Metronome Sound

Question

This could be a weird question but I want to clarify something.
When I'm learning rhythms and have a slow tempo my metronome will sound like this:

BPM = 60 (--- represent silence)
click------click------click   

BPM = 100 
click--click--click

As silence duration decreases, does the click sound also decrease? i.e. will I hear a different click sound which will last a shorter time at 100 BPM than in 60 BPM?

    BPM = 100
    cl--cl--cl

And also, are e & a beats always silent?

BPM = 100
cl--cl--cl

Answer 1

On clockwork metronomes, the click duration is exactly the same - it's only the silence between clicks that can be varied. Due to the mechanical mechanism (!). Same goes for the bell that is integral on some machines, signifying beat one.

On all of my electronic ones, while the sounds are produced electronically, their duration remains the same, no matter what tempo is dialled.

Answer 2

There's no reason the click would be shorter. It's very short anyway.

On an old mechanical metronome it wouldn't even be possible. On a modern digital one there is no need to introduce such complexity to the output algorithm.

You can easily test this empirically. Test extremes of tempo & listen to the playback.

Answer 3

Without knowing the internal design of your exact model of metronome it's impossible to say. All metronomes I've come in contact with do not display this behavior.

I will say, depending on how many corners were cut in order to produce the metronome as cheaply as possible, it's plausible that your metronome does do this. However, whoever designed the metronome likely did not intentionally give it that feature. A Duty Cycle is a waveform that many undergraduate engineers will encounter at least once. Simple and cheap to create. If you consider a metronome to be just an Impulse happening at a certain frequency, then a duty cycle with a very short period models that relatively well. Of course it has the side effect of shortening the duration period as frequency increases, which would cause your little metronome phenomenon.

Above is a gross simplification of a potential metronome design. Do I think that is how your metronome works? No. I think it's just some aural trick making your ears think the click is shorter, and that your metronome is just like all the others that we use.

As for e,&,a. Some metronomes have an option to include them in the beats. Most simple ones do not. It's good practice to just subdivide the beat yourself, in your head.