How Metronomes Works (mechanics inside unpacked)

Looking inside an unusual see-through metronome and unpacking how it works. From Italian tempo markings to the gears and cogs, come and have a look at this simple but ingenious device.

Poème symphonique (1962) is a piece for 100 metronomes by Hungarian composer, György Ligeti. Watch here...

[markstreebark]

I love how when people talk about old clocks, metronomes or anything with cogs, they refer to a lot of stuff inside the mechanism as a clicky, pointy, dingy, sharp thing

[CaughtUpByJesusChrist]

My son with autism is learning piano. We use an old metronome I inherited from my grandma. I’ll have to show this video to my son. He loves seeing how things work. Thank you 😊

[Amianoi]

I really never put a lot of thought into how these worked and had assumed they were much simpler like a newtons cradle (to be fair, I don't use metronomes, so consideration of their workings has only now entered my mind), then I suddenly wondered what kept them going if they were gravity machines, which led me here. Thanks for the breakdown.

[AdhiNarayananYR]

This came in my feed today. Liked the humour.

[shadyarian]

Really nice video! I'm starting to learn music and deciding which metronome I might want, but I will most likely go with a mechanical one, they look so interesting!

[Weegie-Gun]

This video really helped me understand how metronomes work. Thanks!

Edit: 4:02 This part was funny 😂

[xcffee_]

You didn't explain how it manages to keep moving left and right without losing tempo

[Stoneman]

Great video, thank you!! No idea about anything musical, but I love knowing how things work! Once I realised that I had no clue which part of the metronome made the sound I knew I had to find out before my mind let me rest XD

[tommydevito]

You didn't come back to the wind-up key, even though you said it was the best bit. 😄

[romeonoane]

Fantastic video! ❤ Could you elaborate on the clockwork system and how that works?

[CookieColt]

Great video! Just got myself a wittner piccolo model and it sounds great. Feels way better than using an app.
Interestingly I noticed how different it sounds if it's not place on even surface- changing the feeling of tempo the more it is tilted on one side. Do you know why that is? Might there be any fun applications for rhythm by tilting it? I asked gpt about it and it gave a really fascinating answer. Gravity and pendulum arc distortion, friction and tension shifts etc. It allows for "Polyrhytmic illusions" with irregular microtiming- humanizing it. Not sure how accurate the answer is- but if it is: Very cool!

[elenaphilonenko]

What can be changed in the mechanism to make the metronome sound quieter?

[EzComeEzGo-]

Is there a way to make it quieter? I love the one I jut got but its SO LOUD

[AlisonLlewelyn-Jones]

Yep Chris makes me smile too, sometimes he makes me giggle and other times he makes me burst out laughing 🎉

Personally I find a metronome quietly reassuring, a bit like having a grandfather clock in the home (❤G’ma C)🕰️