Metronome Rental

After getting a price quote for metronome rentals from Wittner to perform Ligeti’s Poeme Symphonique (about $3500 including shipping), I decided it would be more fun to buy them and have a set at my disposal, to satisfy my periodic urges.

I have one hundred black Wittner Model 836 Taktell Piccolo metronomes. If you are interested in renting my set, contact me through my website! They live in Toronto, so keep that in mind when calculating shipping logistics.

They arrive in a big heavy shipping crate, and will take some time to unload and unpack. You should also spend some time with them to get a feel for how long to wind them/how fast they are set – otherwise you could end up with a very short or very long performance. I would recommend at least one “test run” to iron out any kinks and to make sure that all the metronomes are completely expended. If you test them at a certain number of half-rotation winds at a median tempo and get a rough timing, you can extrapolate the winds/tempo as a ratio. i.e. if 6 half-turns at 120 lasts 6 min, 9 half-turns at 180 will last roughly the same time. Beware MM 40-50 + overwinding!

 

Performances so far:

Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound 2013
Fluxible 2013
Victoria Symphony 2014 (link to a Times Colonist article)
National Youth Orchestra of Canada 2014
New Music Edmonton 2015 (link to a Edmonton Journal article)
Big Lake Festival 2022
University of Toronto Percussion Ensemble 2023
New Music Concerts 2023

 

 

Thanks to the folks at Counterpoint Music for helping me out!

Renting in Europe? Try the makers themselves: Wittner GMBH. It’s about 1000 EUR last time I checked, plus shipping. The advantage here is that you will be getting the big wooden ones. email: wittner@wittner-gmbh.de for current rates, availability and shipping details. I would recommend this for non-continental renters, as the shipping from Europe is much more than the rental itself.

 

§ 3 Responses to Metronome Rental"

  • Hi, could we rent your metronomes for a concert in Victoria BC on March 29?
    thanks for your help.
    -m

  • mark alan hilt says:

    I would love to do this piece on my students’ chamber music concert at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles on February 10th and 11th. Are they available to rent then, and how much do you charge?

  • Robert Shlaer says:

    I am wondering what it would cost to rent these 100 metronomes. I want to get an idea of how to support one of our local music groups in a performance of the Ligeti. Shipment would be to New Mexico, USA

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