the beat around in their head, hearing and playing to it as 2 and 4. The Backbeat. (You haven't really worked the old Bach stuff until you try it that way *grin*).

Quote:

If not, is there a way to play the lead-in bars endlessly? They have four straight even tones, but the loop function does not seem to include lead-ins.




The only way I've achieved non-accented Click Track inside BiaB is to not use the built in Metronome but instead use the Audio Loop feature after "rolling my own" single bar of 4 even hits. Don't know what you're after in the way of need, but this workaround does indeed get 4 even beats when I need them for teaching. I wish there was an easier way, of course.

Have Fun,


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@Mac

It "is imperative that they have to always count internally for themselves in order to anticipate when to play, rather than waiting to hear a beat and then trying to "catch" it when its already too late in time to do so."

I wonder if you could elaborate on that a little. I am constantly amazed at how the answer to something seems to always come back to the basics. I am finding that part of my sight reading problem has to do with my basic internal rhythm. When you work with students and they play, for example a lead line in a song, do you ask them to literally count (say the words in the back of their mind - one two three four) while at the same time playing?

I have heard that if you can't clap the melody while at the same time counting one two three four, you really haven't gotten it yet, and I'm beginning to believe even more that it's true.

Any additional tips on these matters or suggestions on where to go to improve that skill.

Woody


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Yes. We all must "literally count" the subdivided beat or "pulse" of the song while playing.

As with most other things in learning to play, this must be done conciously and usually at slower tempos at first, until it becomes an ingrained habit.

The beginning student, sometimes is necessary for the teacher to get the point across by counting out loud while they attempt to play the piece, "one and two and three and four and..."

Practice with a metronome. Start at a slow tempo that allows for you to always keep it even and on beat. Increase speed a little at a time with the repetitions.


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Alright! I will form the habit of literally counting with things like

one and two and three and four and.

Though I'm thinking in terms of "one e and a" "two e and a" "three e and a" etc...


Plus, I figured out an additional way. I count 3 minutes of this on my iPhone. Or, better yet, I have a Sony Digital Voice Recorder. On this unit I record 3 minutes of

"One and two and three and four"

And then, because it has whats called "Digital Pitch Control" it will allow me to play back faster or slower at plus or minus 5% intervals.

It really helps to have a teacher speaking over your shoulder on passages that need to be slowed way down and studied. The "editable Notation Mode in Band in Box is also very helpful for this.

Thank you again.


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Wait, the use of the subdivide depends upon the feel of the song as well as cadence, the "pulse" of a particular tune and, sometimes, the player's internal time clocking.

Use of "One-A-and-Ah" subdivides each beat into 4 (16th notes) instead of 2 (8th notes) and should be used when needed. For example, when scanning the sheet before attempting to play, you happen to see strings that include 16th notes.

Use of that 16th mental subdivision technique may also come in handy for certain times when there are mostly 8th notes in the chart, as well, doubling up on your internal subdivisions of the beat can help keep the time of your internal clock more accurate.

With practice at the thing, eventually you may be pleasantly surprised to find that you can internally count the 32nd note subdivisions as well. This is just like the clock or wristwatch design that yields more accuracy and precision from dividing each Second up into smaller and smaller but equal duration events.


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@Mac

Understood. Thank you.

"One e and ah two e and a three e and a" etc...


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