[re-tagged because of thread drift]

Phil Seakins <pseakins@AKAMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >> My original point was that nobody at the time complained about the
> >> accuracy of these things.  It just didn't matter whether you practised
> >> a piece at 100 beats/minute or 101 beats/minute.
> >
> >It *does* make a difference to a musician; my point was that these devices
> >are more accurate than you are guesstimating.
>
> Rubbish. I've been a professional musician for 39 years.

Well, I'm only 44, so I haven't been at it quite that long. I've been
playing since about 1966.

> The difference between 100 and 101 BPM is almost imperceptible.
                                            ^^^^^^
Exactly my point.

> Some drummers I work with will speed up in a song (if they get excited)
> by more than 10%, sometimes it seems more like 50%.

I take it you aren't doing classical music, then. :-)

Are you saying that you can't tell when a piece speeds up by 10%?

I know band and orchestra conductors who, without reference to a metronome,
can set a tempo to within +/- 1 BPM quite reliably.

And finally, surely you've heard the old joke:

   What do you call the guys who hang out with the musicians?

   Drummers.

-- Dave Tweed

--
http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us!
email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body