Metronome - Use of The Metronome As An Instrument

Use of The Metronome As An Instrument

Perhaps the most famous, and most direct, use of the metronome as an instrument is György Ligeti's 1962 composition, Poème Symphonique for 100 metronomes.

The clicking sounds of mechanical metronomes have sometimes been used to provide a soft rhythm track without using any percussion. Paul McCartney did this twice:Once on "Blackbird" in 1968 & once in 1989 on "Distractions" (Flowers in the Dirt), where McCartney, following the metronome's regular beat, performed the whole rhythm track by hitting various parts of his own body. Also, in Ennio Morricone's theme "Farewell to Cheyenne" (featured on Once Upon a Time in the West), the steady clip-clop beat is provided by the deliberately distorted and slowed-down sound of a mechanical metronome.