Count-In and Pre-Roll

When practicing with loops, it helps to have a moment to prepare before the music starts. NoteHound offers two ways to do this: a silent pre-roll and a metronome count-in.

Count-in overlay

Count-In

When enabled (via the COUNT pill), NoteHound plays metronome clicks before the loop starts. Tap COUNT to open a popover with beat options: 2, 4, or 8 beats, plus a Disable button.

Count-in requires the project BPM to be set — NoteHound uses it to calculate the click timing. If BPM is not set, the Count-In button is disabled. Set the project BPM in the BPM Editor first.

Overlay appearance: A full-screen overlay shows each beat number in 120pt bold monospaced white text on a 60%-opacity black background. Each beat number appears with a spring scale animation (0.5x to 1.0x, 0.2s duration).

Click sound: The metronome click is an 880 Hz sine wave, 35ms long, with a linear amplitude decay.

Pre-Roll

Pre-roll inserts a period of silence before each loop repetition begins. This gives you time to get your hands in position without rushing.

Tap PRE in the practice commands row to cycle through pre-roll options: Off —> 1s —> 2s —> 4s —> Off
When active (shown as “PRE 2s” in white on orange), NoteHound plays silence for the configured duration before the loop starts
Pre-roll applies on every repetition, including the first

Pre-roll is independent of count-in and can be combined with it.

Using Both Together

You can use pre-roll and count-in at the same time. The silence plays first, then the metronome clicks, then the loop begins.

Tip: 4 beats is enough for most passages. Use 8 beats if you need extra time to settle into a complex rhythm or an unusual time signature.