Soundbrenner Pulse
The Soundbrenner Pulse is a smart vibrating and Wearable Metronome that works with all instruments such as guitars, pianos, drums, etc. Featuring tap tempo (BPM) and visual beat counting to help you practice like a pro.
- Vibrating Metronome – Feel the beat with vibrations instead of annoying clicks. Vibrations are 7x more powerful than the average vibration of a smartphone; you will never miss another beat. Free up your ears to focus on the music.
- Customize Rhythm – Customize time signatures, subdivisions and accents. Set your rhythm with tap tempo. Simply tap three times and the tempo will follow.
- Multiplayer sync – Connect up to 5+ devices via NFC/Bluetooth and sync up with your bandmates and friends.
- Setlist library – Create and save your rhythms and organize them via setlist.
- DAW Compatible – The Soundbrenner Pulse can receive input from all major DAWs via USB MIDI, including Ableton, Logic and Pro Tools. Easily control your tempo with your favorite DAW.
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Mike Allen –
I have delayed revising this as, like many good things, it takes time to get used to. Users also need time to check out the range of available settings to decide what works best for them. I am a latecomer to playing a musical instrument having taken up the saxophone on retirement 9 years ago. Of the many things I have struggled with, the sense of time and rhythm is clearly the one that separates professional musicians from the learners. This tool is really helping. Like everything to do with learning to play practise is essential but, so far, this is impressive.
Talkingdrum –
I really wanted to like this but it is just too poorly made, especially for the price. I’ve only had it a few weeks and there’s just a catalogue of trouble. There is not just one recurring problem, but one problem after another. As mentioned in other reviews, the unit is sometimes “erratic” (doesn’t give a constant pulse). Yesterday the unit became “frozen” (the outer ring was lit as was the inner logo). It wouldn’t respond to my touch or to the app so I couldn’t turn it off and had to wait for the battery to run down so that I could recharge it and reboot it to get it working again. I use this with a big band for setting the tempos and we have probably in the region of 70 tunes in the pad all of which are preprogrammed in the app. I’ve been using the app without the Soundbrenner Pulse for sometime without problems however after buying the Soundbrenner Pulse, at the first rehearsal the app had set all the songs to start at 120bpm, and when I tried loading a song into the app the app just crashed. I was horrified at the thought of having to re program 70 tunes back into the app but fortunately when I got home I uninstalled the app (nothing else I could do because it was now unusable) and reinstalled. Fortunately when I reinstalled all the tunes were there at the correct tempo.This is marketed as a professional tool, however to be that it has to be reliable and short term use has shown me it is anything but reliable. It’s little more than a toy for the curious at best. It’s a shame because it has potential (I for one find the vibration just fine for keeping time to).My other gripe are the straps it comes with. The instructions say place it on a part of the body that is not moving. I’m a drummer, so my legs and arms are constantly moving. On the app there is a picture of someone with the unit on a chest strap, that would be ideal however the unit comes with a wrist strap and a slightly bigger wrist strap??? The bigger strap perhaps may go round your bicep or ankle, but that’s it. Where’s the chest strap as seen in the app? Where’s the thigh strap that John Robinson is using in the promotional video?
T. Hanson –
This is a great concept and will probably eventually be exactly what everybody needs. Right now, I find it useful but it falls down in a few areas, many of which have been discussed in other reviews. 1. No BPM indicator on device. It doesn’t show BPM on the wrist. This was a big surprise. A metronome needs to show the BPM speed. To control speed precisely, I need to use both this device and a phone or tablet app. Suddenly it’s not as convenient or intuitive as was promised by the concept. I would happily pay twice as much for a device that shows me its (highly accurate) speed. 2. Vibration adjustment. The app allows the vibration strength to be adjusted among three levels. The strongest vibration seems to be popular among drummers. However, even the softest vibration seems to persist over a long period. When is the “click”? At the beginning of the vibration? In the middle? The vibration sort of “ramps up” from the start of the beat, rather than having a strong “tick” feel with a definite but short instant of vibration, which is what we expect from a metronome. If there were a lower vibration setting, I would use that, in hopes that it would be at least be shorter than the “smeared out” beats currently provided. 3. Accuracy. I have been disturbed to feel a little unevenness in the beats. I’m not sure how real this perception is, but I see many reviewers talking about it. The first duty of a metronome is to be absolutely regular in its timing. Bottom line: I am using this device but it is not as wonderful as I was hoping.
Michael Cambridge –
As a Drummer who plays to a click in live situations I liked the idea of this, I imagined it would be a great alternative to listening to a loud click and being able to concentrate more on listening to the music whilst keeping in time ‘feeling’ the BPM. Unfortunately within a short amount of time I realised that this product is somewhat difficult to use when you’re playing drums. You have every limb in motion and you’re striking the cymbals etc. your body absorbs these hits, so this makes it really difficult to feel the vibrations of the ‘Pulse’ at the same time (even at the highest setting, and I tried it in all the places advised). I play metal music, so my playing style is more erratic than someone who would be playing in a Jazz band, somewhat, so maybe this product could work for certain styles/genres of music and playing. It’s annoying because there have been plenty of drummers who’ve reviewed this product, some agree with my points but others say this product is great for them. Luke Holland did a review/promo of it and he’s not exactly a light hitting drummer, I’d be surprised if he ACTUALLY could use this product in terms of his playing style. I guess I fell for the marketing.
Christa –
The first device I received wouldn’t keep time consistently. Tech support was fantastic, but troubleshooting didn’t solve the issue. I’ve ordered a second one hoping it’s just a fluke.–HOWEVER–Do yourself a favor and by comparing your Pulse against another metronome (or 5). Just set a tempo on the app, lock the interface, and start both metronomes at the same time. Over 30 seconds, my pulse hiccuped/stuttered enough to become the upbeat, and then make its way back to the downbeat, losing an entire beat.Again, I’m hoping the new one will work just fine. Otherwise, musicians are getting duped into thinking their actually building their timing skills, and/or actually playing in time!
Reviewer –
I think it’s a great invention and totally worth it simply because I haven’t found anything on the market that does this. I think it’s great for recording an acoustic instrument because it’s silent, and I didn’t want the sound of a mechanical metronome interfering or having a click track in my ear. For the same reason it’s also great for live performances. I like this because it’s small. I don’t like it on my wrist or ankle. So I don’t even use the strap. Instead, I just put actual circular unit in my pocket, or put it inside my sock, or inside my waistband.A few small issues I have:1. The app requires you to register with an email to use it – thankfully the actual metronome works without it. I don’t like when companies do this, as they want some way to keep track of you or send you things. Even if I can opt out of getting promotions, I just don’t want to do it in the first place and shouldn’t be a requirement to use the app.2. Would be nice to have the BPM written in LED lights on the device. I don’t want to use an app just to see that.
Dr. G. M. Green –
I read many reviews before buying this. Clearly some people got a faulty unit that didn’t keep perfect time. The unit I received does. I use it with the app for iPhone. When connecting via Bluetooth turn off Bluetooth on your phone, then turn it back on again and THEN activate the Bluetooth connection on the app. It will connect straight away. If you leave Bluetooth on all the time on your phone the app doesn’t always connect. Also, if you’re a guitar player, try wearing the metronome on your fretting arm. I find that much easier to follow. For me, vibration is the least offensive medium for a metronome. This is a fantastic product. I thoroughly recommend it.
Emilia B –
I’m a musician and I used to play as a child (piano) where my teacher forced me to play with the old click metronome. I can’t say that I loved it (I hated it). Now I’m back again, practicing and I decided to buy a metronome to help me with keeping time. I bought a cheaper, old one which I threw away after like 5 minutes. Getting the timing right is so difficult, especially when you’re a bit rusty so this was quite key for me.I then found the Soundbrenner Pulse metronome and I was immediately intrigued by the concept. The whole idea of you “feeling the beat” instead of hearing that old, irritating click really got to me. However, there’s a huge price difference so I researched it a bit more before I decided to buy it. Anyways, here’s my review.Pro’s:A NEW EXPERIENCE – WOW! You’ll definitely be able to feel the beat with the Soundbrenner Pulse. The main feature of the device is its vibrations so I was a bit sceptical at first, but you won’t have any issues with feeling the vibrations. It’s a totally new experience, it’s hard to explain but you feel the beat pulsing through your body – a total eye opener.PLAYING – The Pulse really blends in with your way of playing. It took a while to get used to it but now it’s just natural. I have the phone laying next to me and customizing it is super simple.ROBUST – I was a bit hesitant to the quality of it but it’s like opening an Apple product. It’s robust and high quality. Well done!SETUP – I’m not a technical person so this always scares me a bit but the Pulse made it all so simple. You unpack it (what a nice experience) and then you just hook it up to your phone through their really nice metronome app.SILENT – Let’s admit it, no one likes hearing that click (especially not my BF) so this is for sure a step up. No “secondhand click damage” to anyone in your surroundings.BATTERY – Lasts forever, or at least through my practice hours. On good days, when I’ve got the time, I practice for 1-1.5h and the Pulse keeps on throughout the whole session. I had it on for longer and after 4h I turned it off.ACCESSORIES – I also LOVE products that give you a box filled with goodies. You get two different straps, normal one and a longer one which I guess you could use on your leg or arm. I’m not that big so the first one suits me perfectly.SUPPORT – I had some issues with my phone (again, I’m not a technical person) and the Soundbrenner support was there.Cons:A NEW EXPERIENCE – given that it’s a brand new kind of experience, you feel it instead of hearing it, the Pulse takes some time to get used to. Given the results it’s fine and I guess in music you don’t get anything for free. It’s just one of those things.ACTIVITY TRACKER – I know that it doesn’t come with an activity tracker but that would have been amazing.WATCH – It would have been even better if it would have told time. Then you could also use it as a watch. I’m being a bit wild here and I know that they don’t promise that but Soundbrenner, that’s an idea for you!COLORS – I would have loved to have been able to buy different colors. I’m not really in to black and it can’t be that hard to offer different colors.PRICE – It’s still $99 but a good investment.Is my timing better?Yes, for sure! I would recommend anyone who’s into music to buy the Pulse. It’s a totally new experience and it’s like becoming one with the beat. All of the sudden the bpm of the piece kinda a flows with you and everything becomes more natural, almost inherent. My flow is so much better and it’s now fun to practice with a metronome.Final thoughts:The fact that I’ve now been using this for less than two weeks and for every practice session says it all. The old metronomes you kinda hated and it added so much frustration. The Pulse is great but I would have absolutely loved it if it came in other colors as well. If you are looking for a metronome, this is the one to get. It’s pricy, but you can’t really compare it to the others. It’s in a category of its own.