Hey Guys,

I want to know if anybody is using a Yamaha clickstation.  Do you like it?  Right now we are using a Dr. Beat DM 90 and I like it, but it's a bit cumbersome with when trying to program tempos or tempo loops (tempo changes).  Does it have a loop function like the Dr. Beat DM 90?  Does it lose it's programming when the battery dies?  Thanks for your help.

I use a clickstation and have for a few years now.  I really like it and the fact that you can assign many more different tempo changes into the memory than the Dr. Beat.  I also liike the way that when you change the tempo, it naturally adjusts and doesn't play ";extra clicks"; and the like while changing.

I also like the vibration button.  It is very handy if you want to ";feel"; the tempo without the players hearing it.  I found that feature to be better than just watching the light blink but that may just be a personal preference.

As for holding programs when the battery dies, I am honestly not sure about that.  I have not had a battery die on mine during the season (I always put in a fresh one [i]right before[/i] camp starts and we are good to go.

I am not familiar with the looping function of the DM-90 so ICan't answer that part of your question.

Hope this helps a little.

I'm looking to pickup a new metronome for my group/line this season. We're still using the old DB-66. I'm looking for something that I can program an entire show with tempo changes, (I'm guessing I'll have to fudge in the accelerandos). I'd like to be able to just hit one button and have it play the entire show, no manually switching between preset tempos.

I've browsed through some of the manuals for various mets and also from what was said here it sounds like that would be possible with the DB-90 or the Clickstation. I've been leaning on the DB-88 because I like the feel and sound of it and I'm guessing it would be a little cheaper because it's older. Can the DB-88 do what I'm looking for? I've used them before, but never tried programming it. What are the main advantages of the DB-90 over the DB-88? I see there's a footswitch option, but I don't think I'd want to lug around that extra gear. I've also looked at the Alesis SR16 which is around the same price as the others, but is more of a full blown drum machine, though it isn't as portable.

Thoughts?

I'm not particularly savvy on the pros/cons of various models these days, but if you're interested in just pushing a button once, and having the entire show's tempos played through, you might want to consider creating a click-track using VDL's metronome. This would play all your tempos correctly, plus you could add any necessary subdivisions manually. Once exported, you could sync it to your iPod, plug the iPod into your Long Ranger and use that instead of a regular metronome. You could create customized tracks with specific phrases of the show, then loop them on the iPod if you need to work reps.

This can be particularly handy for phrases that need to accel since those sorts of things are difficult to do with a metronome.

Just some thoughts...

I did something like what Jim mentions here this past fall with my marching band.  I used both a ";click track"; and also phrases of Sibelius/VDL when the kids were learning the drill.  It helped the kids assimilate the drill to the music before we actually started marching and playing.  It worked VERY well for what it is worth.

[quote author=Dave Ratliff link=topic=1962.msg12526#msg12526 date=1206304037]
I used both a ";click track"; and also phrases of Sibelius/VDL when the kids were learning the drill. 
[/quote]

Ditto! My iPod has become my most important educational device this year! I did very much the same thing Dave is describing -- great for learning/refreshing drill or on contest days when you want to save chops but still go through the motions. Having set-to-set is also great for ";monkey-see-monkey-do"; rehearsing. In other words, we will play the track for that set-to-set while having the band DDR it (marching in place, considering direction and part of the foot being used), finger/airstick (and ";scat";)/mimic the guard work or ";air and articulation,"; then when that's done, have 8 counts from the snare and do the whole thing in real time.

Sort of by accident, sort of under time constraints, I did all of our tracks from the VDL audio alone. We rehearse our winds and percussion/guard separately about 75% of the time, so you might think this would screw up the wind kids. But there was enough melodic and harmonic information in the pit parts so the band always knew where they were. And best yet, they got a ton more familiar with the percussion parts!

We also took a couple of our alternates and made this their job -- someone to run the iPod and someone to run the tower to field sound. It at least made two more students feel like they were really contributing.

Whoa. Tangent over. Sorry to stray so much from the original post!

wow!  what great info here on metronomes...  I never thought of using my mp3 player, but I'm going to have to give that a try!  Thanks fellas.

I have used a click track generated in VDL before, it works out pretty sweet... sometimes when i leave home without my met, I end up using the Met that is in Kontakt 2 as well... its not really programmable, but it gives tempo nonetheless. lol

Jim, thanks for that insight.  Its amazing when the answer is staring you right in the face and you don't even realize it.

VDL is my metronome most of the time :) Especially when trying to clean a quintuplet over 7 quarter notes :)  (spare time fun...)

As far as my students though, I recommend the Korg MA-30 for everyday use. When they need to practice crazy stuff, I'll program an MP3 for their pods.

If you have students who can't afford much, then sit down for 20 minutes and make mp3's of various tempi from 80-200 in VDL and give that to them. I've noticed that even the dirt poor of the dirt poor students still have ipods...humm... status symbol anyone?

Oh yea! There is an metronome someone developed for the ipod touch/iphone. I forget where I saw it, but it's out there!

One thing I mention to my students is metronomes you can find online...and I think there is a Yahoo Widget metronome that has some more advanced features.  Those are free...but you have to have a computer, internet connection, speakers, etc. - so it doesn't translate well to a practice room environment.  But, in my experience, most high school drumline kids practice at home on their drumpad.  Here are some links:

http://www.metronomeonline.com/
http://webmetronome.com/

http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/imetrome

Have fun...

I recently got a DB-90 and I love it. All the guys here mock it and its robotic ";one-e-and-uh"; feature and are constantly trying to ";beat-box"; with it lol.

I'm excited to get a metronome built into an iPhone and iPod Touch - so I have one less thing to carry around. Also, if there's a surefire way to make sure that kids have metronomes - just build it into their iPods :)

Someone will make a metronome app once it's possible, but if people on this forum have special needs let me know - I can spend some time programming and doing something useful for this forum again :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4ZLhWHcmrs

Apparently if you email that guy He'll send it too you. Doesn't look to practical though :)

Not sure if this is the same or different
http://mac.softpedia.com/get/iPhone-Applications/Multimedia/Metronome-iPhone.shtml