Introducing Atomic – the atomic clock of metronomes! Atomic is advanced, simple and intuitive. Packed with customisable features and bombproof precision timing control.
The main metronome display shows the number of beats per bar in the center circle, with beat intervals displayed in the outer circle. The beat and interval segments count in time with the click, giving a novel and intuitive representation of musical measures and time signatures – this is particularly useful if you are working in a complex time signature or if you are new to musical concepts. You can change the tempo (bpm) of the metronome playback from the main display, and the number of beats-per-bar and intervals-per-beat can be selected in the Settings section. From the Settings menu, you can also choose to audibly accent the first beat of each bar, and you can swich off the interval sound and display all together if you prefer a more simple setup.
You’ll most likely want to go straight to the Colors tab and set the Atomic display to your personal color choice. There are also many ways to adjust the sound of Atomic to suit your preference and practice scenario.
If you access the Sounds tab, you can adjust many sonic aspects of the beat and interval click sounds. Firstly, the musical pitch of the click and interval notes can be selected independently from A5 (frequency = 880 Hz) through the musical octave to A6 (1760 Hz). Some people prefer a higher pitch click, whereas other prefer it to be lower, it also depends on the type of music you are practicing and the noise level in your practice room, which may help you decide what settings to use for the click. You can change the tonality of the beat or interval click from a dull thud to something more musical with harmonic overtones. Equally, you can extend the click duration so it resonates for longer, or shorten it to be quite snappy. The relative volumes of the beat and interval clicks can be set here also, and the overall volume of the app is set by the device’s normal volume buttons too.
So, what makes Atomic so accurate and precise? Many metronomes are unfortunately not very accurate; older hardware metronomes are generally built using cheap processor chips that are limited by the resolution of timing which they can measure to. Equally, many modern software metronomes are developed using quick and easy-to-implement code libraries that do not always prioritise sound. As a result, if the device is performing a number of common tasks at once (such as processing data, updating a display, connecting to wi-fi), then the metronome sounds will jitter and jump around by a few milliseconds. This may not be easy to identify by listening, but you will feel like you are playing out of time, when actually it’s the metronome that is being inconsistent! The Atomic sound engine design prides itself on the highest possible accuracy, using every little bit of power within the advanced iPhone chipset. You’ll find that Atomic is as accurate as even the most professional digital-audio-workstation systems, such as Pro Tools or Logic Pro. In fact, we measure Atomic’s timing accuracy to the nearest 0.00002 seconds (that’s one in 50,000), so you can be sure the app doesn’t just look great, it will not let you down under any circumstances!
