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I ordered a pretty standard mechanical Wittner metronome, the cheapest I could find plastic/no bell. But after I ordered it I realized there are metronomes that have a bell, so it got me thinking about if I should've gotten one with a bell. :/
A bell is used to accent the first beat of a 4/4 time, 3/4 time, etc. But I'm still iffy if it's needed in practice. But what are some situations where this could help vs a normal metronome that only has tempo?
Different people have different feelings about how to use a metronome.
I personally don't like the bell when I'm using a metronome, and always turn it off. I think its usefulness is limited, since I don't think that the best use of a metronome is to teach you how to count measures.
Metronomes are best used to make sure that your tempo in a piece is consistent, not speeding it up in some places and slowing it down in others. This is especially useful when slow practicing to learn a piece; it's very easy to speed up easier parts and slow down harder parts as you are learning, and these changes can be hard to unlearn as you speed up your work.
The metronome tick should also be seen as a fairly rough guideline. Music naturally speeds up and slows down, has pauses, and so on, for dramatic effect. Too strict adherence to the metronome makes the music dull: if a critic calls your music "metronomic" it isn't a compliment!
A bell reminds you where ONE is - in music that sticks to the same time signature throughout anyway. But if you're playing sloppily enough to get a whole beat out you don't need a bell, you need to practice slower.
There are free 'apps' that will do everything the Wittner can, and more. But there's something nice about a mechanical device, isn't there! :-)
Actually I find electronic metronomes much more convincing. They frequently offer lots of choices, not only emphasizing the first beat of a bar, but beyond the normal second level also a third level for triplets etc. Single-step beat increment is easy. They also provide a knob for volume adjustment, a headphone plug or an optical-only mode, just flashing LEDs. So the disadvantages boil down to requiring batteries and needing some effort to choose to find the most convenient device (maximum volume is an interesting property).
Absolutely do not get a mechanical metronome, other than as a piece of art for your studio.
Aside from the flexibility of electronic ones -- some can provide all sorts of sub-beat accent patterns --- there isn't a mech in the world that doesn't lose its symmetry on the slightest tilt to its base, or when a little dirt sneaks into the guts.
