Shiverware has announced the release of SpeakBeat, a new metronome app for iOS devices.
The app is unique among metronome apps because it uses spoken words to mark the beat rather than clicks or ticks. The spoken metronome improves timing over click metronomes for music students, dancers, and cheerleaders as well as saving the voices of instructors.
Choreographers, music teachers, and cheerleading coaches regularly count out the beats for their students, marking time with a “five six seven eight.” SpeakBeat aims to offload this task to a phone or ipod, relieving vocal strain and letting the instructor focus on the music or the routine.
A significant benefit over traditional metronome apps is that with Speakbeat, performers find it easier to follow the beat because each beat is indicated by a number. Other metronomes click or tick, but it’s easy to lose your place when one tick sounds like the next. This is why choreographers call out “five six seven eight”, and this is the problem SpeakBeat solves.
The app is widely customizable, with a variety of high-quality studio recorded voices to choose from, as well as a large high-contrast numerical display. Tempo can be chosen with either a slider or a “tap to bpm” button, which allows the user to tap out the beat. The user can select the time signature, and can indicate a pickup bar as well as a delay to start.
SpeakBeat also provides the option for adding various types of sub-beats (one-and-two-and) between each beat. This feature, not available in traditional metronomes, adds versatility and utility to the app, and further cements the uniqueness of this new metronome.
SpeakBeat is available to purchase for the “Launch Week Special” introductory price of $1.99 USD.
More information: Shiverware / SpeakBeat
