The Curse of the Metronome

By Alli Rogers • Aug 18th, 2008 • Category: Artists in Residence

There are certain singer/songwriters who exude different emotive colors in a live setting than than they do on a recording. If I enjoy someone live, chances are it’s because of their songs, and a great song is a great song no matter how it’s recorded. However, a steak tastes better on nice china than it would on the lid of a garbage can. (I’d love it if someone else out there knows this Cosby reference) And a good song sounds better when the recording captures the heart of the songwriter. Sometimes this doesn’t happen, and I’m convinced it’s because of a device called a metronome.

Now before all you drummers and producers get defensive, hear me out. A metronome is like a script for a deep conversation, a recipe for a good chef, a leash on a wild animal. A song cannot be tamed!

We go to live shows because we want to see what will happen when that melody is let out of it’s cage. When that lyric that moved us so deeply the first time we heard it is sung in that one beautiful moment under the lights and energy of a show. Maybe the singer will put a slightly different influx in his voice, maybe he’ll pause for a moment before the final chorus, maybe he’ll take his time getting through the bridge that brings the whole story to it’s pinnacle. Even a live record doesn’t capture that emotion sometimes.

The hardest thing for me in a recording situation is playing my guitar parts without singing the melody. For me the melody is the metronome, not the 2nd and 4th beat of every measure. I’m thankful to the producers I’ve worked with who occasionally let me change the tempo mid-song (!), but it still never feels the same way it does live.

The thing is, I see our lives paralleling this phenomenon. We walk to a ticking clock, having conversations with people while thinking about what we need to be doing next. I can be so bad at living in the moment. I know in our American culture time is important and necessary, but I do think there is something beautiful that happens when we forgo the metronome and just sing to the tempo we are feeling. I need to remember this.

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
-Jesus

↓ 3 comments

#1 Zach Nielsen on August 18th, 2008 at 4:37 pm

Boundaries from freedom, baby. Embrace the click. It is your friend.

z

#2 Zach Nielsen on August 18th, 2008 at 4:38 pm

Sorry, I meant to say, “Boundaries bring freedom”

#3 liz clements on August 23rd, 2008 at 2:57 am

i love the parallel you’ve drawn.
ditto everything you’ve said.

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