theDrumDictionary vs DrumToolz
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
theDrumDictionary
This app is a comprehensive resource for drummers and musicians to expand their rhythmic knowledge. It features all standard rudiments and a large collection of drum set beats with adjustable tempo audio and notation. An integrated metronome and practice tracking tools make it an ideal practice companion.
- 40 standard snare drum rudiments
- Over 100 drum set beats
- Tempo-adjustable audio examples
- Integrated metronome
- Practice time tracking
- Customizable beat lists
Read full descriptionHide full description
"If you’re looking for a great resource to develop and maintain your beat vocabulary and rudimental proficiency, this is a great place to start." - Modern Drummer theDrumDictionary is a great tool for drummers, band leaders, producers, or anyone looking to learn more about drums. It includes all 40 standard snare drum rudiments and over 100 full drum set beats in a variety of styles. For each example, there is notation and tempo-adjustable audio. theDrumDictionary also includes a built-in metronome, making it a great all-in-one practice tool. For Practice: • Make the most of your practice time with the built-in metronome • Adjust the tempo of the example audio to help learn those tricky parts or to push your skill to the next level of speed • Keep track of your time spent practicing each beat or rudiment Lists: • Create a list of your favorite beats in different styles • Create lists for what you'd like to practice • Drum instructors, create a separate list for each of your students theDrumDictionary is also great for non-drummers who are interested in knowing a little about drums: band leaders who want to communicate better with their drummer, musicians who want to program realistic drum parts in their songs, and the list goes on... Entries include • All 40 standard snare drum rudiments • Over 100 drum set beats in a variety of styles: Rock, Jazz, World, Funk and more Contacts: • @GigBagApps • support@GigBagApps.com, for support, questions, suggestions • www.GigBagApps.com
DrumToolz
Compose and practice drum cadences and beats on your mobile device. This app allows manual input of exercises, generation of new ideas, and practice of rudiments. Share your creations and learn from a community of drummers.
- Compose drum cadences and beats
- Manual exercise input
- Generate new rhythmic ideas
- Editable music score
- Practice snare rudiments
- Library of dynamic exercises
- Social profile and sharing
Read full descriptionHide full description
Compose cadences on the go! Choose from snares, tenors, bass drums, cymbals, and even drumset if you want. In a league of its own, DrumToolz also lets you manually input exercises for drum set, marching snare, tenors, and bass drums while generating new creative ideas using what you input, all shown on an editable music score. You can also upload your beats to your social profile, play what other users are playing, save rhythms, practice snare drum rudiments, and learn from a full library of dynamic exercises for both snare drum and drumset! It's perfect for all skill levels, from beginner to extremely advanced, drum wizards. Works great for sharing drum cadences with your drumline. Isolate individual snare, tenors, etc. parts. Practice the simplest to the most complex of beats and rhythms. If you can think of it, you can input it and practice it! Anything from beginner rock beats, to the most complex of jazz beats and fills. Lastly, top off the notes with ornaments: stickings, accents, flams, diddles, and cheese. Input up to 50 measures. When practicing drum set beats, choose from a ride cymbal, hihat, hihat foot, kick drum, snare drum, and three toms. Input everything from whole notes to thirtysecond notes and tuplets. Also, for tenors, choose from four tenors and a spock. Bass drums - five bass drums. Marching snare - a realistic marching snare and a ping sound. Generate new ideas (modifications) using beats that you input into the score. Choose from several modification methods: Add, Shuffle, Substitute, Permutate, Repeat, and Random. Modify individual parts of the beat (ex: kick drum only) or the entire beat if desired. Custom snare exercises. Choose the time sig, subdivisons, tuplets, stickings, accents, flams, diddles, cheese, drags. Save the beat in the score for later practice, keeping the modifications if desired. If the modifications are kept, this turns the beat into an endless, dynamic exercise! Each time you generate an exercise, it uses the modifications to give you an entirely new beat. String together saved rhythms and practice them as one exercise, perfect for practicing beats followed by a drum fill. Upload your beats to your profile. Find and follow other drummers in the social network. Learn from them as you see and practice what they have uploaded to their profile. Share your beats through PDF links and files. Also, share your entire score with a link that pre-populates the score into the app. Learn from a full library of dynamic drum set and snare drum exercises, essential and hybrid rudiments included. For highlighted rhythms, shuffle around groups of notes, stickings, accents, flams, diddles, and cheese.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: theDrumDictionary at 4.9 against DrumToolz's 4.2. theDrumDictionary also leads on review sentiment (76% vs 58%) and iOS requirement (8.4 vs 14.0). DrumToolz's advantage is ratings volume (270 vs 45). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
theDrumDictionary holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DrumToolz has 270 ratings behind it against 45, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of theDrumDictionary's written reviews are positive against 58% of DrumToolz's.
theDrumDictionary ships an update every 2 months, DrumToolz monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | theDrumDictionary | DrumToolz |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (45 ratings) — better | 4.2 (270 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 76.3% of reviews — better | 58.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 45 | 270 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 8.4 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 33 MB | 93 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hawks Hill Software, LLC | Jared Simon |
Customer experience
theDrumDictionary
DrumToolz
User reviews
theDrumDictionary
From 45 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Excellent learning tool for drummers of all levels
- 🎵 High-quality audio samples and clear sound
- 📚 Comprehensive collection of 40 rudiments
- 🎯 Easy-to-use interface and navigation
- 📖 Visual notation paired with audio playback
Room to improve
- 🐛 Audio quality degrades when changing tempo
- ⏸️ App stops playing when phone sleeps
- 🔊 Bass drum not distinctive enough in mix
- 📊 Limited number of beats per genre
- ⚠️ Some audio samples don't match notation
DrumToolz
From 270 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great for writing music
- 👍 Helpful for drumline
- 👍 Easy to use
- 👍 Good sounds
- 👍 Good for practice
Room to improve
- 🐛 Tutorial not helpful
- 🐛 Hard to find features
- 🐛 UI issues
- 🐛 App crashes frequently
- 🐛 Saves progress poorly
Bugs and requests
theDrumDictionary
Reported bugs
6 issues- App crashes on startup (older iOS versions)
- Uneven single stroke roll with extra hits/flams
- Audio warping when tempo changes
- App stops when device goes to sleep
- Inconsistent bass drum clarity
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Notation mismatches with audio playback
Requested features
20 requests- Tempo/speed control for practice
- More beats and grooves across all genres
- Odd time signatures (5/8, 7/8, 9/4, 11/4, 6/8, 7/4)
- Highlighted note indicator during playback
- Video demonstrations of techniques
Show 15 moreShow fewer
- Drum fills and fill variations
- Background playback capability
- Practice history and progress tracking
- Ability to create custom beats
- Accelerating/decelerating metronome
- More complex and advanced patterns
- Sorting beats by practice time
- Export notation and beat lists
- Multi-user/student support
- Rudiments numbered in learning order
- Double bass drum beats
- Finger drumming exercises
- Sync across multiple devices
- Note highlighting (karaoke-style)
- Longer beat patterns
DrumToolz
Reported bugs
13 issues- App crashes and deletes progress
- App won't open
- Repeat function doesn't stop
- Repeat save fails
- Accents, diddles, flams added automatically
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Buzz roll cannot be removed
- Font camouflages in dark mode
- App crashes when opening after saving
- App crashes when opening
- App crashes when adding notes
- App crashes after saving
- App crashes when trying to reopen
- App crashes a lot
Requested features
15 requests- Turn off metronome
- Add rum shot for snare
- Add rim shots for other drums
- Add triplets, fivelets, sixlets
- Add dynamics (forte, piano)
Show 10 moreShow fewer
- Cymbals sizzle option
- Add buzz roll for snares
- Add diddle feature
- More measures
- Add bass drum notes
- Add open hi-hat sound
- Improve UI for tuplet measurement
- Improve UI for measure change
- Ability to hear multiple instruments simultaneously
- Fix replace button for bass drums
In-app purchases
theDrumDictionary
No in-app purchases
DrumToolz
No in-app purchases









