However I prefer to listen to a metronome rather than watch it so I don’t look at this too much. Clear beat display, including an animated dot sliding between beats as a visual cue, a bit like the swing of a mechanical metronome.Easy to switch ‘Emphasise first beat’ off and on – something I do a lot.Tap the right area on the bar then fine tune with the +/- buttons. The tempo slider bar – really useful for big tempo jumps.It’s easy to change tempo via the +/-1 and 5 buttons or by scrolling the wheel.You’ll probably spend most of your time on the Practice Screen.
The Metronome Beats interface is split across two screens, as pictured. If you want a metronome app I recommend Tempo by Frozen Ape. Yeah, you have to pay for it. Yes, I’m sorry iPhone folks, but you get all the cool stuff like iRig and Amplitube so let us have our little victories. Metronome Beats is only available on Android. It’s revolutionised late night practice for me. No such worries any more, I can just adjust the volume or if it’s really late plug in a set of earphones and listen to it through one ear. I remember the days of my old standalone electric metronome where I used to have to shove blu-tack in the speaker and then put it under a pillow so that it didn’t drive my housemates to distraction. This is not unique to Metronome Beats, they all do it (if you have one that doesn’t, get a different one). My very favourite feature of metronome apps is also their simplest. It’s always there – unless you’ve run out of battery or lost your phone.
No more remembering to pack it when you rehearse or travel. The joy of smartphones means that you can download an app and then never be without one. The metronome is a tool which any serious musician will use every day. In a modest attempt to address this I’m going to review my favourite free metronome app – Metronome Beats by Stonekick. In this world where musicians will scrutinise everything down to the brand of string, plectrum, cable and connector they use, very little is written about the choice of metronome. The humble metronome could be excused for feeling a little hard done by.