Monoplugs has introduced Metronom (currently in beta), a freeware standalone metronome application that runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.
I haven’t really used a metronome application before (the metronome in my DAW has always been quite sufficient), so I can’t compare Metronom to other similar apps on the market. That said, there’s a lot of stuff I liked about this piece of freeware by Monoplugs and it might even inspire me to spend some time practicing my keyboard playing skills.
So, what’s so cool about Metronom? First off, the interface looks wonderful (Star Trek fans will probably love it even more than a Star Wars addict like myself) and it’s as user friendly as they get. It’s also fully resizable, so you can run it in full screen, make it super tiny and keep it in a corner of your screen, or anything in between. All the controls are nicely laid out and clearly labeled, so you can get up and running with the software in a matter of seconds.
The functionality isn’t lacking, either. There are four modes to choose from – a basic fixed tempo mode and three modes in which the BPM changes over time. You can set Metronom to increase or decrease the tempo from one BPM value to another over several beats, or make it loop between two BPM values (the BPM can be set to change its value in steps or in continuous “float” mode). There are also four sound presets to choose from (it would be cool to also have the option to load external metronome sounds) and the app can actually be used to send MIDI OUT sync, which is a pretty neat feature if you want to sync some external hardware to your computer.
The software is currently in beta, but I didn’t run into any stability issues or other signs that the program is still a work in progress. Metronom is completely free to download and use and you don’t need to sign up or do anything similar in order to get the download link. The downloaded archive contains an installer which will extract the software to your hard drive.
Metronom is available for free download via Monoplugs (3.47 MB download size, ZIP archive containing EXE/DMG installer, standalone application for Windows, Mac & Linux).
Last Updated on June 16, 2016 by Tomislav Zlatic.
