Yesterday I was tossing out ideas I’ve had for better guitar pedals because I’ll never have time to implement them, and frankly buying them is just easier. Today I got this message off twitter:
You might have a look at line6’s ToneCore DSP Developer Kit — sevib
Holy crap that is cool. Looks like Line 6 did basically what I was talking about. You buy a developer platform with one blank pedal for $199, and then you can buy more blanks for $35. Now that I have this in my mind, I want to build the “Metrotone”.
The Metrotone is simple a metronome that clicks with a single note or a harmony rather than a drum click. The purpose is to combine ear training for a particular key along with rhythm practice, and I’ve been simulating this with my BOSS RC-2 looper. The theory behind the idea is that in modern music you need to hear how a note sounds within a certain key, rather than identifying a single pitch out of context.
For example, If you take a looper pedal and just strum a C natural note on a basic 4/4 rhythm, and then try to play C sharp scales you immediately hear the wrongness. Now, move it to C natural and play again and you can almost feel how right it is physically. Most importantly, you can play all the notes in the diatonic scale and start to hear very subtle things such as how the B natural vibrates against the C natural.
Now this idea isn’t new, and in fact I got this practice method from Bruce Arnold’s book on sight reading which uses this technique. I used to practice this every day. I’d take a piece of music I needed, and then I’d play the note of the key it’s in. Then I’d do scales and arpeggios, or I’d use the sight reading exercises from Bruce Arnold’s book.
What is new is a device (probably a pedal) that has this built in rather than a drum beat, or maybe in addition to a drum beat. In my mind, the features of the Metrotone are:
You need to be able to flip a knob to the pitch you want without much fuss. Time signatures could be simple 4/4 or 3/4 since you can do most rhythms in that. The speed would probably need to be a turnable dial and should go to at least 250.
If you’re practicing bass guitar, then you’d want the pitch to be higher than your guitar. If you’re practicing guitar or piano then you’d want the pitch to be in the base range. Doing both could be cool but probably not needed.
Maybe thirds and fifths at most, and they’d really only help with people who want to practice making harmonies or soloing maybe. Not sure what I’d use them for really.
Typical practice is that I practice at one speed, then when I’ve got it, I go up by one or two beats per minute. However, with most metronomes I have to reach over and roll some dial or click a button. I’d like to keep my momentum going and just hit something with my foot.
This is where it plays four bars, then stops for four, so I have to keep time without it. It’s a great way to practice rhythm since you are forced to keep the rhythm going yourself.
Allow me to plug my guitar in, and if I hit a note that’s out of key, scream and buzz in my fucking ear so violently that I have a nervous breakdown if I play a bad note. Seriously though, having some kind of visual or auditory feedback when you play a wrong note could revolutionize ear training. It could be a bright red LED that flashes, but I like a squelching buzz that goes off. I wouldn’t want this on all the time, since some music isn’t in just one key, but for ear training practice this would be insanely great.