BeatMirror vs Drum Notation by Beat Note
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BeatMirror
This app uses your device's microphone to detect and display musical tempo in real-time. It provides a scrollable graph of your tempo history, helping musicians improve their rhythm and internal clock. Features include a wide tempo range, flexible accuracy across time signatures, and visual feedback for tempo drift.
- Real-time tempo detection
- Scrollable tempo history graph
- Wide tempo range (35-220 bpm)
- Flexible accuracy across time signatures and rhythms
- Visual feedback for tempo drift
- Customizable zoom features
- Tempo keyboard with tap pad
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BeatMirror uses your device's built-in microphone to detect musical tempo in real-time. Just tap start and a graph of your tempo will appear right away, allowing you to scroll through your tempo history and see trends. Perfect for musicians looking to build their internal rhythm, or to see the tempo of their favorite songs in real-time! TESTIMONIALS: "BeatMirror truly is simplicity at its finest. That quality is missing from most apps who try to cram too many features into one app thus making it difficult to use and many times buggy. We feel like your app is VERY good. We're reviewing BeatMirror and it will be a part of the next show. It's got nothing but thumbs up!" - Phil Smith of "Drummer's Weekly Groovecast" (podcast) "When I first heard about BeatMirror, I was kind of skeptical but after trying it out for weeks now and playing with it everyday, I'm mindblown. Alex really wanted to put a focus on helping drummers improve their internal clock and I really think he's done so." - Richard Ducat of "Drummers I Like" (podcast) "Overall, this app is so quick and simple to use, there's not really an excuse as to why you wouldn't use it during practice sessions, just to see how you’re improving. If you're a drummer, having an app on your phone or tablet like BeatMirror just makes sense." - Laura Barnes of MI-PRO (mi-pro.co.uk) FEATURES: Good music needs good rhythm. But learning to stay on beat—learning to groove—isn't always easy. Build your inner metronome with BeatMirror and catch yourself when you're speeding up or slowing down. Here’s what BeatMirror has to offer: - Wide tempo range. Tempo detection between 35 bpm and 220 bpm. - Fast. Detects tempo quickly and accurately. - Flexible. Accurate across time signatures (e.g., 4/4, 6/8) and rhythm styles (e.g., swing). - Real-time, scrollable graph. Displays current tempo and tempo history in real-time. - Zoom features. Choose tight, loose, or full zoom—or double-tap the graph for easy toggling. - Easy sharing. Share your tempo graph with a tap. - Easy-to-read interface. Optimized for various light environments, such as stages and practice spaces. - Tempo keyboard. A special tempo keyboard (with tap pad) lets you set a target tempo easily and intuitively. - Visual feedback. If you drift from your target tempo, BeatMirror shows a red (slow down!), blue (speed up!), or green (perfect!) indicator. - Custom count-in. BeatMirror gives you an optional count-in before you start playing. - Versatile. Perfect for solo practice, band rehearsals, recorded music, and you can even use it at concerts! - Triplet mode. Boost accuracy in triplet-time with the new triplet mode. - Tutorial. An in-app tutorial gets you up and running in a flash. TIPS FOR BEST PERFORMANCE: - Avoid handling your device during tempo measurement. - Be mindful of competing noise near the device's microphone (e.g., conversation, typing). NOTES ON USAGE: - Recorded music. To detect the tempo of recorded music using BeatMirror, follow these steps: 1) Play a song from your favorite music player app using the device speaker (i.e., unplug your headphones). Or, play the song from a different device altogether. 2) Open BeatMirror and start tempo detection, adjusting the tempo range if needed. 3) The song's precise tempo will then be displayed in real-time. Questions or feedback about BeatMirror? Please don't hesitate to get in touch anytime. Just tap the envelope icon in BeatMirror or reach out at tenkettles.com/contact. Happy practicing! -Alex
Drum Notation by Beat Note
Create, practice, and share drum music notation with ease. This app transforms sequenced beats into professional sheet music, offering tools for composition, transcription, and interactive teaching. Enhance your drumming journey with customizable practice sessions and high-quality export options.
- Sequencer to notation conversion
- Compose and transcribe drum beats
- Customizable practice sessions
- Interactive teaching tools
- High-quality PDF and image export
- Multiple notation voicing options
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Beat Note — Drum Notation for Drummers, Teachers, and Content Creators The fastest way to write, hear, practice, and share drum notation. Built by a drummer, for drummers. FOR DRUMMERS — FROM YOUR HEAD TO THE PAGE IN SECONDS You have a groove idea. Beat Note gets it down before you lose it. Tap the sequencer grid to build beats. Watch them turn into clean, professional drum notation in real time. Hit play and hear exactly what you wrote — at any tempo, with a click track, on loop. - Transcribe songs to check your ear and lock in what you hear - Compose your own grooves, fills, and exercises from scratch - Count in with a visual on-screen "1, 2, 3, 4" so your eyes and ears are ready together - Use Beat Note as your in-ear metronome during rehearsals — your beats, not just clicks "Been waiting a long time for an app like this. Clearly built by a drummer." — App Store review FOR TEACHERS — WRITE IT, PLAY IT, SEND IT What used to take 30 minutes in a desktop notation program now takes 2 minutes on your phone or iPad. Write exercises on the fly — during the lesson, not after it. Play back the notation so students hear exactly how it should sound. Share a link so they can listen at home. Export a PDF they can print and bring to the kit. - Use the sequencer as a live music whiteboard, in person or online - Build a library of exercises organized by tag, ready for any student - Send a shareable link or export a high-quality PDF in one tap "What would normally take 30 minutes on a computer has become 2 minutes from my mobile device. My students love it." — App Store review FOR CONTENT CREATORS — PROFESSIONAL NOTATION VIDEOS, IN MINUTES Export your beat as an animated MP4 — portrait for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, or landscape for YouTube and Vimeo. Choose 720p, 1080p, or 4K. Pick a color theme. Preview before you export. PDF, PNG, WAV or AAC audio, shareable link, and animated MP4 — all from one app. NOTATION THAT LOOKS RIGHT Professional drum notation, consistent across every format you export. What you see on screen is what your students get in the PDF, what your followers see in the video, and what you hear in playback. - All standard drums, cymbals, and articulations - Subdivisions from 8th notes to 32nd notes, plus triplets, quintuplets (5s), and septuplets (7s) - Common and compound time signatures, including 6/8, 9/8, and 12/8 - Linear, split hands/feet, or split drums/cymbals voicing - Sticking annotations (R, L) - Single-measure repeat symbol (%) — renders automatically when measures repeat ORGANIZE AND DISCOVER - Tags, search, and sort to manage your beat library - Discover tab: curated educational beats for all skill levels - Beat templates to get started fast - Customize tempo, click track, count-in, and timer MADE BY A DRUMMER, SHAPED BY THE COMMUNITY Beat Note was built by me — an independent developer with 35+ years behind the kit. But the direction comes from the community. Every major feature on the roadmap has been voted on, requested, and refined by drummers, teachers, and creators just like you. Join the conversation at roadmap.beat-note.app — vote on upcoming features, share ideas, and see what's coming next. I'm here to make sure it all comes together into something that actually works. Premium subscription required for full access. Educator and Creator tiers available. Free trial included. Payment is charged through your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription auto-renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period via iTunes Account Settings. Terms and Privacy Policy: https://www.beat-note.app/privacy-and-terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Drum Notation by Beat Note at Free against BeatMirror's $6.99. Drum Notation by Beat Note also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (83% vs 65%). BeatMirror's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and chart position (#183 vs unranked). On rating, ratings volume, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Drum Notation by Beat Note is free to download; BeatMirror costs $6.99 up front. Drum Notation by Beat Note sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $6.69 per month. BeatMirror asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for BeatMirror against 4.6 for Drum Notation by Beat Note. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 253 and 87 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 65% of BeatMirror's written reviews are positive against 83% of Drum Notation by Beat Note's.
BeatMirror ships an update every 3 months, Drum Notation by Beat Note every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BeatMirror | Drum Notation by Beat Note |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (253 ratings) — better | 4.6 (87 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 65.2% of reviews | 82.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 253 — better | 87 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #183 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 89 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ten Kettles Inc. | Kick Snare Hat Apps, LLC |
Customer experience
BeatMirror
Drum Notation by Beat Note
User reviews
BeatMirror
From 253 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast BPM detection
- 👍 Easy to use
- 💡 Game changer for musicians
- 👍 Great for guitar rhythm practice
- 💡 Superior tempo detection
Room to improve
- 🐛 Inaccurate beat detection for guitar
- 🔋 Phone gets hot
- 🐛 BPM rounding issues
- 🐛 Doesn't work unless target tempo is set
- 🐛 Not ideal for DJs
Drum Notation by Beat Note
From 87 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 🚀 Quick and efficient notation
- 🎶 Great sound playback
- 💡 Excellent for teaching and learning
- ✍️ Simple to write exercises and ideas
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 💸 High annual cost
- 🆓 Limited free version
- 🚫 No one-time purchase option
- 🤔 Subscription model makes little sense to some
Bugs and requests
BeatMirror
Reported bugs
15 issues- Beat detection inaccurate for guitar picking speed
- App rounds BPM to nearest whole number, losing decimals
- Phone overheats after prolonged use
- App doesn't work unless a target tempo is set
- App is not precise enough to measure rapid beats
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- Beat mirror goes gray and stops tracking during certain song sections (e.g., bridges)
- App does not work with headphones
- App does not work with acoustic guitar
- App is not auto-detecting beats, requires tapping
- App performance appears inconsistent with tempo recording
- App doesn't pick up correct BPM by playing music
- Mic on phone sometimes fails to pick up beat
- App doesn't work on iPhone
- App doesn't work without headphones
- App doesn't track BPM without first entering a target BPM
Requested features
4 requests- Toggle for BPM decimals display
- Option to switch between integer and double numbers for DJs
- Mode to just detect playing without setting target tempo
- More customization for tempo range zoom
Drum Notation by Beat Note
Reported bugs
8 issues- Preview rarely matches notes on staff
- Sometimes doesn't play any notes
- Sounds not always appropriate for instrument voicing
- Editing measures is inconvenient
- Free trial charged immediately
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- iCloud data sync issues for subscription confirmation
- Not stable in loopings, slow delay on first note
- Measure lines on PDFs too thick and close
Requested features
27 requests- 7/8 time signature support
- Syncing between devices
- Web version
- Native Mac/Windows apps
- Add text or notes to notations
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- Cowbell instrument
- More drum samples and pitch control
- Ability to work on spaces longer than a measure
- Add 32nd notes
- Duplicate multiple bars at once
- Copy/paste large sections
- Option to drag duplicated bars to the end
- Add melody track
- More instrument options
- Ability to manage volumes of different instruments
- Add quintuplets and sextuplets to a bar
- Add repetition options for measures
- Add text to music sheets
- Improve loop stability and reduce delay
- Allow monthly subscription option
- More free beats/unlimited free version
- Add sticking for grace notes
- More advanced editing options for multiple bars
- Improve PDF export readability
- Add virtual drum kit for accessibility
- AI-powered automatic notation
- Auto-sync to track
In-app purchases
BeatMirror
No in-app purchases
Drum Notation by Beat Note
- Educator Tier Monthly (No Trial)$6.691 Month
- Creator Tier Monthly (No Trial)$13.491 Month
- Educator Tier Annual (No Trial)$59.991 Year
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- Educator Tier Annual + Free Trial7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Creator Tier Annual + Free Trial7 Days trial$119.991 Year
Questions
Is BeatMirror free?
Is Drum Notation by Beat Note free?
Which has better reviews, BeatMirror or Drum Notation by Beat Note?
Do BeatMirror or Drum Notation by Beat Note have ads?
Which is updated more often, BeatMirror or Drum Notation by Beat Note?
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