Drum Notes vs Setronome
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Drum Notes
Create, share, and practice percussive music scores with an intuitive editor. Explore a global community of drummers and percussionists, access thousands of beats, and utilize practice tools. Ideal for musicians, teachers, and bands of all levels.
- Intuitive score editor for drum set and percussion
- Explore and learn from community-shared beats and rhythms
- Practice tools including metronome and rhythm trainer
- Organize rhythms, arrangements, and exercises
- Create and share drum exercises for students
- Export scores as audio or image formats
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* Grammy Academy awarded: app to support percussive music preservation. Write, share, and practice drum music like never before. Join over 200,000 drummers and percussionists in 180 countries who have already created 400,000+ scores with Drum Notes, a simple app to create and share drum beats, music scores, drum lessons, drum loops, drum tabs and rhythms. Ideal for beginners and pros alike. Drum Notes features an intuitive score creator, perfect for drumset and percussive genres like Samba, Marching Bands, Drumlines, Cuban percussion, and Drum grooves. Think of it as a more accessible version of Musescore, Flat or Finale, tailored for drummers. Like a drum machine or drum sequencer with real drum scores. FOR DRUMMERS - ALL LEVELS Intuitive Music Score Editor: Effortlessly create percussive sheet music with a user-friendly music writing editor, for drum set or any percussion instrument. Explore Beats: Learn drums by discovering thousands of beats, loops, and percussion samples from our drumming community. Practice Tools: Adjust your own pro metronome, customize grooves, and use the drum score editor as a rhythm trainer. Organize Your Notes: Keep rhythms, arrangements, recordings, and exercises neatly organized. FOR TEACHERS - ENHANCE YOUR INSTRUCTION Drum Exercises: Create, share, and manage exercises with ease. Student-Teacher Groups: Maintain shared spaces for class materials and track progress. Public Library: Access and share a wealth of exercises and materials. FOR BANDS - PERFECT FOR BATUCADAS Arrange and Share: Organize complex patterns and rhythms, and export them in audio or image formats. Private Groups: Create groups for sharing compositions and performance notes. Explore Percussion Rhythms: Discover diverse samples and beats to inspire and enhance your band’s sound. FOR CONTENT CREATORS - SHARE PROFESSIONAL CONTENT Export Options: Share drum grooves as high-quality audio or images. Perfect for showcasing your work on social media. Diverse Library: Use an extensive collection of beats and samples for creating stunning content. FOR MUSICIANS - EXPAND YOUR PLAYBACK OPTIONS Playback Tool: Use Drum Notes to playback loops and samples for various instruments. Versatile Use: Ideal for enhancing rhythm and practice sessions with authentic beats. ADDITIONAL FEATURES Diverse percussion instruments: Drum Set Electronic Drum Kit Cajon Rumba Instruments: Congas, Clave, Cowbell, Shaker, etc. Samba Instruments: Surdos, Repique, Caixa, Agogos, Rebolo, Pandeiro, etc. Samba Reggae Instruments: Timbal, Bacurinha, etc. Marching Band / Drumline Instruments: Quads, Snare Drums, Bass Drum, Cymbals. Capoeira Instruments: Berimbau Viola, Berimbau Berra Boi, Berimbau Medio, Agogo, Pandeiro, Atabaque And many more… Percussion Library: Rock, Jazz, Samba, Marching Band, Capoeira, and many more. Customizable Settings: Adjust metronome BPM, sound accents, and more. Global Community: Connect with percussionists and drummers worldwide. PREMIUM FEATURES Unlock unlimited compositions, percussive instruments per score, and private groups. Support our mission to improve musical knowledge. JOIN THE DRUM NOTES COMMUNITY Developed by a team dedicated to empowering drummers and percussionists. Drum Coach App: Explore our app for developing practice habits with exercises, scores, and audio instructions. We wish you great grooves! #drum, #drums, #drumline, #samba, #percussion * if you are looking for the app Drumap (drum app; drum map), this is it! Now we are called Drum Notes. upbeat.studio https://upbeat.studio/privacy-policy-drum-notes/ https://upbeat.studio/terms-and-conditions-drum-notes/
Setronome
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The metronome built for the stage, not the practice room. Manage your repertoire, build setlists, run your show. The click keeps running even when you switch apps. Count-ins, transitions and guide tracks: everything you need to keep a band tight on stage. REPERTOIRE, SETLIST, SHOW Every song carries its own tempo, time signature and notes. The setlist puts them in order for the night. Show mode plays them and moves on to the next song by itself after the bar count you set, either immediately or at the end of the bar. On stage you stop tapping anything. GUIDE TRACK The guide track editor lays out the arrangement bar by bar: section markers, time signature changes, tempo jumps, tempo ramps across a whole passage, and tempo bands for breathing between two values. Twelve sections are spoken into your ear: intro, verse, prechorus, chorus, post-chorus, bridge, solo, instrumental, interlude, rap, vamp, outro. The editor itself runs on iPad only, because of the screen it needs. Finished guide tracks play on iPhone just the same. MEDLEYS Several parts, one continuous click. Tempo and time signature change sample accurately at the transition, with a count-in or a spoken transition cue if you want one. A part can stay open and loop until you move on. CLICK TRACK AS WAV For the DAW: click alone, cues alone, or both as a stereo mix with click left and voice right. 48 kHz at 24 bit or 44.1 kHz at 16 bit. Calculated rather than recorded, so there is no drift and the file is ready in seconds. IN-EAR Click and voice can go out on separate channels, click left and every cue right. At the desk that becomes two mono sends, and everyone sets their own ear. SCAN A SETLIST Your setlist as a PDF, as a photo, or straight from the camera. Titles, tempos and artists arrive as songs in the archive. Text recognition uses Apple's own components and runs entirely on the device. HEAR THE TEMPO Hold the device towards the music and Setronome names the tempo. Half time and double time sit next to it as equals, because either one can be the right answer. SONG DIRECTORY A directory of 5.3 million recordings from 1970 to 2026 with their tempos can be downloaded once and is then fully searchable offline. Optional, the app works without it. TIME SIGNATURES 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 7/4 as well as 6/8, 5/8 and 7/8 with their own grouping. Subdivision in eighths, triplets or sixteenths. Individual bars may step out of line inside a guide track. FOOTSWITCH Ordinary Bluetooth pedals that identify as a keyboard control start, stop and song changes. Key assignment is yours to choose, and a key test shows what actually arrives. TIMING The click runs on a dedicated audio engine rather than a timer, with sample accurate scheduling. The technical page in settings shows the measured output latency of your device, so you know where you stand. NO ACCOUNT No login, no sign-up, no ads, no analytics, no tracking. Your songs, setlists and guide tracks stay on the device. The app works without a signal, because it has to work on stage. On first launch you will find example songs, an example medley and an example setlist. A guided tour explains the seven areas, if you want it.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Drum Notes at Free against Setronome's $17.99. Setronome's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). On device support and iOS requirement 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 Notes is free to download; Setronome costs $17.99 up front. Drum Notes sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Setronome asks for nothing beyond the download.
Drum Notes ships an update every 2 weeks, Setronome every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Drum Notes | Setronome |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $17.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (209 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 56.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 209 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 133 MB | 45 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | UPBEAT STUDIO | Igor Lier |
Bugs and requests
Drum Notes
Reported bugs
21 issues- App crashes constantly
- App crashes on iPad
- Accents don't work after saving
- Beta score writing features don't work
- App freezes on loading screen
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- App crashes when trying to access saved rhythms
- Previously created playlists don't show up
- Unable to listen to playlists
- App closes out several times a minute
- App deleted created content
- Sounds lag, creating flam type sounds
- Agogo bell sounds reversed
- Loss of content after account creation
- Loss of content after app name change
- Unexplained charges and card locking
- App not opening arrangements or showing instruments
- App crashes after 15 minutes
- Inability to share on iPad
- Inability to save as image on iPad
- Unresponsive beta features
- App crashes and closes unexpectedly
Requested features
19 requests- Add whole note bass drum roll
- Increase save space
- Add MIDI export
- Add feature to play individual instruments by tapping
- Improve marching percussion sounds
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- Add dark mode
- Add 8th note/1 time division option
- Allow export of sheet to image on free version
- Fix accent bug
- Make accented beats easier to create
- Add BPM configuration
- Improve sound quality of marching percussion
- Add feature to play different instruments instead of editing
- Make score layout better for longer scores
- Fix iPad specific sharing issues
- Fix beta score writing features
- Offer a one-time purchase option
- Fix issues with previously created playlists not showing up
- Fix issues with not being able to listen to playlists
Setronome
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Drum Notes
- Premium Monthly Subscription$5.991 Month
- Premium Monthly Subscription$7.991 Month
- Premium Yearly Subscription$42.991 Year
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- Premium Yearly Subscription1 Year trial$42.991 Year
- Premium Monthly Subscription$44.996 Months
- Premium yearly Subscription$49.991 Year
- Premium yearly subscription14 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Drumap PRO Yearly Offer1 Year trial$49.991 Year
- Samba on Drum set workshop$5.99
- Music Capoeria Workshop$6.99
Setronome
No in-app purchases









