Metronome app

[sfe]

Hello all!
Well, this headline doesn't seem to offer anything new, does it?
The fact is that I've been searching for a metronome app , in Android, with a very special feature. It seems to be a very special feature, cause I haven't been able to find what I'm looking for. I would like to have a metronome that you can set up to shut off after a specific number off bars. Is that an odd requirement?

In the mandolin group I'm a member off we seldom play a complete song with metronome, but we struggle with starting the songs in the right tempo. Therefore, a metronome that counts in the songs but doesn't keep on the hole song is what I wish for.
1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4, and silent.
Does anyone know about any app for Android that can do this?
Or a "real" hardware metronome?

I'm actually a bit surprised that this option isn't offered on most app-metronomes.

[HonketyHank]

If you have TablEdit, you can try what I do:
Start a new tabledit file.
For the midi instrument, select something like woodblock.
Compose a tune consisting of a series of quarter notes for as long a leadin as you want. Or you can even do a mashed potatoes kind of thing.
Save it.
You can then open the file, click on midi options and a dialog box comes up. Stick in what ever metronome speed you want. Click on "play" when ready.

[Jess L.]

... I've been searching for a metronome app , in Android, ... that you can set up to shut off after a specific number off bars. ...

If you have TablEdit, you can try what I do:
Start a new tabledit file.
For the midi instrument, select something like woodblock.
Compose a tune consisting of a series of quarter notes for as long a leadin as you want. Or you can even do a mashed potatoes kind of thing.
Save it.
You can then open the file, click on midi options and a dialog box comes up. Stick in what ever metronome speed you want. Click on "play" when ready.

Hmm... ok now I think I finally understand what Hank is saying, do I have this right? (1) Create a .tef file in TablEdit on a computer, and edit the file such that it's only the desired number of measures, and *then* (2) transfer that .tef file over to the Android device, and then (3) use TefView (a free playback-only Android app made by the same guy who makes TablEdit) to play back the file on the Android device.

That's the only interpretation I could think of, since last I heard there's still no version of TablEdit that allows *writing* music on an Android device. But TefView doesn't allow saving changes to the file (at least the version I'm using doesn't), so any custom speed changes are lost each time the file is closed and would have to be reset the next time the file is opened. I suppose a workaround would be to have lots of copies of the file set to different speeds in TablEdit and then put all those files onto the Android device and just open the file that corresponds to the speed you wanted, rather than having to dink around changing the little speed slider each time, but... That's getting awfully complicated though, for a basic metronome functionality. And TablEdit isn't exactly cheap either. (I do have TablEdit although I hardly ever use it anymore.)

As to Android metronome apps with the lead-in functionality, I have no clue except a Google search turned up a thing called "Pro Metronome" by "EUMLab" whose website claims that the app has a "Stage Mode" which allegedly allows you to set an "'Auto Stop feature to stop the metronome automatically after playing a certain amount of bars." It looks like there's an Android version of it on the Google Play Store (and also apparently an iOS version for Apple devices), both of those mention the "stage mode" but I don't see any mention of "auto stop" feature on either of those pages... hmm. So I don't know if that would work or not. I have not tested it, I don't currently feel like adding on any new apps to test (sorry! My phone and tablet are stable, want to keep them that way), and I'd never heard of "Pro Metronome" before today, so I don't know if it's (a) reputable/safe and (b) if it would work for what the OP needs. Has anyone else tried or heard of "Pro Metronome"?

[foldedpath]

That "Pro Metronome" on the Google Play store may do the trick, but a quick-'n'dirty way would be to start up a physical metronome, or a software metronome on your computer, and record the audio on your phone. Stop the recording when you have enough beats, and make as many recordings as you need for different tempos. Label the files for tempo (or tune name). Then play back the recordings as a count-in.

[Jim Bevan]

Ron Fleckner's metronome (maybe only for macs?) has a timer – I tried entering .1 minutes, and it obeyed. You'd have to do the math to get exactly two bars, or you could just settle for the metronome running for so many seconds.

It's a nice app, I recommend it – it has an "accelerator", it can speed up by whatever increment you choose, and after how many bars you want, until it reaches whatever tempo you want. And it's super-simple to use too.

[sfe]

Pro Metronome seems really interresting, for several resons, but from what I can understand, the pay version of the app offers a possibility to turn the click off after a certain time, NOT number off bars. Seems a bit awkward to manage the way I intend to use it.

I just found an Android app called "Andante Metronome" and that app has a timer wich can be set in either minutes, seconds or bars.
Just what I was looking for! Sad thing though, it seems a bit sketchy at first glance and the sound it produces can hardly be describes as LOUD through my Samsung Galaxy S5. Might be somewhat hard to hear in the mandolin orchestra even if we manage to be quiet all at once. Will not do for keeping time while actually playing, that's for sure.

Thank You for the replies this far. Im still open to suggestions so feel free to comment.