Additive Drum Machine vs TEMPO
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Additive Drum Machine
Create unique drum beats with additive rhythm and traditional drum machine functionality. Design sequences of any length and structure, easily switching steps on and off to craft complex patterns. Ideal for practicing odd meters and exploring diverse rhythmic structures.
- Additive rhythm concept
- Traditional drum machine interface
- Customizable sequence length
- Step sequencing
- Odd meter support
- Symmetrical and asymmetrical rhythms
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With Additive Drum Machine you can create drum beats using the concept of “additive rhythm” in combination with the sounds and ease of use of a traditional drum machine. Construct step sequences of any length and structure by the chaining of "long" and "short" beats. Then switch on and off individual steps to create a drum pattern. Whether used as a practice tool or composition sketchpad, its intuitive interface allows you to easily make drum patterns that use odd meters, symmetrical and asymmetrical rhythmic structures, and various subdivisions of the pulse. With Additive Drum Machine your musical imagination is the limit.
TEMPO
Create beats and build songs with this pocket-sized sampler groovebox and mini DAW. It allows you to play, sample, and sequence music, then arrange your patterns into full songs.
- Sampler groovebox and mini DAW
- 12 voices with modeled drums and samples
- 64-step patterns with advanced shaping
- Standalone Song Mode for arrangement
- Audio track recording and import
- AUv3 instrument compatibility
- Stereo WAV and stem export
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Make a beat. Build a song. TEMPO-1 is a sampler groovebox and a mini DAW in your pocket. Play, sample and sequence on iPhone and iPad, then turn your patterns into an arrangement with the new standalone Song Mode. BUILD THE GROOVE Play 12 voices with modeled drums and samples. Create patterns up to 64 steps and shape each hit with velocity, probability, microtiming, ratchets, conditions and pitch. Record pads or MIDI, add swing, and bring movement to your patterns with effects and automation. TURN PATTERNS INTO SONGS Bring saved Patterns straight into a timeline with up to eight Pattern/MIDI, Audio and Instrument tracks. Build sections, add markers and tempo changes, and use FILL to repeat whole clips into empty gaps. Keep reusable ideas in the Pattern Library and saved clip banks. RECORD, LAYER AND PLAY Record an Audio track from your microphone or a compatible connected interface. Trim takes, adjust gain and fades, and reuse phrases. Import compatible audio through the bottom Bank pattern chooser bar, then place it on a Song Audio track. Add separately installed compatible AUv3 instruments. SHAPE YOUR SOUND Record, import, edit and resample WAVs for the pads. Balance Song tracks with level, pan, mute and solo, then shape the mix with EQ, effects and track automation. TAKE THE IDEA FURTHER Export a stereo Song WAV or a mix with Song-track stems. Choose the entire Song, a loop or a selected time span, or share a Song project package. Pattern workflows retain loop WAV export, MIDI export and live WAV capture. CONNECT YOUR SETUP Use MIDI learn and external MIDI output, or run TEMPO-1's Pattern groovebox as an AUv3 in a compatible host. Gillespie Audio Built by a musician, for musicians.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Additive Drum Machine at 5.0 against TEMPO's 4.3. Additive Drum Machine also leads on price ($2.99 vs $9.99) and iOS requirement (14.5 vs 17.0). TEMPO's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 15 months). On review sentiment, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
Additive Drum Machine costs $2.99 and TEMPO $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Additive Drum Machine holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 3 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Additive Drum Machine ships an update every 15 months, TEMPO every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Additive Drum Machine | TEMPO |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better | 4.3 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 15 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 14.5 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 354 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Giovanny Bermudez | Richard Gillespie |
Customer experience
Additive Drum Machine
TEMPO
In-app purchases
Additive Drum Machine
No in-app purchases
TEMPO
No in-app purchases









