New Program - A Metronome Named "Tempo"

It has been a while since I've added any new iPhone programs for music education. This evening, as I was looking through Apple's featured programs, I saw a program called "Tempo" selling for $0.99. I had previously looked at a program called Dr. Betotte TC, which is an iPhone program modeled after the Dr. Beat Metronome that retails for $9.99 and has very good ratings. As a choral director, my need for a metronome is somewhat limited, and I didn't want to drop $10 on a program I would seldom use.

Granted, there are a series of different metronomes available, but for some reason, I wasn't willing to shell out the money to try any of them out...until tonight. Three things stood out to me on the program...the icon (it is a catchy icon), the look, and the price. The most recent update of the program received excellent reviews (I love the fact that Apple is now posting ratings based on the most recent update of a program).


I've only used the program a little bit this evening, but so far, it does everything I need a metronome to do, and it is far more useful than the little Seiko metronome that I own (it's in the house somewhere). It is easy to use, easy to adjust, and easy to hear (with three different tones...digital, analog, and drum kit). You also have the option of seeing a "flash" on the downbeat, or turning that feature off.


For the band director, on the second screen (pulled up by hitting the "information circle"), there is also a tuning pitch, making the device even more friendly for band applications.

Here's another bonus...the program only operates in landscape mode. That might be slightly problematic if a musician would want to attach a 1/8" audio jack patch cable to a speaker for additional amplification and still hold the device. On the other hand, it makes all of the buttons larger, and it also causes the musician to rest the iPhone or iPod Touch on a music stand (or desk) with the speaker NOT buried in the stand. This is pretty important, as the iPhone can be muted when the speaker is covered. I'm not sure many other reviewers would catch that particular value in the landscape approach to a metronome.

I think this is a real winner of a program for $0.99. It works well, and you would be hard pressed to find situations where another, more complex program (Such as Dr. Betotte) would be needed...even for the high school band director. I do have one suggestion for the program, and I am going to e-mail that suggestion in a few minutes to the company. I'll report on what their response is.

So, if you have been looking for a good, inexpensive, and easy to use tuner, this is it!

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Edit 3/31/09

I just wanted to log in and mention that the author of the software did indeed get back to me after I submitted my suggestion. The author mentioned that there will be future revisions, and that he is submitting other programs as well. As I've mentioned before, one of the strengths of the iPhone software model is that in many cases, the software engineers do respond to questions and concerns. I really think Tempo is a winner, and I urge you to try it and let us know what you think. You can always leave comments on this blog. I will only moderate false ads, inappropriate language, or non-related content.