Thoughts on Displaying BPM All The Time

You see it in nearly every MIDI Clock product on the market.  A screen, or portion thereof, dedicated to displaying the BPM rate of the clock all of the time.

How can a developer of a MIDI Clock product decide not to have BPM constantly displayed when it's become so ingrained in our minds that it's needed and expected?

Well, such is the case with CLOCKstep:MULTI.

This decision wasn't some attempt to challenge a status quo.  It wasn't even an attempt at trying to be different for difference sake.  The answer is actually pretty simple:  Musicians don't rely on seeing the BPM value once the music starts.  Musicians rely on hearing rhythm, counting beats, seeing tempo lights, watching a conductor.  When you examine it, what's the benefit of looking over at a screen in the middle of the action to see that it still says 120 BPM?  It won't change what you hear, see or feel in the midst of your song.

CS:M can also follow external MIDI Clock or Square Wave Pulses (ie:  Sample Accurate Clock), in which case the device sending clock is in control of the BPM.

Of course, a Master Clock product should absolutely give the user the ability to read and change the precise BPM at any time, especially during the initiation of a song.  And that's  exactly what CLOCKstep:MULTI offers even without a constant display.  With that ability already in the UI, I found that it was an easy choice to save space, cost and electrical current on a screen whose only purpose I could find was to show the BPM at a glance.

Details of how BPM is managed in CLOCKstep:MULTI are found in this video:

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