Soundbrenner Pulse: Feel The Rhythm | Gear Guide
The Soundbrenner Pulse, a wearable technology innovation of the metronome that allows you to feel the vibrations of your tempo instead of waiting to hear the beep. You have probably seen it online even if you haven’t been quite sure what it is!
Musicians all over the world have been waxing lyrical about this product, so of course I was absolutely honored to be gifted one in return for my feedback on the product. I’ve had so many questions about how good it ‘really’ is since posting this video playing with it on Instagram a month ago.
So here is my honest review of the Soundbrenner Pulse.
Ordering, Shipping, & Unboxing
Within 48 hours of my order* being placed the product was on my doorstep. I was actually quite surprised about how quickly the order was shipped, I had expected it to arrive after I returned from Spain, but the online tracking service was very easy to use and accurate, I received it just in time to take it with me!
The sleek packaging feels like you are opening the latest iPhone (!) and the way the box is designed is so efficient that it’s actually easier to keep everything in it even after you have opened it. Before first use, you will need to charge the watch face for a couple of hours, which is only annoying if you are as excited as I was about trying it out!
First Impressions
My first time using the Pulse was with mixed results. Although exciting, not hearing the click of the metronome was initially disconcerting. Not only this but the tempo that I input was a little fast, which, perhaps because I am only used to feeling my own heartbeat, filled me with adrenaline!
Because my arms are quite short, it was also difficult initially to find a good place to put it on my body. In the end the best place for me to wear it was on the back of the arm, so that it would not touch the body of the guitar or get in the way of moving my hand about the instrument.
Despite a few teething problems with mainly the design of the product, I was still overwhelmed by the usability of it. I marveled with my parents for almost an hour at how efficiently it works without having to press any buttons at all!
To turn it on and off you simply have to twist the face and touch the screen with two fingers. To start at your desired tempo you must tap the face twice, and to input a new tempo tap three times and the watch will recreate an average of the timings in between your taps.
It is a top quality gadget, which everybody I have talked about it to has been keen to try out even if they are not musicians (!) it just works like magic!
The Best Things About It
I actually got used to the Pulse very quickly, after playing with it for a couple of hours and testing out different strategies for tempi there was no more adrenaline, and I began to really feel the benefit of this product and understand why so many people rave about it.
It is amazing how quickly you get used to the feeling of the vibration, and there are so many amazing benefits to not hearing the click but feeling it.
1. The Tempo Feels Like Your Heartbeat (In A Good Way!)
After my initial skepticism about the Pulse inducing adrenaline, I really started to feel as if my body was creating an organic tempo. The vibration is soft enough that it doesn’t disturb you, while at the same time being sharp enough that it feels rhythmical.
2. It Reduces Reliance On Perfect Practice Settings
While practicing outside I realized one of the best things about this product, it does not require you to listen to anything outside of your playing. You can practice anywhere and be free to listen to only the music that you are creating. Not only this, but it also reduces practice anxiety, because nobody else can clearly detect you differing from the tempo apart from you!
3. It Allows You To Be Flexible
The most magical thing about this product is that because we are so used to hearing a click and associating losing sync with it with failure we can reprogram ourselves using this kind of wearable technology.
It’s like playing along with a conductor, somebody who follows your tempo but is kind rather than rigid. You can weave in and out of the tempo as much as you like, whilst also being aware of the passing of time.
Conclusion
I’ve had so much fun testing this product! Despite the few things that I took some time to get used to I would still recommend this product 100%.
It’s an invention that the world is SO ready for, and if you are a person who doesn’t think they like using metronomes, please try this one out, it will change your way of working and help you change your playing for the better!
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About Rosie Bennet
Born in London in 1996, Rosie started playing guitar at age seven. She received her early musical education at The Yehudi Menuhin School of Music and went on to study with Zoran Dukic (The Hague, NL), Johan Fostier (Tilburg, NL), Rene Izquierdo (Milwaukee, USA) and Raphaella Smits (Leuven, BE). She has performed in festivals all over Europe, including Open Guitar Festival in Křivoklát, Czech Republic, Glasgow’s Big Guitar Weekend, Scotland, Porziano Music Festival, Italy and the West Dean guitar Festival, UK. Highlights of her concert career include performances at Wigmore Hall, London, The North Wall, Oxford and concerts given on El Camino De Santiago.
