The Metronome...

[borchnork]

So I was just thinking about this.

 

I remember seeing a bunch of bands using a metronome during their first few football games use a metronome during a marching show. I always used to think that it was a cop-out, so when I found out Marcus used it during their football games, I was SHOCKED. I did talk to a student from Marcus in one of my classes here at UNT about why a band like Marcus would do that, and he told me that basically there was no point in marching a show EVER without a metronome unless your tempos were 100% PERFECT.

 

Soo, after his explanation, it totally makes sense to me why bands would do that. I guess I had never really thought of it in that way before...

 

 

ANYWAYS! all that long explanation to say...

 

How many of you in your bands actually do this? And what's your opinion on using the metronome at football games?

[Xenon]

Wow. No.

 

Maybe, just maybe (and I still don't like it) during the first game because it is the first time dealing with crowd noise.

 

My take is that the metronome should be used during rehearsals only and, even then, after the first few weeks should be used for starting only. Whole band counting during a rehearsal is more productive than using a metronome because it makes you involved.

 

Constant use of a metronome causes reliance upon it for comfort. We are musicians, not robots.

[treyj]

The metronome is a crutch, the sooner you are off it the better. I know we have NEVER used a metronome at a football game. And quite frankly i'd be embarrassed if we did.

[takigan]

Never done that....never seen it done.

 

It depends on how the band sees itself. If it sees itself as an organization who's purpose is to create art and compete and the football games are just a gig they have to put on to keep the community happy, then it's understandable, if the marching band sees its purpose as entertaining the crowd with the competitions being secondary, then doing this metronome performance thing is kind of dumb.

 

Personally I think if you're giving a performance in any artistic sense, none of the framework should show of what went into the construction of that performance. In a painting, you shouldn't be able to see the pencil lines underneath the paint that went into the initial sketch the artist performed to allow himself a framework before building his art. It defeats the purpose of creating the art for that display or performance.

 

Art is supposed to bear a sense of mystery as to how it was created. Leaving that bleeping metronome on throughout the performance is wrong because it makes it look like you need a crutch to create music, it confuses people who don't understand its purpose (it's obviously not a part of the music but yet it's still obvious sound) and it detracts from the musical experience itself because it just doesn't fit.

 

Why do professional groups warm-up with a chorale on-stage instead of a Remington warmup or 'F around the room' or Scales? Because a chorale is a musical way of warming up that has relevance with the audience. You warmup with something musically confusing or childish sounding and the audience won't take you seriously. One might ask why would scales be annoying to an audience yet on-stage tuning isn't? Because tuning is a necessary thing, it's redundant in practice so we created an artistic way to go about doing it. In fact I think the concertmaster position in orchestras may have been created just for that sole purpose; to make tuning look artistic....and it IS artistic. The Playstation 3's opening sequence even features an 'A tuning' sound byte.

[sax5warrior]

I have seen it in action, and I just feel sorry for those bands. You rely more on the metronome keeping you in time then whats going on around you. In some cases, on some bands, the metronome is loud enough so that everyone can hear, therefore, you lose the upper body carriage because you don't need to look up at the drum major.

 

This is a major no-no.

[Fata1]

We've only ever used the metronome at a performance once. It was last year at a football game and, given our circumstance last year, it was understandable. Everything in our show was going wrong last year. It was like anything that could go wrong did. It was so bad that the name of our show last year is almost taboo in our band. Thus, I think the metronome should be used in extreme cases. If it must be used to keep the show together, then it should be. In my opinion, it's better to march the first game or two (but not more) with a metronome to hold the show together than to give a bad performance. Still, like I said, only in extreme cases.

[the terminator]

yeah, one thing that made us mad was when we were trying to desperately get off the met. for our first game, and at times their are huge issues we still didn't use the met, however the other band was cranking out their metronome full blast and it was annoying and frankly it overpowered the band itself, so yeah not huge on that

[borchnork]

Hmm... that's all interesting. Idk, like I get the idea of counting out loud rather than the metronome, but The kid from Marcus had a very convincing argument.

 

I guess I'd say yes for maybe the first two games... after that no.

[bluebellbrass07]

We used a met at first games at bell? I don't see to much of a problem with it really, when you don't even have your full show on the field you can't expect it to be perfect

[jbroomas]

Broken Arrow, 2006 BOA Grand National Champions, used a metronome at the St. Louis Super Regional last weekend. They used one before each piece in their show to get the tempo set for the drum majors, which I think it ridiculous. I would think that it would more acceptable at a football game over a competition of any type. Even if they are just using it to set the tempos I still think that it is unacceptable.

 

Metronomes should be used for rehearsal purposes only!!

[Xenon]

  jbroomas said:

Broken Arrow, 2006 BOA Grand National Champions, used a metronome at the St. Louis Super Regional last weekend. They used one before each piece in their show to get the tempo set for the drum majors, which I think it ridiculous. I would think that it would more acceptable at a football game over a competition of any type. Even if they are just using it to set the tempos I still think that it is unacceptable.

 

Metronomes should be used for rehearsal purposes only!!

 

That is actually completely different from what we are talking about. That met is just for the DM to feel the tempo at the beginning, not the band, and then it is turned off. Almost all high end bands that I have seen have done the same thing before, but from what I hear, BA's just happened to be particularly loud that night.

[jbroomas]

  Xenon said:

That is actually completely different from what we are talking about. That met is just for the DM to feel the tempo at the beginning, not the band, and then it is turned off. Almost all high end bands that I have seen have done the same thing before, but from what I hear, BA's just happened to be particularly loud that night.

 

 

How is it any different? A metronome is a metronome, and they shouldn't be used in any type of live performance. Bands have enough rehearsals to at least get a relative feel for the tempos of each movements without needing the assistance of an annoying machine....and I really think that it is offensive, to me and probably most of the high school students, to refer to any band as "high-end." Just an opinion....

[treblemaker]

  jbroomas said:

How is it any different? A metronome is a metronome, and they shouldn't be used in any type of live performance. Bands have enough rehearsals to at least get a relative feel for the tempos of each movements without needing the assistance of an annoying machine....and I really think that it is offensive, to me and probably most of the high school students, to refer to any band as "high-end." Just an opinion....

 

The metronome is so that the DM can be sure about the tempo. During practice runs are a different feeling then a run at GN. The adrenalin in flowing and you are more nervous. We are human after all. When the length of your show matters the tempos are extremely important. No person is perfect but the metronome is always correct.

[jbroomas]

  treblemaker said:

The metronome is so that the DM can be sure about the tempo. During practice runs are a different feeling then a run at GN. The adrenalin in flowing and you are more nervous. We are human after all. When the length of your show matters the tempos are extremely important. No person is perfect but the metronome is always correct.

 

You helped me prove my point. That's what practice is for... So that when you are at a football game or a competition, the practice kicks in and you automatically do what's been practiced. There's no need for the tempo to be perfect or right on, "We're all human." It's okay if the tempo a little slower or a little faster, give or take a few beats per minute.

Edited October 22, 2008 by jbroomas

[titancoaster]

^A few clicks can absolutly kill a band, if you have a show that at the perfect tempo is 7:30ish a few clicks can get a band disqualified in the uil system. I think Drum Majors using a met to get the perfect tempo before beginning is the only way to go.

Example:

Connally's show this year takes 7:40 sec, if I go full tempos on all the pieces, well at region on monday I went a little (about 5 clicks) too slow because I dont have time to change my met, and we were 8 seconds from being Disqualified, and believe me, we have a new system worked out for Area so I will get perfect tempos and we wont get in trouble for time and not have a chance for state. And dont think it was a lack of practice, I practiced with a Dr. Beat for hours and I had all of our show's tempos down, no question, but once the crowd and the judges were before me time felt different and I never realized that I was wrong until I saw the clock at the end and realized how lucky I was.

 

Moral: Drum Majors Should Use a met to get the tempo at the beginning of movements.

[borchnork]

  titancoaster said:

^A few clicks can absolutly kill a band, if you have a show that at the perfect tempo is 7:30ish a few clicks can get a band disqualified in the uil system. I think Drum Majors using a met to get the perfect tempo before beginning is the only way to go.

Example:

Connally's show this year takes 7:40 sec, if I go full tempos on all the pieces, well at region on monday I went a little (about 5 clicks) too slow because I dont have time to change my met, and we were 8 seconds from being Disqualified, and believe me, we have a new system worked out for Area so I will get perfect tempos and we wont get in trouble for time and not have a chance for state. And dont think it was a lack of practice, I practiced with a Dr. Beat for hours and I had all of our show's tempos down, no question, but once the crowd and the judges were before me time felt different and I never realized that I was wrong until I saw the clock at the end and realized how lucky I was.

 

Moral: Drum Majors Should Use a met to get the tempo at the beginning of movements.

 

 

A few clicks is right:

 

Centennial's show the year of state last year was exactly 7:50, at exactly the right tempos without breaks. Throw in a few seconds of pause between each movement and a tempo variation here and there... and you're cutting it close.

 

We literally finished at area finals with EXACTLY ONE SECOND left.

 

tempos are important.

[Fata1]

On the note of the two above me, a few clicks off not only causes a band to come close to a time penalty, but a band that has been rehearsing eight hours a week at a specific tempo can be completely thrown off by even a couple clicks off the correct tempo. Unless a band is extremely good and well-prepared for an unusual tempo, the couple of clicks can result in huge tears in the music. Using a metronome to set tempos is a very smart move for a band.

Edited October 24, 2008 by Fata1

[andissimo]

Our drum major uses a Body Beat metronome... It's a portable pocket-metronome that sends a pulse/vibration for every beat. Thus, it's both practical and nonintrusive.

[CPFrntEns]

  borchnork said:

A few clicks is right:

 

Centennial's show the year of state last year was exactly 7:50, at exactly the right tempos without breaks. Throw in a few seconds of pause between each movement and a tempo variation here and there... and you're cutting it close.

 

We literally finished at area finals with EXACTLY ONE SECOND left.

 

tempos are important.

 

CP did that I think two times last year. I'm in front ensemble, so I can get away with looking at the clock occasionally, and boy it's nerve racking when you look up and know you have about 30 secs. left of your show and 28 secs. is shown on the clock. I know we did it at UIL region, and I think Westlake was the other one. I saw a huge sigh of relief from our director after we finished the UIL one.

 

As for metronomes, I think they should not be used in a performance ever EXCEPT at the very beginning of the show for the drum major to get his/her first tempo. A performance is a performance, no matter who you're performing for. A metronome is a huge distraction and takes away from the show.

[radchad]

It's kind of similar to chalk.

When I was in high school, we marked all our sets with chalk.

So when it all washed away and we ran through it, everyone was lost and forgot where they were going.

 

If you start early without the 'training wheels', it makes you that much better in the long run. You'll learn where to go without the chalk, and will rely on the people around you, the drum major, and the yard lines to get where you are going.

 

I personally find the use of a metronome distasteful. I agree. I think they should be used at practices and when learning sets. I believe that using them at a game creates a crutch for people. Lazynessss. COUNT! It gets the band involved and keeps them focused.

 

I hope that made sense.

[borchnork]

  andissimo said:

Our drum major uses a Body Beat metronome... It's a portable pocket-metronome that sends a pulse/vibration for every beat. Thus, it's both practical and nonintrusive.

 

This sounds REALLY cool, but super expensive too... I'd like to try that once though.

[andissimo]

  borchnork said:

This sounds REALLY cool, but super expensive too... I'd like to try that once though.

 

They're $99. Maybe kind of expensive, but if it is passed on from year to year from head drum major to head drum major, I think it's well worth it.

[borchnork]

the only real problem with one of those metronomes is if there's a tempo change... it'd be kinda hard to translate to your head when you have a totally different tempo being sent through your body, wouldn't it?

[takigan]

  radchad said:

It's kind of similar to chalk.

 

If you start early without the 'training wheels', it makes you that much better in the long run. You'll learn where to go without the chalk, and will rely on the people around you, the drum major, and the yard lines to get where you are going.

 

True, but I don't necessarily believe in starting to learn shows using "no" chalk (starting ealry with no training wheels) if possible. I came from a High School that marked the practice lot pavement with hundreds of different colored stickers with markings on them over the course of the season to help everyone learn their show. And of course like the chalk being washed away, the stickers eventually lost their adhesiveness little by little with the Fall rains and blown away by the wind which was a pretty convenient way of weaning the band off of them. A quarter of the stickers were gone by the 2nd or 3rd weeks of September depending on the rain and they were generally all gone by the second week of October.

 

When I got to college, the college band I marched with held practice on a grass field. You literally had to learn where your spots were by memorizing them as you went....that was extremely nerve racking and I had no clue how some bands could actually do that from the beginning.....but nevertheless, the drill never gets quite as good on these unmarked fields because when you're under the stress of learning new drill, the muscle memory that's normally instilled by having spots with an exact marking that you can find while marching on the field is easily lost during the learning process, especially with college bands, which don't rehearse that much....this is most obvious with curves and general form shape.

 

I wonder if there are any state-ranked bands out there that don't use chalk or stickers or markers or what-have-you. I figure a lot of smaller schools march on grass because they can't always afford pavement (I use to justify their predominantly sloppy drill with that explanation) but most suburban districts have a pavement field I'm sure.

[Xenon]

  takigan said:

I wonder if there are any state-ranked bands out there that don't use chalk or stickers or markers or what-have-you. I figure a lot of smaller schools march on grass because they can't always afford pavement (I use to justify their predominantly sloppy drill with that explanation) but most suburban districts have a pavement field I'm sure.

 

Duncanville holds all practices in the stadium with Field Turf. Nothing sticks for long, so you can't really mark your spots.

 

So what they use is a two-dot system (dots are colored plastic squares with hook side velcro on them) where when learning a set you put one dot down where you are then you put the other dot on the new set, then rep that move a number of times. When you are ready to move on to the next set, pick up the first dot and move it to the new set. Then rep the two moves together a few times. Continue ad nauseum.