# Drumline Break Creator — Compose Percussion Notation

> Percussion notation composer for snare and tenor drums. (iPhone/iPad app by John Ostler.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/drumline-break-creator/id1507832622 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [John Ostler](https://appshunter.io/developer/1279335874)
- Category: Music, Utilities
- Price: $4.99
- Rating: 4.00/5 from 40 App Store ratings · 32 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 12.0 · 29 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2020-05-01
- Data updated: 2026-08-19
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/drumline-break-creator/id1507832622/reviews.md

## What is Drumline Break Creator?

Composing percussion notation for snare drum and tenors is finally fast, easy, and fun! No laptops, no expensive subscriptions, no extra plugins, and no 1990's music composition apps made for piano with 500 options that you'll never use. Whether you're in your bedroom or the band room, a bus, or the field, you now have full access to the specific notation you need to compose, edit, playback, save and share snare drum and tenor drum notation with your section, instructor, drumline, and band. All this for one price, forever in your pocket right next to your drum key. 

We spend our entire percussive careers playing other people's music. Isn't it time we start playing our own? This app is on a mission to inspire a new generation of music writers. It's time for YOU to write the next winning break, percussion feature, cadence, street beat, or drill.

*Insert stick drop here*

All audio samples were professionally recorded at NoiseFloor Ltd. in Chicago by DCI sound engineer Jamie Vanadia. The snare drum and tenors used were generously provided by Dynasty. The snare is Dynasty's MS-XD14 Marching Snare Drum on an Evans Hybrid drumhead. The tenor drums are Dynasty's MT-680234 Tenor Drums in Corps Configuration with 6 inch and 8 inch shot drums on Evans Corps Clear heads. 

Drum Break Creator includes a number of rudiments such as triplets, sextuplets, flams, single stroke 4s, etc. Plus place, accents, doubles, grace notes, buzz notes, rimshots, double stops, as well put in your preferred sticking. 

Use the app to create your next standout drum break. Create your drumline's next set of warmups. Write a few new cadences or street beats for that next parade. Use it to better understand the timing and voicing of your music. Play along on your drum pad. For beginners, use it to better understand how to read certain notations. Recreate some of the harder parts of your sheet music to help smooth out the tougher bits of your show. 

Every person who downloads this app will have ideas on ways to make it better or more awesome. Feedback is super welcome!! I will continue to add and support the apps into the years to come.  Oh, and just to take out one of the more obvious requests, bass drums and cymbals are coming as the user base grows. 

Hi, I'm the developer of this app and I've been drumming for 32 years. (Woah, I never actually did the math on that) From playing along to records of drum battles of Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich when I was 7, to high school marching band, placing at WGI finals, sleeping on the floor at Glassmen (RIP) auditions,  Michigan State's drumline, lessons, instruction, all the way to touring the U.S. several times with my indie-emo band backed by Truth Drums (sans black eyeliner). I've been surrounding myself with musicians who appreciate the sport and the art of marching percussion. I'm very fortunate enough to also know a thing or two about creating software – which somehow still leads me back to drumming. :-D

Happy hacking, and thanks for downloading.

## Key features

- Compose snare and tenor drum notation
- Edit and playback percussion music
- Save and share compositions
- Includes common rudiments and articulations
- Supports custom sticking and grace notes
- Professionally recorded audio samples

## Recent user reviews (10 of 32)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/drumline-break-creator/id1507832622/reviews.md

### 4/5 — ADD BASS DRUMS

*2025-04-27, version 1.3*

This app has high potential. It would be 5 stars but they don’t have bass drums. PLEASE ADD BASS DRUMS IT WILL BE SO FUN!!!

### 3/5 — Waiting

*2024-06-01*

Glad somebody is making a Drumline notation app but this is missing a lot. Asking for $6 and giving the bare minimum was disappointing. While tools are intuitive they are not as detailed as the high premium would make someone assume. I haven’t seen follow up updates to responses from years ago and want to make sure this project is alive.

**Developer response:** On it! Truly

### 4/5 — Good but why not the full drumline

*2024-01-03*

This app is very good and I’ve enjoyed making beats that I like, but when it comes to making a full drumline cadence, I’m forced to buy another app for the bass drums and I am confused as to why this app doesn’t have one.  This app is enjoyable but I think y’all could or should maybe add a bass drum feature so that people like me can compose a full drumline cadence or feauture.

### 3/5 — Needs basses

*2023-09-24, version 1.3*

The app is good but I do wish that there were basses because there part of the drum line too

### 1/5 — Great idea but horrible execution

*2023-08-10, version 1.3*

So hard to use and keeps freezing/deleting my notes randomly. I’m so upset that I paid money for this awful app. Complete waste of time

### 4/5 — Good but needs stuff

*2023-07-26*

This is a amazing drum app, but it needs bass drums, able to merge/add different parts like different snare or tenor parts, aswell as add dynamics, aswell as being able to choose a part to start the music instead of starting at the beginning

### 5/5 — app

*2023-05-08, version 1.3*

why can’t i add an accent with buzz

### 4/5 — Pretty good app

*2023-02-27*

The app is pretty good but certain things i cant write like quarter not triplets is a vital thing that should be added but other than that its a very good app and I'm enjoying using it!

### 4/5 — Nice!!

*2023-02-02, version 1.3*

This app has enormous potential!! Please don’t give up on it!

### 5/5 — 5/5

*2022-12-16, version 1.3*

I love the app! Maybe I’m missing it but I don’t see quarter note triplets :(

## Frequently asked questions about Drumline Break Creator

### What does the Drumline Break Creator app do?

This app allows users to easily compose, edit, playback, save, and share percussion notation specifically for snare drums and tenor drums. It aims to make the process of creating custom drum breaks, cadences, and warmups fast, easy, and fun, without the need for complex software.

### What are the key features of this percussion notation app?

Key features include the ability to compose and edit notation for snare and tenor drums, playback capabilities, saving and sharing options, and built-in rudiments like triplets and flams. It also supports custom sticking, accents, grace notes, and buzz notes.

### How much does the Drumline Break Creator app cost?

The app is available for a one-time purchase, meaning you pay once and have access to all its features forever. There are no ongoing subscriptions or hidden costs mentioned in the description.

### What kind of music can I create with this app?

You can create a variety of marching percussion music, including standout drum breaks, drumline warmups, new cadences, and street beats. It's also useful for beginners to understand notation and for experienced players to refine difficult passages.

### Is this app compatible with all devices?

The description implies it's a mobile application, suggesting compatibility with smartphones and tablets. While specific operating system requirements aren't detailed, it's designed to be a portable tool for composing on the go.

## Version history (last 4 releases)

### 1.3 — 2020-07-27

v1.3 - This one is a biggy (3rd update in 3 months)! Thank you to all who have downloaded and provided feedback! 
• NEW note subdivider: drag onto any note and it will divide it up to 1/32nd notes in the appropriate timing
• NEW rest modifier: replaces a note within a rudiment with the appropriate rest
• Playback speed/performance improvements – making some significant headway on this now. Check it out!
• New rudiments added to the note tray: 2-16th notes, fivelets, sevenlets, ninelets
• Backsticking notation added for snare
• Crossover notation added for tenors
• Now supports both left or right orientation
• Bug fix to allow the creation of cheeses (flam with a double stroke)
• Plus, other various improvements that you'll probably never notice and nor will my mom.

Thanks for downloading and your support! LOTS of updates coming and excited to keep improving the app. Please tell and share it with your fellow drummers!

v1.2 - May 29, 2020
• Refinements to the look and feel of saved compositions (i.e. better measure spacing, time signature to lead, etc)
• Rim clicks support now both for snare and tenors
• Decoupled rims from rimshots in tenors
• Started the playback optimization (this will take many iterations to get fast and clean while still sounding realistic)
• Crash fix when exiting the app and returning the app during playback
• Crash fix with Facebook share for some users

v1.1 - update May 8th, 2020
• Tenor notation has officially been moved from lines to spaces (it's a long story... let's move on)
• Now change time signature from 4/4 to 3/4, 5/4, 3/8, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8
• Add your own measure markers from the add notes tray: this helps with the new time signatures
• Removed automatic measure markers
• Added lowercase stick notations "r" and "l" for those looking to clarify sticking for accents and taps
• Improved ease of note selection in snare
• Minor enhancements and bugs fixes

### 1.2 — 2020-05-29

v1.2 - More updates 3 weeks later
• Refinements to the look and feel of saved compositions (i.e. better measure spacing, time signature to lead, etc)
• Rim clicks support now both for snare and tenors
• Decoupled rims from rimshots in tenors
• Started the playback optimization (this will take many iterations to get fast and clean while still sounding realistic)
• Crash fix when exiting the app and returning the app during playback
• Crash fix with Facebook share for some users

Thanks for downloading and your support! LOTS of updates coming and excited to keep improving the app. 

v1.1 - update May 8th, 2020
• Tenor notation has officially been moved from lines to spaces (it's a long story... let's move on)
• Now change time signature from 4/4 to 3/4, 5/4, 3/8, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8
• Add your own measure markers from the add notes tray: this helps with the new time signatures
• Removed automatic measure markers
• Added lowercase stick notations "r" and "l" for those looking to clarify sticking for accents and taps
• Improved ease of note selection in snare
• Minor enhancements and bugs fixes

### 1.1 — 2020-05-07

v1.1 - 1 week later and Break Creator just keeps getting better!
• Tenor notation has officially been moved from lines to spaces (it's a long story... let's move on)
• Now change time signature from 4/4 to 3/4, 5/4, 3/8, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8
• Add your own measure markers from the add notes tray: this helps with the new time signatures
• Removed automatic measure markers
• Added lowercase stick notations "r" and "l" for those looking to clarify sticking for accents and taps
• Improved ease of note selection in snare
• Minor enhancements and bugs fixes

Thanks for all your feedback so far! If you have more please add it to the website as I'll do my best to roll out features as requests come in.

### 1.0 — 2020-05-01

No release notes.

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## More apps by John Ostler

- [Drumline](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/drumline/id357815924)
- [Super Nano Trucks](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/super-nano-trucks/id948313617)
- [Aquarium Camera](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/aquarium-camera/id1279335875)
- [Aquarium Planner AR](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/aquarium-planner-ar/id1290236851)
- [Aquarium Timelapse](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/aquarium-timelapse/id1472069819)

All apps by John Ostler: https://appshunter.io/developer/1279335874

## Related topics

[drumline break creator](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/drumline-break-creator) · [drumline](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/drumline)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-19.*