Talk:Metronome

message: The phonograph in its original iteration by Edison had no speed governor. The statement that the swing of a pendulum was used to time the turning of a crank on the original phonograph may lead on to suspect that a metronome was used. I have heard the  clack of a metronome in some of the first Edison recordings. As the original phonograph of Edison had no speed governor but instead relied upon an external timer, and the metronome would have been an obvious device at hand to serve the purpose, perhaps a more industrious researcher could find some reference verifying the metronome as a device instrumental in the original development of the phonograph.74.132.40.122 (talk) 07:13, 2 May 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: This paragraph (from a test prep service, not a reliable source) claims that Edison's original phonograph was meant to be hand-cranked at 60 rpm, once per second. If true, then the earliest users could've been guided by any convenient clock that marked the seconds. We would need an expert on early phonographs to tell us for sure. —173.56.111.206 (talk) 09:47, 7 March 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Pretty safe to say there weren't many clocks back then whose second hand moved in 1-second jumps, the way modern electronic ones do. The few clocks which had second hands moved continuously. —Wahoofive (talk) 17:46, 9 March 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks. A sweep second hand would still allow viewers to get the tempo, as would any grandfather clock with a seconds pendulum. —173.56.111.206 (talk) 05:12, 10 March 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Possible subject for investigation: Early phonographs 

message: The article currently lacks the existing research showing that today performers and pedagogues often misrepresent (and misunderstand) historic tempo as having been metrically regular or benefiting from metronome usage.
Please help get that in the article. Here's a first suggestion.
Under the heading Stricter rhythm in modern performance practice we need a new section entitled Misrepresentation and neglect of historic performance practice, while the following content:
Not only is today's modern performance practice different from historic ones, a modern metronomic performance practice is today often used for performing historic repertoire (while being propagated as being historically correct or informed), with anachronistic results. Musicians and educators often misrepresent (and misunderstand) historic tempo as having been metrically regular or benefiting from metronome usage.
* "[...]one of the most stubborn modern misconceptions concerning baroque music is that a metronomic regularity was intended." (ref1)
* "Primary source evidence uncovers that historical attitudes toward metronomes were unlike those of modern-age pedagogues and performers." (ref2)
* "the discord between Maelzel’s age and ours regarding the values of musical time and performance practices: those metronomic qualities largely rejected by Maelzel’s musical contemporaries are often vehemently endorsed today by many professional musicians and educators who apply mechanically precise tempos and rhythms to all musical repertoires."(ref3)
* "Under a metronome-centric methodology of historical tempo research, modern scholars often arrived at anachronistic and pseudoscientific laws for musical pulse and meter."(ref2)
* "When an entire musical culture treats one technological system as the best (or only) way to achieve the “the right tempo and rhythm,” then a mechanical hegemony over that culture has surely arisen and past epistemologies and practices have become neglected or forgotten."(ref2)
References:
ref1: Robert Donington, "Baroque Interpretation", in Grove 5th edition (1954); quoted in Dorottya Fabian, Bach Performance Practice, Chapter 1)
ref2: Bonus, Alexander E., 'Metronome', The Oxford Handbook Topics in Music (2012; online edn, Oxford Academic, 1 Apr. 2014), https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935321.013.001, accessed 2 Apr. 2024.
ref3: Bonus, Alexander E., 'Maelzel, the Metronome, and the Modern Mechanics of Musical Time', in Mark Doffman, Emily Payne, and Toby Young (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Time in Music (2022; online edn, Oxford Academic, 8 Dec. 2021), https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190947279.013.16, accessed 2 Apr. 2024.
ref2 really is quite good, having been written for "The Oxford Handbook Topics in Music" and is fully available online. I recommend it should appear in the external links, since it is really a great reference.
JovialJediH (talk) 20:08, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Misrepresentation and neglect of historic performance practice