the.com/metronome
the tiny dictator that makes musicians feel time itself judging them
means a device that marks musical time by emitting a steady, adjustable tick or beat to keep a player at a consistent tempo.
from From Greek 'metron' (measure) joined to 'nomos' (law, rule) — literally a 'measure-law,' the lawgiver of measure. The word was coined in the early 19th century for the clockwork ticking device patented by Johann Maelzel, whose name lives on in the marking 'M.M.' (Maelzel's Metronome) printed atop scores. The popular tale credits Maelzel with the invention, though he is widely said to have borrowed the mechanism from Dietrich Winkel.
- patent fight
- Maelzel patented a design largely stolen from Winkel
- beethoven beef
- His tempo markings still spark fights over broken metronomes
- swarm sync
- Metronomes on a moving platform spontaneously tick together
- name roots
- From Greek for measure and law
- ligeti's joke
- He wrote a piece for 100 ticking metronomes
maelzel's metronome — invented by johann maelzel in 1815, the first mechanical metronome used in music
pendulum metronome — traditional pyramid-shaped device used by musicians since the 1800s, still manufactured by wittner and other companies