Tempo Ref report

[drum4Him]

[zendrums]

Thanks for the info.

How does this thing react to ghost notes inbetween the 2 + 4? I rarely play a straight 2+4 on the snare, so I was interested in the accuraccy w/ ghost notes. Thanks!

[drum4Him]

ghost notes

Yes, it will pick up ghost notes. I often play ghost as well. It works best if you just play 2 and 4. If your tempo is 120, it will report back 60, assuming you are accurate. It is just a great tool for checking if the tempo you starting with is still there. But even more it's a great practice tool to confirm that you can deliver any steady tempo for a length of time.

For example, you can establish a tempo at 120 and then just close your eyes for any established time, 8 bars, 2 minutes or whatever, then check the beat bug again. If you still are on tempo, great. If not, you need to solidify your playing.

[mrkam]

Tempo Ref is GREAT

I just received my TempoRef as well, and this thing is a sleeper! Great device. I've been using a Tama Rhythmwatch, but no more. Once you are off the Tama beat with your band, you'll never get back. Too much hassle. With the TempRef, you know what you are playing, and what you are supposed to be, so you can gradually work your band back to correct. It's great!

Regarding ghost notes, the unit has a sensitivity control that goes from REALLY sensitive, to absolutely NOT sensitive. You could hit it with a hammer and it wouldn't register. I was able to turn it so that my hard hits registered, but none of the ghosts did. That makes it pretty easy to keep monitoring your playing. Fills still send the thing kittywhompus, but you pretty much have to wait until after you are thru your fill to check your tempo anyway.

Also, I mounted mine right on the PD120 head, at the top, about 1/4" away from the rim with the enclosed velcro. So far, it works great.

The temporef has 66 presets, so you can program start beats for all your set(s). Once you start and the unit feels a hit, it switchs out of Metronome mode to Monitor mode and it starts to tell you what you are doing.

Bad comment: It is not very intuitive. It takes several readings of the instructions, and several times through the preset program/recall drill to get the hang of it, but all said and done, it is pretty simple. Also, no way to manually turn it off. It will auto-off after 5 min, I think. Just feels funny to me to walk away with it on!!

[clymore]

Where is the best place/price to get one?

[mrkam]

The only place...

I know of is the maker, www.luglock.com .
I think when you call, you get the owner/inventor/builder and chief bottle washer!! You will see a picture on the site. Looks a little "home-built", but heck, it is the only thing like it I've seen, and it works!! It is $69 plus $6 shipping, and to me, is worth it. The only bad thing (not so bad really) is that you have to really work to figure out how it thinks, but then it is really easy! He even says on his instructions to read them twice before calling!!!

Anyway, have fun!