Customer Reviews

Korg BeatLab Percussionist's Rhythm Training Metronome

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This item is not a tuner/metronome its just a metronome.So if your looking to buy this item remember its just a metronome. Its a very good one i might add. This is the reason why i kept it very good for practicing. Hey Amazon fix the heading for this product. :-)

I got this metronome because I've been doing some studying on subdivisions of the beat. Most metronomes will do eighth note triplets (3 subdivisions per beat), and sixteenth notes (4 subdivisions per beat). It's not as easy as you think it might be to come across a metronome that divides the beat even further - into pentuplets (5 subdivisions per beat), sextuplets (6 subdivisions per beat), septuplets (7 subdivisions), and on to thirty-second notes (8) and nonuplets (9). This metronome delivers the goods. Now I can tap out 5, 6, 7, and 8 subdivisions with ease. Once you get 5, 6, 7 and 8 down you'll have what you need for all intents and purposes - but know that the same principles apply to subdivisions of 9 or more.

I bought this for my 10 year old son so he could use it while learning how to drum. It has a lot of functions that he's not yet needing which hopefully means he'll be able to advance in his skills without having to buy another one. I like how its easy to set a beat by just double tapping the "Tap" button at the rythum speed you want. It calculates the pause time between the first and second tap and sets the tempo accordingly. It also has secondary beats of a faster strike time that you can turn on or off with the 5 slide pods. I bought this product based on other reviews I've read and am happy with this purchase.

I am a classical pianist. I read the product description carefully and it does not accurately describe the item.
1. It claims to allow the musician to enter rhythm sequences. In fact you cannot program your own sequences (for example for practicing scales at increasing tempos). It has preprogrammed drum sequences.
2. It claims to have a "tutor" component. That is not accurate. It does play drum riffs, described in what I am assuming is drum jargon. It certainly does not have a tutoring component for complex rhythms, polyrhythms, or for any mucisian other than a drummer.

This machine should be described as a drum machine. No one would spend $100 for something they can only use for basic metronome purposes, since all the high tech items in this metronome are strictly for drummers.

Worse yet, when I opened it and inserted the batteries and began attempting to use it (no other way to try it than insert the batteries), it became immediately clear that it was not what I needed.

The vendor would not issue a full refund since he claimed the item was not in perfect condition. In fact it was, since I opened it, tried it for a few minutes, and then immediately boxed it up again. The seller kept a $20 "restocking" fee. He also did not acknowledge my returning the item for 2 weeks and in general provided poor service. When I informed him I would have my bank reverse the charge, he immediately issued a partial refund, to make it more difficult for me, despite many emails stating I would not accept a partial refund.

Buyer Beware!

I used this on stage to keep time. It was a really good crutch for some of the really slow songs which can break even with the smallest increase in speed. There is a jack, so I put it through my in-ears and added it into my mix. I had to adjust the volume to to get a good mix, but it worked pretty good. The only thing I don't like, is when you turn it off and back on again, it resets the click volumes for all but the triplets, so even if the click volume is off, it still plays until the slider is put up then back down, but I rarely turn it off at a show, so it didn't bother me. I love the tap feature. If a jam breaks out at a certain speed, I can tap the speed in and play at that speed the whole way through. I love it.

I purchased my Korg a little over a month ago and I am very happy with it. It has been very instrumental in getting my practice sessions much more organized and more productive. There are some down sides to the product that you should be aware of - first and foremost the documentation is very poor quality, for us diligent nerdy types that may not be a problem but if you're not into reading the manual and I mean really digging into the manual you may find the product frustrating. Also, the backlight is weak making it hard to see the LED in certain lighting. I especially like the training modules they provide for rudiment practice and review. Also, great for practicing to off beat time signatures like 7/4. I am getting a lot of use out of this tool.

I've been nothing but happy with this little metronome. It's small, very flexible in terms of programming, easy to use, and the built in snare fundamentals have been really helpful.