In-Ear Metronome

I need to buy an in-ear metrenome for a group of drummers to use during practices and performances. Can anyone give me some direction on this? I'm not a drummer and- well- ya'll are.

Thanks in advance.

It is really hard to play along to a metronome when others are playing with you unless all them are locked in at the exact same pulse.

If one person gets off then its hard to paly along to the piece when the metronome is clicking at a different pace.

unless the performers all have solid timing, and most imprtantly, listening skills.

Does it really have to be "in-ear"? I haven't heard an in-ear earphones with built in metronome. All I know is that there's headphones called "Metrophones" but they're not "in-ears".

http://www.music123.com/Headphones-Metrophones-b2134773764d1409.music

Well, has anyone used these metrophones (it sounds like something a sexually ambiguous man would use...) before? Do they carry over stage volume?

And with regards to this:

I suppose just a metronome to get the bpms correct at the beginning of the song is most important.

I gotta think that most PROFESSIONAL record producers wouldn't dream of letting a drummer play unless they used a click-track- so why should it be any different for a stage performance?

I haven't use the Metrophones, but according to the description, it can isolate 29dbs. So to answer your question "Do they carry over stage volume?", absolutely. I know because I have used headphones but I switched to in-ears.

If you're planning to make your drummer use the Metrophones, then it's a must for him to have personal monitoring system so he can hear what's going on.

You realize, of course, that if everyone has their own metronome, unless they are set the same, and everyone starts their own metronome at the EXACT time as everyone else, it'll be a trainwreck.

Your best bet for getting everyone to listen to the same metronome is to use ONE metronome, and then feed that signal to everyone performing. You can do this by feeding it through the stage monitors, or you can feed it into in-ear monitors or headsets through a headphone distribution amplifier. Depending on what you use (in-ears or headphones) there will be a reduction in "ambient" stage volume (the "I can't hear my amp" syndrome). So you'll have to mix some of that back into each player's personal mix.

What I think works BETTER is for one person to be in charge of setting and keeping the beat in time with the metronome. Usually this person is the drummer, and he needs to listen to the machine and then play with it. It's the other players' responsibility to play along with him.

Of course, this method takes some practice...the drummer needs to practice playing with the beat even if/when the other musicians stray from it, and the other musicians need to REALLY listen to the drummer because he won't be following them if they get off the beat. From that perspective, it is much easier for the musicians to ALL hear the metronome and play along to it. The only problem is that it gets more complicated to set up that way.

In studios nowadays, it's real common for drummers to have to play to a click. It's also real common for the other musicians to NOT play to a click if the rhythm tracks are already laid down, and they can play along to those.

That makes the most sense. Thanks for the in-depth response. Now if I could just get the drummers to stay WITH the track through the whole song!

Are you playing to something pre-recorded...some kind of backing track? If so, sometimes it's easy to lose the beat if it's not REALLY obvious in the backing track because it gets lost in the mix of everything going on onstage.

Here's a quick fix for that: re-record the backing track in stereo with one side normal, and the other side (i.e. "left") with a mix of the backing track and a very obvious metronome beat. Then feed the "normal" side into the PA as usual, and the "metronome mix" side into the drummers' headsets. That way, they'll have a solid reference point to hear the beat with the backing track.

Good luck.

This is how we do it live. We play with a lot of sequencing done in Cakewalk. Each sequence has a click track that the computer sends a midi channel to the drummer's sound module. He chooses his own click sound and plays it through his headphones.

I've been with this band for two and a half years, and found it interesting in that sometimes material feels slow or fast depending on the feel of the night. Since the click is the only constant, it's obvious that the player is the variable. You gotta keep your ears open and rely on the drummer as the anchor.

I'm happy that our drummer plays with the click in a way that feels good. Not too stiff and it doesn't feel like we're playing with a sequencer and click.

Wait- so your loops, smples, etc done in Cakewalk can send a separate channel to the drummer? I didn't know that.

I like the thought of adding some depth to the music via cakewalk, protools, cubse, etc. and meanwhile having the click track! This takes my thoughts to a whole new level.

What does your drummer use for headphones?

Chalk this up to adrenaline. One time I had a drummer ask me to play a song backstage before a show for about 3,000 people. I had so much adrenaline pumping and was not nervous, but when I played the song for him I was playing it 25bpms faster than normal.

Adrenaline tells lies to the ear.

We do a lot of 80's retro covers and a lot of Duran Duran. The sequencing is a necessity for us.

I have looked at what he's using up close but they look like typical earbuds.

That darn adrenalin. It was cool to finally have an objective measure to hear how much you might be rushing. On the inside you feel it but you don't have a measure of how much. I've always been a meter concious guitar player and pay a lot of attention to the rhythm section, but it was a real lesson to quantifiably know how much you're pushing.