Sondery Classic Mechanical Metronome With Bell

It seems to be a nice product but for my nine year-old granddaughter it is playing extremely loud verified by her mom so her music teacher is going to suggest one. I will have to return this one.

I’m old enough to remember when real wood metronomes were the norm, and their gentle woody clicks were an integral part of practicing acoustic instruments. They were loud enough to be felt as much as heard, but not too loud to distract your focus. And the pendulum itself was a satisfying metaphor for the flow of sounds in time.

The impact was such that today I only use digital versions that include a decent simulated wooden click. I find the common beeps and chirps abrasive and distracting, even at low volume.

All of which makes this metronome ultimately a frustrating hybrid.

I like the traditional wind-up mechanism. For those unfamiliar with it, I’d advise don’t over-wind the spring, meaning don’t crank it hard all the time until it winds no further. By keeping it under constant tight tension my experience was you’ll shorten the useful lifetime of the spring. Not that it will crack but the tempo will begin to slow down long before it’s normally wound down. It can be very frustrating as a player. I’m not a metallurgist but I’ll guess it has to do with elasticity and micro-fractures over time.

The simulated wood grain on the plastic case is acceptable in black, I suspect it’s more attractive in a brown wood tone. The cover latch is a little tricky to operate. The arrow on it indicates to slide down but it’s a sticky short press and the thin cover kind of falls off.

The main problem however is I don’t like how the heavy plastic enclosure amplifies the clicks into a loud and harsh teeth-chattering assault. Covering the open slats on the bottom doesn’t help. The front opening the arm operates in is large enough to transmit plenty of sound. I’m a tinkerer and, if I can open it up, will try attaching thin rubber padding along the insides to see if it dampens the sound. Otherwise I just can’t use this for practicing acoustic instruments.

I’m not joking in the title, I believe a kit drummer could easily hear this thing – maybe that’s a selling point.

This is a great way to get an iconic metronome on almost any budget. No fussing with settings on an app or getting distracted by notifications – just wind it up, set your tempo, and go.

It lasts plenty long when winding it up, has options for several different time signatures (or just a straight beat) and is a good volume to hear over most instruments.

The case is plastic but has decent looking fake wood grain. While it’s not quite as nice as a high end real wood model, it’s plenty nice and I wouldn’t worry about upgrading unless you’re a professional and/or using a metronome every single day.

The timing is precise enough, and you should no problem with practicing even performance and increasing in speed over time, but like most mechanical metronomes, it won’t compete with a computer if you’re worried about the difference between 122 and 120 bpm during practice. All around, it does everything you want from a practice metronome without complicating it, and that’s exactly what I like to see!

This is a gift. It appears to be what I wanted and expected.

Requested this metronome in exchange for an Amazon Review. I’m familiar with the company brand “Sondery” so I felt this would probably be a good quality item. I wasn’t wrong. This is a well-built, good quality metronome that provides perfect timing beats from very slow to quite fast. It’s loud enough to hear well but not too loud that it drowns out your sound. There is an adjustable volume for a chime bell feature with different settings but I prefer just the clicking and no chiming. There’s also a traditional wind up mechanism (you can see it in the pictures) that winds easily.

The only thing I didn’t like was that it was heavy duty plastic instead of wood as I was expecting. It does look very much like wood but you can feel that it isn’t when you handle it. Sitting on the piano it looks like wood. That’s my fault though, they do mention that its ABS and I guess that stands for plastic. The price is right and this is a good, handsome, useful metronome. I’d recommend it to others.

I have needed a metronome for a while now, and I’ve done the phone app thing, I’ve patched that to a larger speaker, I’ve tried other electronic items, and those work well. However, there’s nothing like a clockwork metronome. There’s a certain magic to it.

Going in, I knew this was plastic and not wood, so I was concerned that the sound might not be that fantastic. Not so! This metronome has a reasonably loud true wood knock, and I couldn’t be happier about that result. The knock action is internal and is factually wood! The timing options are adequate for most music types, and the optional bell and its variations make this exactly what I need for 95% of my requirements.

Physically, it’s a good-looking item and the simulated woodgrain appears real at even a moderately close distance. The cover plate fits neatly and tightly, so there will be no dust accumulation in the action area. The windable spring makes the usage experience trigger memories of the few piano lessons I had as a child. The structure of the design is stable and doesn’t tip easily. Overall, the quality design leads me to believe this is a tool that will endure many, many years of usage in my studio.

This metronome is worth every penny, and maybe a bit more.