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Does anybody here ever use a metronome (silent) while recording? Some digital pianos don't record the built-in metronome beats during a recording session (my LX-15 for example). Metronome beats thru headphones would accomplish the same thing for those who are recording APs or DPs without this feature. I am curious to know what others are doing when they are recording their piano performances. In piano videos with pros in a studio setting I sometimes see that they have headphones while playing an AP. Is that for metronome sound?

I'm sometimes using visualmetronome
http://sourceforge.net/projects/visualmetronome/

my Fostex MR8 has a click track you can hear through the headphones. And hope it doesn't bleed through to the mike.
What I prefer, is a sacrificial rhythm track, if you're lucky enough to a have a multi-track recorder. They are getting less costly all the time.

I use a clicktrack from Audacity. I use one earbud so that the sound doesn't bleed through into the recording. Then I delete the clicktrack at the end. I do multitrack recordings this way.

Brilliant. I did not even know that existed. I guess I should start looking at those other tabs I never used before. Thank you!

aLL dp`S HAVE `EM I reckon. Trouble is playing to it. So bloody relentless! Then you forget to switch it off when you record the (recorded) song . . . A separate rhythm track would be much better. Can`t do that on mine. Dammit . . .

Lo-tech, but I've gone as far as to wear a single ear bud under a standard set of headphones. The ear bud, of course, plugged into an mp3 player. I don't think there's any sin for playing along with a band or orchestra rather than a click.

My Audacity experience was with an old slow computer. I'll bet it's improved immensely. It wasn't the applications fault, in fact I found Audacity quite powerful.

Thanks for all your inputs!! Now I know that this is indeed a method used by others here. Great!

FarmerJones I have used your low-tech method of combining headphones just like that too. It works great! My Roland RD-700NX lacks line-in terminals so I use this method rather than an external mixer out of convenience.

Peter My RD-700NX can't play any rhythms (or metronome) while the internal (.wav) recorder is being used. These two functions are mutually exclusive by design. However, my LX-15 allows me to use the metronome while I am recording using the internal recorder (.wav). And to my big surprise, the metronome sound, which is mixed in with the piano sound in the speakers, is not recorded to the audio file! Thus, the piano must have the metronome sound on a separate channel which bypasses the recorder function. Neat!!!

The trouble is that your playing will sound mechanical and boring.The metronome should be for short periods of practice only, especially once the notes have being learnt and the piece is starting to come together.
I have trouble keeping strict tempo like most people and it shows up badly in the more classical rep, but I'd much rather have those wince inducing unintentional tempo changes than not be able to add rubato and ritardandos where I deem it appropriate.Well executed tempo adjustments and pauses are one of the things that pianist have at their disposal in order to express themselves.

I use a metronome to guage the right timing.

You are not alone, I'd guess this is the majority problem.

But not being able to keep a strict tempo really means that your rubato is accidental and not within the context of the music.

Rubato is a deliberate variation from strict tempo. Without the ability to keep strict tempo, there is no true rubato.

There must be somebody in the world who is boring because he keeps a strict tempo. I haven't found him though. Have heard lots of boring people, but not for that reason. I think it's a n urban legend.

Depends on what you're playing. For solo piano, you have a little more freedom to ebb and flow tempo. But I still think it's always good to work on your sense of time. In a studio setting with a band, there is almost always a click going on in your ears. The trick for me is to turn that simple click into a rhythmic feel, so you're not playing so robotic. In recent years, a lot of my live playing in bands is also done to click. So hearing that click in your ears is becoming more common.

Such a true statement. One of the real benefits of working with a metronome is to figure out where your tempo fluctuates because of interpretation and where it changes because of the difficulty of the section.

Since I don't think these questions about my new little metronome have to be in a whole new topic I'll just ask it here:

- Is it normal in "free stance" the pendulum isn't right in the middle but a bit off (in the video case to the right).. as you can see on) 0:15 and 0:27?
- When do I have to wind it up?

[video:youtube]GpmmzHaVX98[/video]

Metronome? What's that? Just play the piece and call it rubato

Refreshing to see a mechanical metronome in use!! I have not used mine in a long time but it looks strange that your pendulum is off center like that.

I think I used to wind mine up quite regularly just to make sure it had juice at all times.

Very true.

Are you sure the table is level?

There's a story about a famous drummer - perhaps it was Ringo Starr - who on being pestered to put the headphones on and play to the click track, exclaimed, "I am the bloody click track."

Some drummers can't keep a steady time!! Sad, but true.

@jdeacon:

There's a similar story about U2's drummer, Larry Mullen, Jr.

While recording "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (1983), Mullen was asked to use a click track. He flatly refused! He is an excellent drummer and can keep time accurately.

Nevertheless, he was persuaded to use a click track for the rest of the songs in the album "War". It was Mullen's first time recording with a click track, and he found it quite difficult -- he had to really simplify his drumming in order to keep in sync with the click track.

In an interview, Mullen said working with a click track really helped him grow as a musician. It forced him to analyze his own playing, and through that process, helped him discover his own style. He became a firm believer in using a click track.

Fast forward 17 years. While recording "All That You Can't Leave Behind" (2000), Mullen began complaining about the click track to Brian Eno, U2's producer for the album. Mullen felt the click track was a bit slow.

How could that be? The rest of the band had recorded to that click track. But Mullen said he couldn't play to the click track, so Eno relented and slightly adjusted it to run faster. Mullen then complained that now it was slightly too fast. Eno adjusted it once more to Mullen's liking.

After the session was over, Eno analyzed the recordings. Mullen was right! The original click track was 6 milliseconds (!) too slow. Then when Eno adjusted it the first time, it became 2 milliseconds (!) too fast, just as Mullen had said.

That's just 1/500th of a second difference! It's incredible that Mullen can accurately detect such small variations in timekeeping. He's like a human chronometer.