This virtual instrument allow you to tap along to any song’s beat to determine its tempo. Click the big circular pad with your mouse (or hit keys on your keyboard if you prefer) to use this instrument. To play it, simply click in time to the beat as accuratley as possible. It will then give you instant feedback about how consistenly you are tapping and average out your taps into beats per minute.
In addition to being a fun way to work on your internal rhythm, this is good for double-checking song tempo. This is main pad: your main display and where you will make inputs. Tapping this pad result in a ripple animation every time to confirm that you have tapped it. The big number will also update to display the new tempo readout.
How to Use This App
If you would rather tap the pad from your keyboard, simply click it first to set its focus then use the Enter or Space bar key to record taps instead of reaching for mouse. You’ll be able to maintain eye contact with your score or music player while still keeping the pulse.
Below the big tempo display are the controls for play along and adjusting how it reads. Half- and double-time buttons allows you to instantly split or join the tempo should you have accidentaley tapped the wrong subdivision. So if you’ve tapped out every eighth note rather than the quarter note, you’re going to end up with a twice-as-high number. Hit the half-time button and everything’s right again instantly, no tap history lost in the process.
There’s also the round toggle switch that alternates between a tidy whole number and more accurate decimal readout, ideal if you need to dial things in. To confirm that this is the right tempo for you, just hit the play metronome button. It will produce a solid click track in time with the detected tempo which you can then match up directly with what you are listening to. You can control how loud or quiet the clicks are using the volume slider to the left of the button.
Lastly, if you wish to go back to square one, the reset button halts the metronome and wipes away all tap data while resetting display to its original condition.
On the right side, the interface also gives you detailed feedback about how consistent your tapping was. It has a steadiness meter that ranks your consistency from drifting to steady to rock solid depending on different than the difference between taps. There’s also a dot plot that visually represents each tap interval compared to average so you can easily see what your early and late hits were at a glance. Then there’s the tap history list which show every tap interval in milliseconds plus its difference from the average. You can use this information to determine if you’re getting more consistenly or if you still have some work to do when it comes to keeping a tight beat.
To be as accurate as possible, here are some real-world habits to adopt. Instead of tapping each hi-hat or snare hit, try tapping the underlying quarter-note pulse that you’d otherwise count out loud. Wait a couple of beats before beginning to tap; this helps ensures you’re in time with the groove. The tool has a rolling window of your most recent taps, which means it’ll gradually forget about those first couple of shaky attempts and focus on your steady beat.
Continue tapping for eight beats or more so that the averaging method can iron-out any small inconsistencies. You may tap along at a faster subdivision then intended if the tempo says something surprising like two hundred beats per minute in a piece that is supposed to be mid-tempo. Tap the half-time button until it returns to a more realistic range.
Want less distraction? Expand the widget into full screen where your attention is focused completely on the timing exercise. A help panel explains the workings of the stability calculations and lists keyboard shortcuts (handy).
The app includes an option where you can play a familiar song and tap to its primary beat. As you tap along, watch the steadiness meter to see how your performance is doing. Then gradually try to maintain a regular beat without the visual clue. You can even challenge yourself to see if you’re keeping accurate time.
This app offers a quick and easy method of practicing rhythmic accuracy and allows you to double-check your tempo as you go.