Chiff and Fipple Forums

kkrell wrote:How about a Yamaha QT1 Quartz Metronome? You can turn off the sound and just watch the flashing light.

I have trouble with that for some reason.
I wonder if it's that the audio and visual
parts of the brain are so separated that
I can't use the light to keep time while
playing.

I wonder if I'd have the same problem
with a tactile metronome.

fearfaoin wrote:I wonder if it's that the audio and visual parts of the brain are so separated that I can't use the light to keep time while playing.

The problem of mixed modalities occurred to me, too. Translating visual or tactile cues to aural must require at least a fraction more neural processing. And different senses may have different latencies for different people. OTOH, Das Blinkenlight on my old Franz electromechanical metronome has always seemed easy enough to follow.

I think distraction is the main problem with a light in performance situations. Such as playing for dancers - a common ITM use. Keeping your attention fixed on a light is nearly impossible when you're already relying heavily on other visual cues to coordinate with the other musicians, track dancers' feet and movements, etc.